Screen for Blaze King Ashford

[Bootjack]

We burn our Ashford Princess 24/7 during the winter and take up the challenge to heat by wood exclusively. We burn a lot of Hickory which burns down to ash very slowly....an all day process. In the meantime during burn down on cold days ,the house cools to an uncomfortable levels. I gett complaints from the boss. I would like to speed this process up by adding O2 to the fire triangle. Just opening the door is unsafe due to the sparks from the Hickory. The cat is bypassed during this cool down period as well.

I want to have a screen custom built that fits into the door opening. I would not insert the screen until heat levels were way below nuclear potential. Does anyone have any first hand experience with this? Good or bad idea? Any fabricators with experience? Material specs? Any constructive help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[Murray01]

Bad idea. BK doesn’t test or certify their stoves with it running with the door open.

To burn down coals I’ll turn the stove thermostat to maximum about 2-3 hours before a reload. If I’m burning Birch I load the Birch on the bottom and Jack Pine on top, I find that the Birch is long past the coaling stage once the Jack Pine burns down. If you have access to dry softwood it might be worth a try.

If it’s really cold then I supplement heat with electric baseboards.

 

[stoveliker]

Bad idea.

Also, keep the bypass closed until the very end (don't open it in the coaling phase).
Don't ever burn with the door open.
Moreover, it'd cool down your place even more - because with the door open the air flow through the stove and out the flue is so much larger, and all that air needs to be leaking in from the outside (you're not pulling a vacuum on your home).

I burn coals down by raking them to the front, and then 2-3" back, then put one split of a fast burning wood on top. In my case so far pine, spruce, sassafras.
Then burn with the thermostat all the way open (and bypass closed). The air will wash down the window and blow on the coals, and through "tunnels" below the split, creating blast furnaces. This will burn down the coals while providing a decent amount of heat. Sometimes I have to do two splits, so this does take a bit of "stuff to do" for that half hour or so to burn one split down and then put another on top.

You will void your warranty if you burn with the door open.