Hello all,
First year burning anthracite and LOVE it. Running an older Kogen Ind. hand fired furnace, it's been an easy transition thanks to you guys .
As most are aware, central PA is headed for 86 degrees and damp tomorrow. I know it is going to be very difficult to maintain a fire in these conditions. Luckily, my chimney is 30+ feet tall and runs straight through the center of my house. Most of my windows don't reliably open (1890's home), and I know I'll be very warm. I'm mostly concerned about keeping the fire though, as it is supposed to cool back into the 50's after tomorrow. I have managed to maintain the fire into the 70s thus far, but never 80s yet this year. I know I'll likely need to foil the baro, but are there any other suggestions? Usually run in warmer weather with the MPD open and draft completely closed, but I know that a closed draft control will also cause a cooler flue and make problems worse (stack temperature never falls below 125-150 though, measured with a magnetic thermometer 12" from furnace). Thoughts?
Thanks in advance,
Joe
Maintaining Burn on 80+ Degree Day?
- fastcat
- Member
- Posts: 444
- Joined: Thu. Nov. 12, 2009 11:50 pm
- Location: CNY (McGraw)
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 50-93
- Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Nut/Stove Mix
If you can't get any lower than 125 - 150 with the damper closed that would mean your stove temp is around 300*, you need to be looking for air leaks before you shut down for the season and fix them this summer for next season. I have a 27' straight up chimney and I can lower my stove to around 100* with no temp reading on the stack and a .03 reading on the manometer and nothing lower than .02.5 on 90* days in the middle of summer without the stove burning. At this point the stove top is just warm and giving off very little heat. What numbers does your chimney draft on a manometer? This is where if your chimney has good draft the meter will show you what it is with a low fire on a warm day and if it is a good draft you should have no CO problems. Make sure you have a good CO detector in place no matter what. And again look for some air leaks on your stove.
- lowfog01
- Member
- Posts: 3889
- Joined: Sat. Dec. 20, 2008 8:33 am
- Location: Springfield, VA
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Mark II & Mark I
- Coal Size/Type: nut/pea
It may help to refresh your coals a couple of times throughout the day. That will keep the fire alive and the draft moving. Refreshing doesn't mean a rip roaring fire, just get a good glow on the coals and then cut it back. Your stove's temperature shouldn't go up but by 20 or 25 *. Good luck, Lisa