Stove Damage From Wood Fires?

I was told there are no stupid questions...so go easy . I was wondering if having wood fires in a coal stove would damage the stove. I know from my own experience my wood fires seem to burn a bit more ferocious then my coal fires. It may just be my setup.

Old or new ? Many of the early stoves were built to burn both. Some even came with a "wood plate" that would be placed over the coal grates to make burning wood better. Some coal ranges could use a "summer plate" that did the same thing.

Most of the coal/wood kitchen ranges I see for sale have wood only type grates, or the flatter type wood/coal grates, instead of the triangular coal grates. Those triangular work very well for coal, ok for wood and are tough to find.

As far as damage, I'd say if the stove doesn't get damaged during a start up, then it's no more likely during "proper" operation.

I think the more likely danger is from an inexperianced user. Some who are used to burning wood only, don't realize that like a coal stove the ashes should never be allowed to get up to the grates. The previous owner of my range was a wood burner who very likely only had experience with the old air-tight wood stoves. It was run on wood only, and slowly. It was loaded all over inside with a thick layer of tarry creosote and it had a warped grate from not cleaning ash out regularly.

Paul

I think that depends of how the stove is made, what type of material, and quality. Now matter what type of stove you have, if you over fire it; it will warp. I burned would for years and ran a thermostat on it and it had a wood burning peak temp on it. I used extremely dry wood so I didn't need to get the fire roaring, I kept between 350-450 and cleaned out ash routinely, I never had a problem with warped grates. I did have a problem with the burn times. I got tired of doing the stove at 11:00pm and being wide awake right before bed and then waking up and getting ready with a cold house, reviving the fire. With a big old farm house, the stove needed to run at least 400-450 in the dead of winter, maybe got 5 hours of quality burn time. I now wake up with a warm house, we do the coal stoves between 8-9 and don't really have to touch them until noon the next day. We just do a quick shake down every 12 hours during the week as it's easier with getting kids ready for school. Our steady heat output doesn't require over-firing to get the temps up. One of my friends owns Sackett Fireplace and Stove Company and he said he finds most of his customers damage stoves because they over-fire them. He thinks it's because many wood users don't truly burn seasoned wood, typically 6 months isn't long enough time to season so they burn it hotter longer to get the moisture out of the wood before shutting it down.

I'm burning in a coal chubby and usually have wood fires this time of year. Just didn't want to risk damaging the stove. I had a problem with warped grates last season and thought it may have been from wood fires. After posting on here I found out it may actually have been from over shaking the fire and allowing hot coals to rest on the grates. I've since kept a nice layer of ash on the grates. Time will tell.

A friend of mine with a Clayton like mine horribly deformed his grates by running hot wood fires in it. I would surely use caution with wood..

Wood fires can get hot enough to cause problems. During my learning curve period, I melted the back pipe divider plate on my stove. Now I know better.

Wait a minute. I don't get it. I thought coal burned much hotter than wood. How is a pile of wood sitting on the grates hotter than a pile of coal?

joeq wrote:Wait a minute. I don't get it. I thought coal burned much hotter than wood. How is a pile of wood sitting on the grates hotter than a pile of coal?

The only explantion I can think of is that the coal fire has cooling air coming from below while the wood fire is fed air mostly from above.

franco b wrote:

joeq wrote:Wait a minute. I don't get it. I thought coal burned much hotter than wood. How is a pile of wood sitting on the grates hotter than a pile of coal?

The only explantion I can think of is that the coal fire has cooling air coming from below while the wood fire is fed air mostly from above.

I agree. Especially if there is a deep bed of burning embers and not much ash on the grates.

Some of the stoves came with a wood burning plate that sat over the grates. It's possible that like the cast iron firebox liners used in wood burning ranges, that are there to protect the stove castings, the wood plate may have also been used to help shield the grates ?

Paul

Also, I've noticed a coal fire creates a bed of ash on the grates which helps insulate then from the heat. A wood fire seems to keep the flame directly on the grates. Once the wood ashes up it falls right through the grates, so not much ash in the way of insulation.

I have a set of old cracked/ warped grates for my stove. I plan on using these when I burn wood, then I'll swap them out when I switch to coal.

I agree.. it's a combination of both. With my first lighting of my furnace, the grates glow bright orange to the point it worries me. After the first day, coal ash has settled on the grates, protecting them and I don't ever see them get that hot again.

Then like franco b said, the primary and secondary air mixtures are different.

So are you saying that wood ash is denser than coal ash? When a wood pile burns, it makes a bed of hot embers like coal, but it doesn't allow as much air around them? I know when I burn logs in the metal fire pit outside, in the back yard, the bottom vent always clogs with ash, yet the fire still burns anyway.

I would say coal ash is much denser than wood ash. Coal produces about 10 times more ash than wood does. I would think that combustion air has an easier time getting thru wood ash than coal ash.

I have a dual fuel stove and I've never had any issues with burning either wood or coal in it. Total non-issue.

Lightning wrote:A friend of mine with a Clayton like mine horribly deformed his grates by running hot wood fires in it. I would surely use caution with wood..

I also should have added that he let ash pile up too high in the ash pan which choked off any primary air from cooling the grate towards the back of the furnace. He was also trying to heat 4000 sq ft with an appliance designed for 2500-3000. He tried coal but, due to neglect and expectations, that didn't work out well either.