Being new to coal burning as my primary source of heat, I have no experience with warm weather coal burning. It’s supposed to get into the 50s here this weekend. I don’t want to melt my house down if possible…
I have a hand fired Hotblast 1557. Most of you probably know the type of stove I’m talking about. But just to make sure, here’s how it’s setup. It has a large fire-box (70lbs of coal). It has independent primary and secondary controls. I have a baro damper on my setup and no MPD. I burn KY bit. Big lumps. I have huge draft. It’s hard for me to keep it under .06/.07 without having the baro wide open (I regularly see .25 on the mano after reloading). That makes it easy to get a fire going… LOL
I know that the draft will likely decrease with warmer outside temps.
Currently (keep in mind that it’s been cold. Low teens to mid and upper twenties) I load the firebox to the top with bit, open the secondary air control wide open and leave the ash pan door open for a few minutes to get her burning good. Then shut the door and leave the primary open about two and a half turns. That gets the bit easily to 600+ temps and will hold between 500 and 600 degrees for a couple of hours and then slowly drop back from there. I usually shut the secondary down to low about an hour or so into the burn. Been getting 12 hour burns like this. That’s beautiful for cold weather. Keeps the house in the mid-seventies.
As you all know, bit likes over the fire air early in the burn. That also makes a lot of heat. My thought is to only load about half as much coal, leave the ash pan door shut and maybe run the primary control somewhere between half open and one full turn open. Maybe leave the load door open for a few minutes and let the coal try and start off a little slower if that makes sense. Then shut the load door and keep the secondary about half open?? Hoping to avoid any puff backs. If possible, I’d like to only ramp up to around 400 to 425 degrees…not making it so hot. My assumption is that that will create a lot of soot. But, that may just be something I’ll have to live with and clean…
Just from my limited experience, it seems when I don’t really ramp that temp up to get a good fire going, the bit doesn’t burn very completely. As a result, not as long. Is that typical of the characteristics of bit?
I know all systems and setups have their own tendencies. AND, I’m going to have to see what works best for mine. But any input to get me headed in the right direction will be greatly appreciated!
Warm Weather Bit Burning Advice…
- Ky Speedracer
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- Location: Middletown, Kentucky
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Florence HotBlast NO.68 & Potbelly
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: HotBlast 1557M
- Coal Size/Type: Ky Lump & Anthracite Nut
- Other Heating: Oil
- SWPaDon
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- Location: Southwest Pa.
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Clayton 1600M
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Not only are all systems and setups different, but every type of bit coal is different also. But in a nutshell, you will need to close the primary more and open the secondaries more on warmer days. A lot of times, we will just let the fire go out, and restart another in 2 days. The bit I use starts fairly easily, but you have the big lumps, yours may be different.
I have kept hot coals in mine, for two days, by closing the primary way down. Then when I need, I can just shake a little, sprinkle a little fine coal on, leave the ash door open and it starts.
Just experiment, see what works for you.
I have kept hot coals in mine, for two days, by closing the primary way down. Then when I need, I can just shake a little, sprinkle a little fine coal on, leave the ash door open and it starts.
Just experiment, see what works for you.
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I use slack coal when not much heat is needed have not had any problems since I got a ton of it last month.
went 2 days last week when it was mild outside on a coal hod full.
went 2 days last week when it was mild outside on a coal hod full.
- Ky Speedracer
- Member
- Posts: 492
- Joined: Sun. Dec. 21, 2014 9:38 pm
- Location: Middletown, Kentucky
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Florence HotBlast NO.68 & Potbelly
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: HotBlast 1557M
- Coal Size/Type: Ky Lump & Anthracite Nut
- Other Heating: Oil
Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll work the the primary and secondary adjustments to see how she reacts.
If it goes out so be it... This coal is very easy to start as well as long as you have some flame. Doesn't have to be much. If I can keep a small bed of hot coals for a day or so, then I can probably just throw some little pieces of kindling on it and it will fire right back up.
Damn the warm weather... LOL
If it goes out so be it... This coal is very easy to start as well as long as you have some flame. Doesn't have to be much. If I can keep a small bed of hot coals for a day or so, then I can probably just throw some little pieces of kindling on it and it will fire right back up.
Damn the warm weather... LOL
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- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Currently a Warm Morning 414 A. Previously had a Hot Blast 1321
- Coal Size/Type: To Be Determined
- Other Heating: propane
I also hand fire only a smaller version of HotBlast. On the warm days I just build a smaller fire. Keep it deep like always, not spread out. Cut all air way way down once it is burning. Its not as efficient and will only get about 8hrs max. But its still plenty of heat and can always crack open a window or two if need be.
- Ky Speedracer
- Member
- Posts: 492
- Joined: Sun. Dec. 21, 2014 9:38 pm
- Location: Middletown, Kentucky
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Florence HotBlast NO.68 & Potbelly
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: HotBlast 1557M
- Coal Size/Type: Ky Lump & Anthracite Nut
- Other Heating: Oil
Thanks for the feedback Smitty.Smitty275 wrote:I also hand fire only a smaller version of HotBlast. On the warm days I just build a smaller fire. Keep it deep like always, not spread out. Cut all air way way down once it is burning. Its not as efficient and will only get about 8hrs max. But its still plenty of heat and can always crack open a window or two if need be.
It's been about a week since I first posted this and I have actually learned quite a bit.
The weather here as been mild during the days (50 to 55) but still cool at night (26 to 32). Kind of tough conditions for maintaining a bit fire. The first day I cut back on fuel some but not enough. The house temp went 80+ degrees. The second day I cut back to much. The fire went out. (which is actually okay because I inspected my flue pipe, cleaned it and it allowed me to make a modification to the fire-box that I wanted to try. I double lined it with fire brick. I'll post more about that on my thread "Newbie burning KY bit in a Hotblast 1557m" later). I started a new fire but built it in the center of the fire-box and made it deep, like you said. This worked fairly well but also as you indicated, it didn't last very long. The temp dropped really quick and it only burned about 2/3rds of the coal. I think to much air was going around the coal bed. So, what I did was build a hot shallow fire across the entire grate and let it burn down until I had a nice bed of glowing coke and pile it in the center. Put a shallow layer of fresh coal to the back and add a another shallow layer fresh in the front and then stack a deep, kind of narrow pile in the middle over top of the hot coals (taking my time not to smother it). Essentially "banking" but in the center instead of on one end or the other. I let the center pile start to burn fairly well and then shut down the secondary almost completely closed. Just leave it open a crack. Maybe 1/16 of an inch. Leave the primary open about 3 turns. The stove temp will still climb to about 450 degrees but it stays there for 2 or 3 hours and then slowly drops back to 250/275 (that's a lot better than the 650 degree temp I get with a full load). The house still gets up around 77 (which is warm during the day when it's 50 outside but nice at night) but the fire will last 11 to 12 hours. Then, I shake her down, push and pull all the hot coals to the center and "bank" again. So far so good.
When the night time temps get to where they stay up in the upper 30s I'll probably just let her burn out. Our house is just to well insulated I guess and holds the heat for a long time.