Coalpail.com Forum

Inherited a model 400 Warm Morning coal stove when we moved. Had a new chimney liner installed. Previous owner left a supply of nut coal. I cannot get this stove to throw enough heat. I know the vent on the bottom is the draft for starting a fire, along with the one on top in the front. I can get a good fire going but something seems to be not quite right. I'm putting in 1 coal bucket worth as I was told. The draft on the right I keep almost open and close the bottom one and the one in front. Coal seems to last about 12 hours. On the flue pipe going out there is what I believe is a damper. It is a "T" in the pipe with the section coming out having a flapper. This flapper has a thumb screw on the front that connects to a roundish weight on the back that is not connected to anything else. Maybe this is part of my problem? The house and basement combined are approximately 3000 sq. feet. Insulation in house is above average and half of basement walls are insulated. Am I expecting too much - maybe doing something wrong? Any help would be appreciated. The stove is in the basement and It is a struggle to keep our living area at 65 degrees on a 35 degree night. Thank You! Also, there's a large vent cut into our livingroom floor but no fan to direct heat up. We were told to just keep the cellar door open and it would heat the whole house.

That's quite a bit of square footage for a space heater type stove to evenly heat. Does it heat the basement to a comfortable temperature? Getting the heat where you want it might be part of the problem.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the basement is toasty warm. The main living area of kitchen, dining and livingroom is cozy at 65 outdoor degrees (opening the basement door and one livingroom vent) and keeps our electric heat from coming on. Concern is when temps drop for the winter. How do I get more heat out of the stove for upstairs? Fans? Am I setting the controls correctly? Should I be concerned over how the flue works? Do I put in more than one bucket full of coal? Am used to working with a wood stove.

I think the biggest problem is going to be moving the heat around rather than trying to get more heat out of the stove, because getting more heat from the stove will probably just make the basement too hot.

How big is the living room vent?

My parent's house is approx. 2000sq ft and has the stove in the basement with a vent (approx. 12"x 36") in the ceiling directly above the stove and uses the stairway at the other end of the house as the cold air return. It works well but the rooms farthest from the vent stay cool and get uncomfortable if the doors are closed and the house is only about 2000 sq. ft.

Here is a couple threads that might help give you some ideas of how to move the heat around. You can search the forums for more info.
Moving Heat up Stairs
Floor Registers With Fan

Your stove can handle up to approx. 100# of coal, and it has the thermostat draft control to control the burn rate, so all other manual draft controls should be closed once you get an established coal fire going.
I am familiar with your stove but I haven't burned anthracite in one, but there are members of this forum who have so I'm hoping they will chime in here.

The automatic draft control (barometric damper) on the stove pipe can really make a difference on the operation of your stove, but it depends on how your chimney functions. The best way to test chimney draft is to get a manometer (or some kind of draft gauge) to verify how strong the draft is as well as setting the baro damper correctly. I bought a dwyer mark II gauge on ebay for about 20$ (if I remember correctly) and it works very well for checking chimney draft and setting baro dampers.
Do a search on anything I mentioned and you will have plenty to read

Also, why did you have a liner installed in the chimney? Most chimneys don't require a liner when burning hard coal.

Thanks again for the advice. I'll be looking into trying some of your helpful suggestions. As far as the chimney liner goes. We just bought our 50+ year old house the end of May and thought it prudent to have the chimney inspected. The technician scoped the interior walls showing cracks and change in material used which indicated to him an earlier chimney fire. We went along with his recommendation for a new liner. We may have been sold a bill of goods, but we feel better knowing that it's new.

Thanks for all the leads and advice. I filled the stove full of coal, instead of using one bucket as I was advised by a neighbor. I made a couple of adjustments and am now enjoying a comfortable, warm heat throughout most of the house.

Willie wrote:Thanks again for the advice. I'll be looking into trying some of your helpful suggestions. As far as the chimney liner goes. We just bought our 50+ year old house the end of May and thought it prudent to have the chimney inspected. The technician scoped the interior walls showing cracks and change in material used which indicated to him an earlier chimney fire. We went along with his recommendation for a new liner. We may have been sold a bill of goods, but we feel better knowing that it's new.

Willie, It was mentioned earlier to get a manometer to monitor your draft. Consider getting one. Reason being is that liner you had installed in the chimney. First off, do you know the type of material it is made of?? Burning coal will eat most liners up in no time. Even the best being Stainless steel 316ti will get eaten. Do a search on here about "Do I need a liner? " or something similar.

Here is the link: Do I Need a Stainless Steel Liner for My Chimney?

Cracks in a chimney are not necessarily dangerous. Remember that a chimney is a vacuuming device to suck the air from the burning appliance. If a vacuum hose develops leaks it just will not suck as strong at the end due to it sucking in from the holes in the middle. Likewise if you have some cracking in the mortar it may allow air to enter the chimney. Hope that makes sense to you.

Rick