Coalpail.com Forum

I apologize for any basic questions as I am new to the coal burning way of life. I own a 3800sqft home that is currently heated by electric forced hot air . The house has great windows and excellent insulation as it is newer construction however the constant lack of warmth,the high electric bills and crippling affect of losing power have left me looking for a new heat source. With an abundance of duct work and a portion of unfinished basement I am planning on placing the source down in the basement and ducting it through the house. Whatever we choose will be direct vented and located within 5 feet of the return duct and 5 feet from the current electric hot water heater(50g)

My plan: is to purchase a LL Hyfire II or the AK 110 furnace both seem capable of what I am looking to do. The main purpose is to get warm air to the 1st and 2nd floor through the ductwork and maybe heat the location that it is with the radiant heat. After reading this forum I have added to my wish list but these are not deal breakers. I would like to add a domestic hot water coil since I should have plenty of heat and knowing that I may need to lose more hot water I was considering running radiant heat under the kitchen floor 600sqft. The kitchen floor is directly above where the stove and access for running the tubing will be fairly simple. If there is anyway I could make the system more efficient with my set up please let me know.

So my question is: What will better serve my needs the Hyfire II or the AK 110?
Thank you for all the information that I have learned so far from this site, seems like a great group of people!

dmo wrote:I apologize for any basic questions as I am new to the coal burning way of life. I own a 3800sqft home that is currently heated by electric forced hot air . The house has great windows and excellent insulation as it is newer construction however the constant lack of warmth,the high electric bills and crippling affect of losing power have left me looking for a new heat source. With an abundance of duct work and a portion of unfinished basement I am planning on placing the source down in the basement and ducting it through the house. Whatever we choose will be direct vented and located within 5 feet of the return duct and 5 feet from the current electric hot water heater(50g)

My plan: is to purchase a LL Hyfire II or the AK 110 furnace both seem capable of what I am looking to do. The main purpose is to get warm air to the 1st and 2nd floor through the ductwork and maybe heat the location that it is with the radiant heat. After reading this forum I have added to my wish list but these are not deal breakers. I would like to add a domestic hot water coil since I should have plenty of heat and knowing that I may need to lose more hot water I was considering running radiant heat under the kitchen floor 600sqft. The kitchen floor is directly above where the stove and access for running the tubing will be fairly simple. If there is anyway I could make the system more efficient with my set up please let me know.

So my question is: What will better serve my needs the Hyfire II or the AK 110?
Thank you for all the information that I have learned so far from this site, seems like a great group of people!

If you are wanting to heat water for radiant heat and a domestic coil. A boiler with a water to air exchanger in your existing duct work is a much better option. A domestic coil in a stove makes a poor boiler. Just my 2c . If you just want to heat your home for a reasonable price any of the 3 would do. I am sure you will get a lot of info here.
Dave

my 2c.... after discovering the attractive pricing of the AK series furnace and given your question.... I would be ALL OVER that AK110 before Dave raises the pricing!
Dont even think about running radiant H/W link to under kitchen floor (EVERY PERSON ive seen do this even with an oil boiler says it sucks, they pack insulation under the fins, they try to make it work better to no avail and they opt for those dumb ass kickplate heaters as their only option to resolve the issue)... if this area is near over the AK's position in the basement just make sure its an uninsulated floor and your not going to need this radiant loop anyways! just my 2 cents...

Welcome to coalpail.com.

How many people live in the home? Domestic hot water production from coal is great for a home with kids, or 3-4 adults, but for just 1-2 people it may not be worth the trouble. It depends on how much water you use and how your coal for coal compares to electric.

If you want to heat the entire house, the AK110 seems like a good choice...or use a boiler and heat exchanger like Dave mentioned.

Will you be doing the installation yourself?

Welcome aboard partner!! I'm curious, are those models hand feds or stokers?

I agree that a hot water coil in a warm air furnace won't do much for floor radiant heat. They are however excellent for preheating domestic hot water.

dmo wrote:........................... and crippling affect of losing power have left me looking for a new heat source. ............................

Welcome to the forum.

Ummmmmmmm, you are going to have a problem here as both of those units need electric to operate.

If you are looking for something to work WITHOUT electricity, you will need a hand fired stove with a dedicated "chimley."

Rick

I need that air transport that electricity provides so AnthraKing Ak110 and 1400W generator (Champion - $129 TSC Black Friday special) that uses about 1.5 galls a day dedicated to the stove. Stove runs perfectly on it as the stove/powervent uses 400W. Fancier backup generator systems just take up too much juice (whatever they run on) and I always have that much gas on hand so I can run for weeks. The empty generator always just sits besides the stove. The advantages of the stokers are just too much for me to give up once a day tending convenience (even at 0F). That's my 0.02c worth.

x2 that reasonable backup options are available for powering stokers, esp. relative to electric heat.

And I agree with Flyer5/Dave that it might be reasonable to consider boiler options that would better be able to handle radiant heat and DHW loads.

Mike

Welcome!

I have radiators, and when my oil bills were killing me I initially thought pellet stove, which lead me to coal stoves, which lead me to Leisure Line and it's been down hill ever since........

I kid, I kid........

Great company with excellent customer service.

I ended up buying a boiler and tying it into my existing system, and I've never regretted it. It was somewhat more expensive than a stove, but you just can't beat hydronic heating for comfort.

My vote, fwiw, would be to get the AK110 and tie it into the ductwork.

The Anthraking would be much more effective and efficient.

Like others have said, a boiler would be the best choice. I can tell you from experience that if you were to ever decide to sell, a boiler has a much higher resale value. The return on your investment (ROI) would be much greater.

but you just can't beat hydronic heating for comfort.

... and you can't beat baseboard heating for recirculating dirty air and I don't run like in floor. Whole house HEPA filtration is the key to good health and that is easily implemented with the AnthraKing. But that is another war for another thread.

a boiler has a much higher resale value

Not in my book and the infrastructure you put in is not recoverable if the purchaser does not want coal.

coalnewbie wrote:

a boiler has a much higher resale value

Not in my book and the infrastructure you put in is not recoverable if the purchaser does not want coal.

It's hard for me to understand why a buyer wouldn't see a coal appliance as a bonus after seeing the savings.

Lightning wrote:[Not in my book and the infrastructure you put in is not recoverable if the purchaser does not want coal.

It's hard for me to understand why a buyer wouldn't see a coal appliance as a bonus after seeing the savings.[/quote]

It's much more work, and it's much dirtier.

Reletively speaking, of course.

coalnewbie wrote:

but you just can't beat hydronic heating for comfort.

... and you can't beat baseboard heating for recirculating dirty air and I don't run like in floor. Whole house HEPA filtration is the key to good health and that is easily implemented with the AnthraKing. But that is another war for another thread.

Radiation > air circulation.