Stove - signs, superstitions, customs. Household omens for the home - how to keep peace in the family Is it possible to remove omens from the stove?
In the old days, every person knew the signs for the house. Following everyday superstitions promises good luck and money, prevents troubles and helps predict the future without fortune telling. We recommend following the behests of our ancestors and joining folk wisdom.
Household superstitions - the meaning of the threshold
In Slavic signs about a house, the threshold was identified with a portal to another dimension, the border between the world of spirits and familiar reality. This is where the roots of superstitions about treating babies come from. The patient is supposedly forever handed over to the healer across the threshold, then taken away from the window, greeted as if he were a new addition to the family. Wedding omen advises the groom to carry the bride over the threshold. If she stumbles at the entrance to the house, a happy life may not be expected.
Don't sit on the threshold - attract bad rumors about yourself. For single people, the belief promises difficulties in love affairs. Don’t stand at the entrance for a long time; happiness and prosperity will leave through the open door. Old people say that standing on the threshold of money and happiness blocks the way into the house. Pregnant women were in danger in the form of evil spirits, so expectant mothers were forbidden to stand at the entrance to the house and sit on the threshold.
When going on business, step over the threshold with your right foot to attract good luck. Don't eat at this time, you risk getting a demon as your neighbor. To drive away an unwanted guest, seat him with his back to the exit. Soon he will remember urgent matters and say goodbye to you.
Signs about windows
Throwing trash out the window is a bad idea. Angels sometimes look through it, you can offend them. When a window is opened by a gust of wind, divine messengers warn of something good. Sitting on the windowsill means loneliness. This refers not only to failures in your personal life, but also to the lack of friends, bad relationships with colleagues and relatives.
If the curtain breaks or falls, the owner of the room will have a fight with her friend. If a window breaks or cracks, the protection of the apartment is weakened. You are threatened by an evil sorcerer or evil spirits. The first consequences will affect communication with people.
In an apartment with windows facing north, few people stay for long. Sometimes this sign has a positive meaning - the most avid sloths in such a house may develop a craving for travel or another reason to spend less time at home. But more often we are talking about heavy energy, which repels residents.
Kitchen superstitions
Bake - heart of home, the place where magic is born. If the fireplace has not been used for a long time, you should cross it before lighting it. And in general, fire is supposed to be started with prayer. If it flares up quickly, it means that the spirit of an ancestor or a brownie is nearby. You cannot sit on the stove while cooking, otherwise the food will spoil. A brick falling out of the fireplace means trouble. The “color” of the energy of the house primarily affects the state of the hearth.
Spilling salt means a scandal. But another belief advises throwing three pinches over your left shoulder to stop an argument. Sugar is scattered - to a pleasant surprise, reconciliation, good luck.
Do not store dishes with cracks or chips. It brings misfortune and brings disharmony to the energy of the house. Needed for needlework - take it to the barn; superstitions do not consider it a living space. Don't be upset, the dishes beat for good luck.
If you borrow a bucket, pan or other container, return it full. According to signs, returning an empty bucket means desolation and poverty. The more you give, the more you will receive from the Universe.
Don’t forget to leave treats for the brownie in the most secluded place in the kitchen. He will help with the housework, warn of trouble, protect from evil spirits and witchcraft. Sweets, porridge, and baked goods with honey are suitable. In honor of the holiday, you can leave some wine.
Dining table and tablecloth
The kitchen table plays a role in rustic magic altar, desktop for witchcraft affairs. Direct his energy for your benefit. In order to get your own home, hold on to the corner of the table more often.
Sitting on the table means losing your income. For a girl, they take on additional meaning - she will forget how to cook deliciously. Leaving shoes on the table or putting your feet on it is a sign of being hanged. A cat lying on the table means the death or departure of one of the household. “Watches out one of the residents” - that’s what the ancestors said about it.
Superstitions do not prohibit lending a kitchen table to neighbors or giving it to a young family. Just cover it with a tablecloth and give it away with it, otherwise poverty will come to the house where the table will be. Guests should not be seated at an uncovered table. If one of the household members is late for dinner, shake the tablecloth over the table, and all obstacles in his way will disappear. You can store coins under the tablecloth; this attracts wealth.
While eating, do not knock on the table or utensils, otherwise your teeth will hurt. When you receive guests, place the spoons with the notch down so that strangers cannot interfere in your personal life. If during a feast two spoons end up in one bowl, there will soon be a wedding.
An unmarried girl should not sweep crumbs off the table with her hand, otherwise she will become an old maid. The young man shouldn't either - his wife will be bald. Don't do this with paper napkins or newspaper, you will invite scandals into the house. Use a sponge or rag.
Bread is the head of everything
There are many signs about bread. They take it with their hands; they are not supposed to prick it with a knife or fork, so as not to drive away happiness. You can’t eat from a knife at all, so as not to spoil your character.
When cutting, you should not leave the cut edge facing the wall - all friends and acquaintances will turn away from the owner of the house. If the product crumbles and breaks during cutting, expect marital discord.
They do not “poke” the bread into the salt shaker and leave a knife in it so that times of hunger do not come. You cannot throw away leftover baked goods; God will punish you with hunger and poverty. Feed them to animals or birds. Not eating or drinking enough, throwing away food are bad omens in most Russian regions.
Culinary beliefs
Egg and chicken dishes are useful for newlyweds; in the old days they were eaten to quickly conceive a child. But do not forget to crush the empty shell so that the devil does not start in it. Keep an eye on the eggs as they cook. They are cracking to the guests.
Baked apples burst - expect good news. An owner who confuses salt with sugar or vice versa can also count on good news. But he will have to come to terms with the fact that for another three days the food he prepares will not taste good.
Forgetting to add spices is a recipe for trouble. The faster you correct the mistake, the fewer difficulties will fall on your head. Pancakes and porridges burn, leading to a scandal in the family. In order for meals, especially holiday ones, to be a success, quarrels should be avoided.
Signs in the bedroom
Signs about mirrors do not advise keeping them in the bedroom. Especially if the mirrors are damaged. Cracks open the way for dark entities that are not averse to feeding on the energy of the homeowners. Guests from mirror dimensions can harm the psyche and biofield of the residents.
Another unwanted bedroom accessory - stuffed animals and horns. They radiate the energy of death and violence. Signs do not recommend leaving cold boiled water in the bedroom overnight. This teases the demons. Umbrellas should not be dried in the room where they sleep, leading to tears. But it’s worth storing them there, then there will always be “good weather” in the house.
There is no place for TV where husband and wife sleep, this is a recipe for divorce. Ficus has a bad effect on the physical side of love. Beliefs also accuse him of problems with conception. Ficus is also contraindicated for unmarried people; it will drive away suitors.
Houseplants disappear where spouses sleep - the marriage will not last long. This is one of the signs of damage or evil spirits. Call a priest, bless the house. And then start flower "female happiness", which will neutralize the damage already done and protect the relationship. Also suitable is hibiscus, a flower that revitalizes relationships and brings back passion.
The elephant is a symbol of family and fertility. Place a figurine depicting him in the newlyweds’ bedroom, and they will not have problems conceiving. Receiving one as a gift with a promise to place it near the bed means an early pregnancy. It is better to avoid seashells; they negatively affect the health of sleepers.
Folk signs about cleaning the house
Having garbage from your enemy's house can cause damage to it. Therefore, in the old days, rubbish was burned in a furnace or buried away from prying eyes. You cannot dispose of garbage after sunset - it means poverty. According to other signs - to the death of the owner of the house. It’s better to put things in order during the day. It should be clean at night; after sunset, angels walk from house to house, looking after their charges. Clutter will offend them. They do not clean in bad weather.
Don't wash the floors after guests leave; you'll wash them out of the house forever. The sign can be used to get rid of annoying visitors. They “wash up the road” for good purposes too - the bride’s mother washes the floor after she leaves for the groom’s house, so that she lives happily in the new place and doesn’t want to go back.
In the old days, brooms and brooms were considered sacred objects. They can both heal and protect from evil, and ruin life - depending on whose hands they find themselves in. Store the broom with the handle down and you will be protected from the evil eye. There can only be one broom in the house; sweeping with two sweeps away the positive energy of love, luck and money. People say: “you will scatter wealth into other people’s corners.” An old broom is supposed to be burned outside the house, and only after that buy a new one.
They sweep and wash the floor towards the kitchen so that the bins are full. The housewife rushing to the front door will lose her beauty and youth. You can't put things in order when you're in a bad mood. And the result will not please you, and you will quarrel with someone at home. If a girl doesn’t know how to sweep, she will argue with her husband after the wedding.
The state of the mirror reflects the energy of the apartment. Therefore, do not keep it dirty, wipe it as often as possible. After cleaning, do not walk around with an empty bucket; you will bring bad luck to those you meet along the way.
What to expect if you are “imagining”?
You can imagine a lot, and not all of it portends something. But if you happen to see flickering light in your windows when no one is home, expect happiness. Angels have marked your home with their presence.
Seeing a brownie means grief. According to legend, the domovikha (the brownie's wife) wails at night before misfortune in the family. Can you hear her crying? Prepare for the worst.
A knock on the window at night is a sign of the death of a relative. But you can only trust her if there are no traces of the visitor on the street. If this happens more than once, think about which of your deceased relatives you undeservedly offended. He demands an apology. This interpretation is especially true if light steps are heard after the knocking.
A knock on the door at night also portends death. In the old days, it was believed that it was the Grim Reaper himself who was knocking with the handle of his scythe. But you shouldn’t deprive yourself of the opportunity to receive guests after sunset. Use the peephole. If there is no one there, you shouldn't open it. Better sprinkle the door with holy water and read "Our Father". If the door was opened unknowingly, bless the apartment. If unknown persons knock at night on the door or window of a house where there is a seriously ill person, you can give up hope of his recovery.
Branches or raindrops can make a loud knocking sound. Such sounds warn of the impossibility of starting a new business. Take some time to implement your ideas. If insects hit the glass, a scandal may occur.
What not to do at home
The sign prohibiting whistling in an apartment has many meanings. Some promise lack of money, others promise separation from one of the household members. The latter can expect both a long-awaited departure and death. Another superstition says that whistling is a witch's technique for summoning devils. An ordinary person cannot expect any good from them.
Don't stand near Red corner(places where icons hang) in a headdress. This is a great sin and will definitely be punished for it. You cannot keep a broom near the images. The Bible and other sacred texts are not left where they eat and sit - on tables, sofas, chairs.
It is not advisable to pour water (water plants, wash your face, etc.) first thing after waking up. This is how the luck intended for the new day spills out. You can’t sing before breakfast, otherwise after dinner there will be a reason for tears.
Avoid accepting animals as gifts; they won’t take root. Give the donor at least a few coins. Even a symbolic payment negates the negative meaning of the belief. Stealing a cat means poverty, taking it from the street means prosperity.
Reeds are not allowed in the apartment. Along with this plant comes the evil spirit living in the swamp. It provokes illness and brings failure.
After their 50th birthday they don’t build a house for themselves. It is permissible to help children in construction and live in the house they built for you. You can participate in the construction of housing for several generations.
Home and family signs contain the secrets of happiness of past generations. They will tell you how to protect marital relationships, peace and comfort in the home, and the calm energy of your home. Follow folk signs at home, and you will have success in the workplace.
The Slavs considered the stove a central place in the house; they cooked food on it, heated their homes, and often slept on it in cold weather. Despite the fact that the stove had very serious household functions, it also had a magical meaning and there were certain signs and beliefs that families necessarily adhered to.
Of course, the stove is also a symbol of the mistress of the house, who was supposed to be warm and hospitable. This is the center of the house, a symbol of solidity.
When the matchmakers entered the bride's house, they first crossed themselves and then put their hands on the stove, symbolically the new house received them and warmed them.
During matchmaking, the matchmakers ended up in the room in which the stove was located. They sat down at the table with the girl’s parents, and the future bride herself stood calmly and modestly next to the stove.
According to legends, in order for a girl to have a happy family, marriage, children, well-being in the home,
she needed to take at least a small piece from the stove from her home and put this piece in the base of the stove, which was laid in her own house, in which she already became the mistress. Now this tradition also exists in some families, when upon marriage a mother gives her daughter some of the dishes for cooking on the stove (pot, frying pan, etc.)
When laying a new stove in the house, the housewives were present; familiar women from the village were invited, whose marriage was considered successful and who had children, a caring husband, a good home, health and well-being.
There are many rituals that definitely require a stove and they are quite effective. These include conspiracies against fear, love magic, and rituals for health, recovery, and well-being in the home.
It is believed that when a woman gives birth, all the windows in the house must be opened and the oven must be opened. Previously, our ancestors always opened the stove door to help the woman in labor, as the stove was considered a symbol of the female womb. There was even a proverb that concerned a man’s responsibility to a pregnant woman: “If you put a grip in the oven, take the cast iron out.”
It was believed that through the chimney in the stove everything bad came out of the house, maybe even an evil spirit, or bad luck. Therefore, in folklore, witches or all sorts of evil spirits often flew out of it. Let us also remember that it was in the oven that Gogol’s witch Solokha hid the stars collected from the sky.
According to legends, it was in the stove, or rather behind the stove, that the brownie lived, and the housewife, when she cleaned the stove and cooked in it, could communicate with him. They left him a treat behind the stove. What can be done in our time is to leave gifts to the brownie either behind the stove or in a dark corner of the oven.
An analogue of the old stove in our homes is a gas or electric stove.
It no longer stands in the center of the house, like the old stove, and does not heat the home, but it is still well used in some rituals. The stove is still the same symbol of the hearth, fire and warmth. 
A person spends half of his life in his home. Therefore, it is not surprising that so many signs are associated with the house, family affairs, and household items.
Door
You need to stick a large knife into the door frame with the tip, then the sorcerer will not be able to go into the house.
If the door suddenly creaks, it’s bad luck.
Buckthorn is considered a good amulet for the home against witchcraft and the evil eye. When hung on doors and windows, buckthorn destroys the machinations of sorcerers and demons.
Lock
To prevent evil spirits from entering the house and to avoid the evil eye, simple pins are inserted into the door lock with the sharp end facing out.
Curtain
A curtain breaks - a quarrel between friends.
Ash
Scattering ashes means a quarrel.
Icon
If something obscene happens in the house, the images are closed.
The icon fell - to death.
Painting
The painting fell - unfortunately.
Book
Books should be kept in a closed cabinet, otherwise your head will hurt.
Indoor flowers
Indoor flowers influence the family situation in different ways: ficus brings prosperity and family happiness; climbing plants (ivy, liana) lead to discord.
You should not keep a palm tree in the house - it will lead to great misfortune and illness.
A plant with narrow leaves with a white vein in the middle (chlorophytum) is popularly called “Man, get out of the house!” It provokes divorce.
Geranium protects the house from insects (moths, bedbugs). A geranium leaf placed in the ear relieves headaches and ear pain.
It is good to plant a juniper bush at home or store something made from juniper wood. This plant expels evil spirits from homes and protects against all kinds of magical slander.
If a flower pot breaks, there will be trouble.
The flowers in the house grow well, there is peace in the family: the flowers wither - the house is restless.
Bed
Do not put an arshin (or a ruler, a centimeter) on the bed - to the deceased.
Garlic hung at the head of the bed helps with headaches and evil spirits.
Shovel
You should not keep garden tools (shovel, hoe) in the house - a fire may occur
Soap
Soap in your bosom saves you from spoilage. Love talk is said about soap: “As soap clings to the body, so would a husband cling to his wife.”
Scissors
Scissors that fall so that the blades stick to the floor portend a quarrel. If a similar incident is repeated two or more times within a month, divorce or adultery is possible in the family.
Blanket
The blanket fell - the good guest is in a hurry.
Window
You cannot spit through the window, throw out garbage, or pour out slops - there is a guardian angel under the window.
At a wake, a towel or piece of fabric is hung out of the window, and a vessel with water is placed on the windowsill so that the soul of the deceased comes to wash.
Accidentally seeing a light in the window of your house is good luck.
Don't look out the window until dawn - you'll see something unclean.
Stove
If someone is carrying firewood for the stove and one log falls, there will be guests; the same if a firebrand falls out of the stove by itself. If a burning coal falls out, it means an angry guest.
Aspen firewood destroys stove soot.
You can't spit in the fire - blisters will appear on your tongue.
While bread is baking in the oven, do not sit on the oven - the bread will be bad.
A brick falling out of the oven is not good.
If the stove sweats, it means the housewife's tears.
The chimney is humming—someone’s soul is tormented.
If there is any rustling or ringing in the pipe, there will be a trial over a trifle.
Threshold
You cannot say hello, say goodbye, or pass anything across the threshold - to a quarrel or loss.
If a young guy is sitting on the doorstep, then not a single girl will marry him - so he will die a bachelor.
Candle
If a church candle burns unevenly in the house and leaves a lot of soot, the house is unclean.
You should not blow candles on the fire - pimples will appear on your tongue, you need to extinguish the candle after drooling on your fingers
A flame with soot is unlucky. When you light a candle in church, but it doesn’t burn for a long time, it leans or goes out - unfortunately.
Table
Don't put your keys on the table - it's not good. A hat and keys on the table mean a quarrel.
An inkwell and a knife also mean a quarrel.
If you brush the crumbs off the table with your hand, there will be no money.
You can't sit on the dining table - one of your parents will die. v Clock
The wall clock falls - to the death of the owner of the house. Stopping on their own means a change in life. After the death of the owner, the clock stops or needs to be stopped specifically. 8
The clock striking at the wrong time means trouble.
Fur coat
The fur coat fell - to a big quarrel in the family.
Lucky omens
Accidentally scattering a box of matches (by the way, you need to collect them one at a time and take only the “leg” of the match, and not the “head” - this way you will collect wealth for the house, pen by penny, ruble by ruble);
Spill wine during a toast - Fate will appreciate your generous gesture and will compensate for the spilled hundredfold (only, of course, you need to spill wine accidentally).
Unlucky omens
If someone goes into the house with an open umbrella, all that remains is to wait for misfortune;
Drop a raw egg (no matter where, on the floor or a soft chair). If it remains intact, failures will accompany you all day long.
Signs for happiness and good luck
Thread and needle
Buy a needle on Monday, and on Thursday stick it and thread into your blouse on your chest, just walk around - everything will be fine.
If you sew and the thread gets tangled, you will live a long time.
Before the wedding, the bride and groom need to stick pins into their clothes so as not to jinx them.
A pin on clothes and a needle and thread above the door of the home protects against the evil eye.
Money
If you don’t recognize someone you know, he might be rich.
Take money with your left hand and give it with your right - it will always happen.
If, having sold the first thing of all intended for sale, you touch it with money, then you will sell the entire product easily.
At the table
He who eats stale bread swims well and is not afraid of lightning.
Feed the excess bread to the birds - to happiness and prosperity.
At the beginning and end of lunch, eating a piece of bread with salt is good luck.
An apple fell from the table - to a meeting with your lover.
A tea leaf floating in a glass means a gift.
If bread and salt are offered, the larger the piece you bite, the more luck you have.
If you sit between people with the same names, make a wish. It will come true.
Signs - rules
Sweep not towards the threshold, but from the threshold, otherwise you will sweep away your wealth.
A woman oversalts her food, which means she has fallen in love.
The broom should be held with the handle down - money will be found and the house will be protected from misfortunes.
Sweep the house with a wormwood broom - the unclean will not come in.
When moving to a new house, carry an old broom with you so that you can take the good brownie with you.
Do not stir coffee or tea in the cup of a partner or relative - you will stir up a quarrel.
If something breaks, don’t be upset, fortunately. At weddings, it is generally recommended to break dishes so that the spouses have a happy life.
Finding a horseshoe is good luck. Hang the one found above the door - to long happiness.
Never pour boiling water into an empty cup or glass (first pour tea, coffee, or at least sugar into it) - you will set yourself up for poverty.
Leaving scissors open means a quarrel.
Don't sit on the windowsill - you won't get married.
In such developed countries as the USA, Canada, England, Japan, many people still do not want to give up stove heating. They say it’s economical, comfortable, and good for health. Environmentalists confirm: a dispersed emission from house stoves is much easier for nature to “digest” without leaving a trace than a burst emission of the same power from a thermal power plant. But why - economically? Everyone knows that the stove is gluttonous. Yes, because those people know how to light a stove. This is more difficult than brushing your teeth, but the art of a stoker can also be brought to complete automation.
The consequences of improperly firing the stove can be expressed clearly, see figure:
Although, by the way, it is also possible to heat a black bath so that almost no smoke will be visible from the outside. However, the designs of house stoves have evolved over centuries and therefore suffer serious disruptions to the operating mode (stove operation). Quite a lot of people learn to light a stove intuitively, and it seems to work well, see for example. video:
But also read the comments to it - most of them are fair. Firstly, the danger of burning out remains unobvious. Secondly, increased fuel consumption. How to properly light a stove is not only and not so much an art. This is a whole science that requires thorough knowledge of heat engineering, thermochemistry and other fields of knowledge. The purpose of this publication is to provide the reader with information to enable it to be mastered. The result is more than worth the effort: heating costs per season are reduced by up to 40% (!).
How solid fuel burns
To begin with, you don’t need to particularly strain your mental apparatus. It is enough to know, firstly, that the thermal efficiency of liquid fuel and gas furnaces is completely determined by the design of the furnace/boiler, burner and fuel properties. There are practically no opportunities to achieve savings by disrupting the normal operating mode of the device.
However, when it comes to firewood, coal and peat, it’s a different matter. The consumption of solid fuel for heating depends significantly on how the furnace or boiler is fired. This is explained by the peculiarities of the combustion of solid fuel: when the furnace is started, it is initially gasified by heating, releasing flammable gases. This process is called pyrolysis. Pyrolysis gases burn, releasing heat that heats the carbon base to the combustion temperature, which releases the remainder of the total heat of combustion of this type of fuel.
Note: pyrolysis gases from coal are called coke oven gas, because under certain conditions of its combustion, the carbon base remains unburned, forming coke. Wood can also be burned only at the gasification stage - the result is charcoal. As a fuel, it is currently used only in cooking, since it is very expensive, and burning wood into charcoal is a very unecological process.
Proper gasification of the fuel is especially important if the stove is fired with wood: wood pyrolysis gases provide a very significant part of the heat of combustion of wood and can ignite its finely structured carbon base without additional measures. At the same time, pyrolysis gases can burn very quickly - the furnace will not be able to absorb all the heat from them, it will experience a thermal shock that is not at all useful for it, and the excess heat will have no choice but to fly out into the chimney. The basis of proper combustion of a wood-burning stove is to organize the gradual gasification of firewood, while at the same time preventing the temperature in the firebox from falling below that required for ignition and complete combustion of carbon. The fact is that fairly easily combustible amorphous carbon, when heated above 600 degrees, begins to transform into a modification of graphite. Ignition temperature of amorphous carbon approx. 1100 degrees (depending on its structure), and for graphite - over 2000.
The following important circumstances:
- The rate of release of pyrolysis gases strongly depends on temperature - times.
- Two – graphitization of amorphous carbon is a very energy-intensive process. In an insufficiently heated firebox, a kind of cycling at the pyrolysis stage is possible with the formation of a large amount of graphite soot, when the main part of the heat from the combustion of pyrolysis gases goes to the formation of graphite.
- Three - the maximum temperature in the firebox at which the stove will receive and accumulate heat or immediately transfer it to the room is 1200-1300 degrees.
- And lastly: the energy release of coke oven gas in a conventional furnace firebox is not enough to ignite the amorphous carbon of coal. Its ignition temperature must be created in the firebox of a coal furnace already at its start-up (kindling).
The furnace firebox in the bathhouse has significant features. A significant part of pyrolysis gases is carbon monoxide CO - carbon monoxide. Its effect on a person in a bathhouse microclimate increases many times over, because CO is able to penetrate directly into the body through steamed skin. The concentration of CO in the air, which at 20 degrees in a room causes headaches and malaise, can be fatal in a bathhouse. In this regard, setting the furnace speed and stopping it is of particular importance, see below.
Based on this, the correct combustion of a solid fuel stove should be carried out as follows. way:
- Lighting a wood stove should quickly heat the fuel before intense gasification begins;
- Ignition of a coal furnace must heat the initial charge of fuel (see below) to the ignition temperature of amorphous carbon in at least one place. Then the coal will heat up on its own, because... its energy release and thermal conductivity are quite high;
- The stroke of a burning house stove is set by air supply and draft adjustment to maximum thermal efficiency;
- The operation of the sauna stove is set for instant combustion of pyrolysis gases or (not very desirable) for their immediate exhaust into the chimney;
- The house stove is stopped until the fuel burns into ash or, if the fuel is of low quality, until the coals go out;
- The sauna stove is stopped by extinguishing unburnt coals immediately after the complete cessation of pyrolysis, see below, because Carbon monoxide can also release burning amorphous carbon.
Note: heating a stove with peat produces a huge amount of acid radicals. When walking from a house with a peat stove, it smells sour for tens and hundreds of meters. As a result, the harvesting of peat and its use for fuel is prohibited in many countries and things are moving towards a complete ban everywhere. Therefore, the features of firing a stove with peat are not considered further. If lighting a stove is a matter of vital importance, and there is nothing but peat, then they heat it with it in the same way as with brown coal, see below.
How to light a stove
In general, the combustion chamber of a solid fuel furnace consists of the following, formally speaking, production cycles:
- Procurement of firewood/coal and preparation of their consumable load;
- Unloading the ash pan from the ash of the previous firebox;
- External inspection and routine (preventive) cleaning of the fuel part;
- Starting the furnace for working stroke and setting the furnace stroke;
- Adding fuel until the fuel load is used up or until the furnace warms up to the required degree (furnace heating);
- Stop the oven.
Here are the basic rules, first - starting the stove does not ignite the kindling. The furnace is started when it is already running, and there are many subtleties here, see below. Secondly, do not shove the entire consumable load into the oven at once. It will not be possible to set the furnace operation to maximum thermal efficiency, and you can immediately fall into graphitization with increased soot deposition. In order for the stove to provide more heat while consuming less fuel, it needs to be heated.
Firewood
Preparing firewood for heating is much more difficult than preparing coal. Therefore, we will talk about the latter further, in the section on coal combustion. In the meantime, let's take care of the firewood. They are prepared for burning the trail. way:
- The timber is sawed into logs and logs of the required height (length), see below;
- Churaks are chopped into logs with a cross-section close to a sector of a circle or trapezoid with a height (cross-section) of 8-10 cm;
- Logs with a diameter of less than 7-8 cm are split into halves or quarters;
- Wood logs with a diameter of less than 4-5 cm are left unchopped;
- Place the prepared fuel in a woodpile under a canopy or (better) in a woodshed (woodshed): logs - separately, half logs and quarters - separately, logs - separately;
- Keep in air drying for at least 2 years. As a last resort, you can burn with one-year-old wood;
- During the heating season, firewood is transferred indoors and dried to chamber (room) dryness in the woodshed under the stove or in the woodshed next to it;
- The woodshed or firewood shed is replenished with wood from the woodpile to replace the wood used for the next firebox until the stove starts running after kindling, see below.
Churaks and logs
The height of the logs and the length of the logs for splitting firewood should be 3-7 cm higher (longer) than the length of the stove grate, but equally shorter than the length of the firebox. Simply: finished firewood should be placed in the firebox, slightly overlapping the grates, but at the same time not resting against the walls of the firebox.
Firewood section shape
The sharp corners and edges of the firewood will ensure intense gasification from the kindling, immediately warming up the resulting carbon until it ignites. Then, as the wood burns, the intensity of gas emission will drop to a value that allows you to set the optimal stove speed. Half logs and quarters are used for the initial load (placed on the kindling, see below), and the log is used for the summer fire of the hob and, possibly, also for the initial load.
Woodpile
In the woodpile, the firewood not only dries to air dryness (less than 30% moisture). During aging in the woodpile, water-soluble organic compounds of wood (simply juices containing proteins and sugars) are bituminized, forming combustible forms. The calorific value in the reference books is given specifically for firewood aged at least 2 years. Compared to them, annual trees lose up to 10-20% of their potential heat, and autumn and spring fellings of the same year lose up to 50% or more (!).
Woodshed and woodshed
Air-dry firewood (absolute humidity up to 25%) will release no more than 85% of its potential (reference) heat. In addition, the heat consumption from the combustion of pyrolysis gases for the evaporation of water will reduce the temperature in the furnace by 100-150 degrees: graphitization and soot deposition will increase. Therefore, before burning, the firewood must be dried to room dryness (no more than 12% absolute humidity); The reference calorific value of firewood is given specifically for this purpose.
It is better to dry the firewood in a firewood pan, pos. 2 in Fig.: moisture rises through the capillaries of the tree to the upper cuts and evaporates perfectly. Firewood from the outer captive on the floor in bulk reaches stove condition in 7-10 days; firewood in the woodshed under the stove on legs (item 1) or trenches (brick columns - supports for the stove) for 2-3 days, and firewood in the woodshed standing 1-1.5 m in front of the stove - for 2 fireboxes, those. during the day and from evening to morning.
Ash pan and ash
The ash pit is emptied of ash just before the firebox, so that accidentally remaining sparks in the ash do not cause a fire somewhere. By the way, according to the law, in this case the owner and/or stoker of the stove is responsible. Before unloading (simply removing and shaking out) the ash pan into it through the grates, sweep away the remaining ash and small debris from the firebox with a broom. Well, of course, you know that stove ash is an excellent mineral fertilizer.
Inspection of the furnace condition
You may also know that through a match-thick gap between the fire door and its jamb, up to 15 cubic meters are sucked in per hour. m of air. It will reduce the temperature in the firebox by 200-250 degrees. This in itself will reduce the heat transfer of the fuel load by 15-20%, and increased soot deposition over time by the same amount. Therefore, you need to pay the utmost attention to the condition of the furnace before starting it.
How the stove works from the point of view of a stoker, who may not know how to lay brick on brick, but knows his job, is shown (schematically) on the left in the figure:
On the right there is also given the purpose of furnace devices and brief instructions on the nature of routine work with them. If the stove is not running and the fuel is completely burned out, all doors and dampers must be tightly closed. The reason is dust. Burning and bituminizing, it forms a dense soot, which is very difficult to remove without damaging the structure of the furnace; graphite soot can be easily removed with a golik (a broom made of twigs without leaves) on a long handle. Moreover, graphite particles, settling on bitumen soot, gradually turn into highly flammable fine amorphous carbon. Dust deposits are the most common cause of soot fire in a chimney. Therefore, when inspecting the stove, you need to wipe the doors with their frames from dust, completely remove and wipe the dampers of the view and gate.
Note: about other devices and regulations in Fig. see further in the course of the presentation.
Traction and acceleration of the plug
The process of preparing the stove for combustion necessarily includes checking the draft. The safest way to do this is with a candle (item 1 in the figure below), when the kindling and initial load are already in the firebox. The furnace door is tightly closed, the ash chamber is opened and a burning candle is placed in it. At the edge of the door, the flame should stretch into the oven without breaking off. If there is no candle, it is not so reliable, but it is enough so that the fumes do not immediately start, the draft is checked with a match with an empty firebox. The blower door is closed, the furnace door is opened two fingers and a burning match is brought to the crack with the head down, pos. 2. The flame should also stretch into the oven without breaking.
On a stagnant stove (for example, a country stove over the winter), a situation is possible when the firebox is empty, the channels and chimney are clean, but there is no draft. The same can happen if the oven is new and not dried out before the first start. Then, firstly, check the draft on the chimney cleaning door with the firebox and vent closed. Yes - there is a steam lock in a damp oven. No - there is an air lock in the chimney. It is eliminated by burning a torch (possibly 2 or 3) made of newspaper in the chimney through the cleaning door. It didn’t help - you need to inspect the chimney deflector to see if it is damaged or clogged.
If the cork sits in the oven, newspapers or, better yet, shavings are burned in small portions in the firebox with the ash pan, viewer and damper fully open. It is difficult to squeeze the steam plug out of the oven: you will have to place a newspaper sheet or a handful of shavings on top of a newspaper sheet crumpled into a loose lump more than once. However, in small country stoves it often happens that both plugs are stuck, but not tightly. In this case, you can remove the steam-air plug from the furnace immediately from the firebox, see video:
Note: In fact, the best way to get a blockage out of a stove is to keep it out. It’s very simple - when leaving for the winter, plug the openings of all the stove doors and the mouth of the chimney with rags or straw. The pipe is plugged so that the plug rests on it like a cap (mushroom) and is wrapped together with the plug with film, otherwise it may fall into the chimney before spring.
Loading and kindling
The initial loading of firewood into the stove is most often combined with its kindling. In some cases (see below), the stove is first heated and firewood is placed on the burning kindling. In any case, to successfully operate the stove, you need to have firewood and coal tongs as part of the stove utensils. Without them, it is very difficult to correct incorrectly settling firewood and add new ones for heating, and without this, the operation of the stove during combustion will always be disrupted and some of the heat will be lost.
The main mistake in the initial loading of the stove is that the torch and kindling are placed on top of the stack of firewood, on the left in Fig. below. The furnace will start, but the primary pyrolysis gases, whose task is to “stir up” the furnace, will burn in vain. Worse than in vain: since the smoke channel system (or hood) of the furnace has not yet been heated to more than 200 degrees, intensive deposition of fire-hazardous amorphous soot will occur in the furnace structure.
The second mistake is that not knowing that the stove needs to be heated during combustion, or being too lazy to do this, they immediately give a full working load of firewood (in the center). The primary pyrolysis gases will cool down in the upper wood before reaching the furnace heat, and there will be no strong deposits of amorphous soot in the structure of the furnace, but until the furnace goes into operation, a lot of wood will burn in vain. In the second half of the combustion time, the situation shown on the right in Fig. 1 will arise: the grate is clogged with unburnt coals, the bluish color of which indicates the formation of carbon monoxide. In this case, it is impossible to bring the stove to the correct speed with air and draft (see below): you need to thoroughly drill through the firebox and stir up the coals, immediately releasing a lot of heat into the chimney.
There are 2 cases when firewood is placed (with tongs!) on flaming kindling (on the left in the next figure): if the plug was previously removed from the stove or if the stove has to be heated with one-year or current-year firewood. Then it is best to make kindling from a lightly oiled rag (so that it does not drip) or a lightly oiled loose lump of 5-6 newspaper sheets or from 3-4 handfuls of slightly oiled shavings. But what about the Fire Safety Rules (Fire Safety Rules), which completely prohibit the lighting of flammable combustion stoves? Not violated, see below.
Generally speaking, one or half a sheet of newspaper, a handful of shavings or 2-3 splinters will be enough to kindle properly prepared firewood in the stove. But place the kindling immediately, before loading firewood, under the middle of its future installation. If you then slide the kindling from the side (in the center in the figure), a situation will arise similar to the initial overload of the stove with wood (see above), only the side ones will now act as the top ones.
The following situation: you need to light a metal stove with a cramped firebox and a small fire door or a brick stove with obviously damp wood (for example, in a taiga hut). In a cramped firebox, it is impossible to immediately lay out the initial stack of firewood, and ordinary kindling will not warm up the raw firewood before gasification begins. Let’s also assume that there are no rags or oil to impregnate it. In this case, they make wood (double) kindling: the thinnest and driest logs (for example, from nearby dead wood) are chopped (with a knife) into thin sectored logs. A well is laid out from logs into 1-3 tiers, turning the tiers approx. at 45 degrees (on the right in the figure). Newspaper, coniferous, “Christmas tree” hunting and tourist material, etc. are placed in the well. kindling lit by one match. If the kindling is newspaper, the paper tail is taken out. The well is covered with very thin logs or a torch and - rest assured, it will light up like a darling!
flammable liquid and oil
Let's carefully study the PPB with appendices. There is enough about the spontaneous combustion of oils, but many edible and technical oils are not on the list of flammable liquids. We turn to the specialized literature and in the end we find a clear difference between flammable liquids and non-flammable liquids. The point is not at all that a drunken idiot can pour a can of gasoline into the stove. A drunken fool would foolishly hang himself. But the fact is that flammable liquid vapors: a) have a flash point, perhaps even below room temperature (at a certain concentration; b) are capable of detonation without additional technical measures. And oil vapors: a) flare up at temperatures above the maximum tolerable by humans; b) either do not detonate at all, or it is very difficult to make them detonate. Simply: flammable liquid vapors in a stove can explode and blow it apart; oil vapors - no. But oil vapors burn, developing a high temperature and releasing a lot of heat. Therefore, starting the stove with oiled kindling (but so that it does not drip or flow!) will not be a formal violation of safety regulations.
Note: by the way, stoves, incl. coal ones, they also start well from kindling soaked in butter, margarine, or some kind of spread, which are certainly not flammable liquids. The ancient Chinese (they were the first to burn with coal) and the Greeks (charcoal) used cow, buffalo and egg oil to heat coal stoves. It’s curious, but both of them, by no means fools, considered butter unfit for food.
Firewood: stacking and burning
Correct stacking of firewood for the initial loading of a stove is the most important condition for its efficiency. If the first firewood was stacked incorrectly, the stove will have to be turned on for almost the entire burning time (1.5-2 hours). During this time, a lot of useful heat will fly out into the chimney or be converted into soot and carbon deposits. The basic rule for laying the first firewood in the firebox is that flames from the kindling should immediately appear above them. Then the primary pyrolysis gases will do their useful work without interference. To do this, the firewood is laid in a layer:
- 2 or more year old firewood, dried in the room - up to 30 cm.
- one-year dried or fully matured under-dried – up to 20 cm.
- year-old and raw – up to 15 cm.
“Before” means that there should be at least 15-20 cm of free space above the stacking of firewood up to the roof of the firebox. This is necessary for complete combustion of pyrolysis gases and free release of water vapor into the chimney.
Conditioned firewood is placed in the firebox as it is placed in a woodpile: corner to corner, on the left in Fig. Don't worry, enough air will flow through the gaps between the logs. And along them, the tongues of the primary pyrolysis flame will immediately stretch high up, ensuring rapid gasification of the wood throughout the entire mass at once. There is no need to place the first log of the initial load diagonally, as is sometimes advised - it will be much more difficult to set the stove's stroke. A slanted log is placed when adding fuel, see below.
Firewood that is underseasoned and too large is stacked in the center of the log house. A log house as a way of stacking firewood is not a well. The middle of the wood well is wide and free, and in the tiers of the log house the gaps between the logs are 2-3 times less than their thickness. If substandard firewood is also damp, then the first stacking tier for it is placed in a well, and the next one(s) in a log house. Finally, in a stove with a tight firebox and, especially, in a sauna stove (see also below), the entire stack is laid out similarly to wood kindling (on the right in the figure), only the logs for it can be taken larger, in accordance with the firebox of the stove.
Firebox, control and heating
After lighting the stove, the gate is closed halfway, the blower door is closed until there is a gap of 2-3 fingers, and the firebox is tightly closed. A correctly started furnace 10-14 minutes after closing the combustion door itself goes into operation. Traditionally, it is controlled by the temperature of the stove brow (it should start to heat up) and noise: all sound sources in the room are turned off (silenced) and listen to the noise of the stove, keeping your ear 5-10 cm from its brow. It rustles - it's on the move. It’s silent, like in a tank - there’s not enough air, you need to check if the firewood has gone out and open the vent slightly. After 5-10 minutes, repeat the control - there is no rustling, open the gate slightly. If the oven is humming, in 3-4 steps, every 2-3 minutes, open the gate slightly until it rustles. The damper is open 3/4 or more, but there is still no rustling - we open the vent slightly and - see before.
How to make a staring contest
The progress of a metal furnace is checked and set before additional fuel is loaded, so the initial load into it must be as small as possible. You can set the brick stove to the correct speed immediately after lighting it, guided only by the color and type of flame. If the firebox door is glass, no problem. But, if the door is solid, then there is no need to open it slightly to control the start of the firebox - the air flow will disrupt the still weak operation of the stove and you will see in the firebox something completely different from what was actually there. You can open the firebox to control and eliminate gross disturbances in the operation of the furnace, see below.
Fire doors are often made from so-called. hypereutectic cast iron - very hard, heat-resistant, heat-resistant, little susceptible to thermal deformation, but extremely brittle and difficult to process. However, it is possible to make a peephole (watch) in the blind door of the firebox to visually monitor the progress of the furnace if you can find:
- A round (required!) piece of heat-resistant glass 4-6 mm thick and up to 7 cm in diameter, but not more than half the height of the combustion door.
- Freely adjustable circular drill (centrifugal drill) with pobedit cutter.
- Pobedite spiral drill for drilling a pioneer hole for the centrifugal guide.
- Benchtop drilling machine.
- Blowtorch, gas or liquid burner (diesel, kerosene, waste).
How to drill a stepped hole in a cast-iron door for the glass of a peephole is shown in Fig. There are two essential conditions to ensure that the door does not crack during processing or later: only use a drill with a pad made of soft wood (pine, for example), and the center of the hole must coincide with the geometric center of the door. Then its thermal focus will remain where it was, and the door will not “feel” the peeper.
The glass in the socket is fixed with a split ring made of elastic steel wire. To secure it, the finished door is taken outside (or to a fireproof room), placed face up on a fireproof lining and thoroughly heated with a flame. The steel will cook and stick tightly to the cast iron, but it will be possible to pick out the ring to replace the glass later.
Troubleshooting
Now let’s see how the furnace fires and “pull up” the air draft to the optimum. In general, the white color of the flame indicates the combustion of pyrolysis gases or excess oxygen, yellow indicates complete combustion of fuel and the optimal temperature in the firebox, red indicates incomplete combustion of fuel due to lack of air or draft, red indicates the consumption of the heat of combustion of pyrolysis gases for graphitization and soot deposition, and blue or light blue indicates the release and partial combustion of carbon monoxide.
There are possible traces here. cases (see figure):
Additional fuel loading (top-up)
The first rule for reloading the stove is not to open the combustion door for more than 15-20 seconds. Otherwise, the oven will go astray. By the time you put it out again, a lot of heat will be lost. If, for example, during this time it was not possible to correct the stacking of firewood (see below), then you need to close the firebox for 2-3 minutes, and only then open it again. Hence the second rule follows: add firewood to the firebox in layers (in order). This way you can load the entire remainder of the consumable load at once, but at least the same 15-20 cm free should remain under the arch of the firebox.
The procedure for reloading fuel into the furnace while moving is as follows:
- 20-30 minutes after starting the furnace, we check whether it has reached full speed. The metal stove should be blazing with heat (the temperature of the outer surface is not lower than 300 degrees. On a brick forehead at full speed, you can hardly hold a strained, calloused palm for a short time (temperature is about 70 degrees).
- We check the subsidence and burning of the wood stack: fuel can be added if the log cuts are almost completely charred, pos. 1 in Fig.
- If the wood pile settles loosely or spreads out, we correct it by carefully prying and shifting the logs with the heel of the poker, pos. 2.
- Firewood correctly loaded into the stove settles, burning, tightly, pos. 3. Then it is better to wait until there is room in the firebox for the rest of the consumable load, because Each additional load slows the furnace down a little.
- To add additional firewood, place one log diagonally with tongs, close the firebox and wait 2-3 minutes.
- Additional loading of firewood is carried out when the slanted log flares up, pos. 4. Thus, the firebox will be divided in height into 2 parts: the lower one will remain in working order, and the upper one will start up almost instantly in a hot firebox. Heat loss will be minimal.
- 5-10 minutes after additional loading, check the furnace progress and, possibly, set it, see above.
Note: The volume of fuel loading into a brick kiln is determined on the basis that it should be heated no more than 3 times a day for no more than 2 hours.
Stopping the furnace
When stopping the furnace, it is important, first, to prevent fumes from escaping into the room. The second is to prevent the brick and cast iron stove from releasing the accumulated heat into the chimney. Steel is not critical in this regard: its own heat capacity compared to the heat of combustion of the consumption load is negligible.
The sign of carbon monoxide formation is very clear: these are either tongues of blue flame, or a bluish coating of ash on the coals, see fig. The last one is also a blue flame, only very low and over the entire surface.
To avoid heat loss, there is no need to rake the coals into a pile and burn the remaining 2-3 logs on them, on the left side of the trail. rice. They will provide much less heat than is blown into a pipe from a heated furnace. Leave this wood for the next firebox.
To properly shut down the furnace, the coals are spread over the entire hearth of the firebox with a poker. The blower is fully opened and the damper is closed. The gate is not a view; in its damper there is either a cutout, or a hole, or, if the gate is rotary, a gap between the damper and the frame, providing minimal traction. By the way, a rotary gate is better in terms of safety: it cannot be confused with a view.
Having given maximum air and minimum thrust, wait until the blue lights on the coals disappear. If the firewood is of good quality, this will take no more than 10 minutes, and in the meantime the coals will burn down to ash. Yellow sparks may remain in the coals of substandard fuel (on the right in the figure): there are still combustion sites; If you close the view, it will go crazy. The red color of substandard coals is most likely not combustion, but the color of smoldering hot carbon. There is little heat from it, and such coals can smolder to ash for hours. Therefore, substandard coals that have not burned out in 10-15 minutes are collected with a scoop and extinguished in a bucket of water. Having made sure that nothing is burning or smoldering in the stove, close the viewer, firebox, and vent.
Note: in the hayle of the fireboxes of bell-type furnaces, the so-called. a gas valve that prevents the oven from quickly cooling down. Therefore, you can let any coals burn to ash in them. But then you still need to close the view - when the hood cools down a little, the gas view will creep up from the firebox and the draft will pull again.
Features of the combustion chamber of other furnaces
Certain types of stoves have their own combustion characteristics. Firstly, simple Dutch women, especially country houses, are often built without a gate. There's nothing you can do about it - the furnace's speed will have to be set only with air, and it's not always possible to achieve minimum fuel consumption. Secondly, stoves with a developed duct system (for example, Swedish) respond to draft and air adjustment within 5 minutes or more. Therefore, you need to set their progress step by step and carefully. It is best to fire such stoves with the same type of qualified fuel. Then, once you have set the stroke, you need to remember the position of the gate with the blower door and immediately put them on the working stroke the next time the firebox is fired.
Russian
It is in principle impossible to install a damper in a Russian stove, and there is no need for it there: the design of the Russian stove is such that the draft and air in it adjust to each other automatically. Setting the progress of a Russian stove is simple: we rake the coals to the sides, compact (possibly) the stack of firewood, and the stove itself will do the rest. The only thing is that firewood cannot be loaded into a Russian stove with a hut (tent): a strong flame will hit the roof of the hearth, pos. 1 in Fig.:
In addition to increased fuel consumption, this is also bad because the roof and bench overheat, which can cause the stove to fail. Firewood is loaded into a Russian stove by a log house, pos. 2: the flame licks the vault, and the entire frame can be carefully pushed back with a couple of logs, which is necessary for preparing some traditional dishes of Russian cuisine.
Note: Unfortunately, such a wonderful design as the Russian stove currently fully retains only its culinary significance - it is not adapted to the conditions of modern life. How to light a Russian stove in the traditional way for heating and cooking, see the video below.
Video: firing a Russian stove in the traditional way
Bathhouse
Cost-effectiveness is not the main thing for a sauna stove, but under no circumstances should it cause waste. Therefore, firstly, all manipulations with the blower and damper of the sauna stove are carried out so that there is no lack of air in the firebox. If, for example, you need to turn down the stove, then first cover the damper, and then the vent. You need to disperse it - first open the blower, and then the damper, etc. Secondly, the coals from the sauna stove are scooped out with a scoop and extinguished in a bucket of water as soon as the blue carbon monoxide flame disappears, regardless of the type of fuel. For more information on how to heat a sauna stove, see next. plot.
Video: proper heating of a stove in a bathhouse
Coal fire
The peculiarity of coal as a heating fuel is that its gasification begins at a temperature significantly higher than that of wood and, when heated to less than 800-900 degrees, proceeds sluggishly. But, if coal is quickly heated to 900-1000 degrees, it gasifies quickly and violently, developing a high temperature in the firebox. Therefore, coal is more difficult to ignite, and when ignited, it puts more thermal stress on the stove than wood.
Also, the amorphous carbon of coal releases much more heat per unit mass due to its greater density. Since the heat capacity of the furnace is limited, and the thermal time constant of the brick kiln is large (these are the same 1.5-2 hours of fire time), the loading of coal into the brick kiln should be given less, and the number of fireboxes per day should be increased to 3-4.
A Russian stove cannot be heated with coal: it is only suitable for firewood. Very carefully you need to heat Swedish stoves, Dutch ovens and other channel stoves with coal at 3 or more revolutions. A channel furnace has great resistance to the flow of gases, and in weather conditions that reduce draft (humid off-season, strong winds in the opposite direction to the prevailing direction, etc.) there may not be enough air to burn coal without burning, even with the ashpit and damper completely open. A Swedish oven fired with coal will not work properly: it should not be engulfed in an overly hot flame.
Young geologically fossil coal lignite, which retains its woody structure (item 1 in the figure), is unsuitable for firing furnaces: it immediately crumbles into dust, completely clogging the grate. By the way, gentlemen, unique rewriters, who came up with this - lingit? There is no such thing. Lignite is so named because it preserves the structure of the mechanical basis of wood - lignin.
Shiny black anthracite, the oldest of fossil coals (pos. 1a), emits a lot of heat, rapidly but briefly gasifies and is difficult to ignite. Anthracite can be used to heat cast iron and heat-resistant steel stoves, the certificate for which anthracite is indicated as a standard type of fuel. Occasionally - bell-type and channel furnaces with no more than 2 turns with fireclay fireboxes. Loading into the firebox - in a layer of 15-20 cm.
Brown coal (item 2) can be used to heat any stove, but it is an extremely unenvironmentally friendly fuel. Brown coal production in the world is steadily declining. It is impossible to store brown coal in large quantities (more than 10-15 kg): it spontaneously ignites even without wetting. Ordinary coal (gray, item 3) is certainly suitable for firing cast iron stoves and brick stoves with fireclay fireboxes. Coal from individual deposits can also be used to heat brick kilns without fireclay. Loading - in a layer of 12-18 cm. Thinner - it will not flare up; thicker - the upper pieces are gasified without benefit.
Kindling coal
Coal can be set on fire with an ordinary torch or newspaper, but in the oven up to 30-40% of its calorific value will be lost. For coal stoves, special lighters are produced (and made independently) that produce a sheaf of strong flame, immediately warming up the load to 1000-1100 degrees. But the same effect will be achieved by oil vapor from oiled kindling, see above. You just need more of it than for wood: a rag the size of a man’s T-shirt or 5-6 sheets of newspaper. More than once, while on business trips in the wilderness, the author had to start an old titanium water heater on coal with the help of newspapers and watery “Peasant” oil of that time. The titanium firebox contains half a shovelful of coal, and this was enough to wash 3-4 people after work. There is only one condition: you need to load sifted coal under such kindling, without dust, so that the gaps between the pieces are free. You can also learn how to light a stove with sifted coal from the video.
Video: firing a stove with sifted coal
From coal dust mixed with water, you can fashion and dry fuel cakes, pos. 4 in Fig. higher. However, keep in mind: firstly, coal dust is a strong allergen and carcinogen. Secondly, it spontaneously ignites and is explosive. Rudolf Diesel initially designed his internal combustion engine for coal dust (there was no oil of its own in Germany at that time), but it was the ease of its detonation that forced him to switch to rapeseed oil, and diesel fuel was invented only later.
How to burn coal safely
The main task when burning a stove with coal is to avoid burning. In coal furnaces and boilers this is ensured structurally. If a wood-burning stove is heated with coal, then when setting its progress, you also need to monitor the state of the burning mass.
Burning coal produces little visible flame. When burning a stove with coal, you need to provide more air than for wood with the same draft. And everything together is adjusted so that the upper pieces of the burning mass do not seem to be visible through, on the left in Fig. If all the coal seems to be glowing (on the right), then its complete gasification will end quickly, there may not be enough air for complete combustion of carbon and waste will occur.
In general, the best use of coal in a wood-burning stove is to use it in summer fires for cooking. Firewood for the winter will be saved, and the entire calorific value of fossil coal is still fully realized only in heating devices designed specifically for it.
