Hitzer 503 Heat

 
ColdHouse
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Post by ColdHouse » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 10:14 am

I have had no problem starting or keeping a fire going. It seems obvious that if you want to simmer the stove you close down the vents as much as possible without putting out the fire. On the contrary when it is very cold outside and you have a large home how do you maximize the output of the stove without wasting heat up the chimney? Obviously if you shut your ash pan door vents down you will not get maximum heat. So I would think that you start by opening the ash pan vents and the secondary vents and open them up to achieve a higher temperature. I have noted that with both primary and secondary vents fully opened my stove registers maximum 425* on the face above the door with the damper fully closed. Would I be correct to assume that if I want more heat then the only option I have left is to open the damper more? I have read extensively on this forum and many people indicate that they hardly crack their ash pan vents or keep it open with holes the diameter of a pencil. That will not produce enough heat for a large home on a cold day. Opening the damper does that suggest that heat is lost up the chimney? Ten minutes ago I had the damper pushed all the way in. I always have a dancing blue flame. Both primary & secondary vents were wide open and stove temp was 425*. I pulled out the damper shaft about an inch. It appears that the damper shaft travels about 4 inches total. The temperature of the stove is now at 500*. We have had cold temps where the day time high was in the low 20's and we operated the stove at these settings and used about a bag of coal twice a day. Is opening the damper a last resort to increase stove temperature? It seems like burning 80# at 12,500 BTU per pound equates to 41,666 BTU per hour about half what the stove is rated at. It seems that if I can keep the first & second floor of my home probably over 2200 sq ft heated to over 70 on first floor and 65 or so on upper level utilizing 41,666 BTU an hour when high temperature is less than 30 and low is in the teens then that is not too bad. Would you agree? I have a Glacier Bay stove in the finished lower level approx 1000 sq ft and it heats that space above 70 with ease while at simmer with stove temp just above 200 burning less than 20# a day. Entire coal consumption with 2 stoves heating 3300sq ft with cold outside temperatures 100# day. Does that sound reasonable? Any advice on how to maximize efficiency for the Hitzer 503 is appreciated.


 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 10:45 am

If you have a manual pipe damper (MPD) & have it closed, your heat will stay in the stove-- Never mind, I forgot that's an insert--me bad--but YES--damper open= loss

 
ColdHouse
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Post by ColdHouse » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 10:57 am

freetown fred wrote:If you have a manual pipe damper (MPD) & have it closed, your heat will stay in the stove-- Never mind, I forgot that's an insert--me bad--but YES--damper open= loss
How would one achieve maximum BTU with damper closed?

 
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Keepaeyeonit
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Post by Keepaeyeonit » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 11:32 am

Coldhouse,I have a 983 set up like a freestanding stove not a 503, I think a 503 is to small for 3300SQFT but thats my opinion,my settings are 5/16" on the ash door,mpd closed,and overfire air closed the stove is running at 430*
IMG_2430.JPG
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(but mind you thats with a baro damper set at .08"WC and without that my air settings would be 1/4" for the same temp)
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I only open the overfire air when the outside temps get above 50* I think it helps keep the blues going.I would keep the OFA controls closed to get more air through the coal bed and as FF said keep the MPD closed to get more heat out of the stove.Im heating a 2300SQFT Bi-level with the stove at one end on the lower level and the temps at or around 78* with a 23* outdoor temp on about 40# a day,I think for two stoves 100# is high but not real bad,how good is the insulation in the house? the house plays a big role in how well you can heat it.Keepaeyeonit

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 11:32 am

Now I'm not REAL familiar w/ the 503, but other stoves that have an internal damper--the damper shuts the exhaust outlet down to whatever degree you choose--it only makes sense that by doing that you are pregventing heat from escaping the stove while still allowing gas's to safely escape hopefully one of our 503 guys will jump in & either agree with my thoughts or tell me to :stfu: Either would work for me:)---Ahhhhhhh, you got a Baro--way out of my knowledge base my friend--sorry--I am still pretty sure about the internal damper if she even has one

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 11:39 am

You did say ya got 2 stoves goin?? 100 lb is not bad if that's the case. Ya might want to think about some floor vents.

 
Gian4
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Post by Gian4 » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 11:47 am

Hi Coldhouse
I'm a former Conn. resident. I grew up in Stamford but now live in the wilds of upstate NY. Anyway about your question. I have a 503 Hitzer and have no problem heating by 200 year plus farm house. Because these are inserts they don't have the radiant surface area of free standing stoves so we have to use some tricks to max out the efficiency of these units. Here's what I do and I can reach stove temps of 600 degrees but rarely if ever need to run it at that temp. I usually run at surface temps of 200 to 450 degrees depending on outside temps and weather conditions. #1 damper setting: The dilemma is the stronger the draft the hotter the burn,but the more heat lost up the flue. My chimney has a very good draft so I only open the damper fully when tending the stove. I open it at shake down. I let the gases burn for a bit and when things seen quiet I refill the hopper. I then shut the damper halfway and empty my ash pan. I clean up around the stove then close my damper down. #2 over fire air: I open the door secondary vent while tending the stove and then partially close it after 15min.(about 1/3rd way) and leave it like that while running. If outside temps are warm like in early spring or fall I'll leave the secondary fully open to prevent coal gas build up during low fire conditions. I have had no puff backs following this method. #3 shake down: Its important to really shake down thoroughly to get the max heat out of these bad boys. You want to see fresh embers dropping not just at the front of the grates but also the rear. I also dump the ash pan after each shake down to allow max airflow under the vents. Now this is critical in my opinion, after shaking I take my poker which has a tip narrow enough to fit between the grate slates and poke up from underneath the grates the entire length of each grate to further clear ash and allow this baby to breath. You'll know its right when you see a nice red glow fairly uniformly under the grates. #4 filling the hopper: Before I add more coal to the hopper I take my poker and tamp the remaining coal down through the hopper opening. This redistributes the coal throughout the fire box. I do this until it piles up to the top of the fire brick on the right and left sides also the rear. It has a mild downward slope at the front of the fire box and I leave the coal in that area expose to allow enough burning coal to burn off the fresh coal gas. Its sort of like banking the coal in a non hopper fed stove. Filling that firebox fully really helps with the heat output of these units. #5 the ash pan vents: The posts you read about pencil size vent openings on other folks stoves apply to free standing units with bimetallic thermostat flaps that act as a thermostat and provide the majority of the burn air. Our units don't have these and rely on the ash pan door vents for all the primary air. I've learned over the years based on outside temps. what stove temp I need to keep to get the desired house temp and set my vent openings accordingly. Most of the time open the size of a carpenter pencil but it varies. Make sure after you tend the stove to let all that coal in the fire box ignite on a cold day then reset the ash door vents to where you want to run it. For example....Lets say I just tended my stove on a really cold day and I know to keep my house at 70 degrees I have to have a stove temp of 450. I'll keep my vents open until the stove reaches 400 the close them down to carpenter pencil size and she climb up to 450 and level off. By doing this I get all my coal bed burning maxing the heat output. Well that's all my tips your results may vary but it works for me.
Happy burning
Gian4


 
ColdHouse
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Post by ColdHouse » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 12:12 pm

Gian4 wrote:Hi Coldhouse
I'm a former Conn. resident. I grew up in Stamford but now live in the wilds of upstate NY. Anyway about your question. I have a 503 Hitzer and have no problem heating by 200 year plus farm house. Because these are inserts they don't have the radiant surface area of free standing stoves so we have to use some tricks to max out the efficiency of these units. Here's what I do and I can reach stove temps of 600 degrees but rarely if ever need to run it at that temp. I usually run at surface temps of 200 to 450 degrees depending on outside temps and weather conditions. #1 damper setting: The dilemma is the stronger the draft the hotter the burn,but the more heat lost up the flue. My chimney has a very good draft so I only open the damper fully when tending the stove. I open it at shake down. I let the gases burn for a bit and when things seen quiet I refill the hopper. I then shut the damper halfway and empty my ash pan. I clean up around the stove then close my damper down. #2 over fire air: I open the door secondary vent while tending the stove and then partially close it after 15min.(about 1/3rd way) and leave it like that while running. If outside temps are warm like in early spring or fall I'll leave the secondary fully open to prevent coal gas build up during low fire conditions. I have had no puff backs following this method. #3 shake down: Its important to really shake down thoroughly to get the max heat out of these bad boys. You want to see fresh embers dropping not just at the front of the grates but also the rear. I also dump the ash pan after each shake down to allow max airflow under the vents. Now this is critical in my opinion, after shaking I take my poker which has a tip narrow enough to fit between the grate slates and poke up from underneath the grates the entire length of each grate to further clear ash and allow this baby to breath. You'll know its right when you see a nice red glow fairly uniformly under the grates. #4 filling the hopper: Before I add more coal to the hopper I take my poker and tamp the remaining coal down through the hopper opening. This redistributes the coal throughout the fire box. I do this until it piles up to the top of the fire brick on the right and left sides also the rear. It has a mild downward slope at the front of the fire box and I leave the coal in that area expose to allow enough burning coal to burn off the fresh coal gas. Its sort of like banking the coal in a non hopper fed stove. Filling that firebox fully really helps with the heat output of these units. #5 the ash pan vents: The posts you read about pencil size vent openings on other folks stoves apply to free standing units with bimetallic thermostat flaps that act as a thermostat and provide the majority of the burn air. Our units don't have these and rely on the ash pan door vents for all the primary air. I've learned over the years based on outside temps. what stove temp I need to keep to get the desired house temp and set my vent openings accordingly. Most of the time open the size of a carpenter pencil but it varies. Make sure after you tend the stove to let all that coal in the fire box ignite on a cold day then reset the ash door vents to where you want to run it. For example....Lets say I just tended my stove on a really cold day and I know to keep my house at 70 degrees I have to have a stove temp of 450. I'll keep my vents open until the stove reaches 400 the close them down to carpenter pencil size and she climb up to 450 and level off. By doing this I get all my coal bed burning maxing the heat output. Well that's all my tips your results may vary but it works for me.
Happy burning
Gian4
Good Tips! I have only filled my coal from the hopper. I do push it down toward the back but it has never been filled all the way to the top of the firebrick before. I could see how that could definitely add more heat. Obviously we all want the most heat with the least amount of fuel! Thanks I will implement your suggestions.

 
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Post by Gian4 » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 1:30 pm

Great
Let me know how it works for you.
Happy Thanksgiving
Gian4

 
bksaun
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Post by bksaun » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 6:21 pm

What size coal are you burning? Pea or nut?

Nut allows more air through and generates more heat.

Bk

 
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Post by davidmcbeth3 » Fri. Nov. 29, 2013 5:50 am

Having run a 503 for several years now ...

Using IR gun:
Its 22 F outside right now
Its 300F on top of stove - to the right of the handle catching bar in center of square area
Its 500F next to top dampener bar in front of stove
80F on ceiling 15 ft from stove (8 ft ceiling)
75F on wall of next room, closest to stove
72F upstairs, closest to stove
69F 1st floor, furthest away from stove
68F 2nd floor, furthest away from stove

2400 sq ft house; 90's construction -- decently insulated and good windows

I have a 8" in-line duct fan in the stove's room's archway to next room (tacked up) for additional air flow (about 20-25 ft from stove)

Its been 6 hrs since last tending, so coals are burning nicely, ashpan about 1/2 full with ash right now
Top dampener closed all the way
Vents on door closed (the little ones)
Vents of ash door opened just over 1/2 ~ 1/2" opening, measured via tape measure

And its 5:30am

I can keep my hand 6" from blower output for about 1 min before its too hot

Only source of heat for the home is the 503.

So, some measurements for comparative purposes.

The purpose of the stove is to heat the house .. when it gets colder, the stove has got to get hotter. How to do that? Opening up the ashpan vents first ~ gets it pretty hot! 400- 500F on top can be achieved .

Still not hot enough for weather conditions? Open the dampener. Can get to 550 (easy) and up on top of stove. I get concerned wen the top is at 500F though.

Worried about heat loss when opening the dampener? Me too ... but I want the heat too dang it. Max coal usage..running as hot as it will go: 60 - 80 lbs a day ..

Efficiency running under various conditions: beats me Dean at Hitzer may have a guess ... shoot him an email or call him if interested ... post back results

The 503 still gives out decent radiant heat off the top, above the door area w/o the blowers running ... its designed this way.

Banking coal is good during the very cold periods and I do it when needed.

Many things affect the heat output of the 503 ... but it has been my only heat source for several years ... years of savings ...

Forgot: running nut .. santa claus coal .... (550F on glass in center) - always note location of temp reading .. varies a lot...just like you have done.

In CT too.

 
ColdHouse
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Post by ColdHouse » Fri. Nov. 29, 2013 9:56 am

davidmcbeth3 wrote:
Worried about heat loss when opening the dampener? Me too ... but I want the heat too dang it. Max coal usage..running as hot as it will go: 60 - 80 lbs a day
Thanks for the info! But this is the crux of my question. If you run flat out as hot as it will go and only use 60-80# a day with average BTU 12,500 per pound, at 80# that would only be 1,000,000 BTU in 24 hours / 24 = 41,666 per hour, that is only half what the stove it rated at. Do you think it is possible to get 80,000 BTU out of that stove?

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Fri. Nov. 29, 2013 10:26 am

I've never been convinced that projected BTU's are all that impt--if ya got a stove that you think should be doin more BTU's I'd find that pretty frustrating--my thoughts are getting the hot air circulated to where you need it--I'm still pushin for floor vents :)

 
ColdHouse
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Post by ColdHouse » Fri. Nov. 29, 2013 12:42 pm

freetown fred wrote:I've never been convinced that projected BTU's are all that impt--if ya got a stove that you think should be doin more BTU's I'd find that pretty frustrating--my thoughts are getting the hot air circulated to where you need it--I'm still pushin for floor vents :)
Actually I am pretty happy with the stove. Since I am new to coal and new to the stove I just wanted to make sure that I am maximizing or understand what the stove is capable of. With oil I was going through 6 gallons a day and the house was kept at 62 while home/awake and 58 while sleeping/away. House is way warmer with the stoves. When days are warmer I turn the stove down. But when it is cold all day and even colder at night I want to be able to know how to get as much out of the stove as possible. I do have the warm air from the first floor being ducted to the second floor. This is a big house in the highest part of the city that gets very little sunshine. The house was built in 1982 and I know it is insulated. I do not feel any drafts by windows or doors.

 
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Post by ColdHouse » Sun. Dec. 15, 2013 7:52 am

Update: I have been giving the stove a good shake. When I do this the level of coal in the stove moves way down. I then fill the hopper and have a 3 prong poker that I use from the hopper door to push coal under the hopper to the left/right & back of the stove so the coal is filled to the top of the firebrick. Then I top off the hopper again making sure to push it toward the back. I am guessing each fill 2 x day is about a 40# bag. I don't ever open the top damper. I leave the ash pan door open until the stove regains its temperature. The amount of hot coals after my shake is the determining factor for how long it takes the newly filled stove to revive. But this method yields temperatures that would exceed the temperature that I would want the stove to run at. So the ash pan door vents are not all the way open. It appears that the biggest factor is filling the stove up to the firebrick on both sides and the back and then making sure the stove is at or near my desired temperature before closing the ash pan door. Once the newly loaded stove is up to temperature it easily stays there. Before I did that my temperature was never as hot as now. This stove exceeds my expectations. It has been in the single digits at night and my main level is in the mid 70's and upper level upper 60's. I had a very large ceiling fan running in the stairway foyer. It was running backwards. I shut it off the other day and the temperature upstairs actually went up and I don't have to feel the draft from the fan. I had thought the fan would have helped bring additional heat upstairs but I think it was actually hindering my effort.


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