Topping Off...How Do You Know?

Yeah, though I do take longer to shake down an top off than most people. I'm anal, especially with cleaning out that little space between the fire pot and stove body.

that's OK as long as you're not over-thinking the whole process

Uh...oh....I think I may ave killed my fire tonight. I put in less coal this morning after shaking down. Then, this evening I waited till 1900 like I did last night to shake down again. The level in the pot was a little less than half. I filled up as usual but feel that I may have just smothered my fire. I've got the air open about 1/2 way so hopefully I can keep it going.

pull out the old Webster & look up consistency--Now--you can play all you want,BUT,I think you'll find that consistency thing pretty foolproof--same shake down times,same amount,as needed for top off--you seem to be letting this machine whip your butt experimentation is cool,but,a lot of these people on this FORUM,have been there,done that--a wise man learns from others mistakes and absorbs their experience

Nope. Not dead. Still going. Just got a little too close to the point of no return.

Hey, I've been pretty damn consistent except for last night and tonight. Just wanted to see how long I could go before shaking and recharging. Didn't think there was any harm in that. Usually I shake down at 6am and 6pm. Last night I went till 630 before shaking down and tonight 7. Based off of tonight's results, 630pm is about as long as I can go before having to fill it up. 12.5 hours running the stove at 500* all day. Not too bad.

Why are you running it so hot ? It was 54 degrees today.

It may have been 57* but due to humidity and wind it felt like 40* and because it's 35* now and will be in the mid 20*'s tonight and will be around 27* at 6 am when I wake up. I'll leave it at 500* when I refill in the am and when the house is warm enough for my wife she will close the air and set the stove around 350*.

I'm On Fire wrote:It may have been 57* but due to humidity and wind it felt like 40* and because it's 35* now and will be in the mid 20*'s tonight and will be around 27* at 6 am when I wake up. I'll leave it at 500* when I refill in the am and when the house is warm enough for my wife she will close the air and set the stove around 350*.

Sounds like your Chubby is a bit undersized for the space you are heating. I'm running my stove on slow idle and keeping the house between 71 and 74, depending on how I've set my air... My stove temps are running in the 200 to 300 range. When it gets much colder, I'll be running stove temps up to 625 or so. If you're running at 500 now to keep the place warm, what are you going to do when the outside temps go below 0?

dj

More than likely the same thing I've always done. Supplement with the oil fired furnace. Keep in mind too, I have a drafty house that is under renovation so I've got holes all over the place; though, the house is a lot less drafty now than it has been but it is still drafty. Not to mention, my living room and kitchen all share the same space. I should have a wall built to keep the living room separate from the kitchen in a few weeks. I've also got 11' ceilings too boot. I only care about keeping the living room warm.

Plus, I work with what I can currently afford. I was only able to buy a Chubby SR nothing larger. I'm hoping come tax season I'll be able to afford something larger.

I'm On Fire wrote:More than likely the same thing I've always done. Supplement with the oil fired furnace. Keep in mind too, I have a drafty house that is under renovation so I've got holes all over the place; though, the house is a lot less drafty now than it has been but it is still drafty. Not to mention, my living room and kitchen all share the same space. I should have a wall built to keep the living room separate from the kitchen in a few weeks. I've also got 11' ceilings too boot. I only care about keeping the living room warm.

Plus, I work with what I can currently afford. I was only able to buy a Chubby SR nothing larger. I'm hoping come tax season I'll be able to afford something larger.

Yea, same thing I used to do before I got my current stove installed. Run the small stove full out and have the oil furnace kick in as needed.

I just opened up all the space from living room to kitchen to back dining room.... My current stove heats the whole place, including the back bedrooms...

I'll bet you'll be one happy camper when you can get a coal stove big enough to heat the place and not have the oil furnace kick on... I know I've never been more comfortable ... The wife and kids love it even more...

dj

Yeah, my house was built in 1948 as a summer cabin. Up until 3 years ago it had very little in the way of insulation. Hell, it had very little in the way of walls. My wife and I decided to begin to renovate it. But, money has always been an issue so we've been doing things little by little as we get spare money. So far, we've removed the entire front of the house when we replaced the windows. We found that after removing the second old window that the front three walls had studs every 36" on center. So the entire wall had maybe 5 studs. One in each corner then 2 in the middle. This was over a 22' span. It was re-studded and insulated. My son's bedroom was the same way.

I've been looking at several models already, such as the LL Pioneer LE and the Hyfire II and the Hitzer 50-93. I'm currently leaning towards the 50-93 as it seems like it may work a in my house. Although, I'm kind of waiting too see if LL puts the furnace they've supposedly been working on into production.

Its definitely been difficult heating my home. But each year I get one step ahead of the cold weather.

I'm On Fire wrote:Yeah, my house was built in 1948 as a summer cabin. Up until 3 years ago it had very little in the way of insulation. Hell, it had very little in the way of walls. My wife and I decided to begin to renovate it. But, money has always been an issue so we've been doing things little by little as we get spare money. So far, we've removed the entire front of the house when we replaced the windows. We found that after removing the second old window that the front three walls had studs every 36" on center. So the entire wall had maybe 5 studs. One in each corner then 2 in the middle. This was over a 22' span. It was re-studded and insulated. My son's bedroom was the same way.

I've been looking at several models already, such as the LL Pioneer LE and the Hyfire II and the Hitzer 50-93. I'm currently leaning towards the 50-93 as it seems like it may work a in my house. Although, I'm kind of waiting too see if LL puts the furnace they've supposedly been working on into production.

Its definitely been difficult heating my home. But each year I get one step ahead of the cold weather.

That's all you can do. I've still got half the windows in this place to replace and a ton of other things. I've also been working on it little by little. Sometimes it feels like a lot by a lot that never ends... Then I get one thing done and something else breaks I hadn't planned on and there goes the budget for the next planned step...Next year is another year...

dj

I figured, the Chubby may not be enough to keep the house at 75* on those bitter below 0 days, but if it is just enough to keep the living room at 69 - 70 when I'm at work on a -30 day then it was worth it. It will beat the furnace running all the time and it will definitely win over the wood stove I had the past two years. Nothing frustrated me more than getting a new delivery of wood and not having enough time to stack it before snow fall. Then trying to burn wet wood. Oh, and don't forget getting a good hot fire and stuffing the box so full of wood before work and coming home to a dead stove and a 40* house. Only to have to fight with the stove for 2 hours trying to get it hot enough to hear the "ping" of the magnetic temp gauge when the clock spring in it decides to pop out of the back, because I've got the needle buried in the "over fire" side trying to get my house warm.

I may come home from work to a 69* or 65* house with the Chubby but at least it'll still be burning and is a lot easier to deal with. Plus, I don't have to worry if the coal gets wet. Because, it doesn't care.

Hopefully come tax season I can plan on either buying a dual fuel furnace from either LL or one of the other manufacturers or buy a 50-93 to put in the living room.

You'll do fine with your Chubby. You still are learning how to burn coal and this stove couldn't be a better one to learn on. You made a good and well reasoned choice when you decided to get the Chubby. For most of the Winter it should be fine for your needs. You just might have to push it a little.
It certainly is much better than running the Furnace and a million times better than fighting with a wood stove. Be content with your decision for now. You did good.

I'm On Fire, give the stove a chance to do its job. With a hand fired stove you control the heat output according to what you have the stove set at. If you want the stove to burn hotter then adjust the draft opening a little at a time till you get it where you want it. Getting use to your new stove takes a little time. You're doing a good job so far. Making ajustments a little at a time with coal can change things for the better. I would give it a complete heating season to see how the stove performs. There is a great amount of coal knowledge available from the members on this site that will help you along the way.