Looking for best stove
Fellas,
I am building a new house… well we were going to build and now that the prices are through the roof, we are deciding to build a garage with apartment until prices level out so we can build the house. I am also going to set up a nice pole barn. Going to go for radiant heat and domestic hot water with an outdoor boiler. I used to run a ds forced air in my old house. Loved it. Now that I am switching, I am looking for the best stove I can get. The garage is about 1000 sq feet, apartment above will be about 1200. The house we plan to build will be around 1500 sq feet and the pole barn is hopefully going to be around 1500 sq feet. I live in NEPA so coal is plentiful, not worried about that. Just looking for the best all around automatic feed I can get to take care of the house, garage and barn eventually. Where should I start? I have my eyes on the Coal gun outdoor S130 and maybe a Keystoker. I am also intrigued by the thought of a heat master ss b series burning multi fuel. Let me know guys. Appreciated.
Jeff
I am building a new house… well we were going to build and now that the prices are through the roof, we are deciding to build a garage with apartment until prices level out so we can build the house. I am also going to set up a nice pole barn. Going to go for radiant heat and domestic hot water with an outdoor boiler. I used to run a ds forced air in my old house. Loved it. Now that I am switching, I am looking for the best stove I can get. The garage is about 1000 sq feet, apartment above will be about 1200. The house we plan to build will be around 1500 sq feet and the pole barn is hopefully going to be around 1500 sq feet. I live in NEPA so coal is plentiful, not worried about that. Just looking for the best all around automatic feed I can get to take care of the house, garage and barn eventually. Where should I start? I have my eyes on the Coal gun outdoor S130 and maybe a Keystoker. I am also intrigued by the thought of a heat master ss b series burning multi fuel. Let me know guys. Appreciated.
Jeff
- freetown fred
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How can ya have 1200sq on top of 1000sq??? Be patient--lotsa boiler guys here--I just call em girlie stoves!!! LOL Welcome to the FORUM J.
That is where I am leaning. My only concern is if it is worth getting hopper fed as opposed to auger fed. I have a 52 horse tractor so loading isn’t the issue. I will be running a pellet insert once the house gets built so the boiler wont be pushed too hard in those colder months. Has anyone run or known anyone to run any of the multi fuel systems?
- nepacoal
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The hopper on the outdoor coalgun holds 2,000 lbs. Probably last up to a month depending on the weather. Having a tractor to load it is ideal.
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Jkist226 wrote: ↑Wed. Mar. 16, 2022 5:44 pmFellas,
I am building a new house… well we were going to build and now that the prices are through the roof, we are deciding to build a garage with apartment until prices level out so we can build the house. I am also going to set up a nice pole barn. Going to go for radiant heat and domestic hot water with an outdoor boiler. I used to run a ds forced air in my old house. Loved it. Now that I am switching, I am looking for the best stove I can get. The garage is about 1000 sq feet, apartment above will be about 1200. The house we plan to build will be around 1500 sq feet and the pole barn is hopefully going to be around 1500 sq feet. I live in NEPA so coal is plentiful, not worried about that. Just looking for the best all around automatic feed I can get to take care of the house, garage and barn eventually. Where should I start? I have my eyes on the Coal gun outdoor S130 and maybe a Keystoker. I am also intrigued by the thought of a heat master ss b series burning multi fuel. Let me know guys. Appreciated.
Jeff
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You do know that you need a stand alone heat source for the home that is either oil or propane I hope.
About your outdoor boiler how are you going to feed it if the tractor croaks or blows a hose in the middle of a snow storm??
Unless you plan on owning a generator a keystoker will have a fire that will die out very quickly(insert 5 minutes here) in the event of a power loss.
Do you have a lawn tractor with a snow blower and cart for a just in case scenario???
A hoop shed with a concrete floor, work lights hanging from the hoops and a solid end wall of some sort for the chimney thimble and a short stainless steel chimney would be less money.
The above will be less troublesome as you can store your dry coal in the end with the zipper door of the hoop shed and have an auger fed boiler to heat all the buildings in the other end on the concrete pad with a solid wall end of some type and a chimney thimble tied to a stainless steel chimney.
You need to plan on having a non toxic sub zero boiler antifreeze for your boiler water as well and using a plate heat exchanger for heat transfer if your serious about this.
Build it all first, purchase a multifuel salamander space heater/torpedo heater to heat the pole barn and then see
how much money you have left, you will not have much left to do anything with.
A lot of folks build a fully insulated pole barn home and garage all in one which works well as all the heating can be done in one instance with salvaged hot water radiators for less money.
Last edited by lzaharis on Thu. Mar. 17, 2022 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I tried the pole barn loving but my wife cut that off. If there’s a problem with the tractor my thought was to have a few 5 gallon buckets laying near coal storage o could load up in my truck and back up to the unit. When the pole barn goes up I was going to include an overhang for the coal storage. I’m going to set up the unit outside and set up a cement pad for it and the coal storage with some cement barrier sale loading and dumping easy. Mini split units going into house for “primary” heat and cooling with an electric dhw heater. I like the idea of auger fed but the pole barn is next year so I’d have to look at maybe even a temporary shed and be able to put barn over the unit.
- freetown fred
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J, you're on the right track--keep us posted on progress.
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- Coal Size/Type: rice
- Other Heating: kerosene for dual fuel Keystoker/unused
What are you going to do if the power goes out? What are you going to do if the tractor is dead?
What are you going to do if the truck cannot get to the stoker because it is in stuck the mud or
the snow is roof deep OR the truck is stuck and hung up on snow??
You can put a AA130 or EFM DF520 stoker in a small lean to attached to the home and the pea coal can be dumped on a good heavy waterproof hay tarp and covered with a waterproof hay tarp.
With coal be hydroscopic it cannot absorb moisture but it can freeze together and that moisture will end up in the hopper and create a lot of rust and damage the hopper over time.
Putting the stoker in an insulated lean to attached to the home will solve several potential problems that can occur.
1. the heat from the stoker can help dry out the pea coal in the lean to with a water to air garage heater that would also act as the dump zone.
2. you can make use of gravity hot water heating economically with a small home as you describe as long as you have an attic.
3. a portable 4,000 watt generator will be enough to power the stoker to keep the home heated in the event of a power loss.
An electrician that works at a Montana surface coal strip mine replaced his forest eater with an AHS S130 and built a shed around it and added a coal storage bunker next to it to store his Sub Bituminous Stoker Coal and he uses a surplus grain elevator to feed the hopper of the S130 as needed.
The video showing his system is here on the forum and also on youtube. the thread is "ahs coal on bit coal!!!
You could do the same thing with an Axeman Anderson 130S auger fed stoker or a EFM DF520 auger fed stoker and just occasionally rake coal to the auger when needed.
What are you going to do if the truck cannot get to the stoker because it is in stuck the mud or
the snow is roof deep OR the truck is stuck and hung up on snow??
You can put a AA130 or EFM DF520 stoker in a small lean to attached to the home and the pea coal can be dumped on a good heavy waterproof hay tarp and covered with a waterproof hay tarp.
With coal be hydroscopic it cannot absorb moisture but it can freeze together and that moisture will end up in the hopper and create a lot of rust and damage the hopper over time.
Putting the stoker in an insulated lean to attached to the home will solve several potential problems that can occur.
1. the heat from the stoker can help dry out the pea coal in the lean to with a water to air garage heater that would also act as the dump zone.
2. you can make use of gravity hot water heating economically with a small home as you describe as long as you have an attic.
3. a portable 4,000 watt generator will be enough to power the stoker to keep the home heated in the event of a power loss.
An electrician that works at a Montana surface coal strip mine replaced his forest eater with an AHS S130 and built a shed around it and added a coal storage bunker next to it to store his Sub Bituminous Stoker Coal and he uses a surplus grain elevator to feed the hopper of the S130 as needed.
The video showing his system is here on the forum and also on youtube. the thread is "ahs coal on bit coal!!!
You could do the same thing with an Axeman Anderson 130S auger fed stoker or a EFM DF520 auger fed stoker and just occasionally rake coal to the auger when needed.
Last edited by lzaharis on Thu. Mar. 17, 2022 1:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- freetown fred
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Hey I, ya got stocks in the auger business??? LOL
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- Other Heating: kerosene for dual fuel Keystoker/unused
Hello Fred,
Just trying to help the fellow avoid mistakes like I made that
bit me in the backside.
I hope all is well in the four town area of Cortland County.
Are you still in the fire department?
Just trying to help the fellow avoid mistakes like I made that
bit me in the backside.
I hope all is well in the four town area of Cortland County.
Are you still in the fire department?
- Rob R.
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A lot of banks do require some form of conventional heat, but they don't mandate oil or propane. I told my credit union and insurance company the house has a coal boiler and a mini-split and they were both happy with that.
Same thing you do when all of those things happen at a house that burns oil or propane. Adapt and overcome.
- freetown fred
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I'd say ya covered it all. Now on the bd. of directors for both fire & volunteer ambulance--Freetown not fourtown!!! LOL