keeping a coal fire burning all night

kkennedy

looking for some advive on how to keep a open coal fire a light all night so i don't have to relight it in the morning. I have tried putting on some coal slack before i go to bed but in the morning the fire is out, help how do i keep it burning all night.

smcqis

An open fire would not last overnight as so much oxygen can get at it it will burn up alot quicker than a closed system. What time do you got to bed and get up? I would be nervous about leaving an open fire unattended a night also for fire risk from a spack or falling coal nugget

Greenfires

What we used to do in the bad old days was stoke up the fire, and then cover it completely with ashes - this would keep it in all night, and then riddling the ashes out in the morning would have it going again. To be honest though, it's not great news for your chimney or the planet - as that's a pretty polluting way of burning anything! Better bet would be to get a stove, which with good dry fuel will be kicking out the heat in a matter of minutes in the morning. Though I guess when you're used to it - building an open fire only takes a minute or two.

Andy

shegar

My mother always kept her open fire in of a night , she use to buy large lumps of house coal, she would lay a huge lump on a hot ash bed and put loads of ash on top , when she went to it in the morning and put the poker in to break up the remaining coal and it use to flame up there and then..........When she went to bed she always put the guard on, end of story........Older people still do that these days, its how they were brought up with only a coal fire in the front room, I also remember my gran doing that..........

A._Badger

shegar wrote: »

My mother always kept her open fire in of a night , she use to buy large lumps of house coal, she would lay a huge lump on a hot ash bed and put loads of ash on top , when she went to it in the morning and put the poker in to break up the remaining coal and it use to flame up there and then..........When she went to bed she always put the guard on, end of story........Older people still do that these days, its how they were brought up with only a coal fire in the front room, I also remember my gran doing that..........

You're right, they did. And many country people still do. Properly guarded there is no reason not to.

dieselglider

How about an all night burner fire front (fret?)?

eg: http://www.countryfiresides.co.uk/Category/All-Night-Burners/674

I'm just using that website as an example for an image, there're any number of suppliers. Interestingly, they seem to come with their own grate, perhaps the grate is a bit more heavy duty.

Russ123_2

I have an 18inch all night burner grate with an overnight burning plate.

I have managed to keep my fire burning for 3 days without letting it go out, the only reason i stopped was because of the huge amounts of coal the fire had consumed.

In theory i could keep it in all night without it going out over the winter. You would need sufficient experience in using your open fire though.

I have achieved overnight burning without slack and have just closed the draft down completely with plenty of house coal piled up. This was enough. Althought ash or coal slack are preferable

I find it useful allowing my open fire to "slumber"(as stove users say) from time to time, however, be prepared for high fuel costs if you do wish to keep your fire burning.

Also i doubt very much overnight burning is achievable without an adjustable draft, if it is you would need a very deep fire grate indeed and slack\ash