Pounds per day used?

Cool-coal. Judt don't use "bead board" insulation. You know the stuff, you break it & it's made of little white beads. It's cheaper, but not as much R value, and if it gets wet the indulation value goes to zero. Use blue or pink board, or build a false wall & use fiberglass, sheet rock to cover. Those with large wallets build a false wall and hire spray foam.

Those with large wallets build a false wall and hire spray foam.

I used 2x3 to build false walls and used Blue "Dupont" styrofoam insulation. I would recommend a vapor barrier on the walls first though, same with flooring.

It would seem to me that trying to compare "my coal usage" to "your coal usage" is like comparing apples to oranges. Too many variables to take into consideration. I've been comparing notes with a coworker who has the same brand/model stove and my usage rate is about twice his. But when I consider that I am heating 100% with coal (don't want to use the electric heat if I can help it), and he only supplements with coal (using propane to heat the other part of his house) plus the fact that he is CHEAP. That explains alot of it. Also, even though we live maybe 10 miles from each other, I live on a hilltop and had about 6" of snow this week, he lives in the valley and only had rain... You get the idea.
If I could add my 2 cents worth on the insulation ideas. I agree that if your stove is in the cellar (like mine is), you will loose alot of heat to the part of the foundation that is above grade and exposed. I am in the process of upgrading my insulation, since my house is circa 1962. My cellar has no insulation but I plan to spray foam the walls with 2"-3" after I stud them out. I have 3" of fiberglass in the upstairs walls, my best guess is it is about R-9 (at best). I don't want to scab out the walls inside or outside, so I am taking out the fiberglass from the outside, leaving the foil backer in place, and spraying the cavity full with polyurethane foam (there are many brands out there, I am using Foam-It Green from http://www.guardianenergytech.com/). I have only done one wall so far, but I am pleased with the results and can't wait to do the rest of the house next summer.

It was my first experience with this product and I made a mess, but experience is a great teacher.
This product has an R value of 7/inch. This should give me R-21 to R-23. Plus it seals air leaks and is a moisture barrier too.
Behind the foam is a layer of 6 mil plastic and drywall. The plastic is to prevent the foam from sticking to the drywall should I ever want to remove it.

Just wanted to add some thoughts to my previous post about the spray foam.

I plan to spray foam over the rim joist from inside the cellar, and have already done some of it. When I was on the ladder spraying, I could see light between the foundation and sill plate in a couple of places. If all your heat is rising to the ceiling in your cellar, and you have no insulation covering the rim joist, you're gonna loose alot of heat there before it gets upstairs.

I'm a big fan of those spray foams. We used both open and closed cell foam when redoing our cellar. The closed cell doesn't expand much but it more then makes up for it with it's added ridged strength to the structure. One option to help cut the cost's down on the price of the spray foam is to seal up the inside of the wall (sheet rock side) and then add regular insulation over it. It'll give you the nice air seal and save you a lot of money in the process.

Well the numbers are in for this month. Heating with LL pocono
I used 181 pounds from last sunday until today. that equals $ 13.58 for the week
I used 719.2 pounds for the month of oct. house maintained at 72. That equals $53.94 for the month @ the $150/ton I paid
I can't be any happier and thanks to all that help so much on this forum I am hooked i read everyday. Now I hope we lose the warmer weather and it gets cold.
Chris H

Adamiscold wrote:I'm a big fan of those spray foams. We used both open and closed cell foam when redoing our cellar. The closed cell doesn't expand much but it more then makes up for it with it's added ridged strength to the structure. One option to help cut the cost's down on the price of the spray foam is to seal up the inside of the wall (sheet rock side) and then add regular insulation over it. It'll give you the nice air seal and save you a lot of money in the process.

Thanks for the comment. I don't have any experience with open cell foam, but the closed cell type I used has an expansion ratio of 6 or 7 to 1.

And I agree with you that using an inch or two on the outside of the wall (sprayed from the inside to act as an air seal) and then to fill up the void with fiberglass the rest of the way, is a less expensive alternative. The spray foam costs about $1 per board foot. But, I was looking to increase my R value up to todays' standards without adding framing to the existing 2x4 stud walls. I considered rigid foam sheets on either the inside or outside. But since I had to modify some of the framing for a new window and door, replace a cracked header and replace the homasote with plywood, it made more sense to remove the existing fiberglass and replace it with foam. The fiberglass I removed will be used in the cellar where my plan is to only spray a couple inches of foam, then tack up the old fiberglass over it as you described.

I'm sure there are cheaper and/or better ways to do this, but I knew that I needed more and better insulation this year. Any improvement is good if it reduces the amount of energy (coal, oil, electric, etc) that we need to keep the house warm this winter.

Octobers usage = 4 bags, or 160 lbs. Which ever sounds better. 76* on average inside of the house. Whats that...about 20.00 worth of coal ? Yeah baby !

I just fired up my KA-6 this past month, but I've figured I'm burning about 40-45#'s per day. This works out to be about $5.35 per day for me. I'm expecting it to increase a little as it gets colder, but it still beats the heck out of heating with propane.

I started my Keystoker Ka6 on October 12th and have averaged 35 pounds a day, which comes out to be $3.50 a day. That also includes my domestic hot water since I had the pleasure of turning off my propane hot water heater. That is saving me about $32 a month at least. I live in upstate New York about 60 miles south of the Canada border and we have seen some low 20's at night already.
Burn on!
Jon

I burn on the average 45 lbs a day in a hand fired heating a 2,400 sf 150 year old house.

I'm burning 40 lbs a day in a Hitzer 82 in the basement. 60 lbs once if it is a fresh start. 92k output at max (not maxed yet) in a 1959 built house. Temp is 70 on the first floor and wife is happy with warm floors.

November usage so far- 110 pounds. The downstairs hit 80 * today. The wife finally said "oh my god is it hot in here" !

"The wife finally said "oh my god is it hot in here"" !
Now that's funny . Wives just rarely say that.