Stove for Small Cottage ?

scottybk · Post by **scottybk** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 4:46 pm

Hi all,

I'm looking for a small coal stove to heat a one story cottage (no basement, stove will be in living room) that is approx 750 sq feet total living area.

I was thinking of an older parlor-type stove. Sadly, it seems many of the old parlor stoves are missing parts and are sold more as "decorations" rather than functional heaters, and I'd imagine fining parts (grates etc) is a huge headache for something 100+ years old. Does any company make functional modern reproductions of these old parlors?

I also looked into small stoves that were for originally for boats or railroad cabooses, but these seem to be VERY expensive when you can even find them for sale.

Any idea/suggestions are appreciated- thank you. And if anyone has something for sale feel free to post pics/prices etc.

Scotty

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 4:53 pm

Sounds like the perfect fit for a Chubby Jr. Should be no issue with parts as the company is still making stoves today yet. If you go to the manufacturers corner & go to Chubby stoves you can watch a video on burning coal in a Chubby & more info on the company too.

SWPaDon · Post by **SWPaDon** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 5:32 pm

As Windyhill4.2 said, go here: Chubby Stove Company

ASea · Post by **ASea** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 5:36 pm

Chubby Jr or some of the older units. Check with Larry Trainor or the Antique Stove Hospital. I have a full size Chubby and I think that would heat you out of the place LOL!

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 6:05 pm

What about a coal/wood stove that you can use 12 months of the year, that will easily heat that much area, plus do all your cooking and baking and clothes drying, and more ? Take a look through this thread and see if this will meet your needs.
Cookin' With Coal

Paul

Starting Out · Post by **Starting Out** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 6:15 pm

Don't know where you are located, however craigslist has them on there quite often.

warminmn · Post by **warminmn** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 6:43 pm

Are you in central Alaska or Florida? It kinda matters for what you will need. 750 square feet you may get by with a larger stove if in a cold area.

scottybk · Post by **scottybk** » Sat. Dec. 17, 2016 12:01 am

Thanks for the suggestions. The cottage is in northern NJ (Warren County) and is 3 rooms: living room, small bedroom, and kitchen, all one floor. Total sq footage about 750. I am gutting it and plan to insulate and replace the old windows and weatherstip it, etc.

I'm concerned about overheating the place more than anything. I'm a very experienced coal burner (5+ years) and in my current house have a Glacier Bay (Gibraltar) hand fired in the basement that is a 100 K BTU unit that heats a 2 story, 1300 sq foot house nicely, no backup system just coal. So I had to learn coal burning or freeze to death, which is probably the best way to learn lol.

I'm also concerned about burn times with a small stove, my current Gibraltar holds a good amount of coal and burns 12-14 hours no problem, and can go 20 hours at times. Anyone have burn time experience with a smaller old parlor stove? Some of them seem to have small firepots that hold maybe 15 pounds from the looks of it, so I doubt you can get a 12 hour burn from such a small load?

Scotty

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Sat. Dec. 17, 2016 3:36 am

750 sq. feet is about the same as the first floor of the average 3 bed room, 2 story home. And if I remember, Northern NJ winters can get pretty cold. I wouldn't be trying to heat that with what many would consider a "small" coal stove. I used a pot belly stove that would be considered "small" , about 15 pounds of nut coal. I lived on the LI south shore then, with the winters a bit warmer than N. NJ. It would not heat 750 sq foot area affectivly in the coldest parts of winter. It would burn for close to 12 hours but it had to be idled so slow that it didn't put out enough heat for a floor plan of about 500+ sq feet.

I think that a mid size stove of about 14 inch firepot is better suited to what you describe because it gives you more flexibility of heat output.

If you have a well drafting chimney system, the nice part about a well designed parlor stove is they do a good job of burning coal slowed to an idle, or running at max output.

There are a number of ways to slow down, or reduce the firepot output of a coal stove if it is a bit too big. Some of those ways just turn that higher heat output ability into longer burn times when you run it slower. There's no way to make a small stove heat at near max output and get long burn times. If you get a stove that's in the mid size range - say about a 14-16 inch firepot -you can idle it down so that it doesn't roast you. Then it will just run all that much longer.

For antiques, the model numbers are often related to fire pot size. And the diameters listed are often the largest diameter of the firepot. Many of those firepots taper smaller then that and with a liner that reduces that size number another 2 inches in diameter. So a #16 fire pot, with a liner, is really closer to 14 inch at the top and about 12 inch at the bottom. They typically hold about 40- 50 pounds of nut coal. A #14 is about 12 inch diameter lined, etc.. Stoves that size, that are dampered down to run at an idle, will run much longer than 12 hours. Closer to 18-24 hours before needing tending.

Even then, if it's still too big, you can stand a firebrick up on end in the firepot and that reduces the amount of burning coal and the heat volume output, but by not lowering the depth of coal, it will run close to the same length of time. If you find you need more heat, then just take the fire brick out with BBQ tongs and add more coal.

A small stove will work, but not for as long. A mid size stove will also work, but it will do so for much longer before it needs to be tended to.

Paul

ASea · Post by **ASea** » Sat. Dec. 17, 2016 12:19 pm

Like Sunny Boy said something you can throttle down but that has decent capacity would be ideal.

coalder · Post by **coalder** » Sat. Dec. 17, 2016 1:06 pm

For quite some time, my wife & I have often talked about relocating to a more "off the grid" area and buying or building a smaller cottage type home. And, I have given tons of thought to this and which coal stove would suit our application best. In my personal opinion, hands down it would be the Hitzer 254. w/o a blower. Now my reasoning for this is this is a real nice mid sized unit capable of burning wood in the shoulder seasons. And I do believe that it could easily be idled down in milder weather. Not to mention they are built like tanks. I thought about antiques, but lack the knowledge & experience to feel comfortable with one; where the 254 & I would get along just fine.
Jim

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Sat. Dec. 17, 2016 1:10 pm

coalder wrote:For quite some time, my wife & I have often talked about relocating to a more "off the grid" area and buying or building a smaller cottage type home. And, I have given tons of thought to this and which coal stove would suit our application best. In my personal opinion, hands down it would be the Hitzer 254. w/o a blower. Now my reasoning for this is this is a real nice mid sized unit capable of burning wood in the shoulder seasons. And I do believe that it could easily be idled down in milder weather. Not to mention they are built like tanks. I thought about antiques, but lack the knowledge & experience to feel comfortable with one; where the 254 & I would get along just fine.
Jim

Jim, If I can work an antique stove, so can you. Heck, I made it this long to become an antique !

Paul

wsherrick · Post by **wsherrick** » Sat. Dec. 17, 2016 1:12 pm

I would get an Our Glenwood 109. It is by far the best choice for a space such as this, hands down no more discussion.

The list of reasons why this is the absolute best choice is legion. No stove is more cost effective in the economy of coal consumption versus BTU's produced. No stove in my experience can be run at a lower temperature while perfectly maintaining a fire. It has an oven built into the top of it which is useful.
It REQUIRES NO ELECTRICITY TO OPERATE. That's a huge point. Call the Antique Stove Hospital or Barnstable or Wilson's Wood Stoves and get one.

joeq · Post by **joeq** » Sat. Dec. 17, 2016 5:45 pm

I would 2nd Williams opinion, but then again, I'm a bit biased.

(Maybe Tom will convince you too. He'll have the photos to tease you.)

ddahlgren · Post by **ddahlgren** » Sat. Dec. 17, 2016 5:52 pm

coalder wrote:For quite some time, my wife & I have often talked about relocating to a more "off the grid" area and buying or building a smaller cottage type home. And, I have given tons of thought to this and which coal stove would suit our application best. In my personal opinion, hands down it would be the Hitzer 254. w/o a blower. Now my reasoning for this is this is a real nice mid sized unit capable of burning wood in the shoulder seasons. And I do believe that it could easily be idled down in milder weather. Not to mention they are built like tanks. I thought about antiques, but lack the knowledge & experience to feel comfortable with one; where the 254 & I would get along just fine.
Jim

Given a choice I would work way off grid but takes a few years to get rolling.

Stove for Small Cottage ?

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