Not Spring Yet

duck · Post by **duck** » Sat. Mar. 21, 2009 9:25 pm

Looks like some of us in the East are in for a little touch of overnite winter temperatures again for the next few days. Keep the "one match" fires going a little longer. When I woke up this AM was really surprised seeing an active fire in the stove, it was hungry.

lowfog01 · Post by **lowfog01** » Sat. Mar. 21, 2009 9:58 pm

My fire is out tomorrow regardless of the weather. With spring comes allergies and I have to close the house up and turn on the whole house filter. That means no open windows during the day to make the house bearable with the idling stove. I used the last of my opened coal tonight and don't want to mess with a partial bag over the summer. Hopefully, I'll only have to use the NG for one or two days before the overnight temps do not drop below 45*. Day time temps should be some where in the mid 50s to low 60s. That’s what the forecast looks like anyway.

It’s been a good year and I've learned a lot - Thank you members of the forum who give their time and energy to help us get the most out of our coal. I hope you have a great summer. Lisa

Devil505 · Post by **Devil505** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2009 9:30 am

I'll probably keep my TLC running for another month as the nighttime temps still call for heat, I can idle my stove down during the day to where I burn less than $3.00/day of coal ( about 20 lbs) & I HATE the sound of my central furnace cycling on!

lowfog01 · Post by **lowfog01** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2009 11:00 am

lowfog01 wrote:My fire is out tomorrow regardless of the weather. With spring comes allergies and I have to close the house up and turn on the whole house filter.

I'm so happy - my fire has a one day reprieve!

The forecast says we are going down to 25* tonight before not going below the high 30's for the rest of the week, probably the year. I opened a new bag of nut coal and will deal with any that's left after tomorrow by storing it in my empty tin ash can. I'll close the air vent when I get home from my morning shift and that will be it - a kin to ripping the Band-Aid off as opposed to slowly pulling it off. It will be painful for a short moment but then it's over. I was worried about just letting it die anyway because of concern over CO gas entering the house as the draft went out.

Thanks again for all your help over the season. Lisa

Pete69 · Post by **Pete69** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2009 12:57 pm

Up here in W.N.Y. I don't think winter ever goes away, except for maybe a few weeks in July!!!

whistlenut · Post by **whistlenut** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2009 1:16 pm

Closer than last week....18 this AM. Still plenty of snow, but snowmobile trails are really thin.
Robin's are everywhere, turkey's too (but they are always around) and our friendly bear is enjoying the bird seed on the ground. Deer everywhere.
We burn year round, but unlike Upstate NY, we do really have a summer!
All the seedlings are planted and the coal bins are half full, so unless the AIG bandits screw it up worse than they already have, we will all live to see another day.
Leaner probably, but it's still "Live Free or Die" where I live and work.....and I'm very glade we can say: "You've Got a friend in Pennsylvania".

Pete69 · Post by **Pete69** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2009 10:18 pm

I don't think it's fair that all the coal is down there in P.A and all the snow and cold is up here in N.Y.

But seriously the robins are back and the geese are flying north again.
I'll need to save as much leftover coal as I can for next year.

baldeagle · Post by **baldeagle** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2009 10:33 pm

Hey - Pete69 After 7+ years in Buffalo I am glad to be here, just east of Pittsburgh. We traveled
this weekend and decided to see how long the Hitzer 503 would go! We left at 2:00PM on Friday, got in
tonight at 9:00PM (Sunday) Saw some hot coal,opened the ash door for about 15minutes, gave a light shake and
had a fire going. Just finished layering the gravity hopper full -- ready now for our low 20's tonight!
Best Regards and Keep Coaling! baldeagle

Joe in NH · Post by **Joe in NH** » Mon. Mar. 23, 2009 10:56 am

It was only eight degrees above zero this morning in northern New Hampshire. My Harman SF260 is still cooking away in the basement. I am surprised a bit by how well it idles through the warmer days. I was expecting to have to reduce the firebox earlier this month but it seems to be doing well without the reduction. In that I have only enough coal for about another week, I will not be shutting it down to change the firebox size and then restarting. I am finishing my first season with a hand fired boiler and cannot imagine going back to the coal stove in the living room that was vented up the fireplace chimney. I want to thank this forum for giving me the information and the "push" I needed to even consider a coal boiler, let alone successfully operate one. Burning coal in the Harman has sure made winter in the north a warmer experience. Joe

Post by **Rob R.** » Mon. Mar. 23, 2009 1:55 pm

I let my stove go out last week when it was in the 50's, but today is a different story. The wind is howling and the house is cold, looks like the Hitzer will be back in action tonight.

Paulie · Post by **Paulie** » Tue. Mar. 24, 2009 11:09 am

Still pretty cold here in Metro Boston, the stove burns on. I am thinking that I will burning well into April. Oil burner is
quiet, I love that!

009to090 · Post by **009to090** » Tue. Mar. 24, 2009 11:19 am

Paulie wrote:Still pretty cold here in Metro Boston, the stove burns on. I am thinking that I will burning well into April. Oil burner is
quiet, I love that!

I just turned mine up a little. It got REAL nippy last nite. Sun is out, but still chilly.