Coals

[buckeye]

I have an abundance of hot coals in my heritage right now, after burning all day yesterday and all night last night. I have tried using the method many have mentioned on here (the link to getting the coals down). I havent really had much luck with this. Should I turn the air all the way up and leave the coals burn without adding wood? I have leveled them out and left the door open to try and get them to burn up. The problem is the stove temp. drops down quite a bit when Im trying to burn the coals down. I hate to throw them in an ash bucket and take them outside. Some are 4" diam. yet. My house is big, so Im going to basically run my stove 24/7

This is the house im trying to heat.

 

[swestall]

You have to burn them down eventually (or throw them out) Many folks go to work during the day and the coals burn down to some extent. When I get a big bed of them, I open the air up and let them burn down by themselves. I try to keep that during the day when the sun is out, then fire up again in the early eve.

 

[bmwbj]

I'm not sure why you want to throw them away...just add more wood and keep the fire going
if you are burning 24/7. Why waste good coals. If your going to let the stove go out --- give it all the air it needs to
burn them up. I leave what ever is not burned up for the next fire, they will sooner or later all be burned to ash.

 

[BrotherBart]

Pile them in a heap in front of the air intake. They will keep the stove warm for hours and reduce themselves to a powder.

 

[gpcollen1]

Yeah, what he said...

You do not flatten out all the coals at all, you need to pile them up towards the front so the air gets right to them. I usually just put one small to medium split on it and let her burn. My stove will run at around 400 for over an hour with a good pile of coals and a decent size split.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Don't wait until you have nothing but coals before you turn up the draft. Turn it up as the wood burns down and keep doing it until you have the draft opened just about full. That way you should have no problem. If you are away from the home you have no choice though but to open the draft full and burn them down as quickly as possible.

But never throw them out....unless you are doing something outdoors and you need a handy hand warmer or even a body warmer. Put some sand in the bottom of a bucket and then put some coals in there. You'll have a handy outdoor heater that will last a few hours. Great for warming cold fingers.

Hint: This is a great way to have a finger warmer when you are out chopping or cutting wood when it is freezing outdoors. I've even taken a bucket of them when I went out hunting. It lasts for many hours and is well appreciated and does not scare game either.

 

[JBinKC]

If I have a heap of coals I simply open the door up to my stove move them to the front and put the screen of my unit on. It seems I get more radiant heat from it the coals and it helps speed up the process of reducing the pile.

Another option is to save them for cooking. You can transfer them in a bucket and use them to cook in a cast iron camp dutch oven with legs. I also do this a few times a month.

 

[buckeye]

thanks for the ideas

 

[KeithO]

Don't open the door. Just crank up the air and you will get plenty of heat. By opening the door, the stove works like a fireplace and the chimney will draw in several times the required air for combustion. It is the excess air that is responsible for the low stove temperatures. Sometimes I briefly open my ash door to get a little air under the coals to ignite them, but this has to be done carefully since you basically turn the stove into a blast furnace. The draft will speed up to the point that it sounds like a chimney fire if not moderated by applying some pressure on the door seal to slow things down. Once the coals are ignited you will not complain about too little heat !

I have leveled them out and left the door open to try and get them to burn up. The problem is the stove temp. drops down quite a bit when Im trying to burn the coals down. I hate to throw them in an ash bucket and take them outside. Some are 4" diam. yet. My house is big, so Im going to basically run my stove 24/7

 

[MrGriz]

When I started burning last year, I would build up huge coal beds that made it difficult to load the stove. I finally figured out that I was reloading too early and not letting things burn down enough between. Now, I let a full load (or less, depending on how warm it is outside) burn down to coals and rake them into a pile in the front of the stove. I then open the air and let them burn down to a manageable level and reload. Since I'm now loading on top of a bed of coals that is across the front of the stove from left to right, I start with one small split (or small round) behind the bed of coals to "level" the bottom layer. I then add 3 - 5 splits or rounds (depending on the size and temperature) front to back on top of the coals and the one split in the back.

That process keeps the majority of the coals in front of the air intake at all times and seems to help "cycle" them and keep the coal pile manageable.

 

[Sandor]

You can try all of the mentioned suggestions, but....

I had this problem with the two Regency's I owned and never found a really good solution, other than time. Trying to burn 24X7 was maddening, due to problem you described. I have heard this discussion about other models too.

I came to the conclusion that its stove design. This never happens with either the womens VC, or the Woodstock I own.

 

[jpl1nh]

Yeah, what he said...

You do not flatten out all the coals at all, you need to pile them up towards the front so the air gets right to them. I usually just put one small to medium split on it and let her burn. My stove will run at around 400 for over an hour with a good pile of coals and a decent size split.

Yeah, and what he said too... I just add a few really small splits on top and let it all keep burning, by the time the splits are down to coals, the coals are well on their way to ash.

 

[Gunner]

(broken link removed to http://www.woodheat.org/tips/toomuchcharcoal.htm)

It works for me...all the coals to the front, air WIDE open, one split on top(pine is best)
Coal bed burns down and the rapid burn of the one split jacks your surface temps.

 

[drewmo]

Yeah, what he said...

You do not flatten out all the coals at all, you need to pile them up towards the front so the air gets right to them. I usually just put one small to medium split on it and let her burn. My stove will run at around 400 for over an hour with a good pile of coals and a decent size split.

Yeah, and what he said too... I just add a few really small splits on top and let it all keep burning, by the time the splits are down to coals, the coals are well on their way to ash.

Yeah, what he said. It might mean you reload more often, but at least your coal bed is small so the stove is ready for a big load of fresh splits before you hit the sack.

 

[karl]

Nice link gunner. Except that's not a huge bed of coals in the pictures.