Keeping My Stove Going While At Work

Burning too hot...
84* inside 220* stack...
What is the stove body temp front above the door?
Still using Pea, start using Nut for a test...
1/4 turn does make a difference...

Do you want the house at 84*?? If you WANT the house that hot, then you just aren't going to get a 12 hour burn. But if you will be happy with a 70* or 75* house, then you can still turn down the air more..

Coal doesn't need much air, so while you are home to monitor the fire, I'd try an overnight burn at 3/4 of a turn, you should get the house temps down to 75* or so, and save an hour or two of coal.

Even an 1/8 of a turn will make a difference.. it will take an hour or so to show up on temperature gauges and several days to prove the coal savings, but you can slow down the burn rate..

What did you mean by 'moderate coal remaining on top' of the burn-out fire?? I'm not sure what this means.. Unburnt coal remaining on top of the ash? Is this coal burnt through, but just hasn't crumbled to powder?? Try breaking or crushing some of this coal..

Greg L

uffbros wrote:It was 84° in here and the pipe was 220°.

IMO...waaaayy too hot on the stack. I can run so my basement is at 80* and the upstairs is at 74* and I can put my hand on the stovepipe and lean there for five minutes.

All your heat is going up the chimney. You are pushing it hard to get the room temp you want and all that pea coal is turning to ash and choking itself out.

Get yourself a baro ASAP and you'll be much happier.

1/4 turn will reduce my stove body temps by 100° or more ... and my draft is AVERAGE.

Ok I came home today and it was 82° in the house and for the first time I didn't have to rebuild...I opened the door and in 2 minutes the fire was alive and I added just a little more coal because it is too hot in the house but I don't want to lose the fire. So the 1/4 turn of the draft got me at least to not have to rebuild.So I am now at 1.25 turns of the draft. There was still good coal on top,very little mind ya, but enough to sustain the fire till I got home. I am already at the lowest settings so how can I control the temp in the house? If I let the thing get real low on fire then I lose the fire and have to restart. I know less air should produce less heat but I am already at lowest setting without putting the fire out. I got a baro damper on the way home and they are going to install it on Friday. What else can I do to reduce the room temp? 72° to 75° would be just fine. Not bitching now..at least It stayed lit today..but then again it was 45° here today. Thanks for all your great responses.

uffbros wrote:Ok I came home today and it was 82° in the house .....So I am now at 1.25 turns of the draft. .... I am already at the lowest settings so how can I control the temp in the house? ...

I don't know how you can say that you are at the "lowest setting" and your house is 82??
Obviously, you are not at the lowest setting. You have a pretty hot fire going, OR, your house is only 12 X 12.

You've never mentioned your "stove" temp... what is it on the side about 6 inches down, or the stove front?
Just take the one off your stack, and put it on the stove to check it out.
220 on the stack isn't insane, if your stove is 550-600 on the side.

By all means, controlling your draft will help a ton.
But the Baro will only help if you have too much.

Lowest setting I can go on draft so it stays lit when I'm away for 9 hours it is???? Thats my question..How can I make it not so hot? Right now as I type my house thermometer says 80°...The stack is 180°....The side is 310°...and the draft I let at the 1.25 turn as anything lower the fire was out or almost out when I got home after 9 hours from banking in off.

Just to repeat what has been said before, get a barometric damper and a manometer to set it and you will get a longer burn, temps will probably be a little lower and you will use less coal.

Just curious, what is the description of the house you are heating? (sqft, insulation, windows, stove location, etc.) I am impressed you are able to keep it up at 80+*.

Turn the air down to 1 turn, watch the stack thermometer. If it drops below 120-150*, then open the air by an 1/8 or 1/4 turn to keep the fire going.. Each stove and chimney is different, so you may be surprised and your stove will burn with 3/4 or 1 turn. Only your experimentation will tell.

Make sure you follow each air adjustment with several [written down] temp readings.. this way you can look back and duplicate your results next heating season.

Once you get your baro installed, it is most likely that your air settings will change. So having some baseline air and temp parameters written down will help you figure out your new adjustments.

Greg L

The house is approx 1200 square feet. I have the stove right in the living room. This is a one story ranch type home. It was built in 1949 and I just bought it 1 month ago. I have no idea if it is even insulated. It has 7 windows measuring 43X64 that runs along the one side of the house and they are thermopane. previous owner didn't know. As stated in my previous..I just bought a baro today and it will be installed friday. I am listening. Thanks.

From the size of the house, thermopane windows and the location of the stove I don't doubt that it is as warm as you say. Can you say "window-stat"??

I am also presently working through the burn time and comfort zone balance for some new coal.

Our stove is in the unfinished basement of our 2000+ sqft ranch and it was 75* in the LR a little while ago when I opened the door to the 3 season porch to thermal dump a little. I am trying to dial in the settings for a new batch of Blaschak coal. My spinner is at about 3/4 turn and the baro is open keeping the draft at about .04. The stack temp is about 190*. I am trying to dial in the settings for this coal compared to the Centralia Coal Co. stuff I had been burning. The burn time is about the same, but it seems to be throwing out more heat. Although that is probably due to me cleaning the ash off the baffle plate on Friday allowing for better heat transfer rather than the different coal.

310* stove body temp is not low...
My Mark II would run 150-180 as a low temp...
If it got to 120* I coud still recover but did not need it that low...
Nut coal, baro and some time will have the house temp under control...
Is your fan running...

I kept my whole house somewhat warm with a Mark I for 3 years ... so I'm just surprised your house isn't 90°+!

I've got about 1,600 sq ft not including basement, which is a massive heat sink of dirt, concrete, fieldstone, & water ... and several gaps to open air (& a stream of rodents), that is unaccessable for repair. Once you leave that nightmare & go to the 1st floor, the bathroom & TV room have enough air leaks & poor insulating practices that it feels like a few windows are open. Venture upstairs & you feel a breeze inside when the wind blows. Fiberglass insulation is mashed right against the roof sheathing with luan paneling nailed over it -- no sheetrock, no plaster. All windows in the house are modern double-pane ... but they fell off the bamboo barge at $5 each (previous owner bought & installed), & all of them leak air, & are constantly wet with condensation.

In short, this place is hopeless & in dire need of a fire ..... or bulldozer. It was what I could afford in the great state of MA ....

But anyway ...... now I understand why your house is in the 80's! Just keep turning that dial in 1/4 turn at a time. I have had my stove down to 120° on the sides. At that point you can barely feel heat coming off, & it's not very efficient ... and there will be no flame -- just dull red showing under the top layer ... but you would be alot more comfortable

My only advice would be to purchase a different stove that is designed to burn bit or sub-bit and load it up. I can load my stove up just right and usually get a 12 hr burn out of it. Try bigger coal chunks. They tend to burn longer though not applicable in a hopper, you will get a much longer burn time than with that smaller stuff. Bit is usually cheaper too.

I'm surprised, too, that you can only go that low on your stove. With my Mark II I routine burn it at 125 or 150* and I still get 78 to 80* room temps. I remember when I was first starting I didn't realize that sometimes the fire just looks dead - no blue ladies dancing - but the coal bed is putting out the heat. I got a 24 hour burn this week end burning at 150* with no problem using pea coal. Continued best wishes, Lisa