Saving Fuel in a Coal Stoker w/ Rheostat on Direct Vent

I asked this a while back but never got a response. I guess it wasn't cold enough out for anyone to be thinking abot their stoves. I was told by an engineer that the direct vent on a Alaska Channing stove pulls way to much exhaust out of the stove which causes more fuel to be burned. They suggested a rheostat on the exhaust motor to fix the problem. I was told that the draft should also be set, by a pro, for .002 to .05 . I'm very curious if anyone has modifiend their stoves like this. I called Alaska and obviously they suggested against it. But they have to be conservative and they aren't going to tell you to modify their equipment. Obviously there would be warranty issues but I don't care about that and I have a C02 detector so I'm covered there. Thanks in advance

There has been mention of putting a reostat on the vent motor on some other threads I've been following.

My concern would be that if you got the draft too low, that you could end up with Carbon Monoxide getting out of the stove and into the house.

I had a friend who ran his generator in his garage during power outages, well, during one really nasty winter storm he decided to lower the garage door down to about a 6" opening, he blocked it open that way. He and hs family died from the CO. Pretty tragic.

So with that in mind, if you can purchase or borrow a draft meter, and figure out how low you can safely run the vent motor, then I'd give it a try. But without making sure the stove is safe, it's not worth it.

Greg L

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Our power vent kits are made to run on rheostats. Our kits come complete with barometric damper, 4/6 stainless reducer, wmo-1 safety switch and the SWG -4HDs. We also have a DVD with complete instructions on how to operate it and maintainance. We DO NOT suggest that you take it on your own to change or modify any part of the system, and I'm sure Alaska feels the same way. If you called Alaska and they said its preset, thats it. Greg is completely right. CO can make you sick or cause death. I would do as the company states.

Traderfjp, If you have Alaska's direct vent Not the SWG then you may find with the venter housing, wheel and pipe clean you may only be getting .03 draft at the hole in the upper left corner of the stove.
As the venter wheel and pipe fill with fly ash the draft will be reduced.
I think that Alaska owners manual has you cleaning the vent system once a month.
I'd look at it this way, you're already saving money using coal. You don't want to be breathing in the toxic fumes burning coal produces.

Stay safe then save money....

I was just curious but I hear what you're saying. Honestly, the exhaust doesn't seem to be pouring out the direct vent so maybe the newer stoves are set for maximum burn rates to save fuel.