Hitzer 50-93 newbie

First Post.

Brief history:

I lost my oil burner in my basement due to Sandy. This was my primary heating system (Hot water baseboard) My house has 3 floors third floor being my attic, which I don't heat. My first and second floor combined is about 2200 square foot. My house is a older house not the tightest. I purchased a Vermont Casting Vigillant II stove and found out right away it wasn't enough for my home. I did some seaching on the internet and thankfully I found this site, after a little rersearch. I called another stove dealer looking for the Hitzer 50-93, he had a used one that was a year old. He told me he had it in his house and it was to big it blew him out of his house.

I already had a hearth that I had a old wood stove on there for looks, never used it because it shared the same chimney as my oil burner. My croc is 8" and my flue is 8". From my croc to the top of my chimney is a about 20 to 23 foot in height. My stove sits in my firsts floor in the living room. I have 6" pipe coming out of the stove, I installed a MPD about 17" above the stove then I have a 90* elbow that goes to a 6' to 8" increaser sitting inside my croc, this is my set up.

I was a little worried at first with the Hitzer 50-93 that it wasn't going to be enough. I found out pretty quickly after I fired it up that it is a heat monster. questions I have I live in South Jersey, I see guys up north in harsher weather than me, seems like there burning less coal than I am. Questions I have are do you run your fan constantly, I do have my air intake at the ash pan door closed only open it when I light the fire, just looking for tips to conserve coal over the up coming winter months..

I'm heating a 2200 sq, 200 yr old farm house that's as tight as she'll get & going through 3--3 1/2 ton in the coldest of weather. I have probably uesed my blower 3 X's in 4 seasons & never open my ash door vents--that works for me, others leave theirs just cracked 1/8 moon. I also have a MPD & nothing else which is closed 7/8th except during 12 hr tending. I go through 40 lb (5 gal. pail) per day on an average, house stays a nice consistent 72*. You're right, the 50-93 is a heating beast. You're going to have to play with your settings consistent to your particular house set up. Make sure your gaskets are in good shape. I bought my stove used & replaced all the gaskets just because.

Bcon.I this is the second year with my hitzer and iam learning more and more! I have just under 3000 sq,ft (basement and first floor). I burned about 4 ton last year ,but after doing some fine tuning and buttoning things up a bit I hope to cut that down this year. you didnt say how much coal your burning a day .? Like fred said ,just have to learn how to fine tune the stove to fit your situation.

Bcon welcome. You say you are burning more coal that others, one thing to keep in mind is every home is differant (layout), every home drafts differant, every home circulates differant so in turn everyone uses differant amounts of coal. As Fred said how much coal are you using at 12 hrs tending? Use a bathroom scale to weigh your coal then just give us an estimate and I bet you will be right in line with everyone on average. Don't worry to much about this, once you have the full season behind you you will understand that you don't need to go to collage to run a coal stove. Best advice (common sense).

welcome to the fourm i have a hitzer 354 which is a 50/93 without the hopper,little more work,same kind of heat...luv it..iam retired so i need something to do...got to put chains on kubota today...i use a 5 gal bucket full a day,unless its realll cold then i use maybe an extra 1/4 bucket good luck with ur 50/93...even when u loose electric u will have heat neet...dont be scared to ask questions these guys luv em

Nice to see something positive come out of that disaster. I think you'll find, as most of us have, that you'll wish you had your "Columbus" moment years ago! Best of luck with your stove.

Thanks guys for the replies, Fred, Fastcat I've been using you two for a guide. I filled the hopper full at 5 P.M yesterday this morning at 5 A.M. I shook and added coal. I added a full 5 gallon bucket. However I did have my damper open more than usual 1/3 open. My stove was running at 350* and my stove pipe was at 200* and that was high. After I filled it I closed my damper stove is now at 300* and my stove pipe is at 125* which i usually see the stove pipe at. I have two magnetic stove thermometrs one on the right side of my stove in the middle above the firebrick, my other is on the stove pipe about 6" before the elbow.

Temps here are about 40's to 50's during the day and about mid 30's at night and I would say on average I'm burning a little more than a 5 gallon bucket I would say 1 full bucket plus another 5 gallon bucket 1/4 full. I would say my house temps are at 68 to 70* on average. Fred I will replace all my gaskets at the end of the season. I also will pay closer attention on how much I'm burning a day. I do use 5 gallon buckets fill them to the top. Fastcat I will weigh these as well for a guide. Chester thanks for you reply and will also pay close attention to you as well. Thanks for all your replies

SteveZee wrote:Nice to see something positive come out of that disaster. I think you'll find, as most of us have, that you'll wish you had your "Columbus" moment years ago! Best of luck with your stove.

Your not lying, the prices of oil these days I'm saving alot. One thing also downstairs there isn't enough baseboard the way my house is laid out. Upstairs would be 69* in the dead of winter and down stairs would only get to 63*. I'm heating both floors now and probably 1/2 the cost if not more will know for sure after the winter months. I'm not looking back believe me.

Where I live the only option I have is Electric, oil, propane. However there is a natural gas line that is ran it's stops about 1 mile from my house. there's ( rumors) that it will come through here. If or when it comes I will hook up to that and have hot water baseboard again I wil take my down stairs bedroom which isn't being used and turn that into a utility room and power vent my gas boiler. The gas will be my back up, when I go on vacation during the winter I will use it. My coal stove will have priority that's for sure.

Just remember Bc, that Chester guy, is from Erieville, they have their own lil coal cult over there-- Couldn't help myself chester You guys all have a very Merry Christmas

Bcon wrote:Thanks guys for the replies, Fred, Fastcat I've been using you two for a guide. I filled the hopper full at 5 P.M yesterday this morning at 5 A.M. I shook and added coal. I added a full 5 gallon bucket. However I did have my damper open more than usual 1/3 open. My stove was running at 350* and my stove pipe was at 200* and that was high. After I filled it I closed my damper stove is now at 300* and my stove pipe is at 125* which i usually see the stove pipe at. I have two magnetic stove thermometrs one on the right side of my stove in the middle above the firebrick, my other is on the stove pipe about 6" before the elbow.

Temps here are about 40's to 50's during the day and about mid 30's at night and I would say on average I'm burning a little more than a 5 gallon bucket I would say 1 full bucket plus another 5 gallon bucket 1/4 full. I would say my house temps are at 68 to 70* on average. Fred I will replace all my gaskets at the end of the season. I also will pay closer attention on how much I'm burning a day. I do use 5 gallon buckets fill them to the top. Fastcat I will weigh these as well for a guide. Chester thanks for you reply and will also pay close attention to you as well. Thanks for all your replies

Bcon wrote:First Post.

Brief history:

I lost my oil burner in my basement due to Sandy. This was my primary heating system (Hot water baseboard) My house has 3 floors third floor being my attic, which I don't heat. My first and second floor combined is about 2200 square foot. My house is a older house not the tightest. I purchased a Vermont Casting Vigillant II stove and found out right away it wasn't enough for my home.

...Glad you made it through the storm, my heart aches for everyone there. Welcome friend and congradulations on your stove purchase, hopefully you can sell the vigilant and buy more coal. If you find you are still burning more coal than you should let the folks on the forum know there are many possibilities and answers. Being closer to the ocean than I you could have a big draft, a manometer can help with that, stay warm Mike.

[color=#FFFF00][quote="Bcon"]First Post.

Brief history:

I lost my oil burner in my basement due to Sandy. This was my primary heating system (Hot water baseboard) My house has 3 floors third floor being my attic, which I don't heat. My first and second floor combined is about 2200 square foot. My house is a older house not the tightest. I purchased a Vermont Casting Vigillant II stove and found out right away it wasn't enough for my home. [/color]

Looking at the numbers you posted as far as outside temps and amount of coal in order to reduce the amount of coal sounds like the major problem is the tightness of the house. If you decide to keep coal as your primary heat source little by little you seal up and insulate things you should be able to cut your coal by maybe 1/3. I'm heating 2400 sq ft from finished basement and when we are at the temps you listed I'm using approximatly 15 to 18 lbs every 12 hours maybe depending on the wind. When you reload after the stove settles back out close the MPD all the way. If you haven't found the post yet that talks about the washer by the shaker handle try to look it up and that will help also. Please finish your profile so we know were you are, helps us when a question arises.

Bcon I also have the 50 -93 no fan model. Yes it really puts out heat. I have the stove on the 1st floor living area with 1200 sq feeet. The 2nd floor is 1400 sq feet and totally insulated. So far this season been using a bucket to 1 1/2 buckets depending on weather conditions.

Where do you get your coal? My B-I-L is in Union Beach and considering using coal in the basement. Hewas really hit hard by Sandy. 6 to 8 feet of water in the yard. Flooded basement and 3 feet up in the 1st floor. All of his tools in the garage and shed are a total loss.

Now fred ,be careful how you speak of Erieville . Iam not saying its a small town ,but we have "welcome to Erieville" and "you are now leaving Erieville" on the same signpost!

Smoker 858

I get my coal from Hermans Landscaping out of Wrightstown N.J. They deliver in one ton super sacks. I was buying coal in 40lbs bags from another dealer till I found Hermans. I'm burning about the same as you my house needs to be tighten up with all this wind today my house is very drafty I'm running now at 400* and my house it at 70*.

You could take her up to 500* and it wouldn't hurt a thing Bc if you wanted.