Hitzer 50-93 Questions

OK, so I have been looking at stoves for next heating season. I have done lots of research here on the forum, and I have visited several stove shops in the area.

I am leaning towards a Hitzer 50-93.... I saw one of these at a stove shop, but it was running, so I didn't get a chance to really look inside the stove.

Is there any type of secondary burn chamber, or does the stove pipe outlet just come right out the back of the firebox? I've been amazed at the reading people's experiences on here, with very high stove body temps, combined with very low stack temps. If anyone has pics of the firebox, especially with the newer model with the removable hopper, I'd love to see them.

Thanks!

I'd love to snap a photo but the Hitzer has been burning since Thanksgiving. 12 inches up from the elbow coming out the back of my HItzer on a day like today I can lay my hand on the pipe all day long. WInter months it is a little warmer.

Likewise LD, come another month, I bet you'll have all sorts of pix to look at. Just remind us so the post don't get lost.

Thanks guys, I'll have to give this thread a bump once stove season is over. I'm ready for spring, but I'm going to miss running the stove!

Hi LDP, there really isn't a 'secondary burn chamber', that's for wood burners that need the wood smoke to burn before it goes up the chimney and creates creosote.
In coal stoves, that area would be an addtional heat exchanger area. The Hitzer has a fan and double walled areas on the stove body where the fan 'washes' the heat off the stove body.
The problem with intricate heat exchanger passageways in coal burning appliances, is that fly ash will accumulate wherever it can. and eventually plug up the exhaust passage, and then you get CO problems.. or very poor draft.

On some of the antique stoves, there are many passageways, but they require cleaning to remove accumulations of flyash.

As long as you are not burning the stove really hot, the flue temps should stay reasonable. you do need a certain amount of heat in the flue, or it won't
keep the chimney hot enough to draft well. There is a balancing of 'wasted heat' up the flue, and the minimum heat needed to keep the chimney warm.
This is one reason that a chimney built inside the house instead of being attached to the exterior of a house drafts much better, it stays warm easier.

The Hitzer folks make a really stout, easy to use stove,, you'll like it.

Greg L.

Greg is right on the money about the inside chimneys. If you look at older homes up in the Northeast, you can see that they made sure the chimneys were not only inside the house but centrally loacted too. In my old house in coastal Maine, there are 3 chimneys and they are all inside and almost central along the roof peak. They all pass up through the upstairs bedrooms too. Also they built in good circulation for heating with stoves. Two staircases and quite a few 2nd floor grates. They even built south to north for favorable sun charicteristics. Oh yeah, and the Hitzer seems to be a popular modern stove with pretty good reviews.

One big plus I have, is my chimney goes literally right up through the center of the house, so I can snag some of the extra BTU's that go up that way. At the landing on the 2nd floor, you can feel the heat radiating off of the chimney during a hot burn!

Part of the reason I was wondering about the secondary burn was that I read the 50-93 instruction manual online, and I saw that it says bituminous coal is OK to use, as long as you're not using the hopper.

After a brief stint running bitty in my dutchwest, I noticed just how much heat goes up the chimney in the form of volatiles, when they started igniting in my stove pipe!

I really am not planning to burn bit regularly, but I still have several hundred lbs of the stuff here that I need to use somehow. I also have quite a few cords of locust, cherry, ash (darn emerald ash borers), and white oak currently seasoning in my back yard. When I first put in the stove, I was planning on burning wood with it... Then I tried coal I figure I can use this stuff in the 'shoulder' seasons in a 50-93.

LDPosse wrote:I was planning on burning wood with it... Then I tried coal I figure I can use this stuff in the 'shoulder' seasons in a 50-93.

Why hassle with the wood at all? Sell it, use the money to buy coal.

I hate to be the grim reaper on this--oh hell, no I don't. Now LD, understand that this is just one old farmers opinion. My Hitzer 50-93 is an older vintage & I know for a fact that the inner grate design has not changed. It was made specifically for NUT, that was the factory recommendation. Not Wood, not bit--NUT ANTHRACITE--if I were you and was planning to burn whatever came down the pike,- or whatever you have surplus of, hopefully not old tires, I would find a stove specifically made for such. If Bit is much more readily available to you, find an appropriate stove specifically for BIT. By the way, when you understand your stove, you will not have to change fuels on the shoulder months. Mine goes from usually the end of Sept till whenever these old bones think it's time to shut down.

freetown fred wrote:I hate to be the grim reaper on this--oh hell, no I don't. Now LD, understand that this is just one old farmers opinion. My Hitzer 50-93 is an older vintage & I know for a fact that the inner grate design has not changed. It was made specifically for NUT, that was the factory recommendation. Not Wood, not bit--NUT ANTHRACITE--if I were you and was planning to burn whatever came down the pike,- or whatever you have surplus of, hopefully not old tires, I would find a stove specifically made for such. If Bit is much more readily available to you, find an appropriate stove specifically for BIT. By the way, when you understand your stove, you will not have to change fuels on the shoulder months. Mine goes from usually the end of Sept till whenever these old bones think it's time to shut down.

Well my primary use would be nut anthracite. That's what I'm using now. Im about 40 miles from Superior and about 55 miles from UAE Harmony mine. I only bought the bit coal because I wanted to try it, to see what it was like.

I thought about selling the wood, but the nice Amish lady at the stove store (Hillside Acres Stove Outlet, Quarryville, PA) said they burned wood in their removable hopper 50-93 in the spring and fall. However, I know this forum is *the* de-facto source of coal burning knowledge, and I appreciate your input! Maybe I should unload the wood after all.

Pea coal is your friend...
Straight up or mixed in...
Range...
60/40 or 30/70...
That is how you keep it just right...
With the bi-metalic air inlet...
You can keep a nice low burn...
I dropped the Baro and just run a MPD...
On a short, 13', but 5' over the ridge; Metalbestos chimney...
It ain't that hard just gotta listen and learn how it's done...
Front of the stove is 250*, the top 350* and the stove pipe is 125*...
Mine is not a Hitzer, similar just a bit bigger...
The 'rents have a Hitzer insert and run Pea spring and fall...
You can burn the wood...
You just need a smudge stick after you do that...
Wood is fine to take a chill off on those random days before the season of coal...

I've got to disagree on that mix theory. The way to keep it just right is to learn how to run the stove properly & with all the input from fellow FORUM members, it took me one season to do that. Why would I want to do all that mix this & mix that when the stove is as simplistic to run as the 50-93 is? I've had this stove idling during 70* days and 40* nights--maybe opened a windowstat to let some fresh air in during the day.

I had planned on burning more wood than I do, but yep, I sold some wood. When I figured out how many days I could heat with coal compared to how many days with the wood, the money I could get for the wood, plus less work involved with coal, it was an easy decision. I do have to burn wood fall and spring or I'd roast. This non-winter we had I had to switch to wood today. I already miss the coal. Maybe I need a smaller coal stove or a bigger house for the shoulder seasons.

I just run Pea or Nut in the DS...
This winter it was Pea all 'winter'...
The mixin' works when the stove is not so tight...
Simple is better and if you don't need to skip the mixin'...

No arguement here. I'm just speakin of my experience with the 50-93.