Old Cast Iron Coal Furnaces

 
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DOUG
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Post by DOUG » Thu. Mar. 12, 2009 1:18 pm

Hi guys,

I was wondering why those old cast iron coal furnaces are not manufactured by anyone anymore? coalbucket had posted a interesting find Penn Aire Furnace?. It looks like these kind of hand fired coal furnaces were well made and produced some serious heat output. So if this kind of coal furnace was in production today, with a few of today's options that were not available back then, do you think people would want to buy one? If so, what today's options would be desirable for the homeowner today.

Thanks. :idea: :)


 
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. Mar. 12, 2009 2:08 pm

I think the reason is that today, casting a furnace would simply drive the cost to manufacture up as opposed to using steel. The castings cost would come down considerably if they had a large number of units to produce. The demand today for solid fuel furnaces just doesn't come close to a number that would make it cost effective.

 
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Post by DOUG » Thu. Mar. 12, 2009 6:07 pm

Thank you coaledsweat for your answer. Now what about a similar furnace fabricated mostly from steel? Did those style of furnaces really burn anthracite coal that well and produce enormous amounts of heat when called upon, with somewhat reasonable efficiency?

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. Mar. 12, 2009 6:53 pm

Oh yes, bigtime! I actually had one very similar back around 1980. It was a Sears and went from the floor right up to the ceiling of the basement. It must have been 5" around. It had an automatic draft control that used a bi metal coil and when I finally got it figured out was absolutely flawless in keeping the house at the right temperature. A totally mechanical thermostat. The top of it was a 3X3 foot grate in the center hall floor and if over fired would blow a woman's dress almost over her head from the blast of heat coming up. It was scary! The windows would have water running down them even with the doors open before I figured out how to run the thing! :D It was much more efficient than a freestanding stove for sure. They break down in sections allowing a fairly easy move.

The steel is just so much cheaper and easier to work with in small lots, if demand were high enough, cast could come back into the mix.

 
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Post by Sting » Thu. Mar. 12, 2009 7:38 pm

My opinion of those great old battleship engines in the basement is that they were grossly over sized for the most part and in that - seriously flawed for efficiency

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. Mar. 12, 2009 7:42 pm

No question it was over sized, it could heat the house with the doors and windows open. Not sure it was inefficient as it didn't burn a lot of coal, I averaged about a 50# bag a day in an 1600' house IIRC (@ $2.20 per I think).

 
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Post by DOUG » Thu. Mar. 12, 2009 7:56 pm

That is what I was hoping to hear coaldsweat. I have been trying to research these old furnaces to see if they really did perform as some of the articles I've read from some of the old advertisements I've seen. So then I take it that if a more reasonable sized and priced coal furnace similar to those once made, may actually have a market from the renewed interest in anthracite coal burning for residential heating.

If so, what options or modifications to such a furnace would you have liked to have back then, which is available today, if any?

Thanks. :idea:


 
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. Mar. 12, 2009 8:24 pm

Like Sting said, they are not practical. To work the way they did, it has to be massive. I would bet the thing weighed a ton or more. It consumed a large portion of basement and it was unbearable to be near it. The stuff made today is just a much better deal. As romantic as it may seem, they just aren't as practical as the stuff today is.

 
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Post by coalbucket » Sun. Mar. 15, 2009 11:11 pm

Hello, I just came across this thread and the interest in old coal burning stoves and furnace's surprise's me, that I thought I was the only one with interest in the old stuff. With my Penn Aire Furnace it seems that the amount of coal that it consumes seems is less than my Harman to heat the same sq. ft. I'm not sure of the amount of cast iron it has in the Penn Aire but it's just as heavy as my steel Harmon. Nor do I know what kind of effort that it takes to cast the darn stuff ;) . But I do know this, it's simple (like me) to operate. If I could find another one(furnace) the same size, my father in law would buy it. He likes mine and sometimes I wonder, if I went on vacation and he had a week, it might find it's way into his basement. :lol: The Harman is nice when we start to have warm days and cold nights it allows me to adjust for the change, for a longer burning season. Well gotta go and tend the fire.

 
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Post by CoalHeat » Mon. Mar. 16, 2009 8:03 am

Well gotta go and tend the fire.

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Post by BigBarney » Thu. Mar. 26, 2009 12:20 pm

The cost to produce all the patterns and cores for a unit of this size would take

a huge cash outlay and a dubious return on that investment.I would venture a

guess of close to $500,000 just to get it in production,but the market would not

create a volume for a profit.To get UL and any other approval would add even more

cost.

Most castings have been eliminated in industry if possible for the much less costly

steel fabrications which have a huge price advantage in low volume production.

Volume is the key and I doubt if it is there.

BigBarney

 
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Post by samhill » Thu. Mar. 26, 2009 1:06 pm

Also today there are relativly few iron foundrys left that could produce enough iron for mass production.

 
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Post by Dann757 » Thu. Mar. 26, 2009 5:12 pm

How about this compact, lightweight little unit.

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Post by 009to090 » Thu. Mar. 26, 2009 5:58 pm

Dann757 wrote:How about this compact, lightweight little unit.
WHOAH ! She's big and sloppy! Still workin, I bet.

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Fri. Mar. 27, 2009 8:13 am

That is a boiler.


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