Out with the wood ,in with the coal

Yesterday morning I came home from work to a cold house and told my self Friday morning I’m starting some blaschack ! Our temps here in western pa are about to drop down in the 15s . I refuse to be cold .First hard coal fire I ever started . Wasn’t too terrible on me . I just got to figure out how to get this thing going how much to add and how I want to tend it . Right now I probably have about 30lbs goin as of this morning stove tops cruising around 370. Exhaust is running 165. The ds regulator seems to be way different on coal than wood .


I have the air wash set on low . I’m burning nut coal of course . I feel like it’s going to take a good bit more to get it up and going . When I started the coal , I had lit some kindling and threw a few bigger splits off maple in and got it burnt up real good then slowly added some coal over top just easy at a good interval not to smother it out . I feel like it should be running hotter to where I have the regulator set . It’s set on 3.5. With wood I’d probably be around 550-600 degrees . Granted I only have Ben burning coal for a few hours . Already fell in love with the coal !

Ain't no doubt Coal is king. Wood is either up or down, where Coal is mostly constant. My wife loves coal and not so much with wood.

You need to fill the firebox with coal, ideally to the top of the firebricks. A good rule is once you have a layer of coal burning, do not add more coal at one time than you already have burning.

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Fri. Nov. 18, 2022 11:39 am

You need to fill the firebox with coal, ideally to the top of the firebricks. A good rule is once you have a layer of coal burning, do not add more coal at one time than you already have burning.

Well !!!! This thing is gonna take a fair amount then ! The owners Manuel says 30lbs or more . I guess it’s more like more !

Exhaust temp seems high for what you are seeing stove top.

waytomany?s wrote: ↑

Fri. Nov. 18, 2022 12:12 pm

Exhaust temp seems high for what you are seeing stove top.

I’m not sure , that seemed to be where I was at with wood with stovetop vs pipe . I just started I was wondering if maybe it was cause I was only half loaded up yet . I got a good bit of blue flames . What’s usually around normal with coal for stove pipe temps . Mind I have no MPD or Baro .

Get it full and let it settle in a few hours before fiddling with it too much. Unless it gets too hot of course.

You will never want to burn wood again unless you have to.

warminmn wrote: ↑

Fri. Nov. 18, 2022 1:23 pm

Get it full and let it settle in a few hours before fiddling with it too much. Unless it gets too hot of course.

You will never want to burn wood again unless you have to.

I got it full up to the first fire brick . It took a while to layer it in their it takes about 8” . And to slowly let each layer catch it did seem to be a slow process . I can’t see coal being any different draft wise from burning wood . End of the day draft is draft .

No baro, no damper. Probably best you can get then. I'm running 500 above brick and 98-105 at thimble. But I have a baro. Way lower stack temp when running coal. You probably should get a manometer. You will be surprised at what your draft really is.

zachary193 wrote: ↑

Fri. Nov. 18, 2022 11:17 am

The ds regulator seems to be way different on coal than wood .

I've been trying to tell people I've noticed the same thing with this Hitzer. My dial settings with wood were double (on first wood burn attempt) what they are at cruise with coal and it still wasn't high enough dial setting.

So as the wood fired dies down when the stat closes the air intake flap there's not enough residual heat left in the stove to keep it going (the fuel load is NOT as dense as coal), requiring a higher setting than with coal. At least that's my take on it.

My Mark II takes double the air for coal vs wood. That's cruise setting. Start-up, as you know, is a different scenario.

Hoytman wrote: ↑

Fri. Nov. 18, 2022 2:52 pm

I've been trying to tell people I've noticed the same thing with this Hitzer. My dial settings with wood were double (on first wood burn attempt) what they are at cruise with coal and it still wasn't high enough dial setting.

So as the wood fired dies down when the stat closes the air intake flap there's not enough residual heat left in the stove to keep it going (the fuel load is NOT as dense as coal), requiring a higher setting than with coal. At least that's my take on it.

Well mine seems the opposite, seems as if mine takes double the air. I’m on the highest setting since around 2:00 and I can’t break 440-460 , stove pipe is running around 196 a little high but similar to what it was with wood .

Wait…I’m confused. Looks like I may have understood what you were saying…BUT that doesn’t change what I said my stove is doing.

Wood took a much higher setting in this stove than coal. It is what it is…

Carry on…

165-200* is a good stack temp range for my stove , that 460* max temp ( if accurate) can be caused by slightly too much air flowing through the stove try easing back on under fire air ( if baro is set properly you should be able to get to 500 with no issues ) flue gasses need a little time to dwell in the stove so it can transfer the most heat

Update : after a few YouTube videos , the messicks stove guy . He has his temp gauges in these locations . And I moved mine to the locations he has his . For some reason the manual says the overfire is measured on the stove top 600 degrees . No possible way I could get the stove top to 600 with coal . Wood it was possible I had run it 550 all day long . I’m going to drop by my amish dealer tomorrow morning and get some more in site on the subject . However I’m maintaining my basement at 83 and upstairs at 78-74 .
If this makes any sense to any of you experienced rock burners . I appreciate all the comments . I also do not have a MPD or a Baro on the stove