Final stages of the fire

[MichaelS]

How do you guys handle the last stage of the fire? I am talking about when the load has turned to coal and the logs will break into a hundred pieces if you touch them. Do you break them up? Do you open the primary air more? At this stage how long is it before you add more wood? Thanks for any tips.

 

[North of 60]

What model of stove do you have? My old non thermostatic I would open up the primary air and bust up the remains to maintain the heat. My new stove is thermostatic so it automatically adjusts to maintain its set temp. It will open up @ the end of the burn when it can no longer maintain its setting. I will reload when there is still a bed of coals left. Hope this helps. Let the forum know what type of stove you have then they can relate.

 

[MichaelS]

It is a Century Non-Cat.

 

[North of 60]

Good signature, now your talking. ;-P

 

[Todd]

It depends on how much heat you want or need. Those coals produce almost half the heat of your fire, even tho it's tempting to reload as soon as the fire dies. I usually just let the coals burn down for awhile before placing more wood on top, otherwise your coal bed will get too big.

 

[wahoowad]

I open up my primary air to get more heat out of those coals, if I need the extra heat right then. Otherwise I just let them burn down awhile own their own and just accept the reduced heat output.

 

[MichaelS]

Thanks for the input guys. I am just trying to get as much out of my stove as I can. Last year was my first year burning and I am still learning.

 

[Hogwildz]

Pull the coals to the front, put a small or medium split on top of them and they will burn down with the split better. May have to do this a couple times. Works well.
Anymore I just let them burn down on their own, and still have enough for a restart load.

 

[wg_bent]

At that point, if the coal bed is getting too deep, I load pine. by the time the pine is done, the coal bed is burned down, and you will maximize the heat output.

 

[eernest4]

I am trying to maximize time between reloading, with whatever heat output i might get from the dying out bed of coals.

So, I close down my primary air & my damper to maximize the time that the coals might continue to put out so heat & try to time the reload just before the coals go dead, so I can start the next load from them.