Hitzer Fireplace Inserts

I am currently using a Hearthstone wood stove and thinking of converting to a Hitzer 503 Coal Stove Insert. Anyone have any experience or recommendations regarding the Hitzer?

This is my second year with my 503. It's a great stove with a great co. to back it up.
I shake it down and fill twice a day. I my case I burn about 40*+ of nut a day. Just a good stove for the money. I made my choice to purchase the stove with info from all the good people on this site. Good luck. Search for Hitzer 503 to find more info.

Thanks for the info. Two more questions if you don't mind.
How many square feet are you heating with your stove and if you got the brass trim- how is it holding up?

Ken

It's a great little stove....very easy to operate....reliable....go for it....
Check out this thread and search for others....
Hitzer 503 Installation Photos

The 'rents are heating about 2200 sq ft...
Gambrel built in '78, two stories with a large ell...
Main part of the house stays 72* upstairs 68*...
The ell will cool to 65* due to the distance from the 503...
60 feet...
The basement is an additional 1000 sq ft...
That got cold due to the fact the boiler now only runs to heat DHW...
50*...
Installed my old Mark II and now that stays at 70*...
They love the 503 and no issues with the trim...
We run about 6500 heating degree days...
http://www.builditsolar.com/References/hddmap.htm
Air circulation is the major factor in heating a house...
Good air movement and the house heats evenly...
The 'rents were a bit hesitant about coal burning at first...
But now they are 'all in'...
The 503 burns easy and they shake/add coal every 12 hrs...
When I offered the Mark II for their cold basement they jumped on it...
I upgraded to a larger stove DS Machine Stove Basement #4...
130,000 btu/hr vs. the 72,000 from the Mark II...
The 503 puts has an output of about 70,000 btu/hr...
If you have a large outside flue I recommend using an insulated flue liner...
Hitzer install manual has the max flue area as 85 sq inches before you need a liner...
A 12x12 flue has 144 sq inches, so if the flue is larger than 8x8 you should install an insulated liner...
Do a search for 503 in the hand fired section, lots of info...

2nd year with my 503. I love it, can't say enough good things about it.
heating 2000 sq feet can easily bring temp in house to 80 degrees if i want to on all but the coldest of days.Capecoaler is right about air movement. The key is to use small fan on low to blow cold air to stove and the warm air will move to replace the cold air but it does'nt work well the other way around