New to Coal Burning Lit First Coal Fire Today Got Scary HOT!

i lit my first coal fire today started with some kindling then some cut up oak pallets then I threw in some coal when their was a little bit of un burned wood . then it got scary HOT maybe its not that hot I am used to burning wood . it was easy to get coal burning . haven't hooked up duct work yet . how hot will the air be going threw the ducts . is this dangerous at all ?

How hot is hot? Do you have a thermometer on the stove and one on the chimney connector pipe? What does your owner's manual say about maximum temperatures. Lisa

What kind of unit do you have?

You have a great stove. And you just aren't use to the heat from anthracite. Wait till it's 25F and windy!

Just back it down and allow it to level off some. With the the warm temps you will use more air now then you will when its cold. I always know I'm burning too hot when I smell *the heat*.

mason coal burner wrote:i lit my first coal fire today started with some kindling then some cut up oak pallets then I threw in some coal when their was a little bit of un burned wood . then it got scary HOT maybe its not that hot I am used to burning wood .

how hot will the air be going threw the ducts .

is this dangerous at all ?

It takes a little getting used to, doesn't it? You'll be a pro in no time.

You'll learn to tune it, it will be toasty.

Only when the stovepipe starts turning orange.

Make sure you fill it all the way up, a thin fire will burn very hot for a while but will provide a lousy long term base. Nothing like wood here, it takes about a day to build a proper coal fire.

i have a hitzer 82 ul . I put a thermometer on the stack its at about 200 have not tried it on the stove where should I put it ? how do I back it down do I close off the air ?

200 on the stack is good when it is in the teens. but you may get a little warm on a day like this. Close down the ash pan vent and it will stablalize. Enjoy your new stove.

the top and face of stove read 350 now but I bet it was much high earlier . I filled it about 3/4 will it burn cooler full or is air supply every thing ? how hot can duct work get before combustion ? I have an existing duct over furnace about 16 '' away from stove it gets pretty hot but not hot enough to burn my hand is this a danger ? does any one out there have any pictures of the fa model and or self constructed cabinet please post 360 degree pics ? thanks

You are worrying about nothing, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Get yourself a thermometer for the stovetop and one for the stovepipe. Tune to the lowest stack temp for comfortable heat and fuel economy.

Hi mason coal burner, One thing I can tell you is; When bringing a cold, or cooled down stove up to temp where you can set your auto dial, it takes a long time to heat the mass of steel. Meanwhile, your stack temps can, and will spike dangerously high in temps. Untill the steel mass of the stove is up to temperature, you will want to moniter your air intake. Turn down the dial if the stack temps reach 300-350. If the air is not cut after reaching these temps, your stack temps can double, and tripple within 2 or 3 minutes. Flames will be flying up the stove pipe. Very dangerous! Nothing to worry about at 200*. But, as Duengeon master says, it's a little warm for this time of year. I don't have my HITZERs running yet. If I did, I believe my stack temps would be around 100-125 this time of year.

coaledsweat wrote:You are worrying about nothing, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Get yourself a thermometer for the stovetop and one for the stovepipe. Tune to the lowest stack temp for comfortable heat and fuel economy.

Coaledsweat is right - you ain't seen nothing yet. Do you have a barro on the stove? The two thermometers and the barro will allow you to get the maximum out of your stove. From your location I bet you will be burning around 400* stove top and with a barro your stovepipe should be about 100* to 150* less come the dead of winter. Air supply is everything, shutting down the air will bring your temperatures down and increasing the air will make the fire burn hotter. Finding the perfect balance to maximize your stove is the art of firing a hand fed coal stove. Good luck, Lisa

i do have a baro damper hooked up BUT I didnt look at it when I bought it I just took what the dealer handed my . it just has a wieght that you screw in and out . no numbers or settings just set it so it flutters a little I know I need to set it with a manometer haven't got to it yet . will it cool things down the more its open ? when you say I haven't seen any thing yet how hot do I let things gate before I should be concerned . when I start moving air threw ducts thing shouldn't get as hot other than stove . not to many things scare my but coal is new to me and hot learned alot here thanks

Yes, set the baro with a manometer. Room air enters through the baro, so it will reduce stovepipe temps above the baro. Typical readings will be from 100 degrees to 250 -- mine rarely goes above 200. If you measure stovepipe temp below the baro, you will find it 100 degrees hotter, more or less. If you were used to burning wood, your stack temperatures were probably a lot higher than that.

Put a magnetic thermometer on any convenient single-walled surface of the stove. Surface temperatures can be as low as 170. When you need lots of heat, many people run stove temps of 400 to 500. 600 to 800 is not unheard of. Mine routinely runs at 600 to 700 on cold nights. If you installed with proper clearances you should be OK.

You need at least one CO detector.

my stack temp reading was between stove and baro . how do you controll stove temp with air inlets or baro or both ?

You control temperature with the air inlets.

You set the baro once, then leave it alone. You don't adjust it day to day or hour to hour. It is meant solely to keep the chimney draft from going too high, thereby sucking a lot of heat up the chimney that you would rather have warming your house. So indirectly the baro can reduce the stove temperature by wasting heat! Your owner's manual should tell you how much draft is recommended.