Lots of coals, no wood left, stovetop at 500...what do I do?

[mfglickman]

I assume I let it radiate heat till the temp drops then reload once more of the coals have burned out? I want to maximize heat output but dont want to damage cat - it's closed down as it was combusting away for a few hours there...

Help? Thanks!

Mary

 

[Todd]

Let her go for awhile, lots of heat in those coals. I usually reload when temp are in the 200-300 range and there's still plenty of coals to reload fresh splits. If you need more heat you can always open up the air a little more to burn the coals down quicker, it won't hurt the cat.

 

[Dune]

Put in a coupple small splits and keep the air open a little. This is a perfect oportunity to burn some pine if you have some.

 

[mywaynow]

I start to drag coals toward the front and pile them up in a mound. Helps generate heat and burns them down at the same time.

 

[raybonz]

I assume I let it radiate heat till the temp drops then reload once more of the coals have burned out? I want to maximize heat output but dont want to damage cat - it's closed down as it was combusting away for a few hours there...

Help? Thanks!

Mary

Hi Mary,
If I load up with coals I crank up the air to burn them down and sometimes toss a piece of pine to help burn them down.. The cat should be fine as they get hot when you have a smokey fire. Coals will emit no smoke hence low cat temps so give the coals lots of air to get heat and reduce the coal bed..

Ray

 

[madison]

"Lots of coals, no wood left, stovetop at 500…what do I do?"

500 and only coals in the stove, Pat yourself on the back, keep the stove door closed -- and don't look at the temp gauge for another 4 hrs or so.

 

[Stump_Branch]

Should this be the soapstone stove, the thermos are slow to react. Try a flue thermo in addition to let you know more about the fire.

Ill reload no problem at 400, without many coals either. The stone just holds heat well.

I agree open the air to burn coals down, leave cat on. Still hot and you think theres nearly nothing left, reload anyhow. It will be easy to get the load going in a toasty warm stove.

 

[firefighterjake]

Well it may be different with a cat stove, but with a secondary burner like I have in your particular situation I either do what Dune does if I need to keep the heat levels up since it is brutally cold outside and I need to eventually do a full reload and get "rid" of some of the coals for space issues . . . or if the temp inside is fine for a bit I do what Madison said and let the stove cruise and let the coals do their thing.

 

[mfglickman]

Thanks all! It was indeed the soapstone stove, with its new cat. I let it go until it got down to 350 or so - took a few hours - then reloaded. We've used one match for the first fire and one Sunday AM since we only did small fires on Saturday. Since then it's been cruising along, quiet and warm. LOVE this thing.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Mary, with the Fireview this is how we found the best way to burn down the coals. Just before reaching the all coal stage, we turn the draft to 4, which is full open. Don't worry about the cat as there is nothing really left for it to burn but don't open the bypass either. Just open the draft. Once we started doing it this way we've never had another problem with too many coals.

As others have stated, you could always place a couple pieces of kindling or a very small split on top of the coals and, again, turn the draft to full open. If you do it this way I would also say to rake through the coals to loosen them which allows more air to help burn them down. Good luck.