Power Venting Coal Stoves

I am getting ready to install an Alaska Stoker in my house. I do not have a chimney and plan to use a power vent. I have a few concerns with the set-up.

1.) Is the power vent a reliable set-up to vent combustion gases from my stove.

2.) Will I burn more coal using the power vent set-up as opposed to a regular chimney vented stove

3.) My neighbors house is 15-20 feet away, will he be bothered by the fumes from the vent?

Any input is appreciated

Thanks
Eric

beaverman wrote:
3.) My neighbors house is 15-20 feet away, will he be bothered by the fumes from the vent?

I can't answer the others, but anthracite can produce a sulfury smelling exhaust. That may be a concern. I know they make a stanless steel pipe that can be ran to roof level, you may want to consider that.

This is the first time I have that regarding anthracite -- I have heard the sulfur smell comes only with other types of coal. Is it noticable with anthracite too?

I installed my stoker with a power vent last week. It has a faint sulfur smell if you stand right next to the vent. You get a few feet away and you cannot smell the fumes.

Hi, We are installing a power vent on our Alaska Kast Konsole II in a couple of days. I have read that you already installed yours, was it easy? We are going through a masonry wall and have read all the clearance specifications. Now we just need to drill the hole in the right place and install it. I don't quiet understand why the power vent is 6" then drops down to 4" then back to 6" through the wall, must be draft reason I assume.
Thank you

Installing the power vent was rather easy, I went through an existing basement window. The vent works by ejecting comustion gases while drawing air back through the double walled pipe to keep it cool.

I will give you one piece of advice that the dealer did not tell me. I called Alaska company and they helped me with it. You need to have a rheostat switch to control the power venter, The company told me to set the barometric damper at .03, and then adjust the rheostat switch until you could just fit the tip of you finger between the damer and the stove pipe. I used the rheostat from my blower to control the power venter. I need to get another rheostat for my blower, but the company tells me they retail for $56.00. I am trying to track down a rheostat for less $. I think I found one at a local electric supply house.

beaverman, Is this what your looking for? http://www.electricmotorwarehouse.com/kbwc.htm

thanks for the link, that is exactly what I am looking for!!!

beaverman,
What power vent did you install? I'm trying to decide between using a tjernlund sideshot or a field controls swg. I have an Alaska Kast Console II.

Thanks.

I installed the field controls SWG. I was not given the option of the other brand at the dealer.

I also installed the SWG power vent from Alaska Co. Bloomsburg, PA. It was rather easy to install, hardest part was finding a 6" bit to cut the hole through the foundation. We have an older Kast Konsole II with the bottom vent. The people at Alaska Co. are very friendly and helpful, our stove is working perfectly, at first I thought it was wasting to much coal but after it got going and heated up the basement walls and floor it is very comfortable. You have to get the Barometic Damper the correct opening, ours is almost closed except for a fingertip opening, as The Alaska Co. told us to set it. We have very little unburnt coal now and we are running the stove on setting #3. We have never used coal before and are very happy with it so far. Our power vent has very little odor, unless you stand right next to it. It has been very windy the last couple of days and no problems with the power vent.

I am still trying to get my barometric damper set correctly. About how wide should the gap be when the damper is open?

Also it seems like I have a lot of unburned coal in my ash bin. I am burning on setting three and go through almost two five gallon buckets of coal per day, this seems like alot of coal, but I figure it should be about 1 ton/month. Maybe my the coal I have is low quality? I am going to try a different supplier this week.

Does anyone have a cut sheet with installation instructions that the could give me?

beaverman, Which rheostat did you purchase. We installed a SWG power vent also. We need to control the power vent because ALOT of heat is being sucked out the exhaust. We would like to have a plug in rheostat to keep everything wired the same. I read that you used your stove rheostat for the power vent and bought a new one for the stove. Are all the rheostats that they sell (http://www.electricmotorwarehouse.com/kbwc.htm) hard wired? Thank you

I purchased my alaska stove used about five years ago. The following year the rheostat that controls the slide feed stoped working. I replaced it with a switch that is made for dimming lights at a cost of $9.95. Not the $54.00 that alaska wants for one. Still using the same one and works fine. As far as a power vent goes, I had on on my stove and the fumes killed my wifes plants out front. Then I installed a chimney. I think there is a lot of heat lost because of the power vent. Good Luck.