I’m learnin’ as I go here…
The combustion air entered under cast iron grates in my old furnace, which allowed the fuel load to burn completely in just 10-12 hours. What I mean is… if I started a fire on a cool morning, didn’t add any more fuel to it all day, and then wanted a fire that evening, there wouldn’t be any coals… the firebox would be stone cold. During times of cool nights and warm(ish) days I’d be starting a fire from scratch twice a day.
This Pacific Energy stove (that I converted to a furnace) doesn’t have grates… the fire is built directly on top of the firebrick. With the cool(ish) weather we’ve had this past week I’ve been using it a bit in the mornings… and even after 24-hours I’ll still have enough hot coals to get a fire goin’. I suppose when it’s cold enough to have the fire is burning strong 24/7 it won’t matter… but it seems like I’m losing some efficiency because I’m not really getting any “heat” from the last of the coaling. Even 24 hours after a fire the flue pipe will still be warmish to the touch, and I find coals buried in the ash. The old furnace allowed ash to fall away from the coals, and the air coming from underneath kept those heating … even a pretty small pile of coals would produce heat.
So I’m doing something wrong?
Should I be doing something different?
Or is that just the nature of the beast?
The combustion air entered under cast iron grates in my old furnace, which allowed the fuel load to burn completely in just 10-12 hours. What I mean is… if I started a fire on a cool morning, didn’t add any more fuel to it all day, and then wanted a fire that evening, there wouldn’t be any coals… the firebox would be stone cold. During times of cool nights and warm(ish) days I’d be starting a fire from scratch twice a day.
This Pacific Energy stove (that I converted to a furnace) doesn’t have grates… the fire is built directly on top of the firebrick. With the cool(ish) weather we’ve had this past week I’ve been using it a bit in the mornings… and even after 24-hours I’ll still have enough hot coals to get a fire goin’. I suppose when it’s cold enough to have the fire is burning strong 24/7 it won’t matter… but it seems like I’m losing some efficiency because I’m not really getting any “heat” from the last of the coaling. Even 24 hours after a fire the flue pipe will still be warmish to the touch, and I find coals buried in the ash. The old furnace allowed ash to fall away from the coals, and the air coming from underneath kept those heating … even a pretty small pile of coals would produce heat.
So I’m doing something wrong?
Should I be doing something different?
Or is that just the nature of the beast?