19 Degrees Outside...Dealing with Excessive Coaling

[jscs.moore]

Hey guys...we are in the polar vortex and it's 19 degrees outside and supposed to get down to 13 overnight (near zero with windchill). I am burning a Hampton HI300 insert with an insulated liner (28ft exterior chimney) and a block off plate. The old HI300 workhorse will generally cook us out of the living room when it's in the low 30's, but these frigid temps are a challenge to say the least.

I seem to be dealing with a lot of excessive coaling and need to rake the coals forward and place a small split on top to burn them down at the end of each load. I also noticed the burn times are not as long and my heat pump kicks on between loads.

Am I just being unrealistic with these frigid temps that my HI300 should be able to heat my 2000 sq ft home just as easily as it does when it's in the low 30's outside??

 

[Doc C]

Hey guys...we are in the polar vortex and it's 19 degrees outside and supposed to get down to 13 overnight (near zero with windchill). I am burning a Hampton HI300 insert with an insulated liner (28ft exterior chimney) and a block off plate. The old HI300 workhorse will generally cook us out of the living room when it's in the low 30's, but these frigid temps are a challenge to say the least.

I seem to be dealing with a lot of excessive coaling and need to rake the coals forward and place a small split on top to burn them down at the end of each load. I also noticed the burn times are not as long and my heat pump kicks on between loads.

Am I just being unrealistic with these frigid temps that my HI300 should be able to heat my 2000 sq ft home just as easily as it does when it's in the low 30's outside??

What kind of wood are you burning?

 

[jatoxico]

Am I just being unrealistic with these frigid temps that my HI300 should be able to heat my 2000 sq ft home just as easily as it does when it's in the low 30's outside??

Gonna have to use more wood when its colder and that often means loading sooner than you would normally. That 30-45 minutes can lead to coaling. Can be the nature of the beast. Burn down the coals with some kindling that won't themselves leave coals and the stove will put out some good heat in a short burst while burning down some of the excess coals.

 

[jscs.moore]

What kind of wood are you burning?

Mostly oak and maple...it's about 18 months seasoned which I know for oak is probably not quite long enough. Moisture reader has most splits at around 20MC...some a little less, some a little more. If they are a little over 20MC I will split them again and let them sit in front of the fire for a day or two and that usually gets them down to about 18MC.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

The colder it gets the harder the heater has to work. It got down to -5 last night here in Michigan. The little encore was working hard just to get keep the house at 72.

 

[Doc C]

Mostly oak and maple...it's about 18 months seasoned which I know for oak is probably not quite long enough. Moisture reader has most splits at around 20MC...some a little less, some a little more. If they are a little over 20MC I will split them again and let them sit in front of the fire for a day or two and that usually gets them down to about 18MC.

I think it's probably because it's colder out.

Also I've noticed my maple coals alot more then my soft wood. We don't have an abundance of hard woods where I'm at.

 

[jetsam]

I keep posting this in coaling threads. Must have something to do with the weather!

I have good luck with dry pine. Take one good sized split of nice dry softwood like pine, whack it up into tiny splits, rake up the coals, and burn the small pine sticks on top of that. Burns hot, gets rid of lots of coals fairly quickly.

As an easier alternative, just burn a full load of pine next time you reload.

I'm having some issues myself; I may just switch to using all pine until the cold snap passes.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Open up the air more as the heat starts to drop.

Sometimes you just have to shovel out the coals to make room for more wood. It is what it is when the temp gets cold. Dryer wood helps also.

 

[Rangerbait]

I keep posting this in coaling threads. Must have something to do with the weather!

I have good luck with dry pine. Take one good sized split of nice dry softwood like pine, whack it up into tiny splits, rake up the coals, and burn the small pine sticks on top of that. Burns hot, gets rid of lots of coals fairly quickly.

As an easier alternative, just burn a full load of pine next time you reload.

I'm having some issues myself; I may just switch to using all pine until the cold snap passes.

I've been burning exclusively Poplar during the day while I've been home...it's doing a good job of leaving me a wide open firebox by bedtime.

 

[jetsam]

I've been burning exclusively Poplar during the day while I've been home...it's doing a good job of leaving me a wide open firebox by bedtime.

Yeah, I have been kind of hoarding my pine since I only laid in one smallish tree (maybe 2/3 of a cord) last year, but I think it's time to step away from the oak and maple and get into that stash. There are a bunch of salvageable down pines in the woods; I'll bring in a full cord or 2 for next year. (That's another great thing about softwood- if it's already dead, CSS it next spring, burn it next winter.)

My neighbor makes fun of me for walking past free oak to get to pine, but I need to have some softwood in my stacks every year.

 

[jscs.moore]

Open up the air more as the heat starts to drop.

Sometimes you just have to shovel out the coals to make room for more wood. It is what it is when the temp gets cold. Dryer wood helps also.

Thanks for all the feedback guys! Yeah, I sometimes just have to shovel out some coals if needed. I also just pulled out the moisture reader and checked most of the splits sitting on the hearth and most read about 17 to 18MC right now (after stacking them early yesterday morning. I agree the wood could be a little dryer, but I mostly attribute the excessive coaling to these frigid temps. I guess in these temps my HI300 has become the "little engine that could" and is just working hard to keep up

 

[jatoxico]

You hear guys talking about pushing their stoves and such. With the weather we are all gonna get we're all in that boat for the next week at least.

Wish I had some soft wood this year. Comes in handy for more than just shoulder season.

 

[Rangerbait]

Yeah, I have been kind of hoarding my pine since I only laid in one smallish tree (maybe 2/3 of a cord) last year, but I think it's time to step away from the oak and maple and get into that stash. There are a bunch of salvageable down pines in the woods; I'll bring in a full cord or 2 for next year. (That's another great thing about softwood- if it's already dead, CSS it next spring, burn it next winter.)

My neighbor makes fun of me for walking past free oak to get to pine, but I need to have some softwood in my stacks every year.

Have you compared Pine to Poplar? I felled a big Pine last week, and we just rolled the rounds into the woods...wondering if I should go ahead and grab them? I always enjoy the smell of a stack of Pine splits.

 

[jetsam]

Have you compared Pine to Poplar? I felled a big Pine last week, and we just rolled the rounds into the woods...wondering if I should go ahead and grab them? I always enjoy the smell of a stack of Pine splits.

Not in any useful way. I burned poplar in open fireplaces and smoke dragons growing up in the midwest. I don't have any poplar in my woods now, and I have a MUCH different stove anyway.

Pine is great firewood. Dries fast, burns hot, little coal/ash. My only beef with it is that live trees are a mess to process because everything gets sticky- but stick to dead trees and that is much less of a problem.

 

[redktmrider]

Have you compared Pine to Poplar?

I've burnt both in my T5 insert, both leave almost no coals and burn quick when dry. People around here think I am nuts for processing pine and poplar when there is oak and hickory all around.

 

[Rangerbait]

I've burnt both in my T5 insert, both leave almost no coals and burn quick when dry. People around here think I am nuts for processing pine and poplar when there is oak and hickory all around.

I have several cords of bone-dry Poplar in my stacks, and it has come in very useful this season.

 

[Doc C]

Not in any useful way. I burned poplar in open fireplaces and smoke dragons growing up in the midwest. I don't have any poplar in my woods now, and I have a MUCH different stove anyway.

Pine is great firewood. Dries fast, burns hot, little coal/ash. My only beef with it is that live trees are a mess to process because everything gets sticky- but stick to dead trees and that is much less of a problem.

I love seeing other people enjoy pine! In our area everyone hates it. I would estimate 50% of my firewood stack is pine of different species. The rest maple and white birch and a tiny bit of fir.

 

[shoot-straight]

My stove can't keep up when we have wind and it gets real cold. Rather than try to force the issue, I just flip the switch and let the electric take up the slack. Overall a week or two of it running intermittently isn't gonna kill me.

And yes I love pine and other light woods for cold weather when I can feed it regularly.

 

[Doc C]

My stove can't keep up when we have wind and it gets real cold. Rather than try to force the issue, I just flip the switch and let the electric take up the slack. Overall a week or two of it running intermittently isn't gonna kill me.

And yes I love pine and other light woods for cold weather when I can feed it regularly.

Caulk works wonders! When I remodeled I took off my window trim and could see daylight!!

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Have you compared Pine to Poplar? I felled a big Pine last week, and we just rolled the rounds into the woods...wondering if I should go ahead and grab them? I always enjoy the smell of a stack of Pine splits.

I’d say go ahead and grab them since you’ve found poplar useful in your stacks (I’m assuming you mean Tulip tree rather than true poplar given your location). I’ve burned lots of both, but I would sooner scrounge pine over poplar as it smells better when processing, lights easily, burns hotter and leaves less ash. If it’s easy on your own property and you don’t have other wood needing attention, don’t let it rot.

When we moved we gave away almost all of our stacks of wood, but only one of my wood burning friends would take the pine. They were all over my nicely split oak, of course. This cold weather is the perfect time to put that pine into service to burn down coals.

 

[Dieselhead]

I like to pull all coals to the front, then load 1-2 splits behind them E/W on the floor of the stove. Put in the rest of your splits on top of the coals and 2 bottom pieces in a N/S fashion. Burns down the coals and gets the next load going all at the same time.

 

[jetsam]

I love seeing other people enjoy pine! In our area everyone hates it. I would estimate 50% of my firewood stack is pine of different species. The rest maple and white birch and a tiny bit of fir.

Most everyone in this area knows for a fact that You Can't Burn Pine Or Your House Will Burn Down. Not one of the endless parade of people who has shared this nugget of "wisdom" with me has had the first idea how that is supposed to work, and some seem offended when asked to consider it. Maybe it's a religious thing?

 

[Chimney Smoke]

Not to change the subject but 19 is a heat wave. It's -12 here in Maine this morning with a predicted high of 5. No time to get the stove settled in before work so the boiler will work today and the fire will be my first task when I get home.

 

[firefighterjake]

I'm with Chimney Smoke . . . I wish it was 19 degrees F. My outdoor wireless thermometer shows -2 degrees F, but since the remote is located on my covered porch it generally runs a few degrees warmer (although I doubt it's -12 degrees here in my part of Maine).

Random thoughts . . .

Really cold weather makes most woodstoves work harder with more frequent loading required . . . and for me it's time to bring out the primo wood (the big chunks of sugar maple, yellow birch, oak, etc. that I cut into neat squares and rectangles so I can really pack the woodstove.

For excessive coaling . . . which often happens when temps get this cold . . . I either will throw on a softwood split or two and open up the air control for 15-30 minutes to burn down the coals or simply open up the air control for a similar length of time.

Pine and softwoods . . . I like having some in my stacks . . . partly to help burn down the coals, but honestly I use my good hardwood in these temps and generally save the softwood for the shoulder season or weekends when I am just hanging around the house.

 

[jscs.moore]

My stove can't keep up when we have wind and it gets real cold. Rather than try to force the issue, I just flip the switch and let the electric take up the slack. Overall a week or two of it running intermittently isn't gonna kill me.

And yes I love pine and other light woods for cold weather when I can feed it regularly.

Thanks Shoot-Straight...I think you hit the nail on the head! Bottom line is when it gets this cold (9 degrees right now) with wind chill added in it is probably asking too much for my medium sized insert to adequately heat my 2000 sq ft home by itself. And yes, I do let my heat pump run when necessary because it doesn't make sense to me to allow the temp in the house to drop too low between loads, etc. However, I do fear losing power in temps like this...in the end I will probably be able to keep the internal temps of the house in the low 60s but can't image I could keep it in the 70s: when it's 9 degrees outside and no heat pump for back up