Wood / Coal Forced Air Furnace Comparisons ?

 
ktm rider
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Post by ktm rider » Fri. May. 18, 2007 8:46 am

I agree with Greg, I would go with a masonry chimney for sure. I had a 32ft tall masonry chimey built 2 years ago. I had $310 in materials and about the same in the labor. I got a great deal on the labor ( I know the guys personally) so, I wouldn't bank on it being that cheap for you. But the materials should be right around that mark though. Maybe a bit higher since it was 2 years ago.

My buddy put up a 22ft. stainless steel chimney the same summer I had mine built and it ran him about $2200 !! :shock: It already looks like crap and I doubt it last for another 10 years.. He is VERY hard headed and does not listen to anyone about anything.. :P

 
Bob
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Post by Bob » Fri. May. 18, 2007 9:01 am

ktm rider wrote:I had a 32ft tall masonry chimey built 2 years ago. I had $310 in materials and about the same in the labor. I got a great deal on the labor ( I know the guys personally) so, I wouldn't bank on it being that cheap for you. But the materials should be right around that mark though. Maybe a bit higher since it was 2 years ago.
Sounds like you got a great deal! A local masonry contractor quoted $50 per foot for a 8 inch lined concrete block chimney.

 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Fri. May. 18, 2007 9:15 am

Bob wrote:
ktm rider wrote:I had a 32ft tall masonry chimey built 2 years ago. I had $310 in materials and about the same in the labor. I got a great deal on the labor ( I know the guys personally) so, I wouldn't bank on it being that cheap for you. But the materials should be right around that mark though. Maybe a bit higher since it was 2 years ago.
Sounds like you got a great deal! A local masonry contractor quoted $50 per foot for a 8 inch lined concrete block chimney.
@ $1600, it is a good price for something that will outlast you and your appliance. Go with the masonary chimney.

 
ktm rider
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Post by ktm rider » Fri. May. 18, 2007 10:12 am

The trick to it is this. ( atleast for me) Do not just pick up the phone book and call someone. Ask around. Look for the guy that does alot of side jobs. I'm sure you know someone who knows a brick layer or a good all around maintenance man looking for some quick cash. . You said you were pretty handy so If you negotiate and tell them you will help out or something like that. To be honest, it didn't look to be all that hard to put up the chimney. If you are handy just grab a DIY book and have at it. I'm sure you can easily handle it AND save a TON of money if you are getting $50 a ft. estimates.


 
Tigermanrich
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Post by Tigermanrich » Tue. Sep. 25, 2007 4:22 pm

Hello kirkifer,
I bought a Vogelzang Norseman 2500 2 years ago. I had it sitting around for the first year and installed it and used it just this past winter. I had a lot of problems burning bituminous coal at first until LsFarm, Berlin among many other helpful users on this site helped me work out. I burned mostly bituminous coal along with logs every now and then. Some of the problems that I was having were:
1) Making coke and not burning the coal completely
2) Soot and smoke throughout the whole house
3) Clogged / restricted chimney from soot buildup

There were many modifications that I did to the furnace to help these problems, but I'm still not quite sure if I worked all of the bugs out due to the fact that it was getting pretty late into the season and was starting to warm up. I was told by many people and you will constanty hear it on this site is that these stoves are a poor design for burning coal. The fire box is designed poorly for burning anything except for wood. Depending on how big your house is also the output of the fans may not push enough heat throughout your ductwork. I have many posts on here that you can take a look at with problems that I've had along with pictures. I hope that this post helps.

....Rich

 
dirvine96
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Post by dirvine96 » Fri. Sep. 28, 2007 9:36 am

I would stay away from the Vogelzang Norseman 2500.. I installed a US stove product that is about the same as the Vogelzang Norseman 2500. I had nothing but problems and US Stove was no help at all. I'll go a step further and tell you their costumer service sucks. I struggled with it for about a month and a half. I was new to coal burning at the time and thought I justed needed more time. I never could get that stove to burn.
The whole time I was working with that stove I was on this forum getting help. Had alot of great advice. Finally I gave up and pull that piece of garbage out and installed a Hitzer hand fed coal furnace. I started a fire in the Hitzer in January and it only went out once before the end of the season and that was because I screwed up. It heats my whole house without a problem. When it gets to about 10 degree for more than a day I need to use gas to help keep the house at 70 degrees. The bottom line is its not set up to burn anthracite coal and isn't very efficient with wood. Their are stoves that are much better for wood than a US stove product.

Their I go again trashing US Stove, I will continue to do this so other fokes don't need to go through what I did.

I can't wait for it to get cold, the ducks will start moving and the coal will start burning.

Don

 
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LsFarm
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Post by LsFarm » Fri. Sep. 28, 2007 9:45 am

Hi Don, I assume you mean that the US stove product is not set up to burn anthracite?? The way your post reads is sounds like you mean the Hitzer, and I know you are happy with it.

There is a Keystoker furnace on Ebay right now:
**Broken Link(s) Removed**Good units, may work out for someone on the forum.

Greg L.

.

 
dirvine96
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Post by dirvine96 » Sat. Sep. 29, 2007 7:16 pm

Your right Greg. Is does appear that I was talking about the Hitzer. The Hitzer is a great athracite stove. The US Stove is the junk stove.

Don


 
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Ed.A
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Post by Ed.A » Sat. Sep. 29, 2007 7:36 pm

I will add to warn others....US Stove / Northern are not trusted names for Coal or Wood....trust me on the Wood thing.

 
drujinin
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Post by drujinin » Sat. Sep. 29, 2007 9:18 pm

We burn wood upstairs only because I haven't found a suitable coal stove for up there. I was going to say go ahead and plug into your fireplace chimney with a stove if you are going with alternate fuels for heating. This is what I have with a 32 foot chimney in the downstairs.
Any properly designed chimney that is up to "Code" is OK. Its the lack of care in burning alternate fuels that gets people in trouble. I clean the stell chimney upstairs between 2 and 4 times during the winter. Last winter running a catalyst stove we cleaned in the fall and once late winter/early spring. The chimney downstairs runs hot because we neverr shutdown a fire down there. We clean it in the fall from the bottom and once midwinter from the top to check the upper cleanliness for creosote build up. We haven't had any problems YET!
Stainless is used alot out in NYS to line old brick and poor concrete chimneys before they put coal stoves in.
I ramble too much!
drujinin

 
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Ed.A
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Post by Ed.A » Sat. Sep. 29, 2007 9:23 pm

I don't believe you ramble to much... good info for all.

 
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jpen1
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Post by jpen1 » Sat. Sep. 29, 2007 9:32 pm

You have that right US stoves wood burners aren't even safe to burn. They have a fixed draft and control the burn with a pipe damper. If a chimney fire were to happen there is no way to close the draft off to the fire which could have catastrophic results. I always cleaned the chimney every month but for those who don't these stoves are dangerous.

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