DS Machine trip!

Made a trip this morning to DS Machine in Lancaster PA. These units do seem well put together and I believe there set prices threw dealerships are very good. I was talking to a younger man about the stoves and he was pleasent to work with. I am purchacing one soon, but I have to work on my air circulation threw ranch house 1st and decide if I need a DS1500WH (96btu) or DS1600WH (125btu).
My ranch has a 1100sqft unfinished basement with block walls and non insulated drop ceiling and 1400sqft living area above eqauling about 2500sqft.

I'd go with the 1600, but then I'm biased in that it is what I purchased.

I'm On Fire, what is the height that you measure from the center line of the flue outlet on the DS1600 to the floor? I'm trying to see if I can retro fit one of these into my fireplace chimney, replacing a wood burning FP insert that is presently in that location.

Mine is only 30" from the floor to the top of the flue outlet. When I ordered my stove I had Amos cut 3" off the legs so it would fit my fireplace.

I would guess, if one gave him enough lead time, Amos could custom make the outlet location, within some limits, to your specific requirements.

ridgeracing wrote:decide if I need a DS1500WH (96btu) or DS1600WH (125btu).

My very-rough rule of thumb is take the manufacturer's rating for a stove, divide by 2, and that is a reasonable and efficient burn rate without pushing the stove to its limits. So you are really deciding between 96/2 = 48KBtu, or 125/2 = 62KBtu. 48K does not sound like much for 2500 sq ft, especially with uninsulated cellar walls soaking up the heat. So my first reaction is, go with the bigger stove. You can get far more sophisticated about calculating heat loss from your house, and since you are just in the planning stage now is the time to do it. But be aware that a 96KBtu stove will NOT NOT NOT deliver 96K of heat into your house.

If it is a basement stove you are looking for I would look into the one I bought, #1627 basement model. It's more than plenty big to heat all your basement block walls and the house above, but can also be dialed down. Just a thought.

McGiever wrote:I would guess, if one gave him enough lead time, Amos could custom make the outlet location, within some limits, to your specific requirements.

They can't change where the outlet is on the stove. What they do is cut the legs down. I believe they are 4" legs that come on the stove. When I had mine ordered I asked for 1" legs.

I'm On Fire, how much coal does a DS1600 burn through when its just loafing along on a warm day? What is the most you ever recall feeding it in one day?

lsayre wrote:I'm On Fire, how much coal does a DS1600 burn through when its just loafing along on a warm day? What is the most you ever recall feeding it in one day?

When my 1600 is just loafing along on a warm day like today, it might go through a half bucket. The most would be a full bucket.

Mine DS is in my basement and live in a ranch.

Paisan wrote:

lsayre wrote:When my 1600 is just loafing along on a warm day like today, it might go through a half bucket. The most would be a full bucket.

Mine DS is in my basement and live in a ranch.

Thanks much! They sound capable of being rather frugal with the coal. Do they have adjustable bimetallic dampers?

My 1600 is in my living room. When I've just got it idling along it'll go through maybe a half bucket at 250º. When it's idling along at around 160º it'll do 24 hours on a few shovels. But when it's trucking along 500º+ I'll run a bucket and two shovel fulls in.

Right now I've got it set for about 350º and it does a full bucket.

I'm On Fire wrote:My 1600 is in my living room. When I've just got it idling along it'll go through maybe a half bucket at 250º. When it's idling along at around 160º it'll do 24 hours on a few shovels. But when it's trucking along 500º+ I'll run a bucket and two shovel fulls in.

Right now I've got it set for about 350º and it does a full bucket.

How do you set them for a particular target surface temperature?

That's done through the bimetallic thermostat. On my stove 2 on the dial is about 200º give or take several degrees. Right now I've got it set between 3 and 3.5 so it's actually running maybe 340º-350º.