Kodiak Stove W/Hopper

New to Forum seeking information on the Kodiak Stove w/Hopper. Considering the Kodiak and would appreciate input from those that have purchased the unit, used it and what your experiences have been with it so far? What size coal do you prefer? It takes pea or chestnut. Does it make any difference?

Planning on using it primarily to heat the basement ( approx 1200 sq ft. ) possibly the whole house. The unit is manufacture here in USA and not far from Riverside where I live. Senior citizen with limited resources and would appreciate hearing from you. Thank you for your assistance and sharing this Forum. HC

Welcome to the forum!! It is kinda slow right now with not too many people on the board till it cools off. Be patient and someone with your make and model will chime in. Meanwhile type in your make and model in the search box in the top right hand corner and catch up on all the information already posted.

Hang in there and welcome!!!

Rev. Larry

This thread deserves to be bumped. I'm aware of at least one forum member who had burned exclusively pea in his Kodiak for a few years and likes it a lot. Hopefully he will chime in.

It should burn hotter with nut, and perhaps the best solution would be to burn pea during the shoulder months and switch to nut during the depths of winter.

That said, if you have limited resources, perhaps a DS Machine stove would serve you just as well, and be far less costly. The DS-1500 with hopper and the Kodiak with hopper share similar capacities and BTU ratings, and both are said to work well with both pea and nut. The Kodiak is a looker though, whereas the DS-1500 is sort of spartan.

Perhaps your best choice on a budget would be the Hitzer Model 50-93 E-Z Flo Hopper Stove, which is also a 100,000 BTU rated stove with hopper. Nice looks, built to last, and low price (not much higher than the DS-1500 and well below the Kodiak as I recall). Use nut (chestnut) coal only for the Hitzer, as for this one too much pea would fall through the grates.

If you can get the heat to move upstairs and spread evenly throughout the home, any of these stoves should be sufficient to heat a 1,200 square foot home (upstairs and basement). Heat movement (and cold air return) seems to be the main issue that must be solved if you choose the basement for the location of your stove.