Tips to Use Least Amount of Coal

madesouz · Post by **madesouz** » Sat. Dec. 01, 2012 9:28 pm

Hello. This is my second posting on this website. I am fairly new to coal. Most of the time, the room in which the coal stove is in is at 81F. When I go on vacation, what advice would you give on using the least amount of coal. That is, just have enough heat to not have the house freeze, and also low enough where my hopper doesnt run out of coal for atleast 4 days. I have a Reading Coal stove(model: Allegheny). It has a 120 lb hopper. There are three things which I can manipulate. The blower knob(which operates how much heat is blown out), a spindle at the back (which operates how large the fire is), and an air intake knob (which is usually set on high when lighting the fire, and set to low when fire is burning). Any tips would be highly appreciated. Also, when I am burning coal with a lower width of fire, am I not burning my coal as efficiently?

btrowe1 · Post by **btrowe1** » Sun. Dec. 02, 2012 7:09 pm

Is this your only source of heat in your house? I am going away over Christmas also , Chicago Il, I am shutting down the stove and turning on my gas furnace. I have a 240 pound hopper,but would never leave for an extended period, that would be more than 1 night, and then I would be home very early the next day, a coal stove IMO is something that needs to be tended to, like a wood stove.

Ed.A · Post by **Ed.A** » Sun. Dec. 02, 2012 7:20 pm

I could leave my Channing III and Stoker II for 2 days without worry of running out of fuel but I wouldn't, just because if there was a chance of a CO leak I'd never forgive myself if my Kids ( aka 2 Rotties and a Bengal Cat ) succumbed and I wasn't there to save them.

I've electric heat for those off times when I'm away for more than a day.

Greyhound · Post by **Greyhound** » Sun. Dec. 02, 2012 8:20 pm

Adding my ditto to this. As we will be out of state for a couple of weeks this time, I will allow my oil furnace to take over to keep the relatives warm that are house sitting over Christmas.

Coal is a heat best served warm.

madesouz · Post by **madesouz** » Tue. Dec. 04, 2012 11:21 am

Thank you for the replies. Coal is my single source of heat. I do have little ceramic electric heaters. My only worry is pipe freezes, since I live in Upstate NY. What if I left my Ceramic heaters on low heat? Would this be an electrical hazard? We take all our pets with us, so we wouldnt have to worry about them. We live about 4 hours away from our family, so when we leave, we got for upto 4 days at a time.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Tue. Dec. 04, 2012 12:09 pm

As long as they're not made in china, I think you'll be ok. Most of them are pretty safe. As long as it's not the open-element (like a toaster) type.

KLook · Post by **KLook** » Tue. Dec. 04, 2012 12:17 pm

As long as they're not made in china,

I assume this was tongue in cheek Smitty?

Hahahahah, where are you going to find one not made in China? I
I heated a house last winter with 2 ceramic heaters. Just be sure not to use an extension cord with them. It will get HOT.

Even without an extension cord the cord on the heater will be warm and flexible.

Kevin

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Tue. Dec. 04, 2012 12:21 pm

They;re out there believe it or not. Mine was made in Canada - we use it to heat the bathroom, so we don't freeze to death getting out of the shower. Feels like they insulated everywhere except for behind the sink and cabinets ... which is anything below 3' above the floor ....

Talk about drafty!!

Yeah if you use an extension cord make sure it's less than 50' long and at least 10 gauge wire.

Ed.A · Post by **Ed.A** » Wed. Dec. 05, 2012 8:10 pm

Well seeing as how CO wouldn't create a life/death issue and you're trying to maintain a non-freeze issue then I might be in agreement that it can be done.

1st, I'm assuming you've an older Reading with a Tri-burner with all the reostats your running and not a Coal-trol unit. From my own experience ( which ain;t alot but some) you could prolly maintain enough heat to keep the the pipes from freezing, but with a 120lb hopper I'm thinking you're gonna get around 4 days max. and that's gonna be close...like real close.

I would build a simple plywood hopper extension to increase your capacity a bit to give you the extra you might need just to be sure.

Your Ash pan is going to be Overflowed big time, but not something that will stop your stove from working fine.

Ed.A · Post by **Ed.A** » Wed. Dec. 05, 2012 8:38 pm

Ok sooo, the wifey had to see this thread.

Here is her perspective: Got a neighbor who could just stop by on day two, drop in two bags and dump your pan for you? Maybe a neighbors kid who wants to make a few bucks to help you out?

Kinda makes sense no?

madesouz · Post by **madesouz** » Tue. Dec. 11, 2012 4:22 pm

Ed.A wrote:Ok sooo, the wifey had to see this thread.

Here is her perspective: Got a neighbor who could just stop by on day two, drop in two bags and dump your pan for you? Maybe a neighbors kid who wants to make a few bucks to help you out?

Kinda makes sense no?

Normally we would have done that, but we moved 4.5 hours away from one side of NY to the other. We were broken into a month into moving in, and have since not dealt with our neighbours more than a "hello". We moved to a depressed part of NY(former GM industry location), and hence it is hard to trust people here. My neighbour are decent, but not someone I would trust my house keys with. So far, the electric space heaters seem like the most decent option.

Post by **Lightning** » Tue. Dec. 11, 2012 5:10 pm

madesouz wrote:We were broken into a month into moving in, and have since not dealt with our neighbours more than a "hello". We moved to a depressed part of NY(former GM industry location), and hence it is hard to trust people here.

You might consider having lights on a timer or something so it looks occupied while you are gone too

madesouz · Post by **madesouz** » Tue. Dec. 11, 2012 7:19 pm

Lightning wrote:
madesouz wrote:We were broken into a month into moving in, and have since not dealt with our neighbours more than a "hello". We moved to a depressed part of NY(former GM industry location), and hence it is hard to trust people here.
You might consider having lights on a timer or something so it looks occupied while you are gone too

Oh yeah, I have timers all over the house, cameras, and various other security gadgets. I spent a few years in Mumbai, India, so I pimped up my security to match that scale of crime rate. Sadly though, one cant set traps in the house in the States(due to lawsuits), or else I would have set up booby traps too.

Ed.A · Post by **Ed.A** » Thu. Dec. 13, 2012 7:51 am

madesouz wrote: So far, the electric space heaters seem like the most decent option.

Those things scare me, not mention the cost factor. Just make sure you Insurance is up to date.

madesouz · Post by **madesouz** » Thu. Dec. 13, 2012 10:30 am

Ed.A wrote:
madesouz wrote: So far, the electric space heaters seem like the most decent option.
Those things scare me, not mention the cost factor. Just make sure you Insurance is up to date.

This is the Space heater I plan on using ----> http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lasko-Electric-Ceramic- ... 8/17038556

I plan on setting it to the low setting, so that it uses 750 w instead of the 1500 w, but not sure if this heat will be sufficient.