Basics of a Hand Fired Coal Stove

gina wrote:Hello All,

I posted a few months ago. I have a Weso Ceramic Radiant Heat stove. It will burn both wood and coal. I tried coal (anthracite nut from Tractor Supply) for the first time a few days ago. I followed directions I found on this site and had no problem getting the coal going. All looked well and it cooked away for hours, but 1) the fire never got very hot, and 2) I had a lot of clinkers when I woke up in the morning. I did have some light pinkish ash, some whitish-pinkish chunks, some coal that looked unburned, and some lumps that seemed partially burned. Repeated the process twice with the same results. My coal basket is not very deep and I'm wondering if that is part of the problem? As to the temp, the gauge on my stovepipe was not quite 400°F, so I imagine the coal was around 800°F, but that's just a guess. I was not sure how to set the automatic thermostat on the lower stove door. It seems to control a round damper in that same door. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks! Gina

I can't help you with everything as I don't use Anthracite, but the thermostat is easy. A higher number gives you more heat by opening the flap , which in turns supplies more air for your coal to burn hotter, longer. The flap will close automatically after the stove reaches the correct temperature. Turn the thermostat down, and you get less heat of course.

With stove pipe at 400 you are running too hot. Try setting that thermostat lower for a longer burn. Nut coal likes an 8 inch deep bed.

Running too hot like franco b said and also sounds like the heat may be going up the chimney. Anyone familiar with the Wesco's know if they hold the heat better with a manual damper?

That automatic tstat should control it nicely. But they do tend to over shoot sometimes. I would try a MPD also.

Okay, so I need to keep it more shut down. What kind of temp am I looking for on my stovepipe? Not sure what an MPD is.

gina wrote:Okay, so I need to keep it more shut down. What kind of temp am I looking for on my stovepipe? Not sure what an MPD is.

A MPD is a manual pipe damper, it's a butterfly valve in the stove pipe that restricts exhaust flow and slows air volume moving thru the stove.

As far as stove pipe temps are concerned, we need to know where exactly you are taking the reading. Is it right close to the stove or further up the pipe? 400 is pretty high for a stove pipe reading using coal. There's not really a "normal" temp to shoot for. They can range as low as 100 and usually not over 300.

gina wrote:Okay, so I need to keep it more shut down. What kind of temp am I looking for on my stovepipe? Not sure what an MPD is.

Maybe you need to shut it down more, maybe not.

Yes, keep as deep a bed of coal as the stove design allows.

If there's any air intake that allows air to enter above the bed of coals, it should be completely or almost completely shut once the coal fire is stable. Almost all combustion air should come in below the grates. (Much different than burning wood!) I looked back at your photos in the previous thread, but could not tell for sure what was what for intakes.

Try putting a magnetic thermometer on the front of the stove, above the loading door, and see what you have for temperatures there. I'm talking about on the cast iron or steel of the stove body itself, not on the decorative shell. Adjust the thermostat to maintain whatever stove temperature keeps your room comfortable, as long as it's not something ridiculous like seven or eight hundred degrees. For a given stove temperature, you can't do much about the stovepipe temperature; it is what it is.

If there is an internal bypass damper, and if all internal passages are clear (not plugged with ash), the internal damper should be open when first lighting the fire, and closed once the coal is burning well. A bypass damper when open allows the flue gases to exit directly into the stovepipe, and when closed forces the gases to follow an indirect path along the sides or back or top of the stove on their way to the stovepipe. This makes for more heat exchange to the metal of the stove rather than sending the hot gases directly up the chimney. You stove may or may not have an internal bypass damper.

Once you have done all this, come back and ask about MPD (manual pipe dampers) and barometric dampers. Both are installed in the stovepipe and serve to reduce excess chimney draft. There's an ongoing war on the forum, going back years, as to which type of damper is needed, if any. I'm the only one who can give you proper advice on that (just kidding, guys, don't start throwing things).

gina wrote:All looked well and it cooked away for hours, but 1) the fire never got very hot, and 2) I had a lot of clinkers when I woke up in the morning.

1) Coal fires don't normally work like a wood fire. A wood fire tends to flash out most of its heat quickly (relatively speaking) where a coal fire is more of a steady consistent heat

2) It's not likely you had clinkers, clinkers are fused ash, but it's possible. It's more likely you were seeing unburned coal.

Are you able to build up the coal bed to at least 8 inches deep? How many pounds of coal did you get into it over the course of 24 hours?

Thanks everyone!

My temp gauge is about 16" up the stovepipe, although, the pipe has an L in it, so it's more like 8" out and 8" up. I just looked again, and I think that I was running closer to 300° actually. Sorry about that. Small numbers!

As far as I know there isn't an internal damper, but I could be wrong. If there is one, there's no easy way of manipulating it. The stove and pipe are pretty clean. I had them cleaned in Sept. Been burning wood since October.

Over the course of the two coal fires, I've probably put in about 30 lbs of coal. A good deal of that didn't burn (as I described above) and I've fished it out and saved it. Not sure if I can re-burn it or not.

So, if the coal fire doesn't get that hot, how will it heat my house? I'm just confused about this.

I'm thinking also, that maybe I had the fire too hot when I added the first coals. The directions said get the fire red-hot, and I did so. What kind of a temp (on the front of the stove) am I looking for when I toss in the coal? And am I starting with a wood fire both as a source of ignition AND to lay a bed of ash?

Finally, as the coal burns down during the day, I should add more coal to keep the depth at about 8"?

Nope, you didn't have the fire too hot when you added coal. If a lot of your coal is not burned, then tell us about the air inlets that I described in my recent post, above.

I don't think I have any air intakes above the coal grate, with the exception of the glass door, but I keep that closed except when adding wood or coal. But, I could be wrong. I don't have a manual and the stove was here when I moved in recently. No one had much info. Most of what I know about it, I found on this site.

gina wrote:Hello All,

I posted a few months ago. I have a Weso Ceramic Radiant Heat stove. It will burn both wood and coal. I tried coal (anthracite nut from Tractor Supply) for the first time a few days ago. I followed directions I found on this site and had no problem getting the coal going. All looked well and it cooked away for hours, but 1) the fire never got very hot, and 2) I had a lot of clinkers when I woke up in the morning. I did have some light pinkish ash, some whitish-pinkish chunks, some coal that looked unburned, and some lumps that seemed partially burned. Repeated the process twice with the same results. My coal basket is not very deep and I'm wondering if that is part of the problem? As to the temp, the gauge on my stovepipe was not quite 400°F, so I imagine the coal was around 800°F, but that's just a guess. I was not sure how to set the automatic thermostat on the lower stove door. It seems to control a round damper in that same door. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks! Gina

And, here is that thread:

Using a Weso Ceramic Radiant Heat Wood and Coal Stove

I think I am starting to get the hang of this. Using the poker to clear out the ashes made a huge difference. I have moved my temp. gauge to the front of the stove. Now I am wondering how hot is too hot? For a while it was sitting down around 300. Fell even lower. I opened one of the lower dampers just for a bit and the flames started up and the temp gauge went to about 900. Is that too hot?

Yes, that is too hot. aim for 6 to seven hundred max.

Yeah, 900 is too hot. Hopefully the temp gauge wasn't accurate lol.