Which Handfired Coal to Get With My Inheritance?

So we've been using an old surdiac, very dusty, pea size coal, not quite warm enough on 30F days when the wind is blowing.
But, as my mother passed this fall, I've got enough money coming to get a new coal stove! Yay!

So some questions:

House:
3200 sq foot
Bi-Level with stove in finished basement in the middle of the house (wood burner at the north end of the unfinished portion of the basement)
Flue is 8 x 12 ID
PEA coal, anthracite

Stoves looking at:
Kodiak w hopper out of Bloomsburg, PA - nice color selection
Hitzer, yes ugly but warm, could go with shiny gold looking door
Leisure Line, Pioneer?
Vermont Castings, Vigilant II a little small (2400 SF?)

DH wants to know which produces the least amount of dust in the house!
I want long burn times in between shake downs!

Advice? Advice, please!

-ellen

Get a big base heater. No question about it. A Quaker, Crawford, or Glenwood No 8. Also you can get a large oak stove such as a Glenwood Oak 118, Glenwood Oak No 40. Andes Oak, Herald Oak. All of these stoves will have more than enough capacity to heat your house with capacity to spare AND they have prismatic grates which are very easy to shake. You can shake these with the stove entirely closed and very little dust will get in the house.

They are extremely easy to operate as well. Last but not least they are beautiful works of art and examples of fine craftsmanship.

Ha! whsherrick I am watching your you tube videos on the Glennwood as I speak!
I was wondering about the BTUs...and most of all... how to get ahold of one in excellent condition and what price point they run at!
Why are they called 'Oak' stoves? they do burn coal correct?

The only hand fire I would use is a Harman sf 250 or a mark III used pea or range coal on the sf 250 the best stove I ever had as for dust if you burn coal you get dust ........

Jeff

I read one bad review on Harman, and then had a friend not like theirs, tell me please are there models of Harman to avoid?
although I see that a Harman 3 like you said is a base burner, so your recommendation goes with what wsherrick said about getting a base burner?

elleninpa wrote:Ha! whsherrick I am watching your you tube videos on the Glennwood as I speak!
I was wondering about the BTUs...and most of all... how to get ahold of one in excellent condition and what price point they run at!
Why are they called 'Oak' stoves? they do burn coal correct?

The big ones will put out well in excess of 100,000 BTU's per hour. All the stoves I have mentioned are principally designed to burn coal. Base Heaters operate up in the 90% efficiency range, they are the most efficient coal stove ever made to this day. The best thing about them is you will burn much, much less coal to get the equivalent heat from a box stove. Also they are very easy to control so they can be set to make the exact amount of heat you need.
They cost about 2 to 3 grand depending on the model. That's totally restored to like brand new.
Do a search here and read about all of the other people here who have gotten base heaters and you will see how happy they all are with them.
Call Doug at Barnstable Stove Shop or Emery at Antique Stove Hospital. You can find their names and numbers on the Internet. Look over their web sites.

doing that too as we speak!

more questions...I would like a cookstove but dh says they just won't heat a home, is this also true for antiques like the ones in barnstable etc?
I saw a description of a base heater you could rest your tootsies on a broad bottom and cook a pot of soup on the top or is that just a marketing gimmick?

wsherrick wrote:

elleninpa wrote:Ha! whsherrick I am watching your you tube videos on the Glennwood as I speak!
I was wondering about the BTUs...and most of all... how to get ahold of one in excellent condition and what price point they run at!
Why are they called 'Oak' stoves? they do burn coal correct?

The big ones will put out well in excess of 100,000 BTU's per hour. All the stoves I have mentioned are principally designed to burn coal. Base Heaters operate up in the 90% efficiency range, they are the most efficient coal stove ever made to this day. The best thing about them is you will burn much, much less coal to get the equivalent heat from a box stove. Also they are very easy to control so they can be set to make the exact amount of heat you need.
They cost about 2 to 3 grand depending on the model. That's totally restored to like brand new.
Do a search here and read about all of the other people here who have gotten base heaters and you will see how happy they all are with them.
Call Doug at Barnstable Stove Shop or Emery at Antique Stove Hospital. You can find their names and numbers on the Internet. Look over their web sites.

You will defenitally be at everyone's envy that enters your finished basement with the antique stove.About the dust, especially in a finished room is as how clean or messy you want to be.Get what fits your budget and has long enough burn times,with the BTU's needed.Sorry to hear about you mom and welcome

elleninpa wrote:doing that too as we speak!

more questions...I would like a cookstove but dh says they just won't heat a home, is this also true for antiques like the ones in barnstable etc?
I saw a description of a base heater you could rest your tootsies on a broad bottom and cook a pot of soup on the top or is that just a marketing gimmick?

That's why they are called footrests. I put my feet up on them everyday.
We just went through four days without electricity. I cooked full course meals on the Glenwood. I made pork chops, baked chicken, rice, potatoes, etc. I peculated the best coffee you ever drank, made hot tea. I made lots of hot water for washing and doing dishes. My Glenwood was a life saver during the power outages. So no it's not a marketing gimmick.

Say Dennis, thanks for the sympathy! she was ready to go at 90 years old and sick for ages, but of course, we miss her loads. We used to call her the Energizer Bunny, she only retired from working full time when she was 88 and had a stroke...a real gem and loved by many...she'd be happy to know we are using her money wisely...she grew up as one of the few homes with indoor plumbing as her dad was a plumber to the rich society homes on the Main Line

you're right on about the budget and the needs...as for the dust...what we have now puts a grey haze on the upstairs even, we just live with it now, but we have to do the shakedown with the door open or the glass gets thoroughly coated...I bet anything would be better than what we have now, okay not everything, not having a coal stove or even our wood stove burning and a power outtage would not be good...we so rely on our home heating that is off the grid...we love it

wsherrick, to cook do you swing the gold top off and use the round plate where the coal is loaded? For waffles and baked potatoes, how would you do that? We do baked potatoes in the wood burner ashes...

Hi Ellen,

As you can see by my avatar, I own a Glenwood Modern Oak 116. As William stated, thse stoves are extremely easy to run and control. They also put out allot of heat. I have a 226yr old house on the Maine coast with three chimneys and that 116 is on the middle one. It has been going for the past 3weeks now as of last Friday and easily hearting my whole house which is about 2500sqft of heated living space. It's really just been idling at 200 to 300 degrees and we've has several night in the low 30's and a couple in the 20's where the stove was set at 350. If you can centrally locate your stove then one of my size would be great for you. The largest size (one up from mine) is 118 with 18" firepot will heat your space with relative ease and give you long burn times because of that ease. I tend mine twice a day at 7am and 7pm but in all honesty, that's just a routine because there is lots of fire left in it after 12 hours. I also have a glenwood cookstove that's added in during the depth of winter more because I like having it on for cooking and it levels things out for my layout. I have no doubt that the 116 would do the job by itself if I wanted. All of the stoves William mentioned at great candidates with the base heaters being top of the line. If you get an "oak" stove like mine be sure to get one with a divided back pipe. This makes the stove more efficient and lengthens the flame path in a similar way to a base heater.

Yes you can cook with a base heater and the others. It's not a gimmick, as there is a burner under the finial on top and a smaller plate (tea kettle) on the back of base heaters.

Before I got this cylinder stove, I used my Glenwood 208C cookstove to heat a large portion of my house. They are good heaters and great cookers but will not burn as long as the cylinder stoves. My cookstove is tended 3 times per day (8 hours) versus the 12hrs (or more) of the 116. Here's couple pix of my two Glenwoods, both are 100 years old and going strong.

elleninpa wrote:wsherrick, to cook do you swing the gold top off and use the round plate where the coal is loaded? For waffles and baked potatoes, how would you do that? We do baked potatoes in the wood burner ashes...

The swing top comes right off, then you can cook right on top of it. You also have a flat plate in the rear of the stove that is DESIGNED to put a coffee peculator. My Glenwood No 9 Base Heater up in the living room has a dutch oven built into the top of it. You swing the dome to the side and that reveals the oven. You put the roast and fixins in there, put the top back over and have perfectly cooked pot roast.

elleninpa wrote:I read one bad review on Harman, and then had a friend not like theirs, tell me please are there models of Harman to avoid?
although I see that a Harman 3 like you said is a base burner, so your recommendation goes with what wsherrick said about getting a base burner?

the new stoker models for one, the sf 250 and mark 3 have bee the same for the last 20 plus years,

I had my sf 250 back in the late 80's and it was used when I got it and they even made a sf 350 back then

and I was heating a ranch style house at the time 3,000 sq feet give or take on about 2 to 2.5 tons of coal a year always burned range coal and yes the house was @ 75 deg all the time ......

I've had several Surdiacs, Efels, Franco's, a SF 260 Harman (120K). It is the most forgiving stove I've ever owned. It may not be as ornamental as others, but it just plain operates very well.
If you've played with a Surdiac all theses years, I should congratulate you. I never disliked any stove more than these very popular rigs.
If you want to simplify your heating life you can go with a fine stoker stove from CoalJack, Leisure Line, Keystoker, Alaska or Hitzer. Harman has a great stoker, but the sticker shock will probably cause you to 'stroke out'.
I get the heating with no power deal, but you have no refrigeration, lights, etc. I know the boys down east love those beautiful stoves AND they are eye candy while being extremely functional.......
but the 'museum quality' pieces are not for me.
If you don't want a new stove , but a newer stove, the doors are wide open........more of a lifestyle decision for you......

Ask away, folks will give their opinion.