Need tips on banking fire

[Dink]

I hate our woodstove. It wont hold a fire you put wood in a bank it at 12pm and by 3am your froze to death without a fire....At this rate Ill not be able to sleep at all this winter.

[Lynne]

We always make sure that there is a good bed of coals and stuff the stove with large chunks of hardwood (oak, locust). Get as much in the stove that you can and since I can't always tell what wood is what I go by weight - the heavier the better. Then close the vents some. we usually stoke the stove around 11Pm and there is still plenty of coals at 6AM.

Help Any?

[hunter63]

Bring in some green oak, put it on just befroe you go to bed, it will burn slow enough that it will be there in the morning.
Our rule is; who ever has to go to the bathroom first has to stoke the fire.

[veme]

I always save the pieces that have big knots in them and put them in right before I go to bed. I close the damper most of the way.

veme

[Dink]

Thank yall I shall try some of yalls methods and see if it helps I think the old stove is about shot some of the fire bricks are cracked and missing.

[bachelorb]

Now we have a cheap stove (I think it was a $99 stove) that we've been using for about 20 years here in North Alabama. We usually stuff it full in the evening and by morning the woods all gone. If its really cold at night, like near 0,(I know....I know all you northerners...., your probably just getting out of your speedos when it gets to that temperature) our house will get down into the low 50's or high 40's. There is nothing else you can do. We normally keep the closed tight and the damper open (since we have no damper).

[Dink]

Originally Posted by hunter63

Our rule is; who ever has to go to the bathroom first has to stoke the fire.

Bet I could hold it .lol

[MELOC]

i second the advice to get a good bed of coals, stoke it and close it down. the intake should nearly be closed or all but closed at night. fire it hot in the morning when you wake and then close it down again after you stoke it.

[MaryNY]

Originally Posted by ----

Thank yall I shall try some of yalls methods and see if it helps I think the old stove is about shot some of the fire bricks are cracked and missing.

You can replace the fire brick -- look for "fire brick" or "refractory bricks" in the yellow pages or online for places near you. I replaced sine missing parts in the fire box of an old wood burning cookstove I had once by calling around until I found a place that had the fire bricks and simply lined the fire box of the stove with them and it worked like a charm. That thing could really cook, too!

Good luck!

MaryNY

[KindredSpirit]

We did what Lynne and E.I. School said. Make sure you have a good bed of coals first or the hardwood won't ignite and stay lit.

[hunter63]

Bachelorb, can't you add a damper in the pipe?
I have one on the stove in the gararge, and it helps.
The one in the cabin is a Quadra Fire has two dampers on the stove it self.
Starting primary and a secondary for after it gets going. Burns everything down to white ash.

[bachelorb]

Originally Posted by hunter63

Bachelorb, can't you add a damper in the pipe?
I have one on the stove in the gararge, and it helps.
The one in the cabin is a Quadra Fire has two dampers on the stove it self.
Starting primary and a secondary for after it gets going. Burns everything down to white ash.

I have a piece of pipe out in the shed with a damper in it. It doesn't seem to help. I guess its because we turn the stove down so far anyway, its barely burning. I end up having to clean the chimney twice a winter.

[seedspreader]

Originally Posted by ----

I hate our woodstove. It wont hold a fire you put wood in a bank it at 12pm and by 3am your froze to death without a fire....At this rate Ill not be able to sleep at all this winter.

12pm - 3am is 15 hours, that's pretty long for a fire.

[arbutus]

I've got a real drafty fireplace, and the thing that helps is putting a couple of big oak or knotty maple logs in on top of a good bed of coals then damping the flue all the way down and the door just one notch.

[cfarmher]

Originally Posted by ZealYouthGuy

12pm - 3am is 15 hours, that's pretty long for a fire.

Probably meant midnight

[Peacock]

I was going to suggest replacing the firebrick too; I know ours is easy to switch out. But then, our woodstove is brand new.

I have to say, I'm impressed with our new stove (insert), with one exception I'll get to in a sec. I fired it up for the first time this morning around 9:00, filled it up with one big log (maybe 9" thick) and some smaller stuff, and it was still going gangbusters when the kids came home from school at 4:00. I just checked it a few minutes ago and it's all burned, but there are still some glowing coals and the metal's still warm.

Of course, I don't know how well it's going to heat our house yet, because the blower doesn't work! If I fiddle with the switches it only works for a little bit and shuts off. The seller's going to send out a repairman Monday. Good thing I tested it today when it's still not very cold out.

Need to get that wood stacked and ready...got plenty, just have to sort it and stack it closer to where we need it!

[indypartridge]

Originally Posted by MELOC

i second the advice to get a good bed of coals, stoke it and close it down. the intake should nearly be closed or all but closed at night. fire it hot in the morning when you wake and then close it down again after you stoke it.

I second the advice to fire it hot in the morning. When you have the fire banked, it's not burning hot so you have creasote build up. By burning hot in the morning - dampers wide open for about an hour - you'll burn out all the gunk that accumulates in your chimney overnight.

[WisJim]

Sounds to me like maybe a stove problem--if the stove isn't tight enough it is very hard to get a fire to last long with consistency. Also, if the home is well insulated, you shouldn't need heat yet. We don't need a fire yet here in Wisconsin, but it is only in the low 30s at night so far.