Picking a stove or furnace.

 
Adrian H
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Post by Adrian H » Fri. Mar. 02, 2018 10:30 pm

I have a 2000 square foot 2 story house with an unfinished basement. I have a heat pump with ductwork. Looking hard at the Keystoker Koker or Koker lite. The stove will be placed in the basement. The house was built in 2006, so it is fairly well insulated. Any ideas for picking between the two? Any help is appreciated.


 
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McGiever
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Post by McGiever » Fri. Mar. 02, 2018 11:29 pm

With either it is best to insulate any bare exposed walls...massive heat sink that would suck up a large percentage of the affordable heat produced.

 
Pacowy
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Post by Pacowy » Fri. Mar. 02, 2018 11:40 pm

If the basement is not going to be used as living space, you also could consider going to a true furnace that would put more of the heat into the ductwork.

Mike

 
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coalkirk
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Post by coalkirk » Sat. Mar. 03, 2018 8:15 am

I say neither. Buy a boiler, put a heat exchanger in the ductwork, get an indirect water heater and never look back.

 
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StokerDon
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Post by StokerDon » Sat. Mar. 03, 2018 10:10 am

Adrian H wrote:
Fri. Mar. 02, 2018 10:30 pm
Looking hard at the Keystoker Koker or Koker lite. The stove will be placed in the basement.
Welcome Adrian.

I also say neither. Even though the Kokers are pretty big, and are capable of heating your house, they are still just a stove and don't do a great job of sending heat to where it needs to go. If you are going with a Keystoker and your plan is to tie it into your duct work, get a real hot air furnace, not a stove. This will do a much better job of putting the heat into the house and you can control the amount of heat going into the basement.

-Don

 
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windyhill4.2
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Sat. Mar. 03, 2018 10:19 am

Get a boiler,install a water to air heat exchanger in the duct & make hot water for your domestic water too, with either a coil in the boiler or a water to water plate heat exchanger. You will never regret this decision. :)

 
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StokerDon
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Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sat. Mar. 03, 2018 10:29 am

Although I whole heartedly agree with the boiler suggestions, it's not always practical for everyone.

That being said, here is a used Keystoker hot air furnace for cheap.
https://reading.craigslist.org/hvo/d/coal-furnace ... 23359.html

-Don


 
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Post by Pacowy » Sat. Mar. 03, 2018 11:02 am

If you go with a used unit like that out of a basement please look carefully for holes in the combustion chamber and/or heat exchanger. They have a very rough life in a furnace, and the last thing you want is combustion gases getting into your air distribution. The good news is the stoker is very durable and easy to service, and the Keystoker phone line historically has been a very helpful resource.

I don't disagree with most of the boiler suggestions, but they likely entail a fair amount more work and $. If you do a boiler I would suggest you consider a simple coil rather than an indirect for DHW unless you have large "surge" DHW needs or get a small boiler that can't keep up in real time.

Mike

 
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Post by xmanjeff » Sat. Mar. 03, 2018 12:24 pm

i have seen the koker and koker lite , I think that it would do everything you would want it to do , I have the 90 stove hooked up to a duct but wish I would have went to one of the kokers for more capacity, I have a hot water coil and don't know what I would do without it , I also looked ahead like you are and I feed mine from outside with a 2 inch pvc pipe and small box hopper mounted on back of house with stove near backside basement wall , so no coal gets carried into house , all coal goes thru the pvc pipe , that is the best part of my whole system , I would strongly consider this if it you can . if you have any question , please feel free to pm me , but now is the time to start planning you project

 
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windyhill4.2
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Sat. Mar. 03, 2018 1:00 pm

If you do decide to go with a Koker.... don't get the Lite...

 
Adrian H
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Post by Adrian H » Mon. Mar. 05, 2018 7:38 pm

Thanks for all your ideas. So it seems the best options, starting at the highest initial cost and most efficiency is: 1. Boiler. 2. Furnace and 3. Stove. Like all things in life, I have a set amount of money to get what I need accomplished. So more than likely I am going to go with the koker and insulate the basement the best I can. Thank you for all the ideas and I look forward to picking up more tips and ideas from everyone.

 
Frank F
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Post by Frank F » Sat. Apr. 07, 2018 8:56 pm

windyhill4.2 wrote:
Sat. Mar. 03, 2018 10:19 am
Get a boiler,install a water to air heat exchanger in the duct & make hot water for your domestic water too, with either a coil in the boiler or a water to water plate heat exchanger. You will never regret this decision. :)
Ive been thinking of putting in the smaller leisure line coal boiler and a water to air heat exchanger in my current ductwork. I've been told not to waist my time and just buy a furnace and duct it in the existing duct. I was told it is not efficient.

Can you point me in the right direction of what heat exchanger should be used. We have a 2400 SQ ft home. I would also like to add another zone feeding the garage if possible. How far can furnace be away from the ductwork?... Sorry but I'm new to coal boilers and I'd like to venture in that direction.

 
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McGiever
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Warm Morning 414A
Coal Size/Type: PEA,NUT,STOVE /ANTHRACITE
Other Heating: Ground Source Heat Pump and some Solar

Post by McGiever » Sun. Apr. 08, 2018 12:12 am

Welcome new member *FrankF* :)

You should start a new thread as you have already made your decision..

h2o_air HX coil must be sized to do the job on the coldest day possible for your location. This is your home heat loss.

figure 180*F water temp and whatever your fan speed does and match which size coil delivers that total.
brazetek-water-to-air-heat-exchanger-specs.pdf
.PDF | 367.7KB | brazetek-water-to-air-heat-exchanger-specs.pdf
Last edited by McGiever on Sun. Apr. 08, 2018 10:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

 
coalnewbie
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Post by coalnewbie » Sun. Apr. 08, 2018 7:48 am

Coal burning is like a chameleon as often there are more than one way of doing things. My take, insulate the basement and Koker (not lite) or an AK 110 (my choice). Definitely much cheaper than unneeded hydronics here. It does not mean the other guys are wrong, is just my take on color. You worry about budget, then don't buy a Rolls Royce. Also your location is important, we need to know that one. Also I am a coal nut at heart but heat pumps have come a long way in 15 years.

 
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StokerDon
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Sun. Apr. 08, 2018 9:25 am

By the way, that Keystoker furnace that was $500 is now down to $100. It's 3'x5'x5' I don't know what model it is but you could get the seller to give you the serial number. Then you could call Keystoker and they could tell you everything you need to know about it.
https://reading.craigslist.org/hsh/d/coal-furnace ... 23359.html

-Don


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