Wondercoal Vs Ashley CAC

Vaguy · Post by **Vaguy** » Mon. Aug. 27, 2007 7:58 pm

I'm planning on buying a new coal stove for this winter. The Wondercoal and Ashley CaC seem to fit my needs and are very affordable in my area. Any input on which is a better stove? Or suggestions on others to look for? I'm kinda new to the whole coal thing

LsFarm · Post by **LsFarm** » Tue. Aug. 28, 2007 1:15 pm

Hello Vaguy, to better help you, can you post photos of the two stoves and maybe a link to a website with information on them.??

What coal do you have available to you? How many square feet are you heating? What are your heating plans, just for the coldest weather, or for heat all winter long? Some additional info helps us help you.

As for the two mentioned stoves, I don't know anything about them. Are they designed to burn anthracite or bituminous? And wood or just coal?

If they are for anthracite they have to have a shaker grate system, with an ash pan below the grates. All or most combustion air must come in below and up through the grates, above fire air will not keep an anthracite fire burning. Firebrick around the firebox is important and a deep firebox, allowing a 6-10" deep pile of coal is important too. The deeper the fire, the better it burns and longer it lasts.

Hope this helps some, lets see some photos, including photos of the firebox.

Check out Ebay for devoted coal stoves. and your local papers.

Greg L

Vaguy · Post by **Vaguy** » Tue. Aug. 28, 2007 4:48 pm

The coal I'm not sure about yet. As for the stoves I found both on a website http://www.usstove.com I'll try to link the 2 on here but I'm new to the whole forum thing. I have in the past used an old Ashley wood stove for heat all winter. The two stoves I am interested in are roughly the same design as my current wood stove. This year I wanted to make the switch to coal. But as I'm sure you can tell I know next to nothing so far about coal. I've been trying to research and learn as much as possible.
It would be used to heat the living room and kitchen areas which is roughly 650 sq feet. With the wood stove I used a fan in the past to help draw heat down the hall into the other rooms but normally it has never been an issue. Plus the current wood stove I have now does not have the blower attachment, which I plan to have on the next stove I get.
**Broken Link(s) Removed**and
**Broken Link(s) Removed**Both of the stoves are rated to heat 1200 sq feet which is almost double what I would need, but the house is very old and drafty so I don't really believe over heating would be an issue. I hope this helps give you a better idea of what I am doing. As far as the coal I was about to give up cause no place near me seemed to stock coal, but 2 days ago I found a place that has coal brought in from PA so I'm back on track. I'm going to call him next week for prices. When I do I'll ask what type coal he'll have.

gaw · Post by **gaw** » Tue. Aug. 28, 2007 7:33 pm

I do not know about your area but in my part of PA they sell stoves that look like those two at the Tractor Supply Company stores. I'm not sure if they are from the same manufacturer but the ones I saw at Tractor Supply did not look very well made.

Vaguy · Post by **Vaguy** » Tue. Aug. 28, 2007 7:53 pm

Well, that's the thing I'm not sure about. The Ashley I have now is a wood stove and it's a very basic cast iron fire box with the outter cover. Also an older model. It looks like a busted toaster but it's very effective in heating the house. The cover over the cast iron fire box gets hot but it won't burn you the second skin contact is made. So it's like an old friend after all these years.

That is what draws me to the 2 models I seen online. But if they are junk or not effective coal burning stoves I'm all for hearing any suggestions.

gaw · Post by **gaw** » Tue. Aug. 28, 2007 8:08 pm

I don't know how well they burn or how well they hold up. Just going by how they looked to me. The two links Greg posted for E-bay are good looking stoves. If sat alongside the ones I saw at TSC there would be no comparison.
Also note the weights of the stoves, thats a good clue as to how well it is made.

Vaguy · Post by **Vaguy** » Tue. Aug. 28, 2007 9:43 pm

Pa is a lil out of my range to pick one up. But I went to the Harman website and found a dealer near where I live. So I think on my next day off I'll go check with them. I don't wanna cut corners on something that will be holding a fire in the middle of my home. I am curious about the Harman Magnafire Series like LsFarm linked me from Ebay. How hot will the outside of those get.
And thanks so far for all the help, info, and patience.

Mound City · Post by **Mound City** » Wed. Aug. 29, 2007 3:38 am

Hello Vaguy, Welcome to the forum.

Here's a link to another thread in this forum that talks about the Wondercoal stove. It provides some information that could help with your decision.

Post by LsFarm - Wonder Coal Stove Question

Here's a link to the user's manual for the Wondercoal.
**Broken Link(s) Removed**
Hang in there,
Randy

gaw · Post by **gaw** » Fri. Aug. 31, 2007 1:34 am

I think all of the Harman stove designs get hot on the outside. My concern about the two stoves you linked to would not be that they catch your house on fire but that they may not hold up long under everyday use. If you think you may wish to try one of those stoves look them over good. See how durable the grates seem to be. Is it an import? If it is and you should need a part can you get one and how long 'till you do? How well do they burn? See the link posted before to get more info.
Go to your local stove dealer(s) and check out any stove you wish to buy. It's your money! I would want to see any stove I wanted to buy first or if looking to buy used as on E-bay see one like it to have an idea what I was getting first. What's the saying? never buy a pig in a poke!

Vaguy · Post by **Vaguy** » Sat. Sep. 01, 2007 3:24 am

I went Thursday to a stove dealer in the county next to mine. The guy who runs the place talked to me for a good hour about stoves and kinda went over what I wanted to heat and how my home was set up. Seemed like a cool guy. He gave me a lot of info most of which I had already read on this forum. So you guys have been a huge help. And I'm sure I'll be asking more beginner questions once this winter gets here. I asked also about the Wondercoal stove and he seemed to give a very honest answer about that. He told me for a shop or part time use they were worth the money just because they run roughly half the price of the Harmon. But he said for anything that is gonna be run all winter long say to heat a home the Wondercoal would just not last a forth as long as the Harmon. So in the next few weeks I plan to get a Mark 1. He also sells like 3 or 4 sizes of anthracite coal. He sells it by the bag, ton or skiff. I think the Skiff was 60 - 40 pound bags so I guess I'll get a skiff to start out with and then kinda go from there. I expect 2 tons would last me since the winters here are normally not very harsh. But I'm not really sure about that either. Thanks for all your help and info. This forum is great!

dirvine96 · Post by **dirvine96** » Tue. Sep. 25, 2007 8:36 am

My troubles with with US Stove have been posted several times. I would stay any from any product built by US Stove. First of all they are pourly built and second the company does not stand behind their products. Good luck.

Don

Vaguy · Post by **Vaguy** » Sun. Sep. 30, 2007 7:12 pm

I bought a Harman Mk 1 last Friday. I have it all hooked up and plan to buy coal this week or next. I also hope to take some pictures to post soon. It was a lot of money but I expect to get many good years out of it. It also seems to fit the needs I have pretty well. Just need to burn that new smell off it soon and then start learning how to manage a coal fire.