Fireplace Insert in a Mobile Home

rt42 wrote: The only reason I thought of it is because I do have a small home and that I might not need a all the heat of a coal stove.

You need to make sure that the stove you get is sized for your house. Don't pay for stove capability that you don't need. I remember reading in previous postings that the only coal stoves you can find that are approved for use in mobile homes are stokers. If so you may want to get a Col-Trol. I'm not sure how they work exactly but they control your stove's burn so that your room temperature is maintained at a set temperature. They are nice, very nice. Do a search in the right hand corner on Col-trol for more information. It may come down to you burning your stove at idle most of the time because of the size of your house and the amount of heat the stove can put out - that's a good thing! That means you will use less coal and have fewer ashes to mess with and longer burn times.

Don't forget to send us pictures of your installation when you get it all done. Good Luck, Lisa

rt42 wrote:... I might not need a all the heat of a coal stove ... And I looked at the prices of pellets around here as well ...

Is your mobile home fairly modern and well-insulated? Your original post mentioned the Hitzer 503. The specs for that stove are 30,000 to 100,000 BTU. If it can only be throttled down to 30,000, I suspect even that will be too much for a 1000 square foot mobile home except on REALLY cold days. Which means it would drive you right out with excessive heat for much of the winter. A couple people mentioned Leisure Line stokers. I think they have models that will run automatically on a thermostat at 5,000 to 90,000 BTU, which should easily cover you from October through April.

I'm not as set against pellet stoves as some on this forum. I know people who are very happy with them. I think the key is to buy one of the really good brand names, not one of the $999 cheep-cheep-cheep models. In mid-Maine, somewhat North of you, pellet prices are competitive with coal, at least right now. Agreed, pellets take up more room and require more-protected storage and won't keep as long and are subject to variations in supply and in quality; but don't discount them out of hand as long as you have a good place to store them.

rt42 wrote:... do you think my existing chimney will work for a free standing stoker

I have a zero-clearance fireplace with a triple-wall chimney, which makes for three concentric pipes. My chimney outside looks exactly like yours. The principle of the triple wall is that the inner pipe is for flue gases; the surrounding second pipe is hot air heated by the flue; and the hot air rising by convection in the second pipe causes cool outside air to be drawn down inside the third (outer-most) pipe to keep the exterior cool.

I have gone through all that explanation in order to suggest that, at the low flue temperatures of a coal stove, your chimney may not develop adequate draft. Besides which it is not very tall, which also means less draft. So a power vent might be necessary. I guess you would need an installer who really knows chimneys to answer the question.

Sounds like a stoker might be in your future...
They can idle down to 5,000 btu/hr...
Very controllable heat...

CapeCoaler wrote:Sounds like a stoker might be in your future...
They can idle down to 5,000 btu/hr...
Very controllable heat...

I went to a dealer today to look at the stoves they had. According to them with a coal stove stoker the heat is not very controllable. I was looking at the Harman Super Magnum which has some kind of controls built into it. So to me it seems like it would be at least somewhat controllable. Anyone have any experience with either a Super Magnum or a stoker? If I remember correctly once the fire was going and the feed rate was set it was actually very even heat. It did take a while for the fire to ramp up or down. Any thoughts on this? Thanks.

rt42 wrote:

CapeCoaler wrote:Sounds like a stoker might be in your future...
Very controllable heat...

I went to a dealer today to look at the stoves they had. According to them with a coal stove stoker the heat is not very controllable.

Yes, "the stoves they had" is what they will push you toward. Stove dealers and car dealers -- can't believe much of what they say, some of them. Folks on this forum are not trying to sell you anything, and have direct experience with the stoves.

I went to a dealer today to look at the stoves they had. According to them with a coal stove stoker the heat is not very controllable.

Find a different sales person or dealer...

I would take it then that coal stoves are more controllable then I was lead to believe? With a stove running on low side, is it going to heat me out of the room? The living room and kitchen are pretty open and then it is just two hallways to the bedrooms on either side. I would think that the heat should move pretty well and somewhat even. Or I am just hoping to much?

Stoker with a coal-trol very controllable...
http://www.automationcorrect.com/
Hand fed needs the human to be in charge of the heat...

A hand fed is very controllable also but you have to learn how to set the air intake valve. Once that's done you can maintain the same burn and temperature for hours at a time without touching the stove. Find the balance between air input and heat output and you will love heating with coal. Lisa

Yes I had a stoker for a year and they are very controlable, ecspecially with coal-trol, they fire can get very small like a 1inch strip with out going out not much heat at all 5-7kbtu I believe. I would not trust the salesman that said stokers are not very controlable. Let me guess he also sells pellet stoves . A stoker would probably work for you cause I think some are mobile home approved, and you have good heat control which is great in a small area.
Have a great day, Eric

Thanks for all the tips everyone. That Coal-Trol thing looks quite interesting. I believe that even some Leisure Line models come with it from the factory. That does look like they way to control the heat nicely. When they said that coal couldn't be controlled to easily I did get a little suspicious. Judging by their show floor, it looks like the majority of their business is pellet based. I think that in my situation, between storage and the long term cost of pellets I think a coal stoker is the way to go. There is a couple of more dealers I want to check out in the area. One sells Leisure Lines so I am going to check them out and see what's what.

Coalfire wrote:Let me guess he also sells pellet stoves

rt42 wrote:Judging by their show floor, it looks like the majority of their business is pellet based.

Ha! Good call, Eric.

Coal wins over pellets every time, more BTUs per ton, costs less, and you can scoop a handful of coal out of a bucket filled with water and it will burn, try that with pellets! Just my 2 cents.

Thanks again for all the help. But I am going to need some more. So I talked with a stove installer today. He said that because the fireplace was factory installed that the chimney was specifically designed for use with it. And that therefore nothing else could use it. According to him, the fireplace was designed so that it cooled the outside of the pipe. By putting in a stove it wouldn't cool the pipe down and that would cause a fire. Apparently re lining it isn't a possibility either and the only way to go with a chimney is to remove and put in a brand new one. Any thoughts on this? I don't know too much about chimneys or exhaust dynamics so I am kinda clueless. But I did have a thought afterwards. What about using a power venter? I would imagine that a power venter install would be cheaper than a whole new chimney would be. And if I lose power the stove is useless anyways. Leisure Line does have a power venter on their website, and I have emailed them to see if it is approved for mobile homes. My other questions are, the exhaust that comes out does it smell at all? Is there any concern with pets? I do live in a mobile home park so my neighbor is not that far away and he does have a dog. I don't really want to smoke him out of his house. I appreciate all of the help and comments. Thanks again.