Hitzer 503 Installation Photos

Speaking of electicity, has anyone ever seen/used a fan like this (EcoFan)- it doesn't actually need electricity from AC - pretty cool/'hot' idea if it performs well. Good for power outage and indeed to lower elec consumption

Just checked it out....never saw it before....seems gimmicky but then I'm not exactly Mr Wizard.

VanBuren wrote:T,

that's interesting on the electrical cord. I hadn't though about it but you're right if it were on the other side and no elec outlet it would be awkward. I can't see how running it inside the stove won't melt the cable - the ash pan will be very close to that. I'm sure Hitzer know what they are talking about so let us know how you make out once you make the change. Glad the photo was of use - 2nd round of beer will be on me then.

Speaking of electicity, has anyone ever seen/used a fan like this (EcoFan)- it doesn't actually need electricity from AC - pretty cool/'hot' idea if it performs well. Good for power outage and indeed to lower elec consumption

http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Woodstove-Corner/Ac ... n-Original

I would have to ask if a coal stove would even get hot enough to run it?

Good thought Adam....It is advertised for a "wood" stove.....

Hi all,

Well, this took way too long to write and my apologies for taking so long. My story is simple and quick. I live in central Connecticut and have heated my house here with oil since I moved here 25 years ago. In June of this year I received my contract letter from the oil company indicating the various payment programs that they offered. To buy ahead, the price was $4.62 per gallon. Last year I used 640 gallons of oil and my wife and I froze the whole winter. So doing some quick calculations I decided enough was enough, I was not going to spend the money on oil.

My wife claims that she never saw me move so quickly. In a week I had done my research, (found this site) made up my mind and on June 26th, I purchased my Hitzer 503 from the local dealer.

Hitzer 503 $1,700
Shipping $200
6 in SS flue pipe $600
TOTAL $2,500

Deliver was quoted at 1 month. Hitzer delivered right on time in last week of July.

Installation took some time as I was asking a friend who at one time installed for a living to help install the unit.

We basically pulled all the guts out of the stove … to lighten the load and make it more manageable. The 2 of us could lift the stove and with the help of dollies we moved and lifted it into position. The SS flue pipe was a but ungainly to straighten (we never really go it straight) but managed to get it into position. The most difficult part of the installation was the connection of the pipe to the top of the stove. Once that was accomplished, the remainder was just pushing it into position and getting the 6 in surround mounted.

I have fired it up .. the first attempt was unsuccessful .. I loaded a couple of handfuls of match light into the fire box, but was way too timid with the coal. The fire went out after a couple of hrs. I re-loaded the match light and a lot more coal (approx 20 lbs) and re lit the unit. I was off and running. The curing of the paint was not bad at all. The smell was gone in no time. What did surprise me was the amount of heat the unit generated. Note you must close the restrictor in the flue and shut down some of the inlet air. It was 50 deg outside and I had all the windows open and the fans blowing out. I had a tough time keeping the inside temp below 75 deg.

Well, I must thank everyone on the site for all the information and help. From what I can tell this winter will be a lot warmer and the fuel a lot cheaper.

Tom

Had to add one last picture .. the finished product.

Ahhhhhh! The finished product. It looks perfect Tom and hopefully you won't need much oil at all this season. My pre-buy on oil was last week @ $3.90/gal. Since I use 1,400 to 1,500 gals/year, I bought 700 at the pre-buy rate. I'm counting on my 503 to do the rest of the job.
I'm hoping to have mine installed by the end of Oct.....just in time for those gray November days.

My oil co. wanted me to go from $250/month to $495/month on their "budget" plan (pay a certain amount every month for 11 months, then when they deliver they subtract the delivery amount (at the current rate on the delivery date) from your account). It's budgeted in the sense that you pay the same amount every month, but the price is not locked in. We used an average of 110 gallons a month last year (oil burner also heats DHW--we use more in the winter and less in the summer), but the average was 110/month. So at $495 for 11 months, we were staring at a $5,445 oil bill, give or take. Screw that! I had them keep me at $250/month and we'll see how it goes. I may have them drop it more if the Hitzer performs like I think it will.

Your stove looks great, Tom! Nice job! We're going to be in the 50s during the day and in the 30s at night where I live, so guess who will be lighting the 503 up tonight or tomorrow night....

Jafadog I had the same experience. I went from a budget of $325 for 10 months to a recommended $750 for 12 months (based on an estimated $5/gal @ 1,800 gals per year). I settled on sending them $650/mo until I decided to buy 700 gals @ the pre-buy rate of $3.899/gal. That was also the time I decided to do something about it. I researched GHP ( geothermal heat pump) but the quote I got was for $48,500 + the cost of repairing the landscaping....so at least $50K. I won't live long enough to even break even. So, needless to say "@%#& that" idea. Coal baby.....back to my roots. I was born into a coal heated home and I had a coal stove for 10 years in my last home (13 years ago). I know how warm coal heat is....it can't be beat!! I just got lazy over the last 13 years and oil was .899/gal in '95 when we moved to this home....and only $1.09/gal just 2 or 3 years ago.
If you have a fireplace.....503s rock. :punk:

tfaath wrote:Had to add one last picture .. the finished product.

Tom - beautiful job ! congrats - good to hear it all installed nicely. Looks really good. By end of year we'll all be experts on this model and based on the heat we anticipate these units will throw off, we'll most likley be visible from space !

Many thanks for all the kind comments.

I must say the one thing that did amaze me is the amount of heat the unit produced. I had it throttled back as far as it would go (closed the air down to less than a pencil diameter). The fans ran a solid 12 hrs. I’m sure that once the cold weather sets in the situation will change but the prospects for a warm winter are definitely there.

I fired mine up for the second time last night. Low was 45.7* here overnight. Supposed to be in the 50s during the days and into the 30s at night for the next five or six days, so I'm going to try an extended burn.

I think I might have rushed things when starting it because it took a long time for it to get up to temp. Perhaps I didn't wait long enough between layers of coal. Or maybe I'm just expecting the thing to start pumping out the heat sooner than it is supposed to. The first time I burned, it took about six hours before it was going good, but I chalked that up to inexperience and the fact that I was closing the ash pan door between layers when I was building it up. One thing is for sure: I like the convenience of using Match Light to start it (although a coal mouse or 1/4 road flare might be quicker).

I built it up layer-by-layer to the top of the firebrick on the door end and once that caught filled the hopper (first time for that). It was very, very slow to warm up. I started it at about 7:30 PM, and by 9:00 PM the thermometer on the side was only reading like 75-100*. I left the ash door open for the entire starting period this time, and after loading the hopper I closed the ash pan door and left the ash pan dampers at 1/2 open. I also resisted the urge to shake it this time--never touched the grates.

We went to bed around 10:30 PM, and although the blowers had kicked on, it still wasn't anywhere near cranking. I could see an orange glow through the ash pan damper holes but the top was totally black--no glowing at all. There were two jets of blue flame in the back on either side of the hopper which scared me at first. I had to keep telling myself that it was just gases from the coal burning below and that the coal in the hopper wouldn't ignite from that (it didn't). I also closed the restrictor plate to about 1/2 open (it had been wide open until then). I had the ceiling fan on low (drawing air up) and had a pedestal fan blowing down the hallway toward the bedrooms. I got up at 2:00 AM to check things, and the stove was cranking at that point. The bed was glowing nicely and it was pumping out the heat. Side thermo was reading about 150*. I left the blowers on auto, and they ran all night.

When we got up at 5:30 AM, the living room where the stove is was 84* and the bedrooms were about 72*. Whoa! Had to open the living room window. I closed the ash pan damper down to 1/4 open, and I shut the blowers off as well. Needless to say, I think I'll be okay even when it gets a lot colder out. My only complaint thus far would be how long it takes the stove to really start cranking out the heat. But I'm new to coal, and it could be that this is just normal. For the three hours after starting it, my wife was complaining that she was still cold. This morning she was complaining that she was too hot! Feast or famine....

JafaDog wrote:There were two jets of blue flame in the back on either side of the hopper which scared me at first. I had to keep telling myself that it was just gases from the coal burning below and that the coal in the hopper wouldn't ignite from that (it didn't). I also closed the restrictor plate to about 1/2 open (it had been wide open until then)

I'm not familiar with that stove but jets of blue flame in the hopper sounds like trouble to me! There should be no flame in the hopper of any stoker stove. Others with this stove please chime in but that sounds like you've got a serious problem.

I'm not familiar with that stove but jets of blue flame in the hopper sounds like trouble to me! There should be no flame in the hopper of any stoker stove. Others with this stove please chime in but that sounds like you've got a serious problem.

The flames were not in the hopper; they were on either side of it--more or less in the rear corners of the firebox. They were just gases burning off from the coal bed below. And perhaps "jets" wasn't the best word to use. Blue Ladies, perhaps? And the Hitzer 503 is not a stoker. It's a gravity-fed (i.e., hand-fed with a gravity-feed hopper).

http://www.hitzer.com/model503.html

Although I was concerned at first, I don't think it was actually a problem or anything to be worried about. The design of the stove is such that the coal in the hopper shouldn't ever catch fire as long as the hopper lid is sealed.

The flame 'beside the hopper' are OK. I think you would have had a quicker startup if you had left the ashpan door open for awhile between loading layers..

BUT NEVER leave the room with the ashpan door open !!

The coal needs a lot of air to make the heat needed to spread the fire. But once burning, a lot less air will maintain the fire at a comfortable level. Just load up the hopper each day, shake the ashes down either once a day or once every 12 hours or so, depending on your burn rate..

Greg L

The flame 'beside the hopper' are OK. I think you would have had a quicker startup if you had left the ashpan door open for awhile between loading layers..

Agreed. I left the ash pan door open for the whole startup process and gave it about 10 minutes between layers. Might not have been enough time between layers....

BUT NEVER leave the room with the ashpan door open !!

Nope. I even set my watch timer to go off every 5 minutes to remind me that it was open (even though I never left the room).

The coal needs a lot of air to make the heat needed to spread the fire. But once burning, a lot less air will maintain the fire at a comfortable level.

Yup. I have the ash pan damper about 1/4 open and the restrictor at about 1/3 open, and it's purring along nicely with a good glowing bed just under the top layer. It's going to be windy here today, so I may close off the restrictor even more. I notice my draft improves considerably when the wind blows....

Just load up the hopper each day, shake the ashes down either once a day or once every 12 hours or so, depending on your burn rate..

I shook it down at 8:30 AM, but I don't think it needed it. I didn't get much ash before the embers started dropping. No need to empty the ash pan this time around. I'll probably shake it down again before we go to bed tonight. I think I might be able to go much longer than 12 hours between shakedowns, especially when the weather is warmer.

I did figure out that I have to use a poker to shove the coal towards the back of the hopper and level it out when filling it to get the hopper all the way full. I tried using a shovel, but the restrictor plate rod makes the hopper opening too small for a shovel.

Thanks for the advice, Greg!