First time home buyer with Coal Furnace! Info Please?

Hi ya'll. I am super glad I stumbled upon what seems like a very cool community of people and informative site. My name is Andrew and my wife and I live in Westchester County, NY. We are in the market for our first house and found one in Putnam County that we love. However, they have a coal furnace as the primary source of heat. I think this is very cool and am very intrigued but do not know anything about it. The current owner purchased the house in 2013 and did a lot of renovations, one of which was removing the electric powered baseboard heat and replacing it with a rice coal powered furnace, he says it is cheaper and more efficient . He purchased the unit new in 2013. I am not sure of the brand but I snapped a picture I will post. He said he uses about 3 tons of anthracite coal that he gets delivered for roughly $300 per ton. Some years he purchased a 4th ton. The unit is in the basement and is vented through the chimney. There is also a wood burning fireplace on the main floor that is used as supplemental heat if need be. It also is of course vented through the chimney. So just to clarify they share the chimney. The space we will be heating is a 1000 square foot, 2 bed, 2 bath open concept single story home. The unit has no duct work (other than vent of course). It is in the basement and he says it just emits heat. There are grates in the floors around the perimeter of the rooms on the main levels, very similar to any forced air concept, where the heat rises. There is one thermostat that controls the temperature. So basically, I'm trying to find out all necessary information for someone using this as a primary heat source. Please excuse my ignorance.

Is it safe?

Is it efficient?

How often do I have to feed it?

Do you turn it on once for the whole winter?

What if we go away? If we turn it off what about pipes bursting?

Who would I contact about maintenance and what sort of routine maintenance has to be done?

These are just a few of many questions I have but I think this is good to open up some dialogue. Any help would really be greatly appreciated. I have reached out to a friend who has owned a plumbing company for decades and am going to contact the supply stores the owner says he purchases coal from and try to get some info.

Thanks again in advance for any and all help/info.

Take care!

-Andrew

There should be some tags on the back of the stove that should tell what stove it is. Then it would be possible to look up the specs and info on the stove.
I buy my coal from cornwall coal. I don't get it bagged. I get it in bulk.

Is it safe? Cleaned and properly mainted - Yes. make sure to have a CO2 alarm in the home.

Is it efficient? The Alaska channing I had in my garage would hold about 100 lbs of rice. I would top it off almost every morning and every night. about 20-25 lbs per fill. When the outside temp was up I could get away with a couple days. Mind you my garage is 900 sq ft w/18' cathedral ceiling. Its also all steel and poorly insulated.

How often do I have to feed it?

Do you turn it on once for the whole winter? on a warm day - like this beautful 66 degree january day shut it down clean the grate and the blower motor fins.

What if we go away? If we turn it off what about pipes bursting? Turn it down to a low setting. If your going to be away awhile you might want a family member stop by and feed it. Otherwise turn on the electric heat for when your gone.

Who would I contact about maintenance and what sort of routine maintenance has to be done? Not difficult to do your self. Learn the stove and you will love it.

side note - my house was electric heat when i bought it. central hudson monthly budget plan 400 a month. cut down to less than half.

Thanks for the response Spacecadet. I see you're in the area, very cool. I will get that information from the homeowner tomorrow. I must note that there is no other form of heat for us so turning on electric heat while we are gone is not an option. What form of electric backup do you have? Maybe it would be wise for us to have something electric as backup as well.

Like I said, we are extremely interested in the house I just want to be educated on the furnace and know how to clean, operate and maintain it before we commit of course. There seems to be very little info on the internet.

Also, do you think access to coal will ever be an issue? It seems to be abundant and from a nearby source. Just want to be sure I will never be out of it!

Thanks again.

And are there any other suppliers other than Cornwall? How much do they charge in bulk per ton?

looks like a keystoker koker lite.
https://www.keystoker.com/product/stoves-koker-lite/

Wow that does look very similar if not the exact model. I am reading the manual now. Still open to input guys! Thanks!

Welcome Andrew, l heat with a koker lite, simple to use . I heat about 1900 sq ft two story, tied into duct work. Hope things work out for you.

Didn't notice any duct work Andrew, the bank/lenders may see that as a space heater and no furnace...

Interesting. So how would a lender feel about that do you think?

It might be difficult to get homeowner's insurance without a central heating system and if you're financing, that might be a problem for the lender. One other thing to consider is that the system requires regular tending, which can in certain instances limit winter travel plans. I'm not sure so check it out.

Got it I will look into that. All good points.
Just confirmed it is in fact a Keystoker Koker Lite. 105,000 BTU.
We are leaning towards making an offer. I am liking everything I've heard and read so far.
Anyone with a Keystoker wanting to chime in please do.

Best,
Andrew

easy enough to add some duct work. that stove does have a powerful blower fan.

you could always add some electric baseboard for a backup system.

One thing is once you experience coal heat and how warm your home is you'll be hooked.

I really like what I am hearing. We are going to put an offer in on the house. Not only do I like what I am hearing, I am super excited to start heating with coal (if it all goes through, don't want to jinx anything!)

So what happens if say, the gear motor fails. Are there people that service these units or do I just order the part and replace it?
There are two coal suppliers by me that sell units as well, do people that sell these units typically service them too?

I have no problem cleaning and doing regular maintenance. I want to really learn the stove and know how to take care of it myself.
But say I am away for a week and something fails. Is there someone my wife will be able to call to come fix it or is she SOL until I get home (oh boy, that's scary haha).

Thanks again everyone, you have truly been a great help and resource.

Best,
Andrew