"Comfort Stove" in Northern Michigan Cabin

Sure. Experience will tell you how much. Trial and error.

wheelhorse2347 wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 06, 2021 6:27 am

Just to be certain too,

When the previous days pot has burned down a bit, and I'm ready to add more coal, I'd be adding nut coal to the top first, then once it's going, put rice on top of it again, layered like that?

If it's me....Ima fillin the pot to the top with all nut and see how that burn goes. If it's good, I've only got to procure one size coal.
Then I can move on to tightening any leaks and further improve controllability.

When troubleshooting, only make one change at a time.

Pancho wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 06, 2021 7:52 am

If it's me....Ima fillin the pot to the top with all nut and see how that burn goes. If it's good, I've only got to procure one size coal.
Then I can move on to tightening any leaks and further improve controllability.

When troubleshooting, only make one change at a time.

He already said that heats him out.

waytomany?s wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 06, 2021 9:04 pm

He already said that heats him out.

Added stove coal over the top of the bed, leaving a corner open to burn off gasses. Damper open full, primary open full, secondary open a turn.

Once we got that initial batch of coal going, we added a second layer of stove coal

That took a bit to heat up, so once it got going, I edged down the primary and the Damper and closed the secondary a little.
Added a layer of rice coal to the top of the bed

Perhaps I missed it but I don't think the pot was ever filled with nut?.

That would be correct. The company I bought it from sold it as "chestnut" but, the last batch I shoveled was much larger, stove coal size. Pretty large lumps, about the size of a roll of electrical tape. It turns out, I got this Saturday off, so I'll be stopping to buy bags of Blaschak nut and rice on the way up this weekend and try those out!

wheelhorse2347 wrote: ↑

Thu. Jan. 07, 2021 6:56 am

That would be correct. The company I bought it from sold it as "chestnut" but, the last batch I shoveled was much larger, stove coal size. Pretty large lumps, about the size of a roll of electrical tape. It turns out, I got this Saturday off, so I'll be stopping to buy bags of Blaschak nut and rice on the way up this weekend and try those out!

Do you have a magnetic thermometer on the barrel of the stove?. If not, pick one up so you have a baseline of where it's running at when you get it dialed in. Doesn't need to be accurate, just needs to be repeatable.

wheelhorse2347 wrote: ↑

Mon. Dec. 28, 2020 7:18 am

Good morning all,

I recently acquired a "Comfort Stove" at a price that was too inexpensive to say no to, and installed it in a cabin we recently purchased. The cabin had a tiny "Made in china" coal stove where the castings were so poor you could see sunlight between the halves, and the primary damper was so loose you couldn't have sealed it if you wanted to.

We are burning anthracite coal currently, but are running into a problem where it seems to either run too hot, or completely extinguish itself. It has a manual damper installed into a 6 inch stove pipe, and will fill the firebox about half full of 'Chestnut' sized coal. Flue Temps generally will hover around 190-220 degrees 18 inches off the top of the stove (below the damper). The primary air is generally out a couple turns, and secondary is out a hair.

The cabin is small, only about 20 x 20 ft and insulated. It has me wondering if coal might not be the best option for this space, if I bought too big of a stove for this space, or if I just need to figure out how to do it right for this specific stove. It was 16 degrees outside, and over 100 indoors, so we had the doors wide open until we were able to get it to cool back down, at which point it extinguished.

Any recommendations would be helpful. I'm not completely against the idea of getting a different stove/fuel source but my wife really likes how the coal burns and that its consistantly warm. We just need to figure out how to do it without roasting ourselves out.

Thanks for any advice you have!

My bad, but this is what I saw.

Up north update:

Went up two weeks ago to try again. Filled up all the way but put too much rice on top and it went out. More nut coal, less rice next time.

Like all of us W--it's trial & error on ANY set-up before we get it down pat.

wheelhorse2347 wrote: ↑

Mon. Dec. 28, 2020 7:18 am

Good morning all,

I recently acquired a "Comfort Stove" at a price that was too inexpensive to say no to, and installed it in a cabin we recently purchased. The cabin had a tiny "Made in china" coal stove where the castings were so poor you could see sunlight between the halves, and the primary damper was so loose you couldn't have sealed it if you wanted to.

We are burning anthracite coal currently, but are running into a problem where it seems to either run too hot, or completely extinguish itself. It has a manual damper installed into a 6 inch stove pipe, and will fill the firebox about half full of 'Chestnut' sized coal. Flue Temps generally will hover around 190-220 degrees 18 inches off the top of the stove (below the damper). The primary air is generally out a couple turns, and secondary is out a hair.

The cabin is small, only about 20 x 20 ft and insulated. It has me wondering if coal might not be the best option for this space, if I bought too big of a stove for this space, or if I just need to figure out how to do it right for this specific stove. It was 16 degrees outside, and over 100 indoors, so we had the doors wide open until we were able to get it to cool back down, at which point it extinguished.

Any recommendations would be helpful. I'm not completely against the idea of getting a different stove/fuel source but my wife really likes how the coal burns and that its consistantly warm. We just need to figure out how to do it without roasting ourselves out.

Thanks for any advice you have!

Wheelhorse, this looks like a great stove, and a valuable one. If it does not need any repairs or refurbishing, it can indeed be run low and slow--but is probably made to heat a two-story house and basement. If you live all winter in the cabin,, I think you will be cracking windows regularly, but if it is run slow (under 300 degrees on the stove top), it may still be the cheapest heat compared to other fuels, even when wasting heat out the windows. If you only go there off and on, it can be used for wood (operating it very differently). My rule of thumb is that if the weather is warm throughout the 10-day outlook, I let it die and take the occasion to clean it. But I have gas central heat for that--if I just had the coal, I would open some windows during warmer periods. In Northern Michigan, you may not complain much about too much heat.Comfort Stoves
When I was a child, our 3-story high school (plus cafeteria in basement) had steam radiator heat (gas) and we controlled the temp by opening up all the windows in the classrooms! I agree with your wife about how cozy coal heat is!

New stoves (wood or coal) give a range of BTU's--often only showing maximum BTU's. Old stoves, of course, do not tell us that.
To be honest, it is not easy to make a coal stove that runs nonstop day and night without having a big (hot) firebox. Small ones need tending more than just twice a day. However, the Hitzer 608 boasts 90,000 BTU max, for 2500 sq ft--but also boasts full function at 7,000 BTU, which is quite low and much of the time the low level would be a blessing for you.

In your case, it would be wonderful to keep and use the beautiful Comfort Stove, and you may find you can learn how to tame it. Don't try to lower the fuel level--it must be deep to work right, but the air intake controls the heat. If you have a porch, you might close it in with greenhouse plastic and grow veggies or flowers there in winter, cooler than the house.

Be sure to use a stove thermometer for the top surface (digital or metalic)--over 700 can damage iron (warp or break it). If I let mine get too hot, I cut the air off and open the front door--the room air rushing in and up the chimney soon brings in down.

Where are you buying coal in nmi only place I could find is tsc would like to find another supplier cuz they don’t stock coal towards the end of the heating season

wheelhorse2347 wrote: ↑

Thu. Jan. 07, 2021 6:56 am

That would be correct. The company I bought it from sold it as "chestnut" but, the last batch I shoveled was much larger, stove coal size. Pretty large lumps, about the size of a roll of electrical tape. It turns out, I got this Saturday off, so I'll be stopping to buy bags of Blaschak nut and rice on the way up this weekend and try those out!

I tried a little bit of rice on top of my nut coal to slow it down and it choked it. There may be a way to get it right, but I still have 5 bags of rice coal. (It is meant for stoves with an electric auger to feed the stove by a stoker--the actual firebox is the size of a sheet of typing paper. For stoves with regular grates, it would fall through.)

Hello, I’m new on here. I was reading this post and just thought I’d add that I have a stove very similar. It’s called a mighty oak. Mine also has the small door on side of the ash pan. It is to gain access to the shaker grate. The mighty oak has a grate with a handle that will allow to be rotated. It’s nice to here yours puts out plenty of heat. I’ve only restored mine and never used it. By your pictures it looks like you’ve purchased a very nice little stove.

charlesosborne2002 wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 27, 2021 8:25 am

I tried a little bit of rice on top of my nut coal to slow it down and it choked it. There may be a way to get it right, but I still have 5 bags of rice coal. (It is meant for stoves with an electric auger to feed the stove by a stoker--the actual firebox is the size of a sheet of typing paper. For stoves with regular grates, it would fall through.)

Bad Idea! that rice over nut!!

Pea coal works so very good!