Keeping coals from falling out (woodstove)

[TheDootler]

I've been using the trick of pulling coals into a pile at the front of the woodstove and putting a small/medium piece of wood across it to burn the coals off hot and quickly. That said, I have troubles sometimes with coals falling out of the woodstove as I'm pulling them forward.

Any tips on this? I've seen the UK has something called a "Fire Front" for old fireplaces that could maybe do the job; but with the crazy shipping cost I don't think the experiment is worth the trouble.

Thanks for any tips

 

[Dan Freeman]

I never pull my coals. I just put new pieces of wood on top of them. Never have this problem.

"I've been using the trick of pulling coals into a pile at the front of the woodstove and putting a small/medium piece of wood across it to burn the coals off hot and quickly. "

Why??? Why do you want to burn the coals off quickly? They produce a lot of heat. (Scratching my head.)

 

[TheDootler]

Why??? Why do you want to burn the coals off quickly? They produce a lot of heat. (Scratching my head.)

They burn fine; but they result in more like 500 STT rather than 600. I have a lot of house to heat so I keep the stove at a high temp (and it's 10F outside)

That said, the manual for the woodstove also says to pull them forward when reloading and I got this tip from others for both woodstove and boilers; so I don't think pulling coals forward is considered unusual.

 

[kborndale]

Raking coals forward before reload is normal, every now and then one will fall out, I just use the shovel to throw it back in. Outside of being careful I can't think of any thing else to do.

 

[wagne223]

Raking coals forward is a common practice, but not for burning them off.....
My understanding is, since most modern stoves use an air wash for the glass, raking coals forward and putting a fresh split behind helps with lighting off the fresh load.

Raking is not required, so only do what you can. You don't want coals coming out of your stove.

Make sure you have stove gloves on anytime you open the stove. Never know when you might have to grab a coal or falling log. Also helps so you don't have to throw logs in on reload. You can place them just right!

 

[marty319]

I never pull my coals. I just put new pieces of wood on top of them. Never have this problem.

"I've been using the trick of pulling coals into a pile at the front of the woodstove and putting a small/medium piece of wood across it to burn the coals off hot and quickly. "

Why??? Why do you want to burn the coals off quickly? They produce a lot of heat. (Scratching my head.)

I burn the coals down as my stove is a third full of hot coals and it is time to reload for an overnight burn.i couldn't get enough wood in then for overnight and it's very cold here.

 

[begreen]

Put a couple 2" splits on there, open the air halfway, and let it burn down.

 

[stoveliker]

Put a couple 2" splits on there, open the air halfway, and let it burn down.

Interesting; for me that doesn't work well. Maybe because I don't have a "doghouse" for air? All my air comes in thru the air wash.and doesn't really hit the coals head on.

Or would it be because my coals are always covered by 1/2" of ashes insulating them from further burning? I have recently ended up with a solid layer of 2.5" of glowing coals - and I thought it was only ashes... But that was the top 1/2".

 

[snobuilder]

Not sure what your stove looks like but my Pleasant Hearth has a 5" tray out front below the door . Maybe retrofit one on yours?

 

[TheDootler]

I burn the coals down as my stove is a third full of hot coals and it is time to reload for an overnight burn.i couldn't get enough wood in then for overnight and it's very cold here.

View attachment 290669

Yeah this is what I'm talking about - sometimes after loading up you end up with a pretty thick bed of coals

Put a couple 2" splits on there, open the air halfway, and let it burn down.

and as begreen mentions, it's not an uncommon trick to then burn them down a bit with some small tinder to make some room for a full load. It's not wasting heat, it's just accelerating the end of the previous load.

A side note: this is partly so when putting in a new load you don't smother the coals.

Thanks for the replies all, I'll let you know if I try anything novel but it sounds like I just gotta be a little more careful pulling the coal up.

 

[jalmondale]

Interesting; for me that doesn't work well. Maybe because I don't have a "doghouse" for air? All my air comes in thru the air wash.and doesn't really hit the coals head on.

Or would it be because my coals are always covered by 1/2" of ashes insulating them from further burning? I have recently ended up with a solid layer of 2.5" of glowing coals - and I thought it was only ashes... But that was the top 1/2".

I recently got a metal kitty litter scoop to use as an ash sifter (saw that advice on another thread), and it's been really helpful as a coal-accelerator too - I wind up using it on a reload even when I'm not scooping any ash out to get all the coals hot and on top of the ash (a heat-resistant glove is also a must for this process).

 

[stoveliker]

I recently got a metal kitty litter scoop to use as an ash sifter (saw that advice on another thread), and it's been really helpful as a coal-accelerator too - I wind up using it on a reload even when I'm not scooping any ash out to get all the coals hot and on top of the ash (a heat-resistant glove is also a must for this process).

Yes, that might have been me as I recently mentioned the kitty scoop thing. I had not thought of putting coals on top; I had used it to separate coals from ashes and the shovel out the ashes. Good idea, will try soon! Thank you!

 

[brickie]

I'll be getting the "kitty" tool as well.
I've been burning through about a cord and a half of water hickory,
and the coals take FOREVER to burn down!