How to heat a big house with Hand Fired Coal Stoves

 
ColdHouse
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Post by ColdHouse » Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 8:54 am

[media] [/media]


 
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davidmcbeth3
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Coal Size/Type: nut/pea/anthra

Post by davidmcbeth3 » Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 4:27 pm

Alt. title ... how a boy services his 503....kek

 
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warminmn
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Coal Size/Type: nut and stove anthracite, lignite
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Post by warminmn » Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 4:42 pm

Nice simple to do video. I never knocked down my coal that much when i used a hopper but it certainly works good for you.

 
zachary193
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Post by zachary193 » Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 5:43 pm

Good video ! How large of a house are you heating ?

 
ColdHouse
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Post by ColdHouse » Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 5:44 pm

zachary193 wrote:
Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 5:43 pm
Good video ! How large of a house are you heating ?
3,000 square feet.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 5:55 pm

Cool video, thank you for sharing! It's always interesting to see how others maintain their stoves :) Does the basement stove have usable fans? I'm thinkin it would help get you more heat out of it. Tell me a little more about that water heater.. Hybrid? What's it do? How does it use ambient heat to help heat the water? Is it a heat pump water heater?

 
ColdHouse
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Post by ColdHouse » Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 6:09 pm

Lightning wrote:
Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 5:55 pm
Cool video, thank you for sharing! It's always interesting to see how others maintain their stoves :) Does the basement stove have usable fans? I'm thinkin it would help get you more heat out of it. Tell me a little more about that water heater.. Hybrid? What's it do? How does it use ambient heat to help heat the water? Is it a heat pump water heater?
I think considering the stove is open to the room, there is no lost heat without using the fans. The wiring is not good on the fans. A mouse had chewed it up prior to me owning the stove. I replaced the chewed wiring but didn't account for high heat. I used cheap plastic coated wire which shorted out. I haven't done anything to fix it again. Regardless, that stove gets the downstairs as hot as it needs to be even on the coldest days. I have a floor fan blowing on the back/side of the stove. I think getting more heat out of it would be because the fans cool the stove and allow you to open the ash pan door more and thus burn more fuel. But as mentioned it is throwing off plenty of heat and since it is not in a fireplace, none of it is wasted.

Yes it is a heat pump water heater. Works great! In that exact same place was an indirect water heater that had a dedicated zone off the boiler. I think the hybrid heater uses less energy than the boiler used just running the oil burner pump and circulator. Best thing I have put in! No need to run the oil for anything now! Added bonus is in summer it helps with the humidity in the basement too. Heater retails for around $1400. There was an instant $750 state savings, and another $300 Federal tax credit. I had to buy some wiring and some water connectors but was an inexpensive straightforward installation.


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 6:13 pm

Sweet! So when you say there was an instant $750 state savings and $300 federal tax credit, what does that mean exactly? Did you have to hire a professional for installation?

 
ColdHouse
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Post by ColdHouse » Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 6:25 pm

Lightning wrote:
Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 6:13 pm
Sweet! So when you say there was an instant $750 state savings and $300 federal tax credit, what does that mean exactly? Did you have to hire a professional for installation?
The instant State savings was a reduction in cost at the counter. I did have a professional install but didn't have to pay because I did it. The Federal credit is a tax return thing.

 
zachary193
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Post by zachary193 » Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 7:08 pm

ColdHouse wrote:
Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 5:44 pm
3,000 square feet.
So basically you’re using a little under a lb per hour . That’s pretty good use rate . Every time I see a video of a hopper stove makes me regret not getting one . But they are a pain to burn wood in them . Although I can fit as much if not more in mine . It seems to be nice .

 
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Retro_Origin
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Post by Retro_Origin » Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 8:32 pm

Thanks for sharing, always intrigued by hand feds! Why is the ash more fine than a stoker? Is it because the air isn’t forced through and doesn’t fuse into clinkers at the high temps? That’s a mighty tiny bit of ash for forty pounds of coal!

 
Hoytman
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Post by Hoytman » Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 10:59 pm

Ash amount seems normal for nut compared to my Hitzer 354. I did find pea ash to much more fine and much less of it. Hardly any chunks, but my stove idles anyway.
zachary193 wrote:
Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 7:08 pm
So basically you’re using a little under a lb per hour . That’s pretty good use rate . Every time I see a video of a hopper stove makes me regret not getting one . But they are a pain to burn wood in them . Although I can fit as much if not more in mine . It seems to be nice .
My first thought reading your post suggesting he was burning 1lb/hr was that he’s doing better than me with twice the space. “Wait! That can’t be right”, and it’s not.


Nope…24 lbs in 24hrs = 1lb/hr.

Both 36lbs and 43lbs in 24 hrs is more than 1lb/hr.

(I used whole numbers for the coal weight…didn’t round up or down.)

36lbs in 24hrs= 1.5lbs/hr
43lbs in 24hrs= 1.79 lbs/hr

1.79+
1.5
________
3.29lbs/hr total (combined use of 2 stoves)

Not the best, but still respectable for the space being heated.

Is that an air control above the door on the 503? It almost looks like a damper rod handle and looks like the rod goes through the hopper. Wish my 354 had a hopper like that.

 
zachary193
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Post by zachary193 » Wed. Dec. 14, 2022 12:31 am

:D :D Looks like someone didn’t type his numbers in before the lbs :annoyed:

 
Hoytman
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Post by Hoytman » Wed. Dec. 14, 2022 12:36 am

zachary193 wrote:
Wed. Dec. 14, 2022 12:31 am
:D :D Looks like someone didn’t type his numbers in before the lbs :annoyed:
It’s an easy mistake to make for any of us. :yes:

 
ColdHouse
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Post by ColdHouse » Wed. Dec. 14, 2022 6:52 am

Hoytman wrote:
Tue. Dec. 13, 2022 10:59 pm
Ash amount seems normal for nut compared to my Hitzer 354. I did find pea ash to much more fine and much less of it. Hardly any chunks, but my stove idles anyway.



My first thought reading your post suggesting he was burning 1lb/hr was that he’s doing better than me with twice the space. “Wait! That can’t be right”, and it’s not.


Nope…24 lbs in 24hrs = 1lb/hr.

Both 36lbs and 43lbs in 24 hrs is more than 1lb/hr.

(I used whole numbers for the coal weight…didn’t round up or down.)

36lbs in 24hrs= 1.5lbs/hr
43lbs in 24hrs= 1.79 lbs/hr

1.79+
1.5
________
3.29lbs/hr total (combined use of 2 stoves)

Not the best, but still respectable for the space being heated.

Is that an air control above the door on the 503? It almost looks like a damper rod handle and looks like the rod goes through the hopper. Wish my 354 had a hopper like that.
My intention was not to infer that my coal consumption was minimal or optimum. I was simply servicing the stove and gaining objective data as to how much was getting used in a time period at a specific outside temperature. I think knowing how many pounds are used to heat to a particular inside temperature when outside temperatures are at a particular degree could provide me with useful data to achieve optimum results.
A point of note worth mentioning is that if it were zero or below, I would probably need to service the stove at more frequent intervals. But at the current temperatures, you can see the firebox after shakedown still has plenty of life to maintain the fire. I also think that using warm, dry, coal is the key to minimizing firebox temperature fluctuations. I am confident that had I gone and fetched a bag of snow covered frozen coal from outside and thrown it on top of the fire, it would take more effort, time, tending, to get the fire producing heat again.
What are your thoughts?


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