Testing Time for New Coal Users

I disagree with coalkirk when he says: "....You just arn't going to be able to heat your whole home with a stove unless you have a very small home. You'll have rooms that are hot, rooms that are warm, rooms that are cool and rooms that are cold."
I own a 44x26' split entry ranch that,

The physics of heating a split entry or a two story are very different from heating a ranch or 3 story home using convection only. Also, placement of the stove makes a big difference on how even the heat will be. It's pretty tough to get heated air to travel 60' into rooms on the same floor and keep all the rooms evenly heated.

Consider yourself fortunate that you have a home design that works well with your stove placement. Not all do.

Central heat + backup? That works for me. Boiler + boiler, win/win situation. Hydronic heat is cleaner/healthier and a boiler is a more efficient/safer heat source. It is of course, more expensive to purchase but not to operate.

Ambiance?
I like a few logs in the fireplace if I want a central theme. I think the last fire there was Christmas 3 years ago.

Hey Guys! Just started my first coal fire EVER in my Logwood Furnace. Everything good so far. The only issue I have is I'm afraid to let the automatic thermostat take over. It's already 78 degrees in here & if I set the thermo for 78, the bottom draft damper will close. Will this end up killing the fire? Right now I have the door propped open slightly manually. Anybody have any experience with these?

I disagree with coalkirk when he says: "....You just arn't going to be able to heat your whole home with a stove unless you have a very small home. You'll have rooms that are hot, rooms that are warm, rooms that are cool and rooms that are cold."
I own a 44x26' split entry ranch that, while I wouldn't consider it a mansion, I wouldn't consider it a small home either at roughly 2200SF. I heat the whole house with just my Harman TLC2000 in the basement family room. I live in Massachusetts & it gets pretty cold up here in the winter. Granted, my hot water is heated via the natural gas fired hot water heater, but all my heat comes from the Harman.
Provided you bough a stove sized correctly for your home & through the use of a little inginuity, (strategicaly placed fans, cold air returns, etc) you can distribute the heat throughout you whole home pretty uniformly.[/quote]

Splits do work better than many floor plans for stove use. Of course you are also heating only two levels. I'm guessing that the room in your lower level where that Harman is sitting is warmer than most would prefer to get the upper level comfortable. Plus I heated with a stove for many years before switching to a wood boiler and finally to a coal boiler. I never liked having fans all over the place running either.
If it works for you, thats all that matters. It just when I read all the posts about "how to get the heat distributed", "adding water coils", "how do you get your coal to the stove" and such, it's plain to me that there are short comings with a stove alone. I'm just urging those who are new to the site and considering a stove to weigh all of the options. Yes, a central heater costs more but the payback is quick and the comfort level is very good. Matthaus point about a warm spot next to the stove is a good one. It's very cozy but puts me right to sleep. I have a hand fired stove in my work shop and if I sit next to it for awhile (add a few Yuengling black and tans), I'm yawning in no time.

My grandma heated her house with one woodstove in the living room. It was 90 degrees in that room, the kitchen was 60, the bedrooms were 50. We slept in the living room many a night I think that if central heating is the goal, look into a furnace or boiler. Anything can be done, but why try to duct a radiant device when they make furnaces for that purpose that work a whole lot better and are easier to install. I like to sit around a stove too, that's why I have a chair in front of my boiler.

I'm glad to hear i'm not the only one with a chair in front of my boiler.

coalkirk wrote:I'm glad to hear i'm not the only one with a chair in front of my boiler.

Mine has wheels on it.

While a coal furnace may be the ideal for central heat, I like my Harman TLC2000 because it is a good looking focal point for my family room, was much cheaper than a furnace & it heats the whole house to boot! This is the first year that I was convinced to use a blower on my stove & that has made all the difference. With the new blower, a few fans ( which are run only when it's very cold out) & more eggcrate panels added to my family room suspended ceiling, the basement may occasionaly need a slighlty cracked window (on warmer days) but I have managed to keep the whole house very uniform, both as to heat & humidity. I have turned on my central heater (FHA by gas) only three times this year, & each time to raise the heat by one degreee on the thermostat. (mainly to get the cool floor air circulated via the cold air returns) Last month's natural gas bill was $32.79 & that is with a gas hot water heater & gas cook stove)

im heating my whole house with my Harman sf250 its in my living room the house is 2200 sf. so far at the most I ve had it two turns open. it was 15 below zero the night before. the house was 72 not as warm as id like it but I don't want to go through lots of coal right now. some fine day I want to plumb on a wood coal boiler so I can use my cast radiators. but all in all so far so good.

bigchunk wrote:some fine day I want to plumb on a COAL boiler so I can use my cast radiators.

I fixed that for you. You can burn wood in almost anything, the same can't be said for coal. If you have any intention of burning coal, get one designed specifically to do so. A compromise design will compromise your level of comfort, and I speak from experience.

Devil5052 wrote:While a coal furnace may be the ideal for central heat, I like my Harman TLC2000 because it is a good looking focal point for my family room, was much cheaper than a furnace & it heats the whole house to boot! This is the first year that I was convinced to use a blower on my stove & that has made all the difference. With the new blower, a few fans ( which are run only when it's very cold out) & more eggcrate panels added to my family room suspended ceiling, the basement may occasionaly need a slighlty cracked window (on warmer days) but I have managed to keep the whole house very uniform, both as to heat & humidity. I have turned on my central heater (FHA by gas) only three times this year, & each time to raise the heat by one degreee on the thermostat. (mainly to get the cool floor air circulated via the cold air returns) Last month's natural gas bill was $32.79 & that is with a gas hot water heater & gas cook stove)

Sounds good! Plus if you had to, you could cook a hamburger or hot dog on the grill section in the top.

coalkirk wrote:

Devil5052 wrote:While a coal furnace may be the ideal for central heat, I like my Harman TLC2000 because it is a good looking focal point for my family room, was much cheaper than a furnace & it heats the whole house to boot! This is the first year that I was convinced to use a blower on my stove & that has made all the difference. With the new blower, a few fans ( which are run only when it's very cold out) & more eggcrate panels added to my family room suspended ceiling, the basement may occasionaly need a slighlty cracked window (on warmer days) but I have managed to keep the whole house very uniform, both as to heat & humidity. I have turned on my central heater (FHA by gas) only three times this year, & each time to raise the heat by one degreee on the thermostat. (mainly to get the cool floor air circulated via the cold air returns) Last month's natural gas bill was $32.79 & that is with a gas hot water heater & gas cook stove)

Sounds good! Plus if you had to, you could cook a hamburger or hot dog on the grill section in the top.

Harman advises only to use the grill area with a wood fire, though.

I would never cook on the Harman. First of all the (optional) cooking grill is only big enough to cook a small meatball & 2nd, why would I want to splatter grease all over the stove??? (I'f I am that desparate for a grilled hamburg I'll brave the cold & cook it on my gas grill)

Devil5052 wrote:I would never cook on the Harman. First of all the (optional) cooking grill is only big enough to cook a small meatball & 2nd, why would I want to splatter grease all over the stove??? (I'f I am that desparate for a grilled hamburg I'll brave the cold & cook it on my gas grill)

My thoughts exactly.

thats funny about the cooking thing!! I put some corn beef hash on a hot plate and cooked it on the top of my stove. warmed it in a matter of seconds. very tasty indeed