What Size Coal Stove to Buy

newtocoalinnortheast wrote: Does anyone have any advice on what size stove we would need, or any recommendations on the stoves above? Thanks.

I’m not familiar with the Mark I; I have a Mark II. From my experience you would not have any trouble creating enough heat with the Mark II to heat 1800 sq ft. Your problem would be in getting that heat where you want it to be. That’s my issue, too. Our house is about 2000 sq ft. very tight, lots of insulation and new windows. We heat 1800 sq ft with the Harman. I have a split foyer which is not the ideal floor plan for heating with a coal stove. My stove is in the back “great room” which is about 500 sq ft and that’s open to another room just a little tad bit smaller. Then I have a wall separating that section of the house from the formal living room. That wall has two large doors which allow for the heat to pass through. It’s easy for the Mark II to keep that level of the house at 75 or 80*. I have a couple of floor fans that handle that for me as well as 2 doorway fans. Coming out of that formal living room are the stairs going up. I have another fan at the base of the stairs to direct the heat up and have been successful in keeping my bedroom level at 65 or 70*. (I have thermometers all over the place.) I have plenty of heat in the “great room” to also heat the basement study but I can’t get the heated air down there. Although, I’ve thought and thought about how to get the heat down to my basement study - that’s directly under my bedrooms and reached in a round about way - my husband won’t let me cut a hole in the “Great Room” wall through to the basement study so we just close that room up for the winter. As I said, I think that distribution of the heat is going to be your problem, also. That’s what you need to think about – distribution, not total BTUs. In my opinion it won’t be worth spending extra money for the production of additional BTUs because you may not be able to distribute it. I would bet that you would “cook” yourself right out of the room the stove is in trying to make enough BTUs to warm the outlying areas. Distribution is what I’d focus on before I brought a larger BTU stove.

There are a lot of imaginative postings on this forum that show how to spread the heat around. What does your floor plan look like? Could floor fans move enough air around and up to make the difference? I remember my aunt’s house from 40 years ago having a large grate/opening in the hallway for the heat to rise from the parlor coal stove. Is that possible in your situation? How about hooking the stove up to your whole house furnace intake vent and blowing it throughout the house?

I hope this gives you some ideas and things to think about. Good luck, Lisa

We live in Central Maine- in a {bottom floor} 1500 sq.ft, 1 & 1/2 story -1932 cape style. I used to live Cape Cod- Mass. We got fed up with the forced hot air {oil} for many reasons, and glad we took it out as it was inefficient, and exspensive. We both did alot of reading over a winter, and in the late spring we bought a used Harman Mark 11 {$900} from Uncle Henry's. Replaced firebrick-$62, replaced glass-$93. We had a new triple walled chimney put in, after discovering our brick chimney was no good- and tore it down. The Mark 11 is 73,000 BTU's, we have it in the cellar-which is insulated with radiant barrier-$300. We built a nice coal bin to hold 2 ton,and built a bulkhead this summer-which will hold 1 ton plus.The coal bin materials was about $165, the bulkhead, $500 plus labor. 1st ton of bagged coal-$300-emptied into the bin,makes it alot easier.The stainless steel chimney -$107 per section. We decided to put it in the cellar {up on the furnace cement pad} simply because heat rises & noise of the blower. Up thru the floorboards and into the bones of the house-and its toasty between 70*-75,and havent really pushed it yet. Prior to the Harman, we're on our 2nd year of Napolean pellet stove in the living room,and actually prefer that upstairs,as the stove itself doesnt get as hot to the touch-{grandchildren}. We've knocked out walls,so its more open. We haven't had to fire up the pellet stove very little,as the Harman heats well. We leave the kitchen cellar door open all the time.Because its in the cellar we wanted a coal stove that would do twice what the pellet could. The pellet does 43,000 BTU's. We're glad we made the overall change,our wallets are even happier for the BTU's. Going after the 2nd ton this week.The floors are no longer cold, and my feet are no longer like icicles. The bedrooms I like a bit cooler, and we have temp gauges everywhere,and its fairly even thruout now,something we never got with the oil furnace. No matter where we live, we will never again have oil hot air,and will always find another way to heat. Neither of us ever burned coal,but we talked with alot of people on forums,it doesnt take long to bond with a stove and learn its quirks. Fire extinquishers,smoke and Co detectors installed. Even though there are many good salespeople out there,there are just as many bad ones, that only want to sell you their product. Do alot of reading, and ask questions before you decide. Next on our list is buying a Cheetah Ash Vac for our Xmas present!