New to coal

Greetings!

I am sure these questions will seem to be elementary and so simple it's not worth asking to many in these forums, but as I do not know the answers I am going to ask them anyways!

I am going to be bringing home an Alaska Kast Console Hearth stove and I am wondering just how does a coal trol work? I've figured out how to hook one up but that doesn't explain what it does. Is it a glorified thermostat? or is it something more? Please help out a Newbie!

Welcome to the wonderful world of coal. I don't know anything about a Coal Trol but thought I'd just say hi. The postings dealing with actual coal issues are sort of slow right now because most everyone is "out" for the year. If you post your questions someone will answer them but it may take a day or two. In the meantime, use the search box in the upper right hand corner to find answers to your questions. Also going to the Board Index and individual forums is good for developing understanding. Welcome to the club! Lisa

Thanks for the welcome! Right now I am looking at prolly burning coal well into may even early june as I will have puppies at that time and they need to be kept warm!

Good luck w/ your birthing---send pix of your new litter when available---I also do not have a Coal-trol so can't help there--someone here will get back to you I'm sure.Anyway,welcome to your new little community of coal burners.

The Coal-trol is a well designed and thought out device. I burned a hand fed for 27 years, and last year purchased a Keystoker 90 with the Coal-trol and all the bells and whistles as it being my last stove. It has performed very well. I went away for 2 weeks and my neighbor ran my stove while I was out of town. I told him instructions which could of fit on a business card! He had given up on coal long ago. His questions do I have to adjust anything, or anything else? Answer NO. It is like owning a horse, pour it in one end, and take it out the other, quite frankly nothing else. The Coal-trol manages everything else unless you are real technical like myself. My daughter claims I am lonely with the new stove because it does not need me like the hand fed. The Coal-trol with Energy-Star firmware offers plenty of settings if you are so inclined. I am a tweeker and the Coal-trol has some cool features. I am still burning today heating 2200 sq ft and a 1 car garage every evening. The Coal-trol knows how to manage everything. We would of had the windows open and dying with the hand fed in weather like this. Also power consumption is very low. I have a post elsewhere if you are interseted in those facts. Let me know.

It is something more than a traditional on/off thermostat. With an on/off thermostat you basically get two feed rates, idle and max. With electric, gas, oil, etc. type of heating appliances this works fine since the heat is more or less instant on and instant off. With coal, pellet, and other types of fuels the response of the appliance is much slower. As result an on/off controller will tend to overshoot and undershoot the temperature you've set for setpoint. This over and undershoot wastes fuel and creates an uncomfortable situation depending on the degree of temperature swing.

The Coal-trol is like a cruise control for the coal stove. It will dial up the same idle and max feed rates, but it will also dial up all the rates in between and home in on the rate that satisfies your setpoint. This reduces or eliminates over and undershoot, saving fuel, and provides a much more comfortable home.

If you're satisfied with your controls and temperature response, stick with them. We aren't trying to sell to people who don't want it or need it. But if you've got complaints or are curious if you can benefit from the Coal-trol give us a call at the shop (315-299-3589) and we'll be happy to discuss it more with you and/or take your order.

Coal-trol comes with a 3 year limited warranty and a 60 day money back guarantee, so it is no risk to try it out and return it if you aren't satisfied.

A word of caution: if this is a new Alaska stove, Alaska tells their customers that they void the stove warranty if you install a Coal-trol on it. Many have chosen to install the Coal-trol anyway, and we haven't heard of anyone being denied warranty coverage by Alaska as a result of installing Coal-trol, but we like to make sure potential customers installing on Alaska's go in knowing the risk.

Very interesting... I can see the advantages of the coal trol and the disadvantages for new Alaska stoves. However I have a fair amount of knowledge in welding and electrical wiring.. I find it hard to believe that something so catastrophic would go wrong with the stove that I couldn't fix. When is comes down to basics the stove is a big steel box with blowers and I am guessing either a gear box with linkage or some form of cam action for the stoker.. For the convience of the coal trol I'll take my chances with warranty lol

Thanks to everyone for posting and for all of the information everyone has lent me, I really appreciate it!!