Hitzer Stove Company

 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Tue. Aug. 21, 2007 9:38 am

An attractive coal appliance? My God, we are turning into gerbils. :)


 
chet
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Post by chet » Thu. Aug. 30, 2007 9:16 am

I have been reading about the 50-93 Hitzer stove. where in NE can they be purchased at decent pricing!

thanks
Chet

 
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Rex
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Post by Rex » Thu. Aug. 30, 2007 9:34 am

chet wrote:I have been reading about the 50-93 Hitzer stove. where in NE can they be purchased at decent pricing!

thanks
Chet
Their web site is pretty helpful in finding your closest dealer. Or maybe call them.

This link might help. http://www.hitzer.com/contact.html

good luck.

 
chet
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Post by chet » Fri. Aug. 31, 2007 9:56 am

Thanks Rex

I meant the 30-95 and I did a search on the Hitzer Website, I actually found a dealer 2 miles from my house, and a fair price, actually I am not up to date on the pricing, but he did quote me a price of $1325.00 with out the blower, I didnt want the blower anyway. is this a fair price! I will be heating a 1500 sq ft well insulated ranch.

Thanks
Chet

 
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Gary in Pennsylvania
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Post by Gary in Pennsylvania » Fri. Aug. 31, 2007 10:06 am

chet wrote: but he did quote me a price of $1325.00 with out the blower, I didn't want the blower anyway. is this a fair price! I will be heating a 1500 sq ft well insulated ranch.
Hmmmm.....
I have a fireplace insert coal stove and it really needs the blower to be of any use. But I cannot IMAGINE not wanting a blower on freestanding units. If anything, set the fan to low.

Correct me if my logic is wrong......but I imagine that in order for a non-blowered stove to produce comparable heating to a blowered stove....the non-blowered stove needs to burn hotter.

In other words....to comparable heat Chet's 1,500sq/ft home:
Hot burning non-blower stove = med to low burning blower stove.

What are the reasons for passing up or ruling out the blower option?

I'm not bashing Chet's decision or all the 'non-blowers' out there....I'm just wondering.

 
chet
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Post by chet » Fri. Aug. 31, 2007 10:24 am

Hello Gary

The reason I am not interested in the blower are a few reasons, first is I am installing the Hitzer 30-95 where I have a 60k BTU Surdiac stove and it did the job before, and the second reason is I really wanted to install a liesure Line Pioneer stoker stove, but when I went to see one in operation last year, the first thing my wife said, now I am installing this stove in a family room where we watch tv, and she said the fans are annoying, they don't bother me because I wear a hearing aid, not to say I won't get the blower model, and maybe use it not watching tv or when we go to bed. so I feel the Hitzer would be the best bet, since the wife dosen't like the noise from the fans on a stoker stove.

Chet

 
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Gary in Pennsylvania
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Post by Gary in Pennsylvania » Fri. Aug. 31, 2007 11:21 am

Noise!

Ahhhhhh....That's right. I understand.
There is no way we'd be able to operate my insert/blower in the family room. It is too loud to watch TV normally.

But I'd still like to hear the opinion of our resident forum stove experts. Is my formula/equation correct? Does a non-blower have to work harder that a blower stove to achieve the same whole house comfort feel?


 
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Post by RusK2UA » Tue. Jan. 08, 2008 3:38 pm

I am a new owner of a Hitzer 30-95, which I installed on January 3. It's an awesome stove. I have been heating with coal for three winters with a Consolidated Dutchwest FA224, which I previously used to heat the house with wood for 12 winters. With wood it was barely adequate to heat our 2100-sf ranch house, but with coal it had tons of margin. I was fortunate to be able to get the coal-burning insert kit from the original dealer. I mention this stove because I saw a reference to it earlier in this thread. Unfortunately, over time, the floor casting warped and the rear heat plate cracked, apparently as a result of a hot spot. The floor casting is no longer available--thus the move to the Hitzer, which I had been planning for two years anyway.

I know a number of Hitzer owners personally and all of them rave about the 30-95 and the 50-93. I'm in that club now!

So far the weather in the time since I've had the stove fired up has spanned -5 F to more than 65 F and I've been able to throttle it to keep the house between 70 and 73 F. However, over the past couple of (very warm) days, I've shut the blower off. The stove is basically idling and the stack temp at eye level is below 100 F. My wife wanted me to let the fire go out, but I'd rather not--with the hopper half full as of yesterday morning, and the coal bed humming along, I'd much rather keep it going than clean out a stove full of half-burned coal only to restart it tomorrow. But I did shut off the blower.

To that point, I think that the blower is a requirement if you want reasonably even heating throughout the house. Since the previous post was about fan noise, I thought I'd add that the fan kit is really simple to install and includes a rheostat for speed control. With the speed control set to its lowest setting, the fan isn't at all loud--I think most people would get used to it after a few days.

This Hitzer produces far less ash than the Consolidated Dutchwest, and is trivial to feed. The Hitzer's efficiency is clearly much higher than the FA224 it replaced, but I won't know for a few weeks exactly how much the efficiency has improved. The stack temp and ash quantities are a clue; stack temp runs roughly 50 degrees cooler for the same indoor and temperatures with the Hitzer. I can hold my hand on the stack at eye level indefinitely with the Hitzer; the stack temp gauge shows 110 degrees when it's in the teens outside. Ash removal is a bit tricky because the ash pan is much wider than my ash bucket, but that's an easy fix (I'm looking for a wider ash bucket). I'm delighted with the purchase and I can see why others rave about Hitzer stoves.

Rus

 
New York Bear
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Post by New York Bear » Tue. Jan. 08, 2008 8:19 pm

Nice to see a Hitzer thread on here, but I am wondering, am I the only one with a 354 free standing unit? I bought this one as I can also feed it wood. Works fantastic, have it in my basement and heats whole house easily, about 2,000 sq.ft. log home. Anyone else with a 254 or 354?

 
dirvine96
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Post by dirvine96 » Fri. Jan. 11, 2008 8:23 am

My wife wanted me to let the fire go out, but I'd rather not--with the hopper half full as of yesterday morning, and the coal bed humming along, I'd much rather keep it going than clean out a stove full of half-burned coal only to restart it tomorrow. But I did shut off the blower.
I've had to let my Hitzer 82FA go out twice. It's been like a senior living center in the house. 80 degrees with the windows open and the furnace backed way down. We reached the mid 60s this week. Crazy

Don

 
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Post by Pinecone » Thu. Oct. 02, 2008 9:39 pm

Hitzer stove manufacture is in Berne, Indiana. Berne Indiana is a small Amish community. This is the place to buy your Stoves or get parts. Also a re seller in Berne is Joes Lighting, Joe is 3 miles north of Berne on 000 Rd. Google search hitzer stoves in Berne Indiana.

 
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Jersey John
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Post by Jersey John » Mon. Jan. 26, 2009 7:43 pm

Well, it's been a long time since I visited this blog, and happy to see it has provided so much information for others as well. I still remain a non coal burner, having removed the Fisher I had and replaced it with the Vermont Castings...opening up the fireplace to be used only for ambience...and purchasing an efficient Regency wood burner for my main floor back in September 2007. I am quite content with burning wood on the main floor, but doubt if I will ever succeed at properly heating my basement with the wood burner. I even had to purchase wood this season, having not the time to cut, split and stack it....great exersize if you have the time.

So, I turn back to this forum to read everyone's comments and pleasures of burning coal, and finally have decided to go for it....though as I suspect the purchase of a coal stove during one of our coldest winters is not going to make it easy. That being the case, I'll simply make my Hitzer purchase in the Spring and set myself up for next season.

As I have enjoyed many of your comments and suggestions in past posts, I too hope to be able to contribute more as a coal burner next season...I'm still cautious of the fact that I am occasionally out of town visiting my girlfriend in South Jersey....yes, the same one. But having viewed some very helpful YouTube videos on starting and maintaining a coal fire, I don't think it will be that big a deal if I have to start the whole process again.

And yes, I know that the other option is a s stoker....only, I just know the year that I decide to make that move to another electronic device is the year that we experience heavier than normal snow and more power outages. I simply don't mind the thought of having to maintain the fire.

So, THANK YOU! in advance...I can't wait to interact with this forum again.

Wishing you all a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Jersey John

 
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Post by baldeagle » Mon. Jan. 26, 2009 10:09 pm

Jersey John -- I have two Hitzers - a 503 & 354, I am very happy with both. They serve different purposes for us,
we use the 503 for steady low maintenance heat and long burns and are quite satisfied with it, espespeacially the ability to go from Sat am to Sunday afternoon (minimum air) and not have to do a cleanout and restart. The 503 with it's gravity hopper and independent shakers also allows you to run 1/2 the firebox with minimum fuss - very handy on 50F days in the fall and spring when you only need a small amount of heat. You will find another link on the forum discussing subjects of ashes/cleanliness. Draw your conclusions. Baldeagle

 
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Jersey John
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Post by Jersey John » Mon. Jan. 26, 2009 10:57 pm

Thank you Baldeagle!

I knew about the 503 back when I first starting this blog. In fact, one of the family members who works at Hitzer told me he often used his with wood just to take the edge off a cooler night before the heating season began. My own contractor mentioned I should look into a wood insert, but I simply figured I would leave the fireplace alone. Still, it makes sense, since I have an easy storage area under a protected deck, as well as easy access through sliding doors within 10 feet of my fireplace.

When you mention that you could keep a fire going from Saturday morning into Sunday afternoon, are you talking about a non tended one? From all that I understand about the way the fire burns, within a day's time, it needs to be shaken. Glad to hear that this stove has worked so well for you. It was among my early inquiries when I first came to this forum, and it seems that whatever stove, be it free standing, insert or stoker, any unit is better than relying on oil, propane or electricity.

Since I am re reading all the previous questions and posts on this site, is there a way to control the barometric pressure? I recall that to be an important aspect, though I do not thoroughly understand the concept.

Thanks again for your endorsement!

Jersey John

 
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Jersey John
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Post by Jersey John » Tue. Jan. 27, 2009 12:11 am

Correction...

It seems it's the 983 Insert that allows for part time wood burning, since it does not have the hopper.

Is the hopper removable on the 503? If not, then I am more inclined to the free standing unit with the removal hopper. I prefer not to limit the fireplace area to coal only. The 983 being front loading certainly requires more tending to than a hopper fed unit, and so the 30-95 makes even more sense. Actually, I don't mind relegating one full time stove to coal as long as I can still burn wood in the fireplace, since my boys spend time with their friends in the basement, and continue to enjoy the simple pleasures of an open wood fire....despite the waste of energy associated by burning wood in that manner.

The idea of warmer upstairs floors as a result of a well heated basement is an experience I have not yet enjoyed. When the temps drop into the single digits, the floors are noticeably colder, especially the kitchen which is over the basement with the fireplace. I can just imagine how they may feel in the future with a coal providing affordable warmth


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