Your Shaking/Refill Intervals?

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Fri. Dec. 09, 2011 7:27 pm

With the Mark III & good coal I go 24 hours. Longer in warmer weather, shorter in colder weather. On warm days I can go 30 hours without touching it.

SteveZee · Post by **SteveZee** » Sat. Dec. 10, 2011 11:07 am

I try to keep it simple and 12/12 works well for the Herald although it could easily go longer. The kitchen cookstove is more of an 8hr stove. I can get 12hrs in milder climes but at 8hr tends it doesn't skip a beat and has virtually no recovery time.

musikfan6 · Post by **musikfan6** » Sat. Dec. 10, 2011 11:34 am

Greetings Folks. It's been a while since I've checked in (complications in my life right now...)

I get up at 5:30 and shake down. My wife does a very brief shakedown at noon, and then I usually will shake down at night around 10:30 before bed. I also fill the hopper at this time. However, with the colder weather, I'm burning faster like most. I keep my stove set around 3 at night because then it burns slower. If I set my dial too high, I actually have to get up in the middle of the night to shake down, or my coals are kind of "weak" in the morning.

dlj · Post by **dlj** » Sat. Dec. 10, 2011 12:08 pm

I shake down in the morning before leaving for work. I'll usually shake down in the evening sometime, depends on when I feel like it. I could probably go to once a day, but I like how the stove runs at twice a day. I don't back the stove down at night, the women in my house like to wake up to a warm house...

dj

CoalHeat · Post by **CoalHeat** » Sat. Dec. 10, 2011 2:03 pm

I shake and fill the Mark I twice a day. I pack the firebox as full as possible, sloping it up towards the back of the stove. I run the underfire air 2/3 to 1 1/4 turn open, depending on the heat requirements. Harmony coal rocks!!

offcoursey · Post by **offcoursey** » Sun. Dec. 11, 2011 9:13 am

I use the 12 hour plan. On days that I work it is more like 14/8. I give a light shake in the morning and a shovel full of stove, take ash pan out to cool in the cellarway. Evening, the ash pan is emptied and the stove gets a big shake and loaded to the top. I do this if the stove is at 300* or 600*.

nortcan · Post by **nortcan** » Sun. Dec. 11, 2011 9:57 am

Wood'nCoal wrote:I shake and fill the Mark I twice a day. I pack the firebox as full as possible, sloping it up towards the back of the stove. I run the underfire air 2/3 to 1 1/4 turn open, depending on the heat requirements. Harmony coal rocks!!

Very nice avatar photo. I like the blues!

CoalHeat · Post by **CoalHeat** » Sun. Dec. 11, 2011 10:34 am

Thanks!

VigIIPeaBurner · Post by **VigIIPeaBurner** » Sun. Dec. 11, 2011 10:57 am

nortcan wrote:
Wood'nCoal wrote:I shake and fill the Mark I twice a day. I pack the firebox as full as possible, sloping it up towards the back of the stove. I run the underfire air 2/3 to 1 1/4 turn open, depending on the heat requirements. Harmony coal rocks!!
Very nice avatar photo. I like the blues!

Yes W'nC, nice pic! The blue reminds me of the Ford blue in your previous tractor avatar. Nice job cranking that fire up

Staying on topic, I'm doing one thorough shake in the evening. I do a very light shake about 8 hours later before going to work in the AM just to make a little more room for a few more pounds of coal. My stove is small and runs nearly full out most of the time so when it's cold I like it topped off before I leave. It runs fine like this for 24 + hrs. I have to add that I'm running UAE nut . It's the quality of UAE coal that makes it go the distance this way. When I ran Redding, I had to shake and refill at 14-18 hours.

RHarhen · Post by **RHarhen** » Sun. Dec. 11, 2011 5:42 pm

Was up hiking over the weekend and stove was left for 36 hours without any shaking or refilling. Came home and the house was still warm and the bed of coals was still glowing, used about 30lbs of coal. Couldn't have been happier with the outcome. Usually I tend to the stove every 12 hours.

I'm On Fire · Post by **I'm On Fire** » Mon. Dec. 12, 2011 8:42 am

Between 12-14 hours when the temps are 20-40 and 10-12 when it's -0+/-.

cowentz · Post by **cowentz** » Thu. Dec. 15, 2011 4:50 pm

Last year I shook and refilled twice a day about every 12 hours. This year I have been on a 24 - 28hr schedule.

oros35 · Post by **oros35** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2011 8:45 am

I could do every 12 hours or more, but it's usually closer to 8-10 hours. Before I leave for work, when I get home, and before bed. Mostly because I like checking on it. Also if I top it off more often, each check is shorter because recovery time is quicker. I'll usually spend no more than 5-10 minutes tending it.

And I'm running wide open 24/7 when it's cold. Draft doors wide open in baseburner mode. 450-550 on the barrel temp. Supplementing 3K sqft, and the regular heat doesn't come on until daytime highs are in the low 30's.

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2011 8:49 am

Soooo, basically what we've got here is an overwhelming 12 & 12 winner! (winter schedule)

Who-da-thunk-it

Vinmaker · Post by **Vinmaker** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2011 10:21 am

freetown fred wrote:Soooo, basically what we've got here is an overwhelming 12 & 12 winner! (winter schedule) Who-da-thunk-it

Yeah. Pretty much.

I guess I am too much of a micro manager. I just love to tend the stove.

Or maybe I am a pyromaniac. lol.