How Much Dust to Expect?
I am new to heating with coal. I recently purchased the AK 110 to heat a 2700 sqft home. My wife is very concerned about the dust throughout the house. The unit will be installed in the basement and the return will either be tied directly to the cold air return from the existing heat pump, or I will use the cold air return I bought with the unit. Should I expect black coal dust to be all over everything?
- Rob R.
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Assuming you aren't pulling air directly from the basement, dust shouldn't be a problem...you DO have a Hepa filter installed somewhere right?
Keeping the coal damp or having it oiled will also reduce/eliminate any dust from refilling the hopper.
Keeping the coal damp or having it oiled will also reduce/eliminate any dust from refilling the hopper.
- freetown fred
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I have a hand fired right in my living area which I tend twice a day & with my taking my time topping off & carefully removing my ashes, I probably get more dust returning from the hay barn in the winter--NO black dust any where--do I dust? you betcha, but no more in the winter then in the summer--it's a trial & error process & by paying attention to advice I've gotten right here, I've pretty much gotten it down to an art--Did I trip over one of the dogs & almost drop my ash pan?? only ONCE--shot the dog & now I'm good--come on guys, that was Freetown humor
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I have an AK 110 in the basement and I am super happy. At the 20x20 intake to the squirrel cage fan I have Aprilaire as a prefilter followed by a MERV 13 filter (Lowes Filtrete 1900 ). No dust and the air feels great. This air is cleaner than baseboard, the only way to fly. Love that stove.
Last edited by coalnewbie on Mon. Aug. 27, 2012 11:55 am, edited 2 times in total.
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... and you complain about British humor????????-come on guys, that was Freetown humor
- anthony7812
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Wow friend you sound just as I did about a year ago. Once Jan hits and you have saved some money and are much warmer your wife will forget she even asked about this issueSSS33 wrote:I am new to heating with coal. I recently purchased the AK 110 to heat a 2700 sqft home. My wife is very concerned about the dust throughout the house. The unit will be installed in the basement and the return will either be tied directly to the cold air return from the existing heat pump, or I will use the cold air return I bought with the unit. Should I expect black coal dust to be all over everything?
- Lightning
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Dust?? What Dust??!!anthony7812 wrote: Wow friend you sound just as I did about a year ago. Once Jan hits and you have saved some money and are much warmer your wife will forget she even asked about this issue
- Lightning
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Good point Dennis, Its a matter of trial and error in handling the coal and ashes. For example I cut my dust down when dumping my ashes by 90% or more. What I did is cut a short side off one of the sides of my ash pan so when I tip it vertical into my ash can the ashes slide off easily and I quickly cover the ash can before the mushroom cloud of fly ash rises up out of it. The whole dump and cover takes about 2 or 3 seconds and its all a quick choreographed series of gracefully executed motions lol helps to be somewhat ambidexterous too, dump with right hand, cover with left, you get the picture lol You too will learn the tricks Luke hahahaDennis wrote:It will be as dirty and dusty as YOU make it. Do a search upper top right corner on dust and ash removal
- 2001Sierra
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I oil my own coal as it is added to my outdoor coal bin. I use mineral oil from tractor suppply sold in the horse section. It helps Trigger to poop I guess I use a fine mist as I add the coal. I also invert my coal hods into my hopper and then slowy remove them which keeps things to absolute minimum. I als take ashes out after turning off the Keystoker for a minute or so to let it also settle before removing the ashes and carrying them outside. Just a few tips, I am also thinking of changing my oil to vegtetable or peanut, I will be doing more research first supposedly one smells better outside than the other.
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With my AK stove in the basement coal dust is not an issue as delivered by the coal man nor is ash dust. With two ash pans you just leave one to sit for 24 hours B4 taking outside to empty. To repeat with this stove all dirt in the area will be sucked up and filtered by the Aprilaire in my setup. Frankly, I think advice you are getting here is good but mostly related to other stoves. I live with this exact stove and dust is not an issue if correctly installed in the basement.
Forgot to turn the blower off ONE time when emptying the ash pan. I pulled the pan from the bottom of the stove, closed the ash door, leaned over, picked up the ash pan and lifted it straight up into the air flow from the blower. Memories of the face and nose full of ash keeps reminding me to turn the stove off first!!! I also now know to ensure that I pull the rocking chairs away from the stove area. Tripped on a rocker and dropped a pan. Momma wasn't happy. None of these were the stoves fault or the fault of coal. All were simply operator error that I learned from.
- Rob R.
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Did you react like Fred and promptly smash & burn the chair?blrman07 wrote:I also now know to ensure that I pull the rocking chairs away from the stove area. Tripped on a rocker and dropped a pan.
freetown fred wrote:Did I trip over one of the dogs & almost drop my ash pan?? only ONCE--shot the dog & now I'm good--come on guys, that was Freetown humor