Burning Technique

[Thomas Venditto]

The Short Version:
I tend to build up lots of charcoal in the stove. At that point, the stove cools down and makes less heat. What can I do differently?
I KNOW I can just shovel it out and discard it, but I feel like I'm wasting fuel somehow.

The Details:
I have a Lopi Revere insert in the bsmt of my 2300 ft ranch. The stove does very well and heats most of my home. I burn round the clock. I usually shovel a half a pale of fine ash each morning. I burn according the the stove thermometer most of us probably use. When the temp rises to the top, I bank it a bit. When she drops, I open her up and or add wood. I don't add wood when the temp is good until what's in there has disintegrated.
That's all well and good when I'm burning hickory, oak or locust. I'm into some maple and ash now and the game's changed. I get the temp up, the stuff burns then cools pretty quickly. I'm left with accumulations of charcoal. I usually turn them over and crack the door for a bit allowing more of it to burn off. Sometimes, I pull the stuff to the front and add my next log to the rear. Either way, I'm putting more air up the chimney.

I've just been wondering about this for years. I figured someone would have ideas . . . like screen and save the charcoal chunks.
TomJV

 

[Wisneaky]

The Short Version:
I tend to build up lots of charcoal in the stove. At that point, the stove cools down and makes less heat. What can I do differently?
I KNOW I can just shovel it out and discard it, but I feel like I'm wasting fuel somehow.

The Details:
I have a Lopi Revere insert in the bsmt of my 2300 ft ranch. The stove does very well and heats most of my home. I burn round the clock. I usually shovel a half a pale of ash each morning. I burn according the the stove thermometer most of us probably use. When the temp rises to the top, I bank it a bit. When she drops, I open her up and or add wood. I don't add wood when the temp is good until what's in there has disintegrated.
That's all well and good when I'm burning hickory, oak or locust. I'm into some maple and ash now and the game's changed. I get the temp up, the stuff burns then cools pretty quickly. I'm left with accumulations of charcoal. I usually turn them over and crack the door for a bit allowing more of it to burn off. Sometimes, I pull the stuff to the front and add my next log to the rear. Either way, I'm putting more air up the chimney.

I've just been wondering about this for years. I figured someone would have ideas . . . like screen and save the charcoal chunks.
TomJV

I honestly don't know anything about that insert you have, but I at one time was having issues with coals too so I set my blower speed lower and it keeps the fire hotter in my furnace and now I have hardly any coals at the end of the burn cycle.

 

[Wisneaky]

Does that insert have any secondary burn tubes? Once I load mine up I don't mess with the fire at all no banking it until its time to fill it again. It seems like messing with the coals makes it not burn down all the way.

 

[Mad Professor]

1/2 pail of ash a day is way excessive unless you are throwing away viable coals/charcoal

I rake the coals to the front when adding more wood. But I'm running an old Warner "smoke dragon". I have no use for new fangled stoves with gadgets, keep it simple stupid works for me

 

[Thomas Venditto]

Does that insert have any secondary burn tubes? Once I load mine up I don't mess with the fire at all no banking it until its time to fill it again. It seems like messing with the coals makes it not burn down all the way.

Yep, I have three tubes up top. I just replaced one. What you say may be true. The issue is, once the fire has died down, so does the temp and heat output.
FYI, there's also a "smoke shelf" (dad calls it) up top. There's a 2" high and the width/depth of the stove space, on the top of the fire box. This fall, I took the fire brick out and cleaned it all up. It was totally clogged up with ash up there. THAT made a big improvement. The stove burned like new again.
TomJV

 

[Wisneaky]

Yep, I have three tubes up top. I just replaced one. What you say may be true. The issue is, once the fire has died down, so does the temp and heat output.
FYI, there's also a "smoke shelf" (dad calls it) up top. There's a 2" high and the width/depth of the stove space, on the top of the fire box. This fall, I took the fire brick out and cleaned it all up. It was totally clogged up with ash up there. THAT made a big improvement. The stove burned like new again.
TomJV

Do you have that optional blower on yours? I see they make one.

 

[Ironworker]

http://www.woodheat.org/firewood.html

 

[Chris-PA]

Interesting, as I only have a minor coaling issue with hickory! Once I switched back to red oak and ash I have none at all. Actually I have no issue with coals, rather it is a build up of ash that prevents air flow and traps wood, whereupon it becomes coals.

Try stacking the wood so that the bottom row is end-on to the door, and the next row is 90deg from that, and leave a small gap between the splits. That way the primary air wash coming down the door will be able to flow in under the stack.

Also while I usually place 3 splits on the bottom I sometimes rake the coals/into the center and use only 2 splits. The coals will burn up rapidly.

 

[midwest_170]

I've just been wondering about this for years. I figured someone would have ideas . . . like screen and save the charcoal chunks.
TomJV

Answer, a grate!

 

[MarylandGuy]

If you were thinking about saving the coals for your bbq grill in the summer, I have never had great luck with that. I know others have said it works great, but my woodstove coals will only stay burning if there are other (non woodstove) coals under it to keep it going. I pretty much stopped saving my coals and just dump them now. Though I rake them forward and open the air a little to burn them up.

Sorry to question this, but from my experience with my stove, excessive coaling happened a lot before I had properly seasoned wood. In my case, the oak had to dry a minimum of two years and preferably three.

 

[Fubar]

i second a grate .... also mix in some softwoods or hard woods that burn faster and leave less coals ...
a grate allows the wood to completely burn up , it raises the efficiency of your stove as well ...