Coal Consumption With Alaskan Stoker Stove Channing 3
I have a Channing 3 with a top vent into a brick chimmney, I have a baro on the vent pipe and I'm attempting to heat a 1200 sq ft above ground basement/ garage. with a 2 story home on top of it. I'm burning roughly 8 ton of rice coal over a winter on the #5 setting and only generating temps of 70 degrees in the basement. A friend of mine is running a older alsakan kast stove and he's burning about 3 ton over winter and it heats him out ofthe house. Our homes are roughly the same size and I have recently insulated with R13. Any suggestions as to how to get more for less I've had it for 2 years now and can't figure it out, is all my heat going up the chimmney?
- Adamiscold
- Member
- Posts: 1116
- Joined: Fri. Feb. 29, 2008 7:09 am
- Location: Winchendon,Ma
Only way to tell that is to check your baro with a manometer.is all my heat going up the chimney?
Is the house 1200sq plus the garage and basement? I would think that some insulation is going to help, I would seal up as much as you can to make the basement and garage as tight as possible. Do you have any air ducts moving the hot air upstairs with some returns moving cold air back to the basement? That would help you to get much more heat to the house.
- jpen1
- Member
- Posts: 614
- Joined: Sat. Nov. 04, 2006 4:46 pm
- Location: Bloomsburg, PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: LL110
- Coal Size/Type: Rice/ Buck
First of all the top vent alaska's are much less efficient than the bottom vent ones. Secondly is the "brick" as they refer to in the manual in the right position? What are your stack temps like? Also it could be that you have been getting poor quality coal in comparison to your friends.
My home was in flood stage area and we raised it 9ft so the entire garage is above ground and the walls are not yet insulated. the foot print of the home is 1200 sq ft now it is 3 stories above ground, (basement/garage, first floor and the second floor). the first floor was redone last year after the flooding and the out side walls were all insulated with min R13 mostly R19. I will get my hands on a manometer and check my stack temps for later discussion.
The "brick is closed for cold days I only open it at the end of the season when the days are warmer. The Coal was how I came to find out we were using so much My coal dealer bumped their price to $200. a ton min 2 ton for delivery, and we contacted my friends dealer whos is priced at about $177. The dealer told us that we are using a large amt of coal for a season he offered to come out and look over our set up and look for issues but I've been reading comments here for awhile and have seen a lot of knowledge, so I thought I would pick your brains. does 8 ton seem like alot?
The "brick is closed for cold days I only open it at the end of the season when the days are warmer. The Coal was how I came to find out we were using so much My coal dealer bumped their price to $200. a ton min 2 ton for delivery, and we contacted my friends dealer whos is priced at about $177. The dealer told us that we are using a large amt of coal for a season he offered to come out and look over our set up and look for issues but I've been reading comments here for awhile and have seen a lot of knowledge, so I thought I would pick your brains. does 8 ton seem like alot?
If the footprint is 1200sqft and it is 3 stories high you now have a 3600sqft area you are trying to heat. I think that 8 tons of coal is about right for heating a 3600sqft home. Those uninsulated basement walls will rob you of a lot of heat.Emmit wrote:My home was in flood stage area and we raised it 9ft so the entire garage is above ground and the walls are not yet insulated. the foot print of the home is 1200 sq ft now it is 3 stories above ground, (basement/garage,
- Ed.A
- Member
- Posts: 1635
- Joined: Thu. Aug. 30, 2007 7:27 pm
- Location: Canterbury Ct.
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Channing III/ '94 Stoker II
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
3600 SQFT
Good catch Gambler, I was scratching my head at 1200 sq feet = 8tons.
I heat a bit over 1700 and burn 2-1/2 per year....with a Top Vent Channing III.
Good catch Gambler, I was scratching my head at 1200 sq feet = 8tons.
I heat a bit over 1700 and burn 2-1/2 per year....with a Top Vent Channing III.
- LsFarm
- Member
- Posts: 7383
- Joined: Sun. Nov. 20, 2005 8:02 pm
- Location: Michigan
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 260
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Self-built 'Big Bertha' SS Boiler
- Baseburners & Antiques: Keystone 11, Art Garland
Using the basement as a hot air plenum and hoping that this heat will warm the house above is what you are descrbing..
Is your friend with the coal stove heating a basement?? or more likely, is the stove in the living room or family room,, and the basement is not heated??
INSULATE, insulate.. the walls and the joist ends and sill areas..
Then read the many 'how do I didtribute my heat' threads and topics in the 'venting, chimneys, ducting' forum on this site.. You need to hook up a cold air return duct,, just a 6" dryer vent from the upstairs to the distrbution fan inlet of your Channing.. you are trying to heat the coldest air in the house.. the basement floor air..
Or, move the stove upstairs to the living spaces,, then you will have more heat than you can use..
8 tons is a lot, even for a 3600 sq ft house... you are heating the ground around your house..
Greg L
.
Is your friend with the coal stove heating a basement?? or more likely, is the stove in the living room or family room,, and the basement is not heated??
INSULATE, insulate.. the walls and the joist ends and sill areas..
Then read the many 'how do I didtribute my heat' threads and topics in the 'venting, chimneys, ducting' forum on this site.. You need to hook up a cold air return duct,, just a 6" dryer vent from the upstairs to the distrbution fan inlet of your Channing.. you are trying to heat the coldest air in the house.. the basement floor air..
Or, move the stove upstairs to the living spaces,, then you will have more heat than you can use..
8 tons is a lot, even for a 3600 sq ft house... you are heating the ground around your house..
Greg L
.
- LsFarm
- Member
- Posts: 7383
- Joined: Sun. Nov. 20, 2005 8:02 pm
- Location: Michigan
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 260
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Self-built 'Big Bertha' SS Boiler
- Baseburners & Antiques: Keystone 11, Art Garland
When you have time, report back with your improvements, and the results.. this will help all the forum members and future readers..
Greg L
Greg L
My friend is in fact heating his entire home from the basement by leaving the door open and he says his furnace only comes on when his sun room addtion cals for heat otherwise it's off.LsFarm wrote:Using the basement as a hot air plenum and hoping that this heat will warm the house above is what you are descrbing..
Is your friend with the coal stove heating a basement?? or more likely, is the stove in the living room or family room,, and the basement is not heated??
Greg L
.
My fear was that the exposed concrete block walls were stealing my heat I have investigated blanket insulation, produced locally at Certinteed, for use in the basement. I will gladly update you with my improvements. I'm new to forum usage so as soon as I figure out Pics I'll post some.
- Freddy
- Member
- Posts: 7301
- Joined: Fri. Apr. 11, 2008 2:54 pm
- Location: Orrington, Maine
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 130 (pea)
- Coal Size/Type: Pea size, Superior, deep mined
The lower walls are uninsulated cement block? When you said it was built up I pictured wooden walls. At least wood you'd have R-1. Cement is R-0. If memory serves me, it takes almost 50 feet of concrete to get R-1. So, yes, you are losing huge amounts or heet out the garage walls. One idea: They make 2" pink styrofoam with dado edges for firring strips. Lay it on the wall, nail though strapping, then coat with sheetrock, plywood, whatever, secured to the firring strips. Or build a 2 by 4 or 2 by 6 fake wall and put the fiberglass to it. One way or another those walls could use some attention. Good luck with the project & keep us informed of how it all works out.
- LsFarm
- Member
- Posts: 7383
- Joined: Sun. Nov. 20, 2005 8:02 pm
- Location: Michigan
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 260
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Self-built 'Big Bertha' SS Boiler
- Baseburners & Antiques: Keystone 11, Art Garland
You can also get creative and make a bonnet or plenum top for your stove, collecting the heat and ducting it to the upstairs.. install the very important cold air return duct to the stove's distribution fan inlet.. have this cold air return duct originate from a far corner of the upstairs.. This way it will pull the heated air to it, heating the house and rooms on the way,, once it reaches the return duct it will be cool and return to the stove for reheating.. this is as close as you can get to making your stove into a furnace..
Your basement will still benefit from the radiant heat off the exposed stove body that is not under the bonnet or plenum..
Look at the bonnet for the Hyfire II stoves on this site: http://www.LeisureLineStoves.com
Greg L
Your basement will still benefit from the radiant heat off the exposed stove body that is not under the bonnet or plenum..
Look at the bonnet for the Hyfire II stoves on this site: http://www.LeisureLineStoves.com
Greg L
- Ed.A
- Member
- Posts: 1635
- Joined: Thu. Aug. 30, 2007 7:27 pm
- Location: Canterbury Ct.
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Channing III/ '94 Stoker II
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
Great advice Freddy and LS, I finished basement with a plastic sheathing to prevent moisture and then built a 2" thick fake wall and used R-19 Blue Styrofoam to insulate the entire space. You basically can't tell it's a basement, in fact the subfloor I put down helps insulate as well along with the laminate floor on top and carpet in the other space, toasty warm top and bottom with the Channing III, and yes I turned my Electric baseboards off last season and they haven't been employed since.
I'm planning on insulating with foam board insulation I have found R13 in the 2 inch products however I can't seem to find R19 in 2 inch. Could you forward the product info from your walls Ed I would apprieciate it. On the DOW web page the only blue board with R19 rating is the 3 inch or am I not understanding?
- Ed.A
- Member
- Posts: 1635
- Joined: Thu. Aug. 30, 2007 7:27 pm
- Location: Canterbury Ct.
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Channing III/ '94 Stoker II
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
Ahhh, you are correct sir. It's been 20 years since I put it up, it is R13, my bad. With the vapor barrier and sheetrock you'll achieve a slightly better R value I'm told. Another thing I think is different than you is my basement is 4 feet below level so that would help me insulate a bit more as well.