WARM WEATHER BURNING TIPS and TRICKS

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ONEDOLLAR
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Post by ONEDOLLAR » Wed. Mar. 11, 2015 1:19 pm

WARM WEATHER BURNING TIPS and TRICKS

With the warmer weather upon us here are some tips for maintaining the fire. Spring time can be tough. Often temps during the day don't really call for much heat but night time temps can drop to well below freezing. As such draft can and will suffer as anthracite coal doesn't like to burn as well when temps start approaching the 50f mark.

So with that in mind here are some basic tips to help you "Keep the Fire Burning" (hat tip Kevin Cronin and REO SPEEDWAGON) now that Spring seems to be here....

Please feel free to share any tips you may have as well.
:D :idea:

Basic Tips for Early Fall and Spring Burning...

1) Give the fire more air.

2) Open the damper... This combined with #1 helps increase draft / chimney heat. This also helps send excess heat up the Chimney so you won't bake yourself out of the house.

3) Crack a window away from the stove. This can help two fold..1) Helps introduce air (ie draft) into the house and can help level the temperature in the house if needed. Sometimes called a "Windowstat".

4) AS ALWAYS make sure you have at least 1 working CO detector in the house.

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Wed. Mar. 11, 2015 1:33 pm

If the fire is on its last leg and Im afraid its going out, I throw some wood pellets on top of the red coals to revive it. A thin layer which will take right off, then a thicker layer with a small amount of coal on top of that. Give it air. At least pellets are good for something!

 
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michaelanthony
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Post by michaelanthony » Wed. Mar. 11, 2015 1:45 pm

Do not shake as often. My Vigilant is coasting, griddle temp is 202* :eek2: I have never seen it that low but I like it. I have not loaded any fresh coal or have shaked the grates since Monday evening, the extra ash along with window stats is helping.


 
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davidmcbeth3
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Post by davidmcbeth3 » Wed. Mar. 11, 2015 2:28 pm

I've had zero problems with my Hitzer 503 in getting the top center plate to be at a constant 120F, then open it up and it comes back to being a high heating stove (350-450F).

Just by closing the vents down...

Right now she's at 275F and its 75F inside~away from stove~same level ... outside its 43F.

I just lowered her down a bit....75F is nice but burning more coal than is needed is not...

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Thu. Mar. 12, 2015 5:47 am

My trick is pretty cool, and it's been the holy Grail for me to get thru warm days so that I can rev it up in the evening to keep us warm thru the night. Mainly the trouble was having draft failures due to my outside block chimney and then getting coal exhaust in the house, but that don't happen anymore. You guys have seen me bring this up before but thought I would post it here also.

During warm days I cut the primary air down to just a sliver. Then I open up the secondary air. During a low slow fire, the excessive secondary air doesn't contribute much to any coal combustion but instead it becomes extra heated air mass that helps the draft keep moving along. Works awesome.. :)

 
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warminmn
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Joined: Tue. Feb. 08, 2011 5:59 pm
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Junior, Efel Nestor Martin, Riteway 37
Coal Size/Type: nut and stove anthracite, lignite
Other Heating: Wood and wear a wool shirt

Post by warminmn » Thu. Mar. 12, 2015 8:18 am

Lightning wrote:My trick is pretty cool, and it's been the holy Grail for me to get thru warm days so that I can rev it up in the evening to keep us warm thru the night. Mainly the trouble was having draft failures due to my outside block chimney and then getting coal exhaust in the house, but that don't happen anymore. You guys have seen me bring this up before but thought I would post it here also.

During warm days I cut the primary air down to just a sliver. Then I open up the secondary air. During a low slow fire, the excessive secondary air doesn't contribute much to any coal combustion but instead it becomes extra heated air mass that helps the draft keep moving along. Works awesome.. :)
Ive done this too but Im still a rookie with the idea. It did seem to work. Ive got the option of a smaller stove which is a great option too.

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