How to Light a Hand Fired Coal Stove

well I am a "woman" so I may not know what is going on as much *lol* but we are both learning on how to start the fire & slowly add the coal on with flames still roaring! I've been reading quite a bit on here, so obviously I understand it's a learning experience; depending on stove, chimney, coal,etc. thanks!

Oh I am sure you know just as much about fire as your man does.

it wont take long for the coal to start burning and glowing red if the wood starter fire is roaring.

the bigest mistake early coal folks sometimes make is that of having the fire choke out from lack of air thru the coal. now this is 6-12 hours from now,after the full burning coal bed is already estabilished.

add coal after the previous addition is burning, continue till a full even burn is going, then load it up to the top of the fire brick. coal does best when its a deep bed.

Ha; Thanks! Yea the fire starter along with some 2x4's were roaring for about 10 minutes & we've been downstairs slowly adding coal on for the past 25 minutes! It's just not catching the best on the sides! I hope it stays lit over night and doesn't choke!

Luckily, you only have to light the fire once or twice a year depending on the maintenance you choose to do during the season. It won't be long until you are a member of the "one match" club, too. My fire has been burning since mid-Nov and I expect to go until mid April with no problem. Do you have at least a stove front thermometer? That will speed you're learning process along a little faster. You will be able to see the relationship of the amount of air input to the amount of heat generated easier. Knowing that is key to maximizing your stove's output. Trust me you'll soon be producing so much heat you'll be throwing the windows open and pulling out the summer clothes. Try keeping a log of your coal burning; it will help you not to reinventing the wheel every time you notice something going on that's different with the stove; I'd bet you've seen it before but just can't recall. Anyway, welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of coal! Lisa

Thanks Lisa; No we didn't get the thermometer yet; I've been repeating that to him alot tonight that we need one! *lol* will venture out sometime over the next couple of days so that way we will know about the heat! Yes; I know what you mean about opening windows & doors, my dad does that now! ha; It won't be getting that hott in here. I'm still confused about keeping it going throughout the whole season; seems odd.. haha like I said this is all new to me!! durr..

thanks-Michelle.

coal cracker SE wrote: It's just not catching the best on the sides! I hope it stays lit over night and doesn't choke!

Try leaving your ash pan door open for a couple of minutes - set a timer so you don't forget it's open. The blue ladies will show up in no time and really get the coal going all over. Once you have the coal to the "top of the fire bricks" and see the fire burning well, close the door and adjust your air intake valve. I have a Mark II, too. I set the air intake at 1 full turn on most nights to get a room temp of 72* but I'm south of you so you may have to open yours more depending on the outside temp and the distance you want the heat to travel. In the morning, shake the stove - short, choppy stokes - reload coal and enjoy the heat.

Just a note - the Harman is famous for allowing the user to "dump" the fire by over extending the sweep of the shaker handle. That's why short choppy strokes are best. Some Harman users mark the safe movement zone of the shaker handle in chalk on the side of the stove until they become more practiced. If the shaker bar jams, stop shaking and come back later; the blockage will have burned up and then you can safely shake the stove without dumping unburned coal or the fire. One day soon you'll be kicking yourself for not having gotten into coal sooner. Take care, Lisa

Thanks for all the tips! He lit it 1hr & 1/2 ago & its almost to the top of the firebrick and going good. Hopefully it will stay lit for awhile now.

bet its still going....??

yes; It was still going but after he shook the ashes down; didn't let it get hott enough b4 adding more coal... now we're trying other methods of starting. :/ learning this stove is SO much FUN!!!! *LOL*

yes it is!! can be a chilling experience!!

maybe shook to much? or as Lisa suggested to far with the shaker? if stroked to far its my understanding the grates will dump the whole bed.... thus losing the red hot remenants neccessary to continue the cycle to the new coal. OR yaual'l waited to long and there wasnt enough hot stuff to "chain" lite the new...

us humans learn best by watching and copying or trial and error. but learn we do so

keep up the good job of learning and asking questions!! you become great teachers in no time!

coal cracker SE wrote:yes; It was still going but after he shook the ashes down; didn't let it get hott enough b4 adding more coal... now we're trying other methods of starting. :/ learning this stove is SO much FUN!!!! *LOL*

I was in your shoes last year at this time - if I hadn't found this forum I'd have put the stove on craigslist! But, once I totally surrendered to the experts here and followed what they told me to a T, it worked. Have had very little frustration with the stove this year and am consistently warm!

Having grown up with a woodstove, my mantra last year became "it's NOT wood" said MANY times a day. :~)

You'll get there!

~Rebecca

Coal is for thinkers. You cannot man handle coal because it will quickly tell you who is boss. My sister taught herself years ago how to keep her Russo going. Her husband killed it every time he went near it. Patince is a virtue, especially with coal.

You can make an inexpensive fire starter using a cardboard egg carton. Fill each egg holder with lint from your dryer. Melt some old candles and put some over each lump of dryer wax. When you start the fire, put one or two of these in with some small kindling and (if you have a stoker and use rice) a small amount of rice coal. Light the egg holder, start the blower and patiently wait while the kindling starts. Add another small amount of coal. Build up a good bed of hot coals and start the feeder. If you have a hand fired stove, just add small amounts of coal as the coal bed builds. Patience is the key. You'll have a good fire in about 30 minutes.

To avoid smothering the bottom layer of coal, make sure you put the coal in the back of the fire box, leaving about a 2-3" band of red coals showing in the front. Hard coal likes to burn up on a bank anyway. Put on the draft and back it down when it's burning good.

coal cracker SE wrote:well I am a "woman" so I may not know what is going on as much *lol* but we are both learning on how to start the fire & slowly add the coal on with flames still roaring! I've been reading quite a bit on here, so obviously I understand it's a learning experience; depending on stove, chimney, coal,etc. thanks!

Hi, I made a small video with my daughter on a 24 Hrs period stove maintenance. Not a perfect video but I hope it can help. A picture worth a lot of words...
Salutations