Can I clean my chimney from my Sirocco 20 from inside the firebox?

[BC_Josh]

The definition of "hot reload" can vary, I guess. I usually reload when stove is still active, but nearing inactive threshold. I don't call that a "hot reload". To me, a hot reload is when there's more than just coals in the box, and the needle is still way up into the active. Called "hot" for the way it curls my eyebrows and takes hair off my forearms.

Well, my needle is at about 1/3 into the active zone when I reload (1/2 of the total guage, counting both inactive and active zones). It's not too hot, at all, usually. I mean, I can't put my hand on the stove top LOL. It's still radiating heat but not that much, and the corners of the house away from the stove are cooling off at that point, too. Just enough embers to set some more wood in there and let it fire up again. I am using fir splits, mind you, saving some larch for cold snaps, so it burns fairly quickly. We don't have a lot of hardwoods where I live.

 

[moresnow]

Actually, the cat thermometer is about ONE THIRD into the active zone when I reload (it is optically half way on the entire gauge, but not halfway into the active zone). I should clarify this.

The circumstances are that if I let the stove burn any longer, I wouldn't have enough embers to start another fire. I'd have to rebuild from scratch and the house would get pretty cold before all that. I have a smaller stove, a Sirocco 20, so it wouldn't hold as much ember as the larger fireboxes.

Huge difference in fuel. I am burning the exact same stove in my home right now. Still far enough into the active zone at 18hrs to walk away and run a couple hrs worth of errands. Easy re-light on coals.

Softwoods are a different animal. I like burning them. Less clean up/ash disposal.

 

[Ashful]

Never burned larch or fir, but opening the door with the needle at half of full scale on a load of oak is a sure recipe for losing all facial hair. Damn!

 

[Tron]

The circumstances are that if I let the stove burn any longer, I wouldn't have enough embers to start another fire. I'd have to rebuild from scratch and the house would get pretty cold before all that.

You may be right about the second part, but you wouldn't believe how few embers can restart a fire, especially when the stove ist still hot. The cat can be in the inactive zone for hours, and it still works.
Does for me every morning. I let the stove go out overnight (no need to heat the living room when we're in bed) and I can easily restart it if there's still a little bit of embers glowing.
Plus, when you do that, the stove is up and running in the active zone again within minutes.

 

[Ashful]

If your house is going cold before the stove is burned down to the edge of active, you'll always be fighting coal build-up. It's the classic symptom of a stove that's too small for the load, or a load that's too big for the stove, depending on perspective. Not a criticism, I have the same problem, somewhat intentionally in my case.