Draft Is Draft, Not?

Hey all!
OK, so I have 2 stokers in my house which run with baro-dampers and power vent. Meanwhile, I'm setting up a huge D&S Machine stove at my work, which is a 10,000' insulated warehouse with 14-17' ceilings. If anyone is familiar with D&S Stoves, this is a "Basement IV" and I've been told its a 250kbtu unit. Needless to say, I'm excited to fire that bad boy up.

Aaanyway my question is this; Power vent kits are typically used for stokers, but is there any reason I couldn't use one for this bad mamma jamma? Draft is draft, isn't it? Another board member told me he heard you cannot use one for a hand fired stove, but I just don't see any good reason why not. With a damper set properly, I must assume this is not a problem, right? This is a rented premises and while we will probably be there for a number of years, I just don't want to go to the trouble of a chimney or deal with chimney issues like high winds (which we're getting a good bit of this week in central PA!!).

Any help appreciated as always!
Kevin

Mechanically, you are right, BUT....Well, ya see, there's a difference between a direct vent (like on a "normal" living room stoker, and a power vent, like you might use on an oil burner. A small stoker has very little coal on the grate at any one time. If the power goes out, the fire goes out very quickly. If you put a power venter on a 250K boiler and the power goes out, you will have a huge amount of coal that keeps burning and THAT is the problem. You guarantee a building full of carbon monoxide. It's bad enough for the cats & mice, but it really ticks off the humans when they all die before afternoon break is over. A power vent can be used on almost any size oil burner because it can be done safely. When the power dies, only the fire dies, not all the humans along with it.

ahh yes. That old chestnut.

You make a compelling point, especially since i'm in the pet business. Wouldn't be good for business to asphyxiate a few tens of thousands of dollars worth of inventory.

I guess I'm beginning the arduous task of putting in a chimney. Truth be told I kinda knew all along that was the right thing to do, it's just that plugging in a power vent would be so damn much easier. I built a hackneyed chimney last year for my Harman Mark II, but I know I didn't do it right. Where should I start with this little project of mine?

Must the chimney be triple wall? Or an I get away with double? I suppose I have to contact D&S to get stats for the damper and necessary pipe lengths et al. Also, is it OK to use black pipe indoors and double/triple stainless for the outside stretch only? Last year my black pipe chimney rusted out pretty good, to the point that this summer I poked one of the elbows with a broom handle and it split open and dumped a few pounds of rust out.

Sigh. Thanks for pointing that out though. Can't shoot the messenger, right?

Thanx
Kevin

Assuming the pet house is a business....are you allowed to build your own chimney? Here in Maine you can do anything at your house, but when it comes to a business you can't do anything at all that needs a license.

If it were me and I was looking for the best chimney, the best money spent, I'd be looking at a mason chimney. (they start on the concrete floor)

A lot of discussion on NOT power venting a hand fed stove. High winds should affect it much if you have it setup correctly. I have a 35' brick chimney and it has no problems with the winds around here. the baro does it job.

Power Vent a Hand Fed?

Can You Power Vent a Gravity Fed Stove?

Who said the Basement #4 is rated 250k btu?
My Basement #4 is rated at 130k btu...
The DS#4C Boiler is rated 250k...
The Basement #4 holds 175# coal...
If the power fails that is a huge amount of coal that will gas your pets and customers...
No power vent...
Chimney...

@Cape, I believe you are right. The chimney issue is settled, we'll be having one installed. I'm just not confident enough in my own abilities to do that yet so I'm having somebody do it for me, relative of the new landlord actually. As far as the heating capacity, the auction house where I got this behemoth had it listed as a 250kbtu unit, however, the chimney installer says he doubts it will put out that much, and seeing it next to my Harman mark ii, i'm inclined to agree. The service tag does not indicate the output, but if you say 130k I believe it. A little disappointing, but still the biggest hand fired stove this relative coal virgin has seen (only 2nd year burning the stuff), and of course I'm anxious to see it fired up!

The section this stove will be responsible for is 145x45 (6525 sq ft), with a sloped ceiling 15' on the low end, 17.5 on the high; walls and ceiling insulated. As no live animals are kept in this area there are only 2 goals for this; To keep it above freezing (preferably 45+), and since the animal rooms draw their return air from this room when exhaust fans run, to keep this return air as warm as possible. I still am confident it will do it's job. Even now with no heat in that room, it seldom goes below freezing out there.

Is there a formula to convert BTU's to how much they will heat in degrees and cubic feet?f

Heat loss caculation will answer the question on how many BTU is required to heat the space to a given temp.
BTU Heating Calculations, Manual J
If you have a DS Machine Basement #4 it is rated at 130,000 BTU hr...
That means it will burn in excess of 12 lbs/hr of coal when fired at max rate...
Pictures, dimensions and ratins of the DS Machine line...
**Broken Link(s) Removed**