Filling up with coals

[edwardkelly]

I figure I'm not doing something right, but I'm not sure what.

When I first got my stove I used to fiddle with it all the time, putting a couple of bits of wood in at a time, screwing around with it etc. After reading a bunch more on using it properly here there and everywhere I started trying to burn in complete cycles. Basically, fill it up, get it burning, close it down a bit then let it pump out heat for a few hours. This seems to be working well, but my problem is that I find it just fills up with coals, and when all it has is a bed of coals it's not putting out nearly as much heat as I'd like. The other thing is when there's coals on top of coals the stuff on the bottom isn't burning, it's just building up and filling the thing up. I shovel out ash where I can, but I hate shoveling out unburnt coals as it just seems so wasteful.

Here's my process (stove is a lopi revere)

1) Fill the stove 3/4 to full (wood is well seasoned, decent sized splits)
2) Fire it up, get it all burning nicely, then close it down. At this point the air intake is barely open because it generally burns exceptionally well... The secondary burn tubes in the roof can get a bit of a orange tinge. This part is spectacular, I'm generally happy as a pig in chit during this phase.
3) After a few hours I'm down to a nice bed of coals. I'll usually open the air up a bit at this point to help it burn down. Depending on how much ash is in it, I'll scoop some ash out of the front, then rake all the coals forward, then fill it up with wood again and go back to step one. If I open it up periodically and spread the coals around they seem to burn down a bit quicker.

The problem is each time I go from step 3 to step 1 I end up with a bit more coals in the bottom. I can let it burnt out longer after step 3 before going back to step 1, but while waiting for those coals to burn right down I'm not getting much heat. After a couple of days of burning I've got a mountain of coals in the stove that limit how much wood I can get in it...

Any advice? Should I not fill it so much each time? Is there something I can do to get more heat out as I'm burning down the coals?

Everything else with the stove seems to be going just fine, I have no problem with overnight burns etc.

Cheers,

 

[wahoowad]

Sounds like a normal burn cycle to me, and is exactly what happens here. I use a rake and first push the coals back to the rear of the stove. This tends to force the larger coals to the top and lets the ash settle. Then I rake it all forward and make sure I'm churning the pile of coals as I pull it forward. This gives me a large mound of coals in the front with minimal ash mixed in. My open air can hit more coal surface and burn them down and produce the most heat.

I'm still burning down my coal bed from the overnight burn....

 

[SolarAndWood]

Don't be shy with the air at the end of the burn cycle. When you have a day like today when you don't need as much heat, a few splits of pine and some raking of the coals for a few hours will take the pile down and put enough heat off at the same time.

 

[edwardkelly]

When you have a day like today when you don't need as much heat

It's 18f outside at the moment!!

If that is what you call a day when you don't need as much heat, I'd hate to see what you call a cold day...

 

[edwardkelly]

Sounds like a normal burn cycle to me, and is exactly what happens here. I use a rake and first push the coals back to the rear of the stove. This tends to force the larger coals to the top and lets the ash settle. Then I rake it all forward and make sure I'm churning the pile of coals as I pull it forward. This gives me a large mound of coals in the front with minimal ash mixed in. My open air can hit more coal surface and burn them down and produce the most heat.

I'm still burning down my coal bed from the overnight burn....

Do you normally pull ash out after you rake all the coals back (before pulling the back forward)?

This morning I just threw one split in to try to help burn down the overnight coals, but I really don't get much heat out of it when it's like this.

I guess the issue is that if I let the coals burn all the way down I don't find I'm getting as much heat out of the stove as I'd like.

 

[SolarAndWood]

After the past few weeks, 20 and no wind is a heat wave. When I do one of the extended burn downs, I work the ash to the back as I rake coals to the front. Then slip the coal shovel over the coals to scoop the ash out before the reload. This depends on the shape of your firebox though. Mine is pretty deep. With the shallow box in my old stove, I raked the coals right and shoveled the ash out on the left.

 

[gpcollen1]

The solution to too much coals is really simple. Pile them up toward the front, put one piece of wood right on top of the coals [maybe 2 pieces], and get it burning. You should be able to get a decent burn - 400 plus on the stove top - and secondaries going rather quickly. You will find that at the end of this burn 'cycle', you will end up with less coals but the right amount to once again load that stove. I have had enough coals to do this twice, but that is the max.

 

[firefighterjake]

Usually I don't have a problem with excessive coals unless my wife or I have been a little too anxious in reloading the stove by doing it too early or when it's crazily cold outside and we're really working the stove.

When I do have excess coals I never scoop them out (that there's unburned BTUs and I'm not about to throw them out!) . . . instead I'll typically stir up the ashes/coals . . . this exposes the coals and lets the ash sift down into the ash pan on my stove. I then will toss a small split or two on the pile of glowing coals and (while home and monitoring the process) open up the air all the way . . . usually in a half hour to 45 minutes the pile of coals has decreased dramatically and I still have enough coals to do a fresh reload.

As Solarandwind mentioned you can also just open up the air at the end of the burning cycle to burn down the coals.

 

[LLigetfa]

Don't overlook moisture content as a factor. Less than ideal wood will coal worse than good wood. Choking back the air too much is another cause. Sometimes the textbook way is not the way to go. Do what works and burn the book. I don't stoke up the stove throughout the day, only for overnight burns.

 

[edwardkelly]

lets the ash sift down into the ash pan on my stove.

Yeah I'm really wishing my stove had an ash pan. It would make it so easy to keep the coals nice and exposed.

I also think part of the problem is I'm trying to heat too big of an area with it, so I'm expecting a bit much from it. I'll just try to be a little more patient for a full burn down.

 

[LLigetfa]

I use my ash hoe to shove everything to the back of the stove and then run my poker through the pile. The coals will float up to the surface and I rake them forward where they get lots of air. A couple of thin splits on top and they burn down fast with good heat.

 

[Battenkiller]

The solution to too much coals is really simple. Pile them up toward the front, put one piece of wood right on top of the coals [maybe 2 pieces], and get it burning. You should be able to get a decent burn - 400 plus on the stove top - and secondaries going rather quickly. You will find that at the end of this burn 'cycle', you will end up with less coals but the right amount to once again load that stove. I have had enough coals to do this twice, but that is the max.

This is what I have been doing for over 20 years, and it has worked well for me in my stoves. You need to get flame on top to get a good draw through the stove. Just plain coals in the firebox cool down too much for a good draw.

I use a slightly different variation. I pull (or push them to the back on my current stove) the pile toward the intake air and build a small fire (maybe 2-3 splits) just to the other side of the coals. The air gets sucked through the coals on the way to the fresh wood and burns them down fairly quickly.


Or...


Just crisscross (to allow the fire to breathe) 3-4 large, dry splits on top of the pile of coals. Open up the primary air all the way and let it rip. In a short time, most of the coals will be burned down and you can damper down for an extended burn.

In my own experience, I find that this problem occurs most often when adding just a small split every now and then to a slow fire over several hours during the burn. The wife and kids used to do this constantly when instructed to "keep the fire going while I'm out". The fresh wood turns to charcoal before it gets burning good. I always add two good sized splits at once and try to leave a little air between them to get a flame path established. It does help a lot to catch the fire at just the right time, when there aren't too many coals but the internal temps are still quite high. Ignition of the new wood is almost instantaneous at this point in the burn... as long as it's dry.

 

[Rockey]

I also think part of the problem is I'm trying to heat too big of an area with it, so I'm expecting a bit much from it.

Ah yes, this is usually the root of the problem. I too had the same problem. When it would get below 10 °F I would have trouble maintaining good indoor temps without a 450 °F insert temp as measured on the face of the insert. Thus the coals would contunue to build and build. I had to put a stove in the basement to supplement and allow both the insert and the stove to burn down the coals and maintain good indoor temps without using the propane furnace. We dont get real cold temps here but heating 4000 ft ² with lots of windows is a bit of a challenge.

 

[Henz]

yup, thats what I do....Rake those coals forward alot and let them burn down for an hour or so, primary all the way open. Then you can put some more splits on them and they will still start burning.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Edward, it sounds like you are doing things almost right. Perhaps just a little adjustment is all you need.

In your first post you stated: "After a few hours I’m down to a nice bed of coals. I’ll usually open the air up a bit at this point to help it burn down. Depending on how much ash is in it, I’ll scoop some ash out of the front, then rake all the coals forward, then fill it up with wood again and go back to step one. If I open it up periodically and spread the coals around they seem to burn down a bit quicker."


I would get that air opened up a lot sooner. We begin opening the draft before it gets right to the coaling stage. In fact, I like to start opening the draft just as soon as the temperature (stove top) starts to drop even a little bit. I'll open it at least half way then and keep opening it more as the fire burns down . By the time it is to the coaling stage we have the draft open full. Also, once it is into the coaling stage, we open the door and rake through the coals and even into the ash; don't be gentle. This helps get the coals burned down quickly. I will also usually open the door one more time to push some coals to the front.

If you can get this down pat, you will find that you get more heat from your stove and the temperature will not vary so much in the house.

On the ash, we don't empty ashes daily. Most of the time about every 4th day during winter. I see no need to empty sooner.

I see several wishing they had an ash pan. We were a bit concerned because this is our first stove that has not had an ash pan and we thought it might be a big pain to empty ashes. It is not. It doesn't take very long at all. In fact, it is so easy, I let my wife do it all the time. lol