Felix 221 is coming

Coal bricks? are they held together by a binder? how much ash do you get out of them?

carlherrnstein wrote:Coal bricks? are they held together by a binder? how much ash do you get out of them?

The big ones you see here are made of ground up, dehydrated sub-bit coal. They were invented in the 1880s as a low-budget surrogate for the higher ranking bituminous coal and anthracite. Those were needed for the industry, the railways and the Kaiser´s navy, so the government would indirectly influence the consumption by raising the price for high quality coals on the one hand and subsidising the production of coal bricks on the other hand... There were - and are to this day two kinds of briquettes available: the large ones made of sub-bit and small oval ones made of the anthracite and bitumious coal fines that would have gone to waste otherwise.

The large bricks need no binder, unlike the small oval briquettes made of anthracite and bituminous coal fines. The specs say:

ash: 5-7%
sulphor: 0.6%
volatiles: 35-40%
energy: 19MJ/kg ~ 18.000BTUs

From what I´ve seen so far they keep their form, burn like hard wood for 1-1.5hrs, then turn to embers and stay like that for 2-2.5hrs and produce significant heat for 2.5-3hrs if I let them have enough combustion air to burn propperly.
Can get them to burn over night, too - it s a lengthy process, though! Can´t claim it s my invention either - followed grandmothers advice here: 4 bricks at a time, pack them closely together. Let volatiles burn off for 30mins, next layer of 4, let burn for 30mins, next layer of 4, let burn for 20mins. shut damper, reduce draft, place some glossy paper (our mailbox is full of advertising folders) on top of the coals. The glossy paper turns into a solid layer of ashes if you don´t disturbe it and insulates the coal underneath. 12hrs later: the room is comfortably warm, the stove is still hot to the touch and enough coals left to revive the fire.

Grandma seems to know stuff.

SteveZee wrote:Grandma seems to know stuff.

Gran´s been heating & cooking with coal and wood for a family with 5 kids way into the 60´s and uses a tiled stove up to this very day - you bet the old lady knows some tricks!

Hi Firebug,
I just bought a Felix #41 which I think is from the 1940's and I was googling the words
German Felix 41 wood stove and I found your posts here about Felix model 141.

I will be able to send pictures later but it is smaller than yours and is green enamel colored.

I am in Atlanta email 2scott@bellsouth.net

Do you think my stove was made by the same company ? I have not been able to find any
info about a Felix 41 anywhere in the world except for your post.
Thanks
Scott

Hey, Scott!

That might well be... my stove was produced by LUDWIGSHUETTE in Marburg (in the State of Hesse)- they were in business until the 1930´s if I remember correctly. The foundry was gobbled up by BUDERUS and for all that I know they (Buderus) did - and do still- export their stoves to the US. Pictures would help to determine if there are significant similarities between our stoves

Does yours have the name of the foundry on it like mine in the pic below?
Mark

Firebug,

That sure is a really nice green color on that stove !

Scott,welcome to the forum and don't forget some photos showing your stove.

Hi Mark, how do you do with the Felix ? Some ""blue"" burning fires?
Keep on posting.

echos67 wrote:Firebug,

That sure is a really nice green color on that stove !

Thanks a lot but that´s mainly the flash on my camera.... actually it looks much darker, more like a fir tree

Firebug-
Here are pics of my FELIX 41. This stove was brought over to the USA by a German family after WW-II. They said they keep the stove because it kept them warm
during the war and saved their lives. On the location where your stove
tells you the foundry name, my stove says "FELIX 41"

I do not think that is a foundry but rather a model number. Perhaps another
company made it and called it FELIX 41. The old lady that I bought the stove from who was little baby during WW-II does not remember where or when the family got the stove.

nortcan wrote:Hi Mark, how do you do with the Felix ? Some ""blue"" burning fires?
Keep on posting.

No, M.Pierre...
No blue ladies yet, it´s simply too warm over here!
So far we´ve been burning eco-logs and coal bricks, both successfully. 3 eco-logs (one to start the fire, 2 once its established) produce enough warmth between 6pm and 11pm during workdays.
The coal bricks do also work well, we ve been using them for more constant heat last weekend. They turn to very fine ashes and form no clinkers at all. In fact the ashed don´t even need to be broken up, very much like the ashed of a wood fire! So it is easy to get the ashes out of the stove, even with its very simple shaking mechanism. The only downside: coal bricks burn with long yellow, sooty flames for 45-60mins. So -like with wood- it gets very hot if I chuck in more than 4 at a time. But working in layers of 3 and repeating that 3-4 times gives enough heat for 10-12hrs if I cut down the air after the volatiles have burned off

preventec47 wrote:On the location where your stove
tells you the foundry name, my stove says "FELIX 41"

I do not think that is a foundry but rather a model number. Perhaps another
company made it and called it FELIX 41. The old lady that I bought the stove from who was little baby during WW-II does not remember where or when the family got the stove.

ok.... that´s a nice one!
looking at the ornaments I´d guess its a late 20s /early 30s art deco stove. if you take a look at the advertisement I´ve posted earlier in this thread: that looks very much like your stove with slightly different ornamentation.
FELIX is the name of a series rather than a brand. Foundries produced series named WALKÜRE / WOTAN /GERMANE / JUNO in various sizes, some for decades. The best example is Buderus JUNO series. It´s on the market for over 100 (!!) years now and has been adapted to changing styles over the decades.

Do you plan on using it or is it just for decoration? You could have the metal parts nicled, if you like a bit more "bling-bling"

Firebug-
I do plan to use it with wood since I must go at least 400 or 500 miles to find
any coal. I live in Atlanta, GA
Fortunately and surprisingly, it appears that I can insert rather long sticks or small logs down through the door at the top. I did not expect that of such a small stove.
The top hat folds back on hinges to reveal a hole that must be for placement
of small pots. The width of the feet at the very bottom is only 14 inches
and the stove itself I would guess to be 10 or 12 inches. I did not measure
yet. It is surprisingly heavy to be so small. My guess is the weight to be
90kg or 200 pounds.

It is difficult for me to search german language internet for Felix so I would
appreciate if you could google for Felix41 to see if you find anything.

Another thing about these tall skinny stoves, It makes me think that
these stoves burn hot much like the recently popular ROCKET stoves
that are being spread throughout the world because they are so
efficient at burning the smoke very well.

Thanks for your help
Scott

Scott

Try this link for coal in Georgia. http://georgiacoal.com/Georgia_Coal.html I think this place is about 100 miles from you or so.

While coal stoves will burn wood they don't burn wood all that great. Of course you don't get near as cold as we do up North either so that issue may be a wash.

Nice looking unit!
mark