Coalage

[govmule84]

So, me and the ol' lady and the little one spent this afternoon stacking wood (about four cords, two more to go.)
We're pushing a 25 year old Vermont Castings Defiant Encore... we've had little problem out of it, I guess...I cleaned the cat when we started using her, and resealed some gaskets, and furnace cemented some leaky spots, and I also had to replace the wire for the thermystat, but other than that, it's a pretty reliable little goober... It just needed some love to get goin'.

I dunno how big our house is, but it's big. And drafty. And here in CT, it's about 18 degrees right now. The stove is not a toy - we don't burn oil...we burn wood. We have a central fireplace and the woodstove. I don't cool it down to empty ashes, and I don't clean the glass - the thing runs, not rests. I could care less what the fire inside looks like through glass, if you get my drift.

Well, I got about 14 inches of coals built up. Is that a problem? I've never had the coal bed so deep, but it's burning wood in a very miserly way right now, and the stove shows 5-700 on top of the griddle. The coals appear to be burning all the way down, so I know it isn't just coal on top of ash, but is it okay to have a coal bed so damn deep?

I run the little animal with the throttle almost completely closed (it has a second intake that regulates pretty well...it looks like it runs off a bi-metallic coil.) It runs about 22 feet of chimney with one 90 degree bend.

Any input greatly appreciated.

-L.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

If it's hot enough, then it's working. If it's all coals and not putting out enough heat, open the air a little and let the coals heat up. Pull them forward towards the air as they burn away in front.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

14" of coals, I'd for sure let them burn down. You'll appreciate the ability to get more wood in come cold weather. Also, there is a lot of heat in those coals. That is why they put firebrick in stoves! To keep the hot coals away from steel and/or cast. A couple inches of coals should be all you need. Just quit adding wood so often. Regardless, enjoy!

 

[Jags]

With your stove running in that manor, the only thing left to do is drop a single ice cube into a small glass with a reasonable level of ethanol based adult beverage and enjoy.

Sounds like you got it kick'in to me. :coolsmile:

 

[govmule84]

Oh, it's hot. I only can add 2 or 3 splits at a clip right now - but I keep raking it over to get the ash out. Which is preferable, I guess, flaming wood, or deep deep coals?

 

[polaris]

When I get a really deep coal bed my heat drops off a bit. I open the air control and the door for a little bit and the coal bed heats up and converts to ash fairly quickly. This way I can add more wood w/o the "lazy burn" that seems to accompany a huge deep bed of coals that can develop burning real hard (feeding it lots of large hardwood spilts for days on end).