Using Tiled Stoves in Old Tenement Houses: Usage, Door Closure Timing, Tile Gaps & Coal Quantity

I have a question for my colleagues - does anyone have or used a tiled stove that can be found in old tenement houses ...

If so, I would very much like to ask for some practical information about it
- how to use such a stove,
- when to close the door (does the fire have to completely disappear or can it still be so small that it may close too early ??)
- is it normal that there are small gaps between the tiles in the upper, warmest part after heating?
- how much coal should be poured

Thank you in advance for your help and experiences.

The military instruction for smoking in a tiled stove looked like this:
1. at 3 p.m. (or 4 p.m.) the person on duty lights up in the tiled stove
2. He puts it into the furnace on a regular basis to keep the fire going.
3. At 8:00 p.m. the stove should be emptied of heat, which we take outside in a metal bucket and put out there with water.
4. Turn the stove on carefully.
It's an instruction. Everyday life is a different story.
I have lived in a coal-fired apartment for several dozen years. The smoking technique varies. Some people prefer to regularly add 1-2 blades of coal from time to time after the fire, others prefer to fill the furnace to full after the generation of a certain amount of heat and then only regulate the air supply with the bottom door. The upper ones remain closed.
If you have not had contact with such devices so far, I suggest you buy a carbon monoxide (carbon monoxide) sensor to protect your life. Remember that such a sensor should be mounted low, because carbon monoxide is heavier than air and spreads underneath.
The general rule is that you do not leave the heat in the furnace before you go to bed, and the second - do not shut down the furnace completely, as it is light in it. Small gaps between the tiles are quite disturbing and it should be seen and sealed by the stove fitter, because it is mainly through such gaps that the carbon monoxide gets into the apartment.

I would like to add that you should not close the valve in the chimney - some do ...
We only control the air supply through the ash pan door, the damper can be closed when there is no more fire and embers in the furnace.
Then it is even advisable, because the heat escapes unnecessarily through the chimney.
Regards.

jannaszek wrote:

I would like to add that you should not close the valve in the chimney - some people do it ..
We only control the air supply through the ash pan door, the damper can be closed when there is no more fire and embers in the furnace.
Then it is even advisable, because the heat escapes unnecessarily through the chimney.
Regards.

Provided that the chimney system is equipped with such a gate valve. 95% of ordinary home tiled stoves do not have such a gate valve.

As my colleague says - I have not had any contact with such stoves before (I fired with coal but at home with CO and everything is much easier there) ...

I bought the sensor right away - with the current reading - it shows 0 ppm - the memory of the maximum reading registered 10 ppm.

When it comes to this military instruction, nobody does it for economic reasons - because then the stove would cool down very quickly, and this is how the heat keeps it warm all the time, you would have to burn it again quickly ...

I do it in such a way that I light up and after heating the stove, I close both doors tightly (nothing regulates etc ... the air supply is minimal) - this is how the locals taught me ...

I also have a question about what my colleague meant about not leaving the heat in the oven overnight ... In my case, the minimal glowing crumbs are still after almost 12 hours, so I would have to smoke only in the morning.

The gaps are minimal, only in the upper part of the stove and when it is hot - they disappear after cooling down.

I do not have a latch in the chimney - at least it is not in the apartment (and in the attic I do not know ...) so the heat actually escapes through the chimney - anyway, from what I found somewhere, the tile stove has a very low efficiency due to the fact that most of the heat escapes through the chimney ...

Thank you for your comments so far, maybe someone else would have something to add ...

In contrast, in almost every old-fashioned tiled stove, I used to find latches at the entrance to the chimney, if you do not have it, that's very good.
The heat does escape, but there must be a flow - if the door is tightly closed, it acts as a latch, and it is safe.
You can smoke as you like, you will decide about the comfort.
If you burn too hard, the stove will be hot and how to sleep in such a hot water?

sander wrote:

I also have a question about what my colleague meant about not leaving the heat in the oven overnight ... In my case, the minimal glowing crumbs are still after almost 12 hours, so I would have to smoke only in the morning.

If you leave the embers in the furnace, in addition tightly closed, you create good conditions for the production of carbon monoxide. It is necessary - even at a low cost of heat leakage - to leave the lower door slightly ajar (I mean a few millimeters). There must be a slight supply of oxygen. Then the chance of carbon monoxide release is much smaller.
It is important that you showed a lot of common sense at the outset by purchasing the sensor. Thanks to this, you will have a good night's sleep.

kreslarz wrote:

It is necessary - even at a low cost of heat leakage - to leave the lower door slightly ajar (I mean a few millimeters). There must be a slight supply of oxygen. Then the chance of carbon monoxide release is much smaller.

I have this condition fulfilled "by default" - because the door is not too tight and even after closing it, you can hear how the air flows into the stove ...

jannaszek wrote:

If you burn too hard, the stove will be hot and how to sleep in such a hot water?

And this is what my colleague interested me ... The field is about 5 degrees plus, I have been smoking non-stop for several days and despite the warm stove, the temperature in the apartment fluctuates around 19 degrees. Apartment approx. 35 m2, but unfortunately the exterior and unheated apartment next door (cooling from all sides) + high ceilings. How do colleagues do that there is boiling water in such a furnace? I am doing something wrong or maybe the stove gives off heat too poorly ...
I wonder what will happen in winter when it is very frosty ... In case there is an additional gas stove in the kitchen and then I think to run it as an auxiliary ...

To smoke and to smoke is a difference, it depends on what dimensions the stove is, what is its internal structure (channels) - the shark has a digestive system in the shape of a straight pipe and must constantly eat. I have been to homes with such stoves fired up to the temperature in which they burned.
If you have a "cold" house with holes in your windows and doors, winter should be scared.

In recent days, the feeling of cold is great (windy and humid weather)
Contrary to appearances, the situation is better with quiet, dry frost and heavy snow, which perfectly insulates the ground and roofs.
Regards.

Well, I will also add from myself:

Loading the oven:
1. crumpled paper balls
2.There are boxes 2-3 in width
3.1 layer of wood
4. coal (as much as not to sprinkle) half a bucket if cold (1/3 bucket if it is not supposed to be hot). Hard coal - black.

Smoking (the lower door is open, the upper door is to be closed first after lighting the paper, and the outer door is to be open):
1. set fire to the paper (as if there was a problem, e.g. colored newspapers, or paper that burns poorly, you can give some old oil (e.g. after chips or something) - bacon crust or anything that has fat)
2.when it burns up and you can see that the coal is burning - close the upper outer door of the door.
3.when all the coal is burning strongly - close the upper door (the lower door must be open)
4. when the heat is already there, move the coal a little with the poker and add ash from the bottom (even if there is a lot of ash, the heat will not be extinguished).
If there is white heat, be careful, because when moving the poker, the coal may hiss and shoot sparks. This is independent of the type of coal, but of the temperature.
5.The heat will be visible from the bottom through the lower door - when it is white - this is the highest temperature in the furnace (you can close the lower door a bit (I close it to the width of about 3-5 cm) and the furnace will heat up quickly. At this point, opening the top door will cause very hot air to escape through the chimney.
6. when the heat is dark (dark red light visible through the bottom door), move the coal with the poker - it will increase the temperature again.
7.point 4-5 can be repeated.
8. I close the stove (I tighten the upper and lower doors) when there is no visible flame (the blue flame means that carbon monoxide is burning). The glow is red.

WARNING!
Carbon monoxide - my door is slightly open the whole time I smoke (due to my ventilation problem). After closing the stove, the door is also slightly open. The door to the tiled stove is leaky, so unfortunately it is necessary.
I have a carbon monoxide sensor at home - although the level of oxide has never increased to 30ppm (instantaneous max that it has registered: 24ppm), I prefer 0ppm displayed on the control (the sensor shows a value from 10ppm). The windows are sealed concretely.

Temperature: when placed in the furnace (cool temperature, about 22 degrees), about half a bucket of coal - this method of smoking reaches a temperature of about 120 (halfway up) -150 degrees (1/3 high) (I don't know how much it can have, so I cool it down a bit, because I'm afraid the temperature is too high).
I will check the temperature with a laser meter.

The cost of heating that year (2 apartments, about 70 m2 in total), about PLN 800-900 for the entire winter. It was a very frosty month, around -25-30 degrees. Outdoor apartments. Uninsulated.

For now, this method of smoking (1/3 - 1/4 bucket of coal every two days is enough for me to be about 24-28 degrees).

The stove is quite large - weight 1.2 tons (according to Zdun, who introduced it a few years ago)

I have a question about the moment of closing the furnace. I've read about how dangerous it is to close it at the wrong moment, and I'm curving a little now.

Should I close the furnace completely when there is already low blue fire, or only when this fire is extinguished and there will be only glowing coal - dark red?

Should the stove gain temperature after turning it on, or should it only maintain the temperature obtained during firing up after turning it off?

Regards

arabeska1 wrote:

Should I close the furnace completely when there is already low blue fire, or only when this fire is extinguished and there will be only glowing coal - dark red?

When there is a blue flame, carbon monoxide is probably burning. So, shutting down the stove at this point is dangerous (you can poison yourself or cause the stove to burst).
If there is relatively little heat in the stove and you can still see the flames, move the poker. It may lighten up a little for a few minutes, but the heat will cool down quickly and you will be able to turn the stove off.

arabeska1 wrote:

Should the stove gain temperature after turning it on, or should it only maintain the temperature obtained during firing up after turning it off?

It mainly depends on the smoking technique. I tried several methods - the best and safe seems to be as described above.

The stove heats up when the coal starts to burn. After closing the stove, the temperature usually becomes even (it may drop in one place and rise a little in another) for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. After that, the temperature slowly drops. It doesn't get hotter.
If you do not close the core in time, all the heat will escape through the chimney. If you close too early it could be dangerous.
I will try to take a photo when closing the stove, but it is not easy, it looks completely different in the photo than it really is.

Cool! I would be very grateful to you. So it is best to observe the coal and as soon as any flames disappear and there is only embers, turn the furnace off immediately. In short, the furnace turns off when the coal we pour into it at the beginning burns out almost completely, giving up the heat. The spin only serves to maintain the temperature.

I use the technique described by you above. I understand that at the beginning you put the amount of coal that you intend to use on a given day on the kindling pile (newspapers, cardboard, wood) and then you do not add it anymore, but if you move the poker?

Regards,

arabeska1 wrote:

Cool! I would be very grateful to you. So it is best to observe the coal and as soon as any flames disappear and there is only embers, turn the furnace off immediately.

More or less. Only after burning out, i.e. when the heat is red.

arabeska1 wrote:

I use the technique described by you above. I understand that at the beginning you put the amount of coal that you intend to use on a given day on the kindling pile (newspapers, cardboard, wood) and then you do not add it anymore, but if you move the poker?

Yes. However, sometimes it happens that I throw in more cardboard boxes, or a large plastic bag with e.g. potato peelings (it cleans the oven a bit), that too much coal will not fit in and then I add some coal.

I added an attachment in the form of a photo when I turn the stove off.
I improved the picture a bit graphically, because it turned out to be too blue after it was taken.
Besides, it is very difficult to take a picture of the embers to make it look like it actually does.

As this is my first post, by the way, hello to everyone :)

I would like to ask, what is your time period from lighting up to complete closing of the door? Because I have about 1.5 hours with a half of a bucket of coal, and I do not know whether it is short or long.

Thanks a lot. I greet warmly.

landu wrote:

As this is my first post, by the way, hello to everyone :)

I would like to ask, what is your time period from lighting up to complete closing of the door? Because I have about 1.5 hours with a half of a bucket of coal, and I do not know whether it is short or long.

Varies - it depends on weather, fuel and other elements. If you don't throw ashes and you have a good cug, this may be enough time to burn out.

If I have a lot of ash and the stove door is too closed and I forget to move the poker, it will happen that after about 4 hours when I move the poker again, the heat turns white again and it will take 6 or more hours until the stove is closed.

If you have the bottom door open and a good cord, it will catch fire quickly. when the flame is reduced (there will be little fire and almost only very bright embers) you can close the lower door and open the upper door for about 2mm. Then it does not extract the heat so much, but keeps it in the oven.
This gives:
1. the door slightly open - air access and it will not blow up the furnace.
2. access of air and CO burns - so there will be no smoke.
3. the efficiency of the furnace is increased.

I just have that the cord is very strong and as a rule I used the principle of holding the upper door until the coal fires up, then I closed it and kept only the lower door at the minimum opening so that it would not blow exhaust fumes too quickly, from time to time by opening the top door to bury the coal and cover it with ash.

I'll try your advice as soon as it gets colder Regards.

Please help
I know that there is a lot of information on this subject everywhere ...
but they are contradictory on some points especially regarding the closing of the door.
Maybe he will write how I do it and I will gladly listen to criticism if something is wrong ...
I will be really grateful because I have not been able to deal with the topic for a long time.
I smashed what I was burning with a coal briquette in this way that I threw paper, some wood and some briquette inside. I only lit and closed the inner top door. The upper exterior and the lower one were wide open. Within 2 hours I added briquettes 2-3 times. Then I left it all with the upper outer and lower doors open and it was burning (about 3h). As I saw that the flame is slowly going out and only the red bulb remains, I closed the upper door tightly. I left the lower ones for 10 minutes and also closed them. With this zaru it is not much because the briquette peaks and falls into the ash pan.
I wanted to ask where am I wrong? The stove is warm and the house is cold.

I know that hard coal is better, but I have nowhere to store it. From next week I will have hard coal. Should I do the same as with the briquette?
Everyone concentrates when to close the top door and what about the bottom door?

I have never smoked briquettes, so I don't want to mislead you.
However, if the briquette breaks and falls into the ash pan, you can throw it back up (if it doesn't burn out).

With this bottom door it is like this:
During the ignition, if there is a weak cug, I close it and open the upper one - so that it does not smoke.
When it catches fire, I open the lower one and close the upper one (open about 2 mm wide).
If the cug is strong, I open both the upper outer and the lower cug.

As I described in the previous speech - this is a universal method.

How warm is your stove? In my case, 1 tile above the door reaches about 90-150 degrees.
In order to be healthy, the stove should have a maximum of 70-90 degrees. However, when it's cold, you need to warm up somehow.

Do you have the stove all warm? How will you touch the back of the stove / sides with your hand?
Maybe soot a lot.

However, as I would pay attention mainly to the upper door - after firing up. When the briquette catches fire, close the upper part - about 2mm. If you do not stop down, all the heat will go through the stove too quickly and will not heat it up to the right temperature.
So I would close the upper door right after lighting it up. If you have a strong cug, the lower one could also be closed (but you have to try it yourself)

Just don't close the door when it's on fire as it may blow up the stove or if it is leaking you will get poisoned.

I am sorry for uncovering the topic, but I have to. I use tiled stoves in two rooms, rooms are 20m3 each. My question is: whether to close the upper door during smoking or not, my stoves have the upper door with holes, and the upper outer door is screwed on, and the bottom door is screwed on.

My smoking method taught by my parents: d

I light newspapers with fine wood, then sype 3 paddles of coal, when the coal is already burning and it is half-hot, then I sprinkle 2 paddles of fine wood when it all burns out, and the heat remains, then I add it again. A large metal bucket of dust goes to 2 furnaces every day. The upper inner door is always closed, the upper outer and lower door are wide open from the ash pan. When I stop smoking and the fire is no longer burning, only the embers remain, I close the upper outer door, the bottom door is closed and wait until no heat is visible in the ash pan, then I close the lower one.

So, while smoking, close the lower and upper outer ones?

For me, the entire smoking process takes about 2 hours

I have a very simple tiled stove, which I use to heat my apartment.

I honestly admit that I can't smoke in it very much. The cug is weak, the cooker itself, as I said, is very simple (the door is only at the bottom, I take ash from there, the grate above is a worktop with fireplaces and a chimney exit under the top, without any adjustment). When I light a fire, before everything takes a specific fire, I get fired at my apartment, when it fires up, it is ok. I do not know how to arrange fuel in such a stove to be efficient and how to best regulate the air supply.

I would be very grateful for any hints,
greetings.

First, invite a chimney sweep to inspect and clean the chimney. Then check the tightness of the connection between the stove and the chimney. The so-called fake air.
It is possible to avoid smoking by opening the window and preheating the chimney by lighting the stove in the immediate vicinity of the outlet to the chimney of a crumpled newspaper. When the chimney warms up a bit, it has a much better draft and allows you to ignite it without smoke on the apartment.

Okay, thank you for the information, the crumpled-up newspaper method will definitely be useful too.

Tiled stove
How to burn in a tiled stove to obtain economical and relatively ecological combustion of coal?
Based on my experience, I will try to describe it in an accessible and brief way.
1. The traditional burning in the furnace consisted of placing the kindling fire on a grate and putting coal on top and lighting the batch.
I changed this way: first I put a layer of coal on the grate and put the kindling on it and light it up.
This is a reasonably difference that allows you to answer the previously asked question.
2. Comparison of combustion processes
a) As I mentioned, the kindling placed on the grate causes the coal to ignite from the layer placed on the bottom. This layer heats the top layers. It must be remembered that the coal in the first phase of combustion degasses, releasing very calorific hydrocarbons and more. They will later be referred to as gas which, when not in contact with the flame at the top, or the heat in the form of oxides and dull smoke, escapes through the chimney into the atmosphere. By poisoning it, we suffer irreparable heat losses.
b) The kindling at the top will cause the gas to burn from the very beginning, which when in contact with the lighter flame, gives off all the heat and is released into the atmosphere in the form of water vapor and oxides.
Firing up this way will take a few more pieces of wood, but it will pay off.
After some time, an ember will emerge at the top, which will take over the role of kindling.
c) It is unacceptable to burn plastics, tires, etc. in the furnace. Materials - little use for this and much pollution of the atmosphere.
3. Conditions allowing to obtain good economic results.
a) The size of the furnace is of great importance. A furnace with larger dimensions, already with a lower heating temperature, gives off the same amount of heat as a smaller furnace with a higher temperature, and this is a very important statement. The size of the furnace should be matched to the size of the heated surface, permeability of the walls, etc.
In my case, the furnace has the following dimensions: length 0.75 m, width 0.55 m, height 2.05 m, its surface that gives off heat is about 6 m2. The stove is built in in such a way that it heats the kitchen and the room with a total area of 28.5 m2.
I would like to mention that during the mild winter of 2013/2014 I burned about 1.0 tons of coal and the temperature in these rooms was around 21oC. I estimate that by using this method I have saved over 30% of fuel.
I heat the other rooms or only heat them up with electricity.
b) The tightness of the furnace is very important, which can be lost during the first lighting after construction or reconstruction, if we do not slowly dry the mortar.
Overheating the stove during operation may also cause the binder or tiles to crack. Leaks in the oven and the door allow it to cool down quickly.
c) The amount of air supplied plays a very important role in the combustion process. Excessive amount of it causes rapid combustion and rapid passage of hot air through the furnace along with the flue gases. In a short time, the walls of the furnace cannot absorb the passing heat.
I open the upper door about 1.0 cm and the lower door about 3.0 cm. Each of you will have to adjust the opening of the door depending on the draft (cord) produced by the chimney. Provide only enough air for the gases to burn completely and after the coke is degassed.
Never close the door while the burning of coal is still in progress, the stove may explode due to the non-burnt gases.
I close the door when only the small, unburnt coke breezes remain on the grate.
4. Before lighting the stove
From the previous day, there are unburned coal residues on the grate, I leave them and I discard the slag and ash. I put a layer of charcoal on the grate 8 to 14 cm high, depending on the temperature outside.
If it is necessary to add coal while burning, I move the heat to the inside of the furnace and put the exact portion on the grate from the side of the door.
Carbon should never be thrown over the embers.
Wish you get good results
Eng. Tadeusz Adam Important
October 2014
tel. 607-634-677

kreslarz wrote:

If you have not had contact with such devices so far, I suggest you buy a carbon monoxide (carbon monoxide) sensor to protect your life. Remember that such a sensor should be mounted low, because carbon monoxide is heavier than air and spreads underneath.

Chad is lighter than air and lifts you up. The carbon monoxide detector should properly be in the center of the ceiling in the room. Mounting it in the corners of walls, ceiling or on the floor is not allowed. Details can be found in the operating and installation manual for the carbon monoxide detector.

I only smoke pine trees and sometimes alder. Room temperature +28 after three applications.

After lighting the tree, open the lower door about 2mm. A whistle is heard. When there is no flame in the furnace, but there is only a pile of red heat, I close the bottom door deafly, because the longer the embers remain, the more the fireclay in the furnace will heat up. When everything is almost burnt down, I put the trees back on again and open the bottom door 2mm.



There's very little ash from the tree, maybe 1:30. Before you get a full ash pan, you have to smoke for a week.

waco wrote:

Chad is lighter than air and lifts you up. The carbon monoxide detector should properly be in the center of the ceiling in the room.

Specific gravity: carbon monoxide - 1.25 kg / m3, air - 1.20 kg / m3, "Chad is slightly heavier than air, so under ideal conditions it will accumulate on the lowest parts, but as I wrote IMPORTANTLY, and this means that it will mix well with the air. It may accumulate at the top, because when it comes out of the stove / chimney it will have a higher temperature than the surrounding air. "
I only smoke with wood ...

waco wrote:

After lighting the tree ... I put trees again ... There is very little ash from the tree ...

Nothing similar; You don't smoke with wood.