Hitzer Model 608 -- 7,000 - 90,000 BTU Range -- Really??

http://www.hitzer.com/products/stove/Model-608-Hi ... -I-Stoker/

Wondering if anyone has experience with this stove ... the range is quite wide & was wondering if anyone has experience with the low end (mid-fall or spring times) of the BTU rating (# coal used etc)

I have a 503 now but you all know how the temps fluctuate and we scratch our heads trying to decide when to let the stove die out ... the 608 may be an option for my next stove

Yes the range can be this wide. The 608 is a stoker, so the minimum BTU is what ever you can get it down to with out the fire going out which may be as little as half a pound an hour, that would give you around 7K btu.

Eric

On the flip side, a steady 90,000 BTU's (of input, what the wallet experiences) for 24 hours is in the range of 170 lbs. of coal burned per day. To achieve 90,000 BTU's as output (what the home experiences) would require more like 220 lbs. of coal.

When stoves (etc...) are rated, I believe they are speaking of input BTU's.

I would rather recommend the Hitzer 710. This unit is only slightly larger physically, but a much more capable stove and is more of a "semi" furnace. The 710 is double-walled on the two sides and the back, plus capable of 150,000 btu's.

The 608 is a very good stove, it's best feature is the double squirrel cage fan, which unlike some competitors, is centrally mounted and not mounted to one side or the other. When a fan is not centrally mounted, the majority of the cfm's blow over and from just one side of the stove creating an uneven washing of the heat from the stove.

lsayre wrote:On the flip side, a steady 90,000 BTU's (of input, what the wallet experiences) for 24 hours is in the range of 170 lbs. of coal burned per day. To achieve 90,000 BTU's as output (what the home experiences) would require more like 220 lbs. of coal.

When stoves (etc...) are rated, I believe they are speaking of input BTU's.

Interesting post ! I zipped over to the fuel comparison calculator and did some # crunching...

2000 lbs of coal yields 24,000,000 ... 1 lbs yeilds 12,000 BTU ... 7.5 # / 90000 BTU .... hence your calculation of ~170# to 220#/day (24 * 7.5) for constant 90,000 BTU ...

I always wondered how by actual BTU burning was actually producing ... Since I burn about 50#/day then I am averaging about 25,000 BTU on my Hitzer 503 (about the low end)...

Am I right? Or am I an idiot....

EarthWindandFire wrote:I would rather recommend the Hitzer 710. This unit is only slightly larger physically, but a much more capable stove and is more of a "semi" furnace. The 710 is double-walled on the two sides and the back, plus capable of 150,000 btu's.

The 608 is a very good stove, it's best feature is the double squirrel cage fan, which unlike some competitors, is centrally mounted and not mounted to one side or the other. When a fan is not centrally mounted, the majority of the cfm's blow over and from just one side of the stove creating an uneven washing of the heat from the stove.

Hitzer 710 is new?

I see on their website a notice from Jan 12 of this new product but cannot find its spec sheet online yet.

If you have a spec sheet link, please reply Thanks

I saw here that someone equated the 710 with the 82 .. but I see the specs on the 82 as being 100K BTU....

All we are doing is making BTU's to satisfy demand......whether it be with coal, wood, biomass, nukie, hydro, pellets, saw-grass, manure, etc. You have it figured out, NOW relax on the technical part, AND ENJOY AFFORDABLE HEAT!

Yes, the 608 will easily maintain the parameters you desire, as will Alaska, Keystoker, LL, and others, especially when equipped with a Coaltrol controller.

davidmcbeth3 wrote:Interesting post ! I zipped over to the fuel comparison calculator and did some # crunching...

2000 lbs of coal yields 24,000,000 ... 1 lbs yeilds 12,000 BTU ... 7.5 # / 90000 BTU .... hence your calculation of ~170# to 220#/day (24 * 7.5) for constant 90,000 BTU ...

I always wondered how by actual BTU burning was actually producing ... Since I burn about 50#/day then I am averaging about 25,000 BTU on my Hitzer 503 (about the low end)...

Am I right? Or am I an idiot....

You are right.

I doubt that anyone routinely taxes their stoves or boilers very much overall. If the appliance is sufficiently large enough for the home you might only need to tax it fully for 24 hours straight on the coldest day of the decade.

lsayre wrote:[
I doubt that anyone routinely taxes their stoves or boilers very much overall. If the appliance is sufficiently large enough for the home you might only need to tax it fully for 24 hours straight on the coldest day of the decade.

I don't have a problem on cold days .. its the nippy days of early spring & early fall .. (temps 50-60 outside) .. the 7K BTU range is what I was wondering if folks had experience with...

davidmcbeth3 wrote:

lsayre wrote:[
I doubt that anyone routinely taxes their stoves or boilers very much overall. If the appliance is sufficiently large enough for the home you might only need to tax it fully for 24 hours straight on the coldest day of the decade.

I don't have a problem on cold days .. its the nippy days of early spring & early fall .. (temps 50-60 outside) .. the 7K BTU range is what I was wondering if folks had experience with...

Since 7K BTU/hr is the normal idle temp, there would be no problem. Experience, you ask...On any given day there are plenty idle periods...if it didn't work the fire would be going out. Mfgr. wouldn't last very long putting out a product that wouldn't keep an idle fire reliably.

Does a Ford idle better than a Chevy??? Hmmm

davidmcbeth3 wrote:

lsayre wrote:[
I doubt that anyone routinely taxes their stoves or boilers very much overall. If the appliance is sufficiently large enough for the home you might only need to tax it fully for 24 hours straight on the coldest day of the decade.

I don't have a problem on cold days .. its the nippy days of early spring & early fall .. (temps 50-60 outside) .. the 7K BTU range is what I was wondering if folks had experience with...

Just remember with a stoker you have that constant fan noise. I assume your insert has fans, but you can turn them off. With a stoker there is no silence.

Eric

The Model 608 has heated our home for almost 3 years now. A little over 2200 sq ft. ranch. No basement, stove sits in living room which is pretty much in the center of the home. Previous two years about about 2 1/2 tons a year. This year is lower than the last two due to the warmer weather we are having here. If I had a basement to work with I may have done things different such as something with a duct top. For what we had to work with we love the stove we got. Side and rear clearance is good due to the way they built the stove.

looks nice !

I have a 608 stoker and LOVE IT!!! I use it to heat 2700 sq. ft house and hold day temp at 71 and night temp at 74 (have young ones and wife wants it warm for them). I am sitting about 30-40 ft from stove right now and combustion blower isnt heard over the TV. I use about 20 lbs of coal a day. This stove is amazingly efficient. With coal-tol at 99% firing rate my stove pipe temp has never been above 200 Degrees F. That is telling me the majority of the heat is coming into the house, not lost out the chimney. To move the air I use 2 ceiling fans, the 350 CFM blower on stove, and I have a powered fan in a return vent for the winter. (my house is very chopped up). I think an open floor plan with this stove and you wouldnt need any fans except the one on the stove. The people at the company are amazingly helpful when you call, and always return phone calls if they miss yours.

THE ONLY DOWNFALL>>>>If you want aesthetics out of the stove and like to see the fire/glow (doesnt matter to me) the door could use a better air wash system to help keep glass clean....Since that doesnt matter to me (I brush it quick when turn off to empty the pan) I have NO COMPLAINTS with this stove.

Interesting post about BTUs I'm using about 45 pounds per day which yeilds roughly 25,300 BTU per hour. Figure a modest 25% goes out the chimney probably then about 19,000 BTU per hour stay in the house. 45 pounds cost about $5.00 per day..

Wanna good laugh? It would require 4 - 1500 watt electric heaters to produce the same heat. Thats 6000 watts per hour at $ 0.125 per kilowatt. Works out to be $18 per day Propane at $3.00 a gallon is about the same!!!! incredible.....