Hitzer 30-95, 30-93 or Kodiak?

I can see I have stirred the Coal Gods in you. First of all, I realize that a coal stove needs attention a couple times a day. Wood burning also requires attention and more fuel in a shorter amount of time. Pellet stoves, if they work usually need tending to once every few days, except in the case that they stop working, and then you wake up to a cold room anyway.

My comment of having the fire needing restarting was based only on my being out of town, no more than a weekend or two a month. Thus the idea of having to restart it if it were to go out. Interestingly, several coal users on this forum have admitted that you can bank down both the Hitzer and the Alaska Kodiak, and though you may not be putting out a lot of heat, you will return nonetheless after a 36 hour of time to enough coals that you can shake, settle and add to bring the fire back up.

Do I realize that the house will take longer to warm up? Of course! The alternative is that I leave the electric baseboard on a higher setting. The point is, I have spoken to enough of you to know that once you get the method down, it does not take several hours to build the fire. It may in fact take several hours to bring the temperature of the house back up, but that is also why I will continue to burn wood. I can have a room warm and even hot with my wood stove in an hour or so.

I will always burn wood, as I have an endless free supply. It simply requires me cutting and splitting, which this past season has been difficult to do. With my twin boys turning 16 next month, they may need to get a little more involved during the season to help, but I see no reason why I need to go to a stoker stove, simply for the convenience of being able to leave it unattended for longer periods of time. What then happens when you lose electricity for 9 hours on cold wintry day? Do you have battery backup? generator? wood stoves? handfired coal stoves?

My request was to simply find out the preferred stove of choice. I have spoken to both manufactures, and feel pretty confident that either stove would work, as well as allow some wood burning during the early warm days of fall.

Thanks for your recommendation nonetheless.

John

Hi John, it sounds like you have looked at your situation from most if not all angles. While a stoker would be much easier to live with [be much less work each day/week], a stoker may not be what you desire or want to work with. [needing a backup electic source]

A hopper feed stove should burn a long time, much longer than a strict hand-fed stove. You have done your homework, and are not concerned about having to make a fresh fire ocassionally.

Because of the above, I think you will be happy with either of the stoves you are looking at.

Something else to consider, it would be very easy to 'train' either one of your sons, or a trusted neighbor to come to your house, add a bag or a bucket of coal to the hopper, give the shaker handle a shake or two. This would make a 36-48 hour burn time almost a sure thing. The variables would be the weather, and desired heat level in your house.

Having a wood stove 'on standby' would aid in bringing your house back up to comfortable temps, and it also sounds like you are not expecting a toasty warm house after 36-48 hours of 0* weather either. But I doubt that you see 0* very often either.

Managing and living with your expectations: I don't think you will be disappointed with either a Hitzer or Kodiak. They will both be a lot less work than a wood stove.

Greg L

Greg,

Thanks for the message. I know you have contributed greatly to this forum and for the record, I do respect everyone's opinions. Whereas I have been challenged to find a new girlfriend closer by, or told that my house will suffer while I restart the fire, in all cases, I will in fact save money over the electric heating units I have relied on the last 17 years.

In time, I may consider a stoker furnace. Until that time, I need to take calculated steps while I examine the pros and cons of heating with coal. Since I am not in a coal belt that is regularly serviced, I don't want to have to worry about circuits that don't work, or other mechanical pieces that have broken with no one to service them. Fact is, no one even delivers to my area without tacking on a huge fee. So, I really have to arrange to either go get the coal myself, or find someone to tag an extra delivery with more local to me. The most local lumber yard that carries coal is $6.00 for a 40lb bag. The place I hope to purchase my stove is about 50 miles away, and has 50lb bags for $5.50/

I do hope to get out to Bloomsburg in the next week or so to see a Kodiak stove fired up in person. Once I understand the proper steps, and see a Hitzer and Kodiak in person, I know I will be read to make the purchase.

Thanks again to all who read and respond to my inquiries. I will be happy to share my experiences once I am able to enjoy the warmth of coal myself.

Jersey John

If he gets a hand fired stove his next purchase will be a bigger match. A oxygen-acetylene torch. Makes short work of lighting a coal fire!

Yanche, there ya go again: advocating using a stick of dynamite where most of us use a firecracker

I have to admit, I too have rolled the Oxy/Acetylene torches over to a coal appliance to get it started, I'm all about instant gratification!! A piece of paper and a few sticks of kindling would just be TOO SLOW!!.

However: I've found that a 2-3" piece of road flare is better than the torch!! Thanks to whoever recommended that!

I think John is a very clear thinking guy who has done a lot of homework on the subject of burning coal instead of only wood and elecric-baseboard heat.

I'm sure John will be happy with either stove, and I do understand his desire to have an appliance that doesn't require electricity. I can imagine the concerns he would have when away from home, and learning that his home and neighborhood is without electricity. A gravity-fed stove would put a 'chesire-cat smile' on his face

John: I'm looking forward to your report back to us after your visit to the 'Fair'.

Greg L

Hello John I would look at either the kodiak or the Hitzer 50-93 the Hitzer 30-95 is a little small only holds 30lbs of coal 1800 sq.ft The kodiak is much larger and holds 120lbs of coal up to 3000sq.ft 15.000 to 100.000 B.T.U. The Hitzer 50-93 holds 50lbs of coal up to 2500 sq. ft. both have Optional blower the Hitzer comes with 210 C.F.M. and the kodiak has a 120 C.F.M. both are well bulit stoves in your case I think you would want as much coal capacity you can get being you are away for long periods of time also the Hitzer as Automatic draft control and the kodiak offers A Bi- Metal thermostat which will help you control your fire and burn time better good luck on you choice Oh both should be price around the same with out Options

coal berner wrote:Hello John I would look at either the kodiak or the Hitzer 50-93 the Hitzer 30-95 is a little small only holds 30lbs of coal 1800 sq.ft The kodiak is much larger and holds 120lbs of coal up to 3000sq.ft 15.000 to 100.000 B.T.U. The Hitzer 50-93 holds 50lbs of coal up to 2500 sq. ft. both have Optional blower the Hitzer comes with 210 C.F.M. and the kodiak has a 120 C.F.M. both are well bulit stoves in your case I think you would want as much coal capacity you can get being you are away for long periods of time also the Hitzer as Automatic draft control and the kodiak offers A Bi- Metal thermostat which will help you control your fire and burn time better good luck on you choice Oh both should be price around the same with out Options

The Kodiak with blower is only $1550 ($1400 alone), the 50-93 I was quoted with blower for $1750, obviously the Kodiak is much cheaper.

Well OBVIOUSLY ron it depends on what dealer you are talking to and where they are located at If you are talking to a dealer in bloomsburg pa well of course the Alaska will be less because they are made there less shipping or no shipping cost because they can pick them up at the factory Hitzer are made in Indiana so it all depends where the person and the dealer is located if the person is closer to Indiana well the the Hitzer will be less money it all depends on location and how much shipping is we are talking 200.00 between them plus the Hitzer comes with a bigger blower more cost

coal berner wrote:Well OBVIOUSLY ron it depends on what dealer you are talking to and where they are located at If you are talking to a dealer in bloomsburg pa well of course the Alaska will be less because they are made there less shipping or no shipping cost because they can pick them up at the factory Hitzer are made in Indiana so it all depends where the person and the dealer is located if the person is closer to Indiana well the the Hitzer will be less money it all depends on location and how much shipping is we are talking 200.00 between them plus the Hitzer comes with a bigger blower more cost

I doubt shipping is a factor to a dealer. I deal with Apple & Xerox, and both companies don't charge us shipping if we are reselling their product. Its built into the MSRP. Sure we could discount our markup. But I know for a fact from my dealers Alaska catalog, that the Kodiak MSRP is $1400

Well ron why then the Alaska dealer at the fair from sunbury pa told me that the blower was 125.00 plus tax and the Bi - metal thermostat was 76.00 plus tax and shipping When you buy the blower from the Alaska company it is 150.00 plus tax and shipping why because the dealer in sunbury are not buying the blower from the Alaska company they are buying from another manufacture the Jackel inc. J238 is what he is selling so he can sell them for what he wants to the blower from Alaska is a fasco 125A is a better motor made in USA not overseas so there for the dealer can sell the stove for whatever he wants to from whatever his cost is up to the MSRP like i said before it all depends what dealer it is and where he is located

coal berner wrote:Well ron why then the Alaska dealer at the fair from sunbury pa told me that the blower was 125.00 plus tax and the Bi - metal thermostat was 76.00 plus tax and shipping When you buy the blower from the Alaska company it is 150.00 plus tax and shipping why because the dealer in sunbury are not buying the blower from the Alaska company they are buying from another manufacture the Jackel inc. J238 is what he is selling so he can sell them for what he wants to the blower from Alaska is a fasco 125A is a better motor made in USA not overseas so there for the dealer can sell the stove for whatever he wants to from whatever his cost is up to the MSRP like i said before it all depends what dealer it is and where he is located

Seems to me that if a dealer is not using Alaska parts, blower, etc, then it voids Alaska's warranty.

alaska does some very strange things as a company. I live in bloomsburg so at the fair last year I asked the sunbury dealer about buying a Channing he said he could not sell me a stove and that if I wanted one I had to buy off the factory showroom because of where I live. He told me that every dealer must sell at the same price no matter where they are and all promotions must be cleared by the factory. For the most part in there case I believe it to be true becuase Bksaun and I paid the same for our stoves minus the extra option I added and he live in Kentucky. JC is right both the fans on my stove are Fasco and are quality made. Jackel fans are imports and are junk in comparison.

jpen1 wrote:alaska does some very strange things as a company. I live in bloomsburg so at the fair last year I asked the sunbury dealer about buying a Channing he said he could not sell me a stove and that if I wanted one I had to buy off the factory showroom because of where I live. He told me that every dealer must sell at the same price no matter where they are and all promotions must be cleared by the factory. For the most part in there case I believe it to be true becuase Bksaun and I paid the same for our stoves minus the extra option I added and he live in Kentucky.

That's not true. Sure, its what they want you to believe. When I first started looking in July, my authorized Alaska dealer in Milford PA, offered me the Kodiak at $1250. While another dealer in Honesdale wanted the $1400. He was willing to sell me for $1250 just to have my business. I couldn't decide then. Then in September, my dealer matched the other dealers $1400 price stating that due to the season, he could get retail and still beat other dealers prices. He wasn't kidding. The other dealer in Honesdale increased his price to $1475.

Also, according to Alaska customer service, they are not allowed to sell to the public, only authorized dealers.

Ron I bought my stove from the owner of Alaska stove company and yes they have a factory store where you can buy a stove. They want you to buy from a dealer if you live near one but you are not required to do so. And Yes If the factory catches that dealer selling it for that price without authorization they can pull his franchise at there discretion. The now retiired founder of alaska is a friend of my parents and that is a condition of becoming an alaska dealer. Also the factory has a home territory which includes bloomsburg, berwick, and there surounding comunities if you live there you can only buy from the factory. I also checked with a dealer from union county and he said he couldn't sell me a stove as well becuse he could loose his franchise/dealership.

jpen1 wrote:Ron I bought my stove from the owner of Alaska stove company and yes they have a factory store where you can buy a stove. They want you to buy from a dealer if you live near one but you are not required to do so. And Yes If the factory catches that dealer selling it for that price without authorization they can pull his franchise at there discretion. The now retiired founder of alaska is a friend of my parents and that is a condition of becoming an alaska dealer. Also the factory has a home territory which includes bloomsburg, berwick, and there surounding comunities if you live there you can only buy from the factory. I also checked with a dealer from union county and he said he couln't sell me a stove as well becuse he could loose his franchise/dealership.

I'm willing to drive to Bloomsburg, its only 2 hours. Can I get a better price at factory store?