Coalpail.com Forum

Is the coal stove your only source of heat?

yes sir. been that way now for 25 winters.

using calculations from member "rberg" in the "BTU" thread it seems my original estimate of how much heat my Riteway ran at was off. I thought it might have been 11,000 odd BTU an hr.

by having an equation to work with I find it was more like 25,000 which I guess could be right since the intake damper was never closed.

so, I guess i'll go with the 1400, in average conditions I can run it at about 30% and in the fiercest stuff I can turn it up to 50%.

should have it all done by the end of the month.

just started considering ...............

it seems I've been burning about 2 #'s an hour, on average, in a 45% eff. stove with neither MPD nor Baro.

searching the forum shows comments as to DSM encouraging BOTH with their stoves and a call to the shop confirms that.

so, how much of my coal use have I been wasting, and could I in fact use the 1300 successfully with proper over fire damping ?

amazing how you can do the same thing for yrs, because it works ( at least after a fashion ) and never give it much thought till you consider something else with any real intention. LOL

EDIT

any how, if I use a stove of 20% more eff. would I get the same amount of heat from 20% less coal ( 1.6 #'s an hour ) ? or, 20% more heat from the same amount of coal ?

then there's the contribution of the dampers, what diff. could be realized there ?

PLEASE comment, thanks

steve

My own opinion is that with a stove with thermostat to control the air any damper is optional. I think a manual air control will work best with a baro.

thanks, franco b,

please consider commenting on the further musings I added to my post

KingCoal wrote:thanks, franco b,

please consider commenting on the further musings I added to my post

I am not sure you will get a great increase in efficiency over the Riteway. It is a good stove with a lot of surface area for heat exchange and you seem to be a canny operator. The Riteway controls the intake air with a thermostat so I think adding a damper would have had minimal effect. They all slow down the flue gas whether baro or manual or thermostat. They just do it in different ways.

I think you will gain some efficiency by a more compact fire box in conjunction with a hopper and also the ability to fire at a lower output. All stoves have only one point at which their efficiency is highest. Go higher and the stack temp. goes up and go lower and fail to burn volatiles as well as increased unburned carbon monoxide.

KingCoal wrote:yes, but the 12 x 14 area for the 1300 is in fact the firebox area not the critical grate area. the grate area of the 1300 is more properly 8 x 14.

yes as well to the idea of burning 8 #'s an hour, you might ONCE in an outdoor setting, but it would still prove difficult at best and the stove would surely never survive.

but, it's still useful to see how and where the manufacturers come up with these claims and how what is reasonable should be considered.

the whole "take 50% of the out put or sq.ft claim and if that is enough for your actual application then you are likely good to go" is proved out once again.

based on the input I am receiving and the calculated out come in the quote above I will not continue to consider the 1300.

the realization that it can only hope to achieve it's 50,000 BTU rating running WOT and fully consuming 8 #'s of coal per sq. ft. of grate area PER HOUR leaves it out of the question. expecting it to run at 25,000 BTU at anything less than 50% seems unlikely and I have not been able to uncover any comments about present owners running it under that , or at any particular setting for that matter.

to the stove shop tomorrow !

DSM 1400 in hand a week from today

KingCoal wrote:DSM 1400 in hand a week from today

Congrats!!! Will be looking for pics in a week!

does any one have the front / back/ side clearance distances for the 1400 ?

i haven't found them yet and won't have the manual till next week.

i doubt it's much diff. from what I had for the Riteway but I don't like last min. surprises.

thanks,
steve