Hitzer Stove Company

To burn wood in the 30-95, lift the hopper out, turn it arround and put it back in the stove. The hopper is canted toward the front for normal use with coal. By putting the hopper in backwards, the bottom of the hopper just touches the back of the stove. Flue gasses have to pass arround the hopper at flue exit. Without the hopper in at all, the flame and heat go right up the chimney. When the hopper is in backwards there is room to get medium size chunks of wood past it without a problem. If I were going to burn wood a lot, I would build a baffel and suspend it from the same ridge the hopper hangs from. That would allow the feeding of even larger chunks of wood into the firebox.

Thanks for the idea. I am leaning towards the 50-93, even if it is not capable of burning wood except for a starter file, since I still have the fireplace when I want to enjoy a live crackling fire. In fact, earlier this evening I noticed quite a lot of heat coming from it, enough to raise the thermostat in the back basement room to a little over 50 degrees. Hell, I know that is nothing to brag about, but without any assistance, it barely goes above 40.

The location I want to place the coal stove is in another room, directly across from the basement wall that was opened a year ago. No more than 8 feet away is a stairway that goes up to a small washroom and then into either the bathroom or the living room. Just by opening the door from the living room to this area, I have created a wonderful convection current that spreads the wood heat throughout the main floor....but not into my boy's room.

I know from reading, that many of you have less insulated, older homes....but not too many as fragmented as mine. That has been the biggest challenge...how to get heat into all the rooms.I figure with a basement coal stove heating the floors, I can open a register and get even more heat flowing to farther reaches than the wood stove is capable of.

I have enjoyed much more heat from the Regency than I ever did with pellets, but still sit with cold fingers on the other side where there is no heat, and wonder if I should simply turn on the electric baseboard, as my sons seem so easily to do. Are all rooms warm when you burn with coal? Surely the closest ones to the heater are the wamest.

BTW..GOOD NEWS! Hitzer is ready to ship out stoves. They are no longer back ordered....and in fact, offer a better price direct, than I can arrange if I drive 100 miles to go and fetch one somewhere in Pa.

Seems we're in for a good storm in the next 10 hours.....sure wish I had an endless supply of heat pouring through the halls of my home.....be thankful that you do!

Jersey John -- Sorry, haven't looked at this thread for a while, You asked about the 30+ hrs. burn, Yes, that is with
no tending. The 354 we have is at the farm and we will leave for there Sat. after coffee/shaking and return home Sunday for dinner.
Pea coal seems to do slightly better than nut for long periods - but it doesn't really matter. You will shake a lot on Sunday but fire restarts w/o problems. I set the air at about a 1/4 "moon" on the slots; that is for our stove, got there by trial and "Error". No barometric damper because this was inserted in a large existing fireplace. I have no manual damper on our 503
but I understand they now supply one and people on the site report better heat. baldeagle

Baldeagle ~

That's quite impressive! I have gathered from reading the various threads, that everyone tends at least once a day if not once in the morning and then once at night. I do understand from watching the YouTube videos that not to over shake but rather leave it alone to burn. I'm not familiar with the unit you own, but suspect that it is a front loading model.

Wondering then if the hopper fed unit is also good without tending for that amount of time. Since the 50-93 can handle more coal, if 40+ hours is even close without tending, then I probably could skip out of town on a Friday night and maybe come back to enough coals to shake and get started again on Sunday.

Anyway, THANKS for adding your comments. I was hoping to find a coal stove dealer this weekend that I could see a few of the models side by side. Otherwise, Hitzer will sell direct and ship out to a terminal when I'm ready.

Jersey John -- The H 503 has the EZ Flo gravity hopper, as you also understand, at that low a burn (30+ hrs.) the heat
thrown off is quite a bit lower on a per hour basis ... my idea has been to avoid the cleanout. We are still on the same match that we used to start up in October >>> last year made it to March. baldeagle

The 40+ hour burn is very optimistic I would think from any hand-fired, you aren't gonna have much heat if you do that. All your doing is just having the stove run to run, and not actually heat anything.

Yes, that may be the case....but if indeed I don't have to start it up again from scratch, running in an idle mode is fine. The fact is, it's an unheated basement unless I start a wood fire now, and so just knowing that it's on and ready to fire up is better than nothing. On the other hand, I could have a neighbor drop in once a night to shake and fire it up higher, so that I could maintain a little heat. In my case, it will be a labor of love...trial and error....and the reason I have continued to stall on the purchase, is that I do enjoy my wood stoves...only this season one of them is simply not up to the task, not to mention, I had to buy wood because I didn't have time to split it..

Who knows, I may just go for a stoker by the time I'm ready to purchase....or get my feet wet with the larger Hitzer...and if it doesn't meet my needs, then look into the stoker. In either case, I sure would enjoy some heat in my basement on these single digit nights.

Been a long time...and it's good to be back!

Long story since my last post, but suffice it to say, I purchased an efficient wood stove for the main floor, moved the Vermont Castings Defiant Encore out of the masonry fireplace and then opened a large door between two separate basements that each were unheated. I've managed to only need to fire up the VC on only the coldest of days to try to balance the inability of the one Regency to keep a warm temp in my upstairs rooms.

Now however, I have a need to have those basements heated...having just had a new porcelain plank floor installed in my living room, it will be freezing underfoot if I don't add some heat below. Though I have the Defiant available to burn, I don't really have enough wood or the patience of running down to refuel it every 6-7 hours. Don't mind feeding the Regency in the LR, but feel I need a longer, hotter and consistent burn from below.

So...my first choice is the Hitzer 50-93..but will read up on all that I've missed the last several years. I just had an opportunity to visit a local showroom that has the Hitzer line, Alaska, DS and Keystoker. All of them would certainly fit the bill, but I feel a sense of loyalty to all the time I spent researching the Hitzer and certainly all your positive comments.

My early posts indicated I was often out of town every other weekend,and sometimes I still am...same gf, lives in SJ..but we're both retired and spend most of the time in North Jersey..Besides my sons are old enough to tend to the fire when I'm away... and if the fire goes out, I'll simply start it again..

I do have a question regarding the blower...is it really necessary? I'd rather take the $250 option and put it into powered registers, grates and other fans to help create a convection current and spread the heat. I'll plan on catching up reading all the relevant posts that are out there since I originally posted this thread...and hope some of my former responders also put in their two cents.....Thanks again!

I truly appreciate the friendly supportive comments everyone shares...Wishing all a toasty winter season!

Same back at ya JJ

Guess I should have read further into other's posts...as there seems to be a past discussion on the pros and cons of blowers. So, no need to comment any further on this thread. Real glad to see how many Hitzer owners there are, and their passion for the stove. In addition to reading posts, I've been watching Youtube videos on Hitzer and DS..and really look forward to that soul warming heat...Have a great weekend!