Whether I just wanna layer of nut on top the stove size or a blanket of pea and buckwheat or maybe a blanket of rice and fines. Pretty fanatical, huh?
It sounds like a long labor intensive process but it only takes a few minutes to sort 50 pounds of coal. I usually do it while the fire is revving up before shake down.
(Trying to predict the inevitable TOTP)
Maybe fanatical, but definitely thorough. "Waste not, or have not" (Or something like that). Thanks for the explanation Lee.
(TOTP....I win )
. This is my buckets and separators, then all my tending tools. I don’t sift my fines until I’m getting closer to end of the pile though.
Good job though Lee!
Thanks for sharing Mike! Professor of coal, Dr Lee? Hmmm... I like it! You guys are too kind.
In other coal related news, thru the couple days of mild weather the snow got nice and packy. So, it was a perfect photo opportunity lol. I couldn't resist sharing these, beware of cuteness overload, and of course it was my job to select the two eyes made of coal. This is our granddaughter "Galaxy" she's 2 and a half years old.
Nice pics! We haven’t really gotten enough to go out and have fun in. My son turns 3 in 2 months and just discovered sledding last year. It was a blast, he gets pumped anytime it starts to snow now.
Who wanted to see another video with some Rush backing tracks? If you don't dig the music, I get it.. no hard feelings lol just turn the volume down cuz there really isn't anything to hear. There are a couple creepy moments. You can spot a reflection on the glass occasionally of me moving around behind the camera. It looks like a ghost in my furnace!!
Little background story. We had a couple mild days so yesterday I put a blanket of pea and buckwheat sized coal over the fresh load of stove size. After about 15 minutes I had a pretty significant whoosh of the volatiles igniting. I was hoping to duplicate it today and get it on video but it didn't happen. I wasn't able to get a thick enough layer in it at loading time. This fire has a hot bed of roughly 60 pounds left over after shake down plus a fresh layer of stove size of 18 pounds and then topped with a blanket of pea and buckwheat of 15 pounds. The blanket keeps the fuel bed warm and healthy, and blocks secondary air infiltration from above, significantly reducing heat output and coal consumption for mild days. It makes a pretty fire too, but as you know, the cold is coming. The fire won't be needing any blankets for a while lol.