Too many coals

Ash pan on the PH is very well built.. Even has roller bearings that the door latch arms ride closed on... They didn't skimp on the ash pan set up.. Simple, nothing to really have issues with...

 

I'm finding that black locust sits in the coal state a really long time. Note to self: only do the dinnertime load with ash and maple so I can turn in (overnight load) by 11: PM. Heheh.

 

Here's the roller bearing on the ash door, one on each side... Woodstock did not skimp on this part of the stove either...

 

I opened the door for a while and also noticed those coals throw alot more heat with the door wide open but makes me nervious as something can pop out of there. I usually just crack the door and the coals light up nicely but doesnt throw the heat like the door wide open.

This morning I ended up just shoveling some of the hot coals into the ash bucket and carrying them out to my ash dump. As I needed to get to work and had to get the stove fully loaded. Its still -8 here.

My stove is a bit undersized and it takes everything I have to keep the temps up in -8 weather. It was 67 in the house when I got up this morning even with me loading the stove up again at 2:30 am. Wind chills are like -30.

 

Ahhhhhh, but you are a true wood burner

 

Why not just load fresh wood onto hot coals? Why does everyone wait to burn down the coals anyway? When it's cold, like now, I can rake the coals (just to get the ash to fall thru to a span), and the load the stove. You just shut down the stove faster than normall, that's all. Works fine for me.

Normally, I do burn down to almost nothing, but only because otherwise I will have to much heat. When cold, I just reload per schedule and disregard what's left in the stove.

 

I need to burn down coals as my stove will not hold very much wood with 5 inches deep coals. Next time I buy a stove I need to get one with extra capacity. But I like that I am burning less wood using a smaller sized stove. Coaling seems to happen during very cold temps and thats when you need maximum wood loads in your stove.

 

The problem I have with that is that too many coals take up usable wood space in the stove, thus decreasing the burn time and amount of usable heat I get out of the load. This is a big deal for me since I need every bit of heat out of the stove for my night load and morning load before work. That's the reason this thread was started. During coaling the amount of BTU's we get out of our stoves is much less than during peak burn. That's why we are discussing the best way to coal down while still reloading hot and get as much wood space for the longest, hottest burn possible during the coldest of temps.

 

I love coals especially when they get so deep you have to remove a hot bucket of them, love it when they hit the snow and start steaming. Fun times.

 

I haven't done it yet this winter, but I've been known to just get a little bit of an attitude toward too many coals and simply shovel 'em out of there so I can stuff the stove with another load. Lately I just open the side door and let the heat blast out while the coals burn down, it takes around 20 minutes to a half hour to burn 'em down this way.

 

Throwing coals away is just outright WRONG! Think of all the work you put into buying tools, finding wood, bucking it, splitting it, hauling it, stacking it, seasoning it/storing it, the moving into shed, then into stove room, then into the stove.... Then your going to remove it before it is done and still giving off heat?

 

Good Point but I am guilty of shoveling coals myself. But you got to do what you got to do.

 

Exactly, I don't do it very often but at -30 below wind chills I am not going to worry about being politically correct.

 

That's a shame you have to throw coals out... that same big nuisance coal bed gets me at least 3 hours of 500 degree stove temps from my PH... But if your out of room to load you do what you have to... My QuadraFire 5700 left me like that at times, big coal bed waiting to come out over the lip of the door.. Now I know I like a coal grate in a woodstove...just keep adding wood...

 

Thats a factor we should tell people who are choosing stoves is how deep can the coal bed be as a coal bed is an asset. I know thats gonna be a factor for me on my next stove is how deep the coal bed can be as in how deeps is the stove. My lip on my stove is only a couple 2-3 inch high to hold the coals back. Plus I want an option of north/south and east/west loading. My stove now is only a east west loading stove.

 

I would seriously consider a stove with an ash grate that you can rake the ashes through the grate... Then there are zero issues adding wood.. You'd be surprise how much smaller the actual coal bed winds up being, once all the ashes are raked away... I know My Esse cookstove has to be shoveled out , no ash pan with the big wood box insert,, I hate shoveling that thing out.. I usually rake all my coals forward on the next load until after about 3 days I break down and shovel out the least amount of coals I can with the rest of the ash... That stove has a beautiful coal grate set up and super nice ash pan, deep.. Using that limits the amount of wood I can get in the stove by two or so splits, so I use the firewood box for burning wood...
Here's the nice ash pan and heavy grates for my Esse Cook Stove . But they are for burning coal..Takes up too much room for a wood load..

 

I have one but some times with way too many coals its just quicker and easier to decoal the heating device.
Very rarely do I have to do this but with the last cold spell lasting so long it was necessary.