What Does Direct Vent Mean?

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derbygreg
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Post by derbygreg » Thu. Mar. 08, 2007 9:46 pm

Two questions for a new member...
1. What does direct vent really mean? Do you need a full height chimney?
2. I went to the local stove dealer and he said he does not sell coal stoves because they require shaking. Are there any stoves that shake themselves?

Thank you,

Greg
Columbus, OH

 
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WNY
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Post by WNY » Fri. Mar. 09, 2007 8:22 am

- Direct Vent or Power Vent means there is a blower/fan to pull the exhaust gases out of the stove, therefore, not requiring a full height chimney, just a 4" vent to the outside. It keeps a constant draft on the stove.
Here is mine (just scroll down and you can see the blower unit and outside vent pipe)

Direct Vent Vs Power Vent...

- Non-Shaker - The term you are looking for is "Automatic Stoker", it automatically pushes the coal in, and pushes the ashes into the ash bin. Therefore, NO shaking needed. Your dealer needs to do some research.

Most of the Name brand stoves have Automatic Stoker Units (ie. Leisure Line, Keystoker, Alaska, Harmon, etc....) These types of stoker stoves have been around a while.

In fact, there were Stoker Conversion units that were sold way back (40-50's) to convert older hand fires home heating systems to more automated (Right Greg?).

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Fri. Mar. 09, 2007 8:45 am

derbygreg wrote: 2. I went to the local stove dealer and he said he does not sell coal stoves because they require shaking. Are there any stoves that shake themselves?
:lol: I'll assume he only sells propane/gas and pellet stoves? If he sells wood stoves don't let him give you line a baloney, there's more than few members here that have burned wood in the past and I doubt any of them would choose wood over coal if given the choice.

As mentioned above they make automatic stokers that require little intervention on your part, some will go 3 days without any attention. They are only limited by the amount of fuel you can put in the hopper and the space allowed for ashes.


 
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Post by LsFarm » Fri. Mar. 09, 2007 9:06 am

Hello Greg, welcome to the forum.

There are two basic types of coal stoves: hand feed and stoker feed.

Hand feed is like a wood stove, you have to add the fuel directly into the firebox and the fire. With coal this is usually done with a shovel or a bucket.

Stoker fed stoves have a hopper to hold a day up to several days worth of coal, this is fed to the fire by a mechanism, [there are several types] and the ashes end up in the ash pan.

As coal burns, the coal is reduced to ash. This ash tends to block the air getting to the coal, so in stokers, the ash is pushed ahead of the fresh coal, and the fresh coal has access to oxygen.

In hand fed coal fires, the ash will end up smothering the coal, and reducing the heat output of the fire. These units have a grate in the bottom of the firebox that has moveable sections, and there is a handle on the outside of the stove allowing the owner to shake the grate. The shaking gets the ash to fall through the gaps/holes in the grates and into the ashpan. This shaking is usually done twice a day, as part of the loading of fresh coal to the fire.

There is a thread here on the forum showing what some stoker mechanisms look like: What Does a Stoker Mechanism Look Like?

There are lots of photos of hand fed fireboxes as well. Going to manufacturer websites often will show firebox designs in line drawings.

http://www.hitzer.com
http://www.harmanstoves.com
http://www.keystoker.com
http://www.leisurelinestoves.com

Corn and pellet stoves are stoker type stoves, wood stoves are hand feed.

Hope this helps. Greg L

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derbygreg
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Post by derbygreg » Sat. Mar. 10, 2007 8:07 pm

Thank you for your comments, I never knew coal could burn so clean.

I have been burning wood for two years and am considering something with a longer burn time.

Once I get my new house, I will go check out a coal burning stoker in person. Wish I knew someone in Central Ohio who used one.

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Sat. Mar. 10, 2007 9:10 pm

derbygreg wrote: I never knew coal could burn so clean.
Be aware that most of the coal being discussed here is anthracite which does burn "clean", it may or may not be available in your area. You will most definitely have bituminous in your area but this does not have the same properties as anthracite and produces a somewhat to unbearable sooty and sulfury fumes.

Having said that some of the forum members use it exclusively and have relatvely little issues with it, guess the key is how you burn it. Some have discussed burning it in stokers but I'm not aware of stoker that is designed to burn bituminous.

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