Newbie Needs Advice on Purchase

Hello people,
I have been burning wood for the Last 8 years and I have just sold my wood stove.I am in the market for a coal stove but I am so confused on which to buy.My intent is to be able to burn some wood in the stove because I have some left over and from time to time I will always have some wood laying around.I decided to go exclusively coal because the only way it made financial sense to burn wood was to buy it log lenghthj and cut and split it myself.Well frankly I am just tired of all the work and mess.I live in Mass and it looks like my choices are The HarmonTLC 2000....Hitzer....and SAEY.....Can anyone recomend or not recomen any of these units.Can I burn wood in these models.I know that the Harman says it will burn wood ,but as a fireplace with the front door open.Can you shut the door and and flu and burn wood that way?

The Harman TLC2000 is my present & 3rd coal stove & by far the best. It will burn good sized wooden logs with the door open or closed. It is a serious appliance to heat your home with & you will soon stop opening the door & wasting heat!
I rarely burn wood & suggest you do he same thing unless you get firewood for free......Just use it for quick fires at the beginning & end of the heating season. I live in Plymouth, Mass. & also recommend you get quality coal. I use Blaschak nut coal that I buy from Aubuchon Hardware. (I treid Reading Coal this winter & had to fight it all winter!) Once you burn coal you will never want to go back to wood. Coal is much easier to control, much less work (I shake my stove down once a day) & most of us light our stoves once & keep it running 24/7 right through the winter. I can't speak to the other stoves you are looking at but would definetly recommend the Harman TLC2000.
Is this to supplement your regular heat or to do the whole house? ( I heat a 2200sf split entry ranch entirely with the TLC)

Hi Take a look at the Harman SF-250 it is the work horse of the wood coal combo.It is not the best looking stove if your company will be viewing it but it will hold more than almost any out there and put out all the heat that you need . If I fill mine with coal I won't touch it for almost 24 hours. The thing that I don't like is the ash pan is not as wide as it should be. Hope this helps been messing with wood for 30 years tired of it. Try coal you will love it! Brian

I'll add the Harman Mark II and Mark III.. Many very good hand feed coal stoves are not 'rated' for wood.. this is an EPA rating.. the stove doesn't 'pass' emissions with wood.. But these stoves burn wood very well, as well as coal.

The Hitzer stoves are very good and very well made,, I personally like the hopper fed Hitzer stoves,, this is a gravity feed system that is very simple and allows a longer time between tending the stove.. Often once a day instead of twice a day.

Hope this helps.. Greg L.

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Sell your wood and use the proceeds to buy coal! Scott

Brand wise Harman or Hitzer are very good choices. I heat with a Mark II and my parents are getting a Hitzer 503 hopper fed fireplace insert. The Hitzer was picked because of the hopper feed and it could have the hopper removed for a wood fire. I also promised to show them the secrets of coal.

If you live in the area near Cape Cod and wish to buy a Hitzer, we need one more stove buyer to get my local coal/stove dealer to carry the Hitzer line. Currently the closest dealer is almost 2 hours away.

I have free wood also but I trade it to my wood burning friends, once you get the hang of coal you will never go back.

The natural evolution of coal burning is to want automation, if you have reliable power or an automatic generator. The stoker boiler gives you convenience and the ability to provide DHW year round. I will be putting in an EFM boiler to heat the buildings and provide DHW in the near future. I have two gas furnaces; one is over 30, and two gas hot water heaters near the end of their lives. The replacement cost is equivalent to going coal. The only down side is that I must also have a “conventional” heating device to humor my insurance and mortgage holders.

This forum has lots of great information that will help you with whatever coal purchase you decide upon.

jedc43 wrote:Hello people,
I have been burning wood for the Last 8 years and I have just sold my wood stove.I am in the market for a coal stove but I am so confused on which to buy.My intent is to be able to burn some wood in the stove because I have some left over and from time to time I will always have some wood laying around.I decided to go exclusively coal because the only way it made financial sense to burn wood was to buy it log lenghthj and cut and split it myself.Well frankly I am just tired of all the work and mess.I live in Mass and it looks like my choices are The HarmonTLC 2000....Hitzer....and SAEY.....Can anyone recomend or not recomen any of these units.Can I burn wood in these models.I know that the Harman says it will burn wood ,but as a fireplace with the front door open.Can you shut the door and and flu and burn wood that way?

I LIVE IN SE MASS AND HAVE A VERMONT CASTING COAL STOVE (HAND FEED) WORKS GREAT AND IT CAN BURN WOOD ALSO, I BURNT ABOUT 5 CORDS THIS WINTER BECAUSE A HAD ABOUT 15 DEAD OAKS (GIPSEY MOTHS) I WILL BE SELLING ABOUT 6 CORDS THIS SUMMER/FALL TO BUY COAL FOR THIS BURNING SEASON. I ALSO GOT TRIED OF CUTTING SPLITTING WOOD BUT THERE IS A LOT OF DEAD OAKS THAT I WILL CUT/SPLIT TO BUY COAL, I ALWAYS HAVE ABOUT 1 CORD OF HARDWOOD SPLIT VERY SMALL TO START THE COAL FIRE. I USE WOOD IN THE FALL/LATE SPRING AND START TO BURN COAL BY DEC 1.

GOOD LUCK

stokerscot wrote:Sell your wood and use the proceeds to buy coal! Scott

This makes more sense to me. The only thing wood is good for is starting a coal fire, other than that, it is a PITA. Its a bonus at approximatly 2 for 1 @ current pricing where I am.

nuthead wrote:I ALWAYS HAVE ABOUT 1 CORD OF HARDWOOD SPLIT VERY SMALL TO START THE COAL FIRE.

Way to much wood....... With good quality coal, all you'll need is about 10 Matchlight bricquettes & one match to get you through the winter!

I HAVE A LOT OF WOOD IN MY PROP USE WOOD WHEN IT'S COOL OUT LATE FALL AND LATE SPRING I HAVE TONS OF FREE WOOD ANYWAY ALSO THE COAL FIRE BURNS OUT BECAUSE I WORK DURING THE DAY, AND HAVE THE RESTART, AND YES IT'S ALL ASH WHEN I GET HOME.

Hi Nuthead,, would you do us a favor?? Please turn off the 'caps lock' on your computer keyboard.. typing in capitals is considered yelling..

Sort of LIKE THIS !!

If you are having to restart your coal fire everyday, then it sounds like you need a bigger stove !! Does it burn all the way through the night??

Thanks.. Greg L

cap lock off, yes it burns all nite, but if I leave for wk at 6am and back at 6pm it might be out and then I throw a log on it and start over, no one hm to shake it during the day. but use wood usally fm oct til dec 1 than mid april til when it gets warm 2.25 tons

nuthead wrote:cap lock off, yes it burns all nite, but if I leave for wk at 6am and back at 6pm it might be out and then I throw a log on it and start over, no one hm to shake it during the day. but use wood usally fm oct til dec 1 than mid april til when it gets warm 2.25 tons

It sounds like something is wrong if your fire is out after only 12 hours.
Are you filling it as high as you can when you load & shake down? Maybe try lowering the stove temp during the day when you are at work?? Sounds like a fixable problem to me!

I think the Vermont Castings stove that nuthead has only holds about 30# of coal.. a smaller stove than a Mark I..

Is that about right nuthead??

Greg L.

It sounds like something is wrong if your fire is out after only 12 hours.
Are you filling it as high as you can when you load & shake down? Maybe try lowering the stove temp during the day when you are at work?? Sounds like a fixable problem to me![/quote]
Load & shake down?? I've been doing it the other way around, which is what I thought I learned here. At times, I have had struggling fires. Should I switch? Oh, the other issue is - shaking down hot or under normal conditions. Again, I've heard both & have been doing mine hot. Yes, it's a hand-fired.............