Any recommendations - hand fired coal/wood combo?
Hi everyone,
I've been using a Keystoker in my basement, attached to my ductwork, for 5 winters now and love it. I'm considering getting a hand fired for my living room to attach to my fireplace chimney. Do any of you have any experience and recommendations for a hand fired, free-standing stove that can burn both wood and anthracite? Please let me know if you have any suggestions.
Thanks very much,
Matt
I've been using a Keystoker in my basement, attached to my ductwork, for 5 winters now and love it. I'm considering getting a hand fired for my living room to attach to my fireplace chimney. Do any of you have any experience and recommendations for a hand fired, free-standing stove that can burn both wood and anthracite? Please let me know if you have any suggestions.
Thanks very much,
Matt
-
- Member
- Posts: 3752
- Joined: Fri. Aug. 16, 2019 3:02 pm
- Location: Oneida, N.Y.
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harmon Mark II
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Looking
- Baseburners & Antiques: Looking
- Coal Size/Type: Nut
- Other Heating: newmac wood/coal combo furnace
Any coal stove will burn wood, but not vice versa. How well is the question. Any stove with non adjustable over fire air will be fairly uncontrollable. Burn wood yes, just hot and fast.
- HandFire
- Member
- Posts: 195
- Joined: Thu. Feb. 11, 2021 6:06 pm
- Location: Central PA
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS 110
- Coal Size/Type: Stove/Nut
2 things to know, if your planning on heating a small area get a small stove and make sure it has good secondary air over the fire for burning wood. Might want to say the square foot your looking to heat. Getting something too big will cook you with coal and choke your chimney if you burn wood too low.
- Seagrave1963
- Member
- Posts: 205
- Joined: Fri. Sep. 26, 2014 7:12 pm
- Location: Eastern Shore of Maryland
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harman TLC2000
- Coal Size/Type: nut
- Other Heating: electric heat pumps, propane fireplace
We have really enjoyed our Harman TLC2000 (now being branded as Legacy TLC2000). It does a good job with wood but works better with coal. Like Handfire said, the area you are planning on using it would need to "fit" the stove's heat production ranges or it will be mismatched. We bought the TLC2000 before the EPA regs on wood burning stoves took effect so you will probably not get much official info on wood burning efficiency in coal stoves.
Thanks for all the input everyone. I am ultimately looking around at ideas for having options. The Keystoker in my basement works great connected to the ductwork, heating my 2200 sqft house well on about 4 tons per year, at a constant 69/70 degrees. It does require electricity however, and the living room fireplace is really just for ambience, not for heat. In a power outage, and simply for supplemental heat, a freestanding, handfed stove that doesn't require electricity might be a good option to have. I do have a generator, but in the climate where I live, I like the idea of having something that doesn't require electricity, and can just radiate heat. Thanks for the ideas and suggestions!
- buffalo bob
- Member
- Posts: 961
- Joined: Tue. Feb. 07, 2012 12:41 pm
- Location: scpa. bedford co. buffalo mills
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: hitzer 354 and a 254
- Coal Size/Type: anthracite nut
hitzer 254 radiant model...no fan...jusr rad heat...
- Sunny Boy
- Member
- Posts: 25567
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 1:40 pm
- Location: Central NY
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
- Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
- Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
- Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace
And if you want something more stylish many of the antique parlor stoves, such as the "Oak" type "cylinder stoves" were designed to burn both wood and coal and do both very well. They come in a wide variety of sizes from 10 inch diameter firepots to heat one room, up to ones in the 20 inch range to heat a good sized house.
Paul
Paul
- mntbugy
- Member
- Posts: 2043
- Joined: Fri. Dec. 23, 2016 2:36 pm
- Location: clearfield,pa
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: D S 1500, Warm Moring 400
- Baseburners & Antiques: Art Garland 145,GW114 ,Clarion 115, Vestal 20 Globe,New Royal22 Globe, Red Cross Oak 56,Acme Ventiduct 38,Radiant Airblast 626,Home Airblast 62,Moores #7,Moores 3way
- Coal Size/Type: stove and nut and some bit
- Other Heating: Propain
What he said. Depending on area heated, might want a Round Oak 22 or 24. The big guns.Sunny Boy wrote: ↑Sat. Feb. 27, 2021 12:38 pmAnd if you want something more stylish many of the antique parlor stoves, such as the "Oak" type "cylinder stoves" were designed to burn both wood and coal and do both very well. They come in a wide variety of sizes from 10 inch diameter firepots to heat one room, up to ones in the 20 inch range to heat a good sized house.
Paul
When you use these types of antique parlor stoves, do you typically use a type A flue/chimney if you don't have a masonry chimney? I'm asking because my current fireplace flue/chimney that I'm hoping to connect to will likely need to be upgraded to handle the higher temps. Thanks again!
- Sunny Boy
- Member
- Posts: 25567
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 1:40 pm
- Location: Central NY
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
- Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
- Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
- Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace
I use regular 5 inch single wall steel stove pipe from my antique kitchen range and parlor stoves to connect them to the chimney.
For exterior pipe, an insulated metal stove pipe that meets wood stove fire codes will work for a coal stove. Only difference is there are types of stainless steel pipe that hold up better to the slightly acidic coal ash in damp weather.
If you keep the coal dry during the heating season so that you not adding a lot of moisture to the fire and making the fly ash acidic, and then clean the fly ash out of the pipe at the end of the heating season, it should last for many years.
Paul
For exterior pipe, an insulated metal stove pipe that meets wood stove fire codes will work for a coal stove. Only difference is there are types of stainless steel pipe that hold up better to the slightly acidic coal ash in damp weather.
If you keep the coal dry during the heating season so that you not adding a lot of moisture to the fire and making the fly ash acidic, and then clean the fly ash out of the pipe at the end of the heating season, it should last for many years.
Paul
- McGiever
- Member
- Posts: 10130
- Joined: Sun. May. 02, 2010 11:26 pm
- Location: Junction of PA-OH-WV
- Stoker Coal Boiler: AXEMAN-ANDERSON 130 "1959"
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: BUCKET A DAY water heater
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Warm Morning 414A
- Coal Size/Type: PEA,NUT,STOVE /ANTHRACITE
- Other Heating: Ground Source Heat Pump and some Solar
You are mistaken on coal flue/chimney temps being higher temp!!my current fireplace flue/chimney that I'm to connect to will likely need to be upgraded to handle the higher temps
Quite the opposite in fact.
On my current fireplace, that I hope to connect to, the flue/chimney pipe look like regular galvanized (probably 25 years old). Would you want to upgrade that flue/chimney metal if you were attaching a hand fed coal stove? My understanding was that it had to be the class A, triple walled stuff?
Thanks!
Thanks!