Hitzer 503 - Insert - Any Body Try This ~ I'm Trying

Well its about november when most days it gets chilly (~40°F - 45°F) at night. During the day it ranges from 50°F - 60°F. So I would like to use my stove instead of heating oil. In years past, starting my insert would bring the temperatures up to 80°F - 83°F on a warmer day & between 75°F - 80°F at night during the warmer days. And that's too darn hot !

This year I put extra firebrick into the left side of the firebox to basically shrink the firebox volume by about 1/2. This allows the right side gratings to be shaked (the left side has the bricks on top so no need).

This in addition to burning pea v. nut should, I hope, maintain a more comfortable home with temperatures hovering around 72°F (while adjusting the draft & air intake).

So, does anyone have experience doing this & how did it work out?

The next thing will be when the cold weather comes (late december/january) and I'll need to either let the stove die out to remove the bricks or let it go down to the point where I can remove the bricks easily.

PIX--everybody loves PIX

here's a pic ... on low draft, little ash produced ... keeping house at 72-75 with outside temps of 55-60 ... it is burning

Good old American ingenuity.

Davidmcbeth3,I always though of trying to shake only two of the three grates for a smaller fire but I have not done it yet, I'm not sure how good it will work.
Keepaeyeonit

Nothing ventured, nothing gained

It works it works ... yea! Just cut my ash down to 1/2 of what it normally was ... now the cold is coming in early .... go figure. I'll put in nut & see how it burns -- add the nut manana.

Keepaeyeonit wrote:Davidmcbeth3,I always though of trying to shake only two of the three grates for a smaller fire but I have not done it yet, I'm not sure how good it will work.
Keepaeyeonit

I thought of doing that but was concerned about not being able to shake it later. I guess you can let it die & then bang it apart easily enough later. If u try, post a new thread .. like to hear results.

freetown fred wrote:Good old American ingenuity.

ie american cheapness lol where the heck are my two nickles !!

Aaaaaah. Stove died...for some reason the shaking did not shake out the ash in the back. Oh well. Had to pull out the unburned/patially burnt coal .. small mess. I suggested to the wife to try it on the right side and the howls started lol

Back to normal now..

What you did sounds like a great idea, I can't wait to try it come spring. I have a sugestion that might make it work better. One needs to keep all the air flow going through the coals. By adding the loose fitting bricks on one side, there are bound to be air paths around the bricks. To add to it the air paths would have less resesentence to flow, causing more air to flow through around the bricks than through the coals.

I did the same thing with my Efel but instead of using bricks, I used ash. Try putting your bricks in and loading ash around them to seal up the grate in that area. Once you done shaking down you might have to put more ash back around the brick.

See this link on getting a 1/2 grate burn.

Finally Got a Burn on 1/2 the Grate