New house, new (to me) Gibraltar

PA_saltwaterreef · Post by **PA_saltwaterreef** » Fri. Nov. 19, 2021 6:19 pm

Hey all! I’m new here to the forum. I’ve used coal for a few seasons, at an old house but haven’t used coal for about 6 or 7 years. Anyway, just bought a new (to me) house which has a Gibraltar CFS and somewhere around 6ish ton of nut coal. The Gibraltar is new to me, I believe the stove I used to use was. Harman Mark of some sort. The biggest thing I’ve noticed with the Gibraltar is there is no blower. The Gibraltar is in the basement of a 1700sqft rancher. Basement is currently unfinished with no insulation in the rafters. I guess I’m looking for input on the Gibraltar CFS. I haven’t fired it up yet, hoping to this weekend. What should I expect with this stove? I understand that every house is different when it comes to drafts or getting the warm air upstairs. Anything in particular I should be aware of with this stove? I have attached some pics of its current condition.

Thanks everyone!

-Blair

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ShawnLiNy · Post by **ShawnLiNy** » Fri. Nov. 19, 2021 7:24 pm

Welcome Blair, Fire it up ,it may do just fine without any blower ( probably gunna take 1-2days of running to warm the block up , I’m sure you have plenty of other projects before taking care of basement insulation) my basement is just paneling on studs with a 10” cold space from foundation and it’s very effective without actually insulating . 6 tons is quite a score keeps us posted

Hoytman · Post by **Hoytman** » Fri. Nov. 19, 2021 8:12 pm

Now that is a hunk of steel. Well made stove. Should serve you very well.

If you haven’t fired this stove before, please check all pipes and chimney for blockages. Then change the gaskets, maybe the glass as well, or order a glass and have an extra in hand but replace all gaskets anyway. Glass, load door, and ash pan door gaskets. Should be 100% safe to run after those checks.

Get a couple Carbon Monoxide detectors also.

PA_saltwaterreef · Post by **PA_saltwaterreef** » Fri. Nov. 19, 2021 9:14 pm

ShawnLiNy wrote: ↑
Fri. Nov. 19, 2021 7:24 pm
Welcome Blair, Fire it up ,it may do just fine without any blower ( probably gunna take 1-2days of running to warm the block up , I’m sure you have plenty of other projects before taking care of basement insulation) my basement is just paneling on studs with a 10” cold space from foundation and it’s very effective without actually insulating . 6 tons is quite a score keeps us posted

Yea, I don't know that I will insulate the basement this season. I don't really have any plans on insulating the ceiling, that's for sure. But the walls I probably will at some point.

PA_saltwaterreef · Post by **PA_saltwaterreef** » Fri. Nov. 19, 2021 9:19 pm

Hoytman wrote: ↑
Fri. Nov. 19, 2021 8:12 pm
Now that is a hunk of steel. Well made stove. Should serve you very well.

If you haven’t fired this stove before, please check all pipes and chimney for blockages. Then change the gaskets, maybe the glass as well, or order a glass and have an extra in hand but replace all gaskets anyway. Glass, load door, and ash pan door gaskets. Should be 100% safe to run after those checks.

Get a couple Carbon Monoxide detectors also.

Yea, from what I've read on here it looks like I can let this stove go pretty long before having to tend to it. I'm sure it'll take me a few days to figure out how she burns.

Good idea on checking pipes and chimney for blockages. We have 3 flues in one chimney. (I believe that's the proper terminology) I have the coal stove, the oil burner for baseboard heat, and a fire place.

I'm pretty excited to get the coal stove up and running good. I've never replaced gaskets before. I'll search the web on how-to, but is that difficult? I'm rather mechanically inclined, so I'm sure I'll be able to get it done.

Thanks,

-Blair

Hounds51 · Post by **Hounds51** » Sat. Nov. 20, 2021 8:39 am

PA_saltwaterreef wrote: ↑
Fri. Nov. 19, 2021 9:14 pm
Yea, I don't know that I will insulate the basement this season. I don't really have any plans on insulating the ceiling, that's for sure. But the walls I probably will at some point.

Yea, I wouldn't insulate the ceiling if your gonna keep the stove down there and use it, as heat travels up and will definitely heat up your floors and then rising up to your first floor ceiling. as far as insulating the basement block, sometimes dead air is the best insulator, so studding out the walls and using paneling or sheet-rock may be all you need.

ShawnLiNy · Post by **ShawnLiNy** » Sat. Nov. 20, 2021 11:51 am

Hounds51 wrote: ↑
Sat. Nov. 20, 2021 8:39 am
Yea, I wouldn't insulate the ceiling if your gonna keep the stove down there and use it, as heat travels up and will definitely heat up your floors and then rising up to your first floor ceiling. as far as insulating the basement block, sometimes dead air is the best insulator, so studding out the walls and using paneling or sheet-rock may be all you need.

Agreed 100% just paneling in my basement very effective for stopping excessive heat loss

PA_saltwaterreef · Post by **PA_saltwaterreef** » Sat. Nov. 20, 2021 6:29 pm

Hounds51 wrote: ↑
Sat. Nov. 20, 2021 8:39 am
Yea, I wouldn't insulate the ceiling if your gonna keep the stove down there and use it, as heat travels up and will definitely heat up your floors and then rising up to your first floor ceiling. as far as insulating the basement block, sometimes dead air is the best insulator, so studding out the walls and using paneling or sheet-rock may be all you need.

Yea I don't really plan on insulating the ceiling. I do plan on doing a rough finish of the basement. I don't even know that I want to put anything over the cinderblock walls though, other than Kilz of some sort.

PS I see you're in Bethel, I'm over in Hamburg.

exwoodburner · Post by **exwoodburner** » Mon. Nov. 22, 2021 12:28 pm

PA_saltwaterreef wrote: ↑
Fri. Nov. 19, 2021 9:19 pm
I'm pretty excited to get the coal stove up and running good. I've never replaced gaskets before. I'll search the web on how-to, but is that difficult? I'm rather mechanically inclined, so I'm sure I'll be able to get it done.

Its not hard at all. Peel Out the old gaskets. Run a Dremel or drill mounted wire wheel thoroughly through the gasket channel on the door to remove adhesive etc. Run a bead of gasket glue in the channel and firmly press the new gasket material round into the channel and allow it to dry. Its really not a trick job in any way and goes just about exactly like you think it would. The only two tips I would have are to remove the doors off the stove if possible and lay them flat. It makes working on them much easier especially when installing the new gaskets. Also, use a piece of string and run it around the door in the gasket channel to get an overall length of gasket required then cut your new gasket accordingly. New gaskets and door glass for just about any stove can be found here: [media]www.fastreplacemtnglass.com[/media]. They are a small business in Warren, PA and have excellent customer service if you have questions.

PA_saltwaterreef · Post by **PA_saltwaterreef** » Mon. Nov. 22, 2021 3:44 pm

exwoodburner wrote: ↑
Mon. Nov. 22, 2021 12:28 pm

Awesome thanks for the info!!! Is replacing the glass just as easy?

And here I was excited to get the stove up and running this week lol.

-Blair

exwoodburner · Post by **exwoodburner** » Mon. Nov. 22, 2021 5:04 pm

Replacing the glass on a Harman Mark series (the stove I have) is very easy provided the bolts come free. I am not sure of your stove but I imagine it is pretty straight forward job. The Harman (now Legacy) stoves required the glass have a gasket around it as well. Im not sure here. There is an original Gibraltar manual posed as a .pdf file in another thread on this forum. There may be some information you can use there.