Taking the leap

 
Bigje1981
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Other Heating: radiant wood furnace in basement.

Post by Bigje1981 » Fri. Dec. 18, 2020 1:30 pm

First post, located in the Eastern panhandle of WV. I just got off the phone with DS. I ordered a 2100 WH coal master. This will be my first coal stove. I have a wood furnace now that burns through wood like it's free and does not last the night.

Current plan is to drive to Superior to pick up coal. It's about a 2.5 hour drive but coal here is $330 a ton from what I have found. I started this thread in hopes of posting my journey, not that anyone is really interested :D .


 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. Dec. 18, 2020 1:59 pm

Welcome, and good luck on your trip. Don't overload the truck.

 
Bigje1981
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Other Heating: radiant wood furnace in basement.

Post by Bigje1981 » Fri. Dec. 18, 2020 2:52 pm

Thanks Rob. I have a 3k lb payload so I should be ok with a ton in the back. If I get a trailer ligned up I could get more. I am going to continue to search for a breaker farther south on I-81 in the mean time.

 
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Rich W.
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Location: Newport County, Rhode Island
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Vermont Castings Vigilant Multi-Fuel (coal for me); Vermont Castings Vigilant 2310 in the shop
Coal Size/Type: Nut
Other Heating: System 2000 Oil Burner; VC Resolute Woodstove (sold) Jotul 8 Woodstove (sold)

Post by Rich W. » Fri. Dec. 18, 2020 10:03 pm

We like journeys...with photos!👍

 
Hounds51
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Location: Bethel, Pa
Hand Fed Coal Stove: 2 Legacy TLC 2000 one in the upper and 1 in the lower part of the house
Coal Size/Type: Wood and pea, nut ,stove and egg coal

Post by Hounds51 » Sat. Dec. 19, 2020 10:16 am

Bigje1981 wrote:
Fri. Dec. 18, 2020 1:30 pm
First post, located in the Eastern panhandle of WV. I just got off the phone with DS. I ordered a 2100 WH coal master. This will be my first coal stove. I have a wood furnace now that burns through wood like it's free and does not last the night.

Current plan is to drive to Superior to pick up coal. It's about a 2.5 hour drive but coal here is $330 a ton from what I have found. I started this thread in hopes of posting my journey, not that anyone is really interested :D .

You might want to try DiRenzo Coal Co. I think they are a little closer, and as far as I am concerned, their coal burns a little better. Here is their web site. They do have a map to help you get off of interstate 81 to their breaker.

http://www.direnzocoal.com/

 
Bigje1981
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Other Heating: radiant wood furnace in basement.

Post by Bigje1981 » Sat. Dec. 19, 2020 10:55 am

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Thanks hounds51. I don't have any experience with any of the breakers yet so I will go with whatever suggestions I get on here. As for pics Rich W. I am sitting in my basement re- firing my englander 28-3500 right now. It's a forced air unit but the blower is having issues so I have converted it to radiant. I find the radiant heat more pleasant.

 
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StokerDon
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Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
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Post by StokerDon » Sat. Dec. 19, 2020 11:58 am

Welcome to the forum,


One thing you have to consider when switching from wood to coal is your chimney. A lot of wood burners use a short chimney, which will work for wood. With coal you are going to put a lot less heat into the chimney but you have to be able to maintain a draft for the coal to keep burning.

By the way, switching from a wood stove to a coal stove is not a leap at all. It is just the first baby step you can take into the crazy world of coal burning. :o :what: :lol:

7 Years of Coal Stoker Boiler Madness!



Earlier this year I took a trip up to DiRenzo. They let me shoot some video.


I wish you luck on your coal burning journey. The forum guys can help you out if you need it.
-Don


 
Bigje1981
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Other Heating: radiant wood furnace in basement.

Post by Bigje1981 » Sat. Dec. 19, 2020 12:56 pm

Thanks for the vids StokerDan. I have A 33' triple wall stainless chimney. From what I have read I need to put a baro in my stove pipe. I am going to move the DS closer to the wall than this stove. DS sent me the installation manual so I will order the pipe I need and have it on hand. I also need to figure out the volume of a ton of anthracite but I am sure I can search for that on here.

 
Hounds51
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Location: Bethel, Pa
Hand Fed Coal Stove: 2 Legacy TLC 2000 one in the upper and 1 in the lower part of the house
Coal Size/Type: Wood and pea, nut ,stove and egg coal

Post by Hounds51 » Sat. Dec. 19, 2020 3:17 pm

Bigje1981 wrote:
Sat. Dec. 19, 2020 10:55 am
16083932650163734412136657099354.jpg

Thanks hounds51. I don't have any experience with any of the breakers yet so I will go with whatever suggestions I get on here. As for pics Rich W. I am sitting in my basement re- firing my englander 28-3500 right now. It's a forced air unit but the blower is having issues so I have converted it to radiant. I find the radiant heat more pleasant.
What size coal are you looking for? I had a guy that was delivering me coal. He told me that he got the load from the Superior breaker. Well it was ok, but I had better. I used to get a lot of incomplete burns with that coal. Some of that might have been the old heatrola that I had, but that heatrola died and now I have a new more efficient stove, so that might have been part of the problem.
I am still burning some of the Superior, but I am mixing that with the DiRenzo breaker coal, and it seems to burn ok. But last year I had to get a new stove, and I got the Harmon/Legacy TLC 2000 and I got a ton of pea and nut coal from DiRenzo and it really burns good. That's just my opinion. Was down to 10 degrees last night, and we woke up to a 75 degree house this morning, and we don't even have insulation or storm windows in this part of the house. If I had to do over again, I would have gone down to Lancaster and bought a DS stoker stove. But I didn't have time to investigate or shop for stoves, as we needed a stove, and fast. That's another story.
But yes I would give DiRenzo a try, I don't think you will be disappointed. I live in the western end of the coal field and I kinda know were the good breakers are, and if you get on I- 81 north just get off at the Pottsville exit, that should take you close to the breaker. There is a map on their web site.

 
Bigje1981
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Other Heating: radiant wood furnace in basement.

Post by Bigje1981 » Sat. Dec. 19, 2020 4:52 pm

Yeah from the looks of it I think I will try them out. I have till somewhere near the end of Jan before my DS will be ready for pickup so I need to get on the ball and build something to contain my coal in. After watching StokerDon's video with the guy loading 2.5 ton I have a good idea now how big it needs to be. I am glad I have this lead time. I need to figure out what to do about my stovepipe. I am going to go double wall I think to try and keep that draft as strong as I can. I dont want any issues if I can avoid them. I ordered a Field Controls 6M dampner and a Dwyer Mark II manometer today. I have a Selkirk DPS 90 degree double wall piece in my basement on the floor. I was thinking of doing the stovepipe in that but I am not sure how I will get the dampner in the T.

 
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Lightning
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Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Sat. Dec. 19, 2020 8:05 pm

Bigje1981 wrote:
Sat. Dec. 19, 2020 12:56 pm
I also need to figure out the volume of a ton of anthracite but I am sure I can search for that on here.
A safe conservative figure is about 36 cubic ft per ton. If you are designing a bin, many suggest using 40 cubic feet per ton to give you some wiggle room.

 
Bigje1981
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Other Heating: radiant wood furnace in basement.

Post by Bigje1981 » Sat. Dec. 19, 2020 9:02 pm

That's exactly what I was looking for Lightning. My bin is going outside so I'm going to make it like a run in shed with one side partially open with removable slats on one side and low enough total to get my loader bucket over the top.

 
Bigje1981
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Other Heating: radiant wood furnace in basement.

Post by Bigje1981 » Fri. Feb. 19, 2021 7:19 pm

Well DS has been running behind in production and I needed a stove as my old wood burner needs a full overhaul the gaskets are coming out of the glass. Plus the wife said OK. So I bought a Legacy/Harmon Mark III. The dealer also had a couple of pallets of coal and he sold me one for $150 since I bought the stove. That coal had been in the weather for some time. But I bet it still burns :-).
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Bigje1981
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Other Heating: radiant wood furnace in basement.

Post by Bigje1981 » Fri. Feb. 19, 2021 7:21 pm

I had taken the ash door off for ease of movement. Plus I wanted to take the door off anyway as I can be hard on stove glass.

 
waytomany?s
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Post by waytomany?s » Fri. Feb. 19, 2021 7:57 pm

What is your house layout like? How much are you heating? Was the wood stove keeping you warm enough ? Just looking for before and after comparisons.


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