Keystoker HFH 70/90 update

Hi and Happy New Year to Everyone. I thought I'd just give an update on the performance of my stove. I have been burning since November 1st. and have not lost the fire! This stove has been very forgiving as far as learning to operate. I tend the stove twice a day just as habit and empty the ash pan every other tending. You probably could get away with every other day but again this is just our routine as my Wife and I are both retired. When you load this stove I found that you load first and then shake. If you shake first and open the hopper door I have just about singed me eyebrows a few times! Note to self: heated gas builds up in the hopper especially if the hopper is low on coal. I have closed off the vents on the ash door and now use the bi metalic thermostat exclusively. I can tell what the stove is doing by using my Infared gun to check temps above the door. Temps down to the upper 20's I keep it around 300 degrees. Temps like tonight when it's getting into the teens I run it around 350 to 400. this keeps our house on the farthest rooms about 68 to 74 in the two rooms with the stove. For some reason our upstairs bedroom never gets more than 70 degrees. That's fine by us as we prefer a cooler sleeping room. I'm sure I could run the stove well into the 500's but have not needed to at this point. We have tried the blower but never use it. Instead we use one of those woodstove fans off of Amazon that seems to really move the heat around? We're averaging about 25llbs a day of a 50/50 mix off bagged Reading pea and nut with good results. This is with a two level house that is about 1900 sq. feet of very open floor plan. We are very well insulated and have a ceiling fan in every room. I anyone has any other questions I will do my best to answer them? My Wife and I are very happy with this stove. The Keystoker 105 was a bit better at keeping the temps in the house with in a degree or two with the coaltrol but it ran 24/7. The biggest thing we notice is Radiant heat seems to feel much warmer even though outer parts of the house are a bit cooler?

Emptying the ash pan every day is wise. If the ash gets up to the grate you risk cracking the grate.

It sounds like you have cheap easy heat. How many pounds a day do you think you used with your prior stove? A guess is fine, I rarely weigh anything either.

warminmn wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 02, 2022 5:05 pm

Emptying the ash pan every day is wise. If the ash gets up to the grate you risk cracking the grate.

It sounds like you have cheap easy heat. How many pounds a day do you think you used with your prior stove? A guess is fine, I rarely weigh anything either.

I would have to say the stoker was a little more efficient using coal. The coaltrol made the difference. Last year I used about 1 3/4 ton of rice. This year I would expect to use 2 ton or a tad more? I would say the stoker was in the 20 to 22 lbs a day? The quiet is Priceless though!

Yes to the quiet! I had a pellet burner for a while and I dont miss the noise. I'd rather hear the wind that is always blowing here.

I’m going to pick up a few bags of Lehigh nut. I’ve always burned Reading. I can’t complain? Just curious to see if the is anything different?