Soon to Use Coal Need Advise on Stove and Coal Sources

peter schmidt · Post by **peter schmidt** » Fri. Feb. 20, 2015 6:47 pm

I'm suposed to be tradeing my minivan that me and the wife use for a keystoker gt. Are these good stoves? I currently use a englander pellet stove 25pdvc I think it's called it's to small for my uninsulated house two story about 1100 square feet. Is there a supply of rice coal in or around the cecil county maryland area? If the trade falls through I also found an old mill stoker stove but it might allready be sold. Which of these would be better for a new coal user. If I like the coal stoker I may get a coal furnace to install in the basement in the next couple years. And tips or advise would be appreciated. I'm fed up with never having enough pellets seems like there always sold out. Hopefully I bought my last ton today.

waldo lemieux · Post by **waldo lemieux** » Fri. Feb. 20, 2015 7:22 pm

wAS THIS THE MINIVAN on craigslist? oh the boys are gonna love this

Post by **StokerDon** » Fri. Feb. 20, 2015 7:41 pm

peter schmidt wrote:I'm suposed to be tradeing my minivan that me and the wife use for a keystoker gt. Are these good stoves? I currently use a englander pellet stove 25pdvc I think it's called it's to small for my uninsulated house two story about 1100 square feet. Is there a supply of rice coal in or around the cecil county maryland area? If the trade falls through I also found an old mill stoker stove but it might allready be sold. Which of these would be better for a new coal user. If I like the coal stoker I may get a coal furnace to install in the basement in the next couple years. And tips or advise would be appreciated. I'm fed up with never having enough pellets seems like there always sold out. Hopefully I bought my last ton today.

Welcome to the Forum Peter,

You hit the nail on the head there with those pellets. They seem to be a bit unreliable to get, and you can't store them for a period of years, they go bad. That's one of the nice things about coal, it's already millions of years old, it ain't go'in bad anytime soon.

I am familier with most Keystoker products, but I've never heard of a gt. Keystoker has been around for many decades, they are still in the same place and you can call them any time during buisness hours. You will get and answer to your question when you call, not a runaround. there stoves, furnaces and boilers and solid, well engineered pieces of equipment.

The Old Mill stoker, from what I've seen, is an Old Mill 2 door wood stove with a Tri-Burner stoker stuck in the back. Probobly a good stove, but not in the same price catagory as the Keystoker in my opinion.

Duvall's Lawn & Garden, Inc., Telegraph Road, Rising Sun, MD, I think sells coal, I know they sell Harman stoves and furnaces. If they don't, Ben Reece in Quarryville PA would likely be the next closest. One of our members "Titleist" lives near North East. I beleive he gets his coal from Ben Reece too.

-Don

peter schmidt · Post by **peter schmidt** » Fri. Feb. 20, 2015 8:13 pm

Thanks for the help stokerdon that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I looked up the keystoker gt on their website it's cast iron with a 55 lb hopper and says it puts out 70000 BTU that seems like it will do alot better than my little pellet stove. What kind of storage is everyone using for there coal? Can I build a big storage box and buy in bulk or is it better to buy it allready bagged? Also is it worth it to convert it to the direct vent? I have a block chimney but I'd need to have it checked out as I don't know the condition of it inside or what to even look for to be honest. I know the guy that owned the house before me used it for the pellet stove but it was unhooked and blocked off when I bought the house because he planned on taking the stove with him. Sorry for all the questions like I said I'm very new to this stuff. Thanks again for the help

Doby · Post by **Doby** » Fri. Feb. 20, 2015 8:30 pm

If you can buy good coal bulk its cheaper, don't use direct vent unless necessary its more costly and higher maintenance. Have someone check your chimney and see.

Take pics of the chimney and post them here, inside, outside of house, where its blocked off open it up and use a mirror to look up and tell us what you find

titleist1 · Post by **titleist1** » Fri. Feb. 20, 2015 9:13 pm

Duvalls in Rising Sun has Reading bagged rice for $300 / ton. Reeses in Quarryville has bagged Blaschak rice for $365 / 2400lb pallet. Reeses also sells bulk Blaschak rice for $215 / ton. There is a guy on rt 40 just before Jim Johnsons used cars in Perryville that sells bagged coal but I don't know the price or what size it is.

Unfortunately I am not familiar with that Keystoker model.

For this year getting bagged may be the best way to go even though it is a few more $$. That will give you spring and summer to figure out your coal storage and then get about 4 ton of bulk before next fall. I would think a 1 ton would get you through the cold left this winter and you could fill in the cooler spring days with that ton of pellets you just bought.

Post by **StokerDon** » Fri. Feb. 20, 2015 9:32 pm

I agree with Doby, a masonary chimney is always the best choice. Direct vents and power vents are problomatic to set up correctly and require a lot of maintainance. Not to mention failure from corrosion.

Bagged coal is more expensive than bulk. For bulk, you should build a coal bin. a coal bin is just a strong box with removable slats that allow you to get the coal out as the level goes down. Some poeple starting out just lay out a tarp in the yard and have the bulk coal dumped onto it, then cover it to keep the snow and leaves out. Check out COAL BIN Pics this thread has lots of great ideas about coal storage.

A 70,000 BTU Keystoker should do well in an 1100 sq ft house.

A word of warning about getting your chimney checked out by a professonal; If they try to sell you a stainless steel liner, DON"T BUY IT! Bottom line, unless your masonary chimney is totaly falling apart on the inside, it will work fine. most likely, it just needs to be cleaned, you can do that yourself if you want. The first time I did it I used 2 bricks tied to a rope. This thread has a lot of info on the chimney liner issue, Do I Need a Stainless Steel Liner for My Chimney?.

-Don

titleist1 · Post by **titleist1** » Fri. Feb. 20, 2015 9:36 pm

If you are able to access the top of your chimney then tie a rope to your cell phone in video mode and lower it down slowly to get a view of the inside of your chimney. As SD says it most likely will work for you unless severely damaged and the video would show this.

Doby · Post by **Doby** » Fri. Feb. 20, 2015 10:09 pm

titleist1 wrote:If you are able to access the top of your chimney then tie a rope to your cell phone in video mode and lower it down slowly to get a view of the inside of your chimney. As SD says it most likely will work for you unless severely damaged and the video would show this.

Now thats a good idea, plus it may tell use if it has a tile flue. If you have access to the top of the chimney is there a orange liner sticking out?

Any idea how old the house and chimney is?

Don mentioned 2 bricks on a rope, heck yes, I use a chain and rope on many occasions.

Can anyone tell me if pellets produce creosote???????????? Just a thought because I really have no idea

Post by **StokerDon** » Fri. Feb. 20, 2015 10:33 pm

I don't think pellets can make creosote. The pellet stove burns at a high temp, so it's kind of like fly ash stuff that has to be cleaned out. Not as bad as a wood stove chimney for sure.

-Don

Post by **coaledsweat** » Sat. Feb. 21, 2015 8:05 am

StokerDon wrote:I don't think pellets can make creosote. The pellet stove burns at a high temp, so it's kind of like fly ash stuff that has to be cleaned out. Not as bad as a wood stove chimney for sure.

-Don

They shouldn't but in some cases do. A friend of mine who happens to be a fireman had one hell of a chimney fire because of a malfunction in a circuit board. I guess if not running right they can make a lot of creosote.

peter schmidt · Post by **peter schmidt** » Sat. Feb. 21, 2015 12:40 pm

Got the stove hope it works out good. It was partly disassembled but I got it mostly back together. It's heavy! Looks like it's in good shape beside needing new rope gaskets on the front doors and someone put a peice of metal in place of the glass. Hopefully I can get a replacement. Looks to be in pretty good shape but I may go through a redo all the rope gaskets and give it a new coat of paint. I didn't get a chance to check out the chimney any further because I have to go salt roads but I'll let you guys all know how it looks. Thanks again for the help I'm sure I'll have alot more questions soon

Post by **StokerDon** » Sat. Feb. 21, 2015 12:52 pm

Good Job Peter!

I am curious to see waht this stove looks like, as I said before, I have never heard of a Keystoker gt.

Go get those snowflakes! Currently sowning like crazy here in southern York county. It's a lot of fine snow, building up quickly. I will be one of those people staying off the roads out of your way.

-Don

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Sat. Feb. 21, 2015 1:11 pm

StokerDon wrote:.... as I said before, I have never heard of a Keystoker gt.

I've never heard of it either.

Post by **StokerDon** » Sat. Feb. 21, 2015 1:21 pm

OK, I did a little research and found that the Keystoker Comfortair GT is basicly the usual 3 grate stoker mounted in a nice looking cast iron stove with a large veiwing glass on the door.

Here are a few threads about them;
Rice Vs Buckwheat in a Keystoker GT 7000 Btus
Keystoker GT Coal Feed Adjustment
Keystoker Comfortaire Gt ?

At any rate, the stove is the stove, not much to talk about there except the glass and gaskets. The stoker is the same stoker they put in the Koker and the smaller furnaces, boilers.

For parts, call Keystoker, http://www.keystoker.com/products.php
Great people to deal with. By calling them, you can get an answer to any questions you might have, during buisness hours. After buisness hours, you allways have us.

-Don

-Don