Will it go out?

Am I chancing putting my fire out. I have most all air but just a little cut down and the damper cut to about1/2. The stove temp is down to 200* and has been steady for a while there. I plan on leaving the house for a while and was wondering if you think I have choked the fire too much and chance putting it out, I am just learning how to control this stove and am curious as to how low I can go without dousing the flames.

Hi Bruce - difficult to guess just how your set up will react to low burn rates. A important part of your question's equation would be your draft and how well your set up maintains minimal draw under warm conditions. Do you have a working manometer installed and, if so, what is it reading now that the stove is idling at 200*

Last season I had my DS 1600 down to around 135° running on Pea. But I did have the help of the draft inducer running on low. This season, I've added 2’ to my chimney, pulled the SS liner out and added a new throat plate. I don't have the inducer this season as there was no room for it. I'm curious how well my stove will draw as well.

I'd say as long as you've got good draw on your chimney you should be fine. But like Vig said it'd be easier to help you out if we knew if you had a draft gauge and what the stove is pulling at 200°.

No I have none of that fancy stuff but it does seem to have very good draw on the flue and just the fact that the temp stayed steady at 200 Indicates to me that maybe the fire is idling. Anyway I've already left the house and I guess if it goes out ill try again, no biggy

As mentioned above, hard to guess.. Really depends if the draft stays consistent or if it looses some as the temp outside comes up a little, as the day go on. This is where a manometer and barometric damper do their magic Also, how well the coal bed has been shook down. In a nutshell, its a matter of keeping a steady flow of air coming up threw the coal bed, thats what maintains a fire..

well I made it back home and the stove temp is around 175, no blue flames just red coal can be seen in the lower portion of the bed. So I guess i have found a good low burn rate idle position, and am very happy so far with the ease of adjustment with the DS stove. Its about 22 hours since I lit it off and though it is mild out I am only 3 inches of coal down from where I topped it off yesterday, of course once the real cold comes that will change.

You can get it even lower I'd bet. My Harmon will idle down to about 125. It burns for 48 hours without any attention.

Make sure you get it going good before you shake it down. It will just snuff it if you do it too soon.

well I decided to see just how low a temp I can go.....and I got it so low it is now room temp . Do I need to shovel it out to restart or can I start a wood fire on top of the coal bed.

Wood fire on top.

Thanks, will do