Benefits of a Hand Fired Stove

SuperBeetle · Post by **SuperBeetle** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 8:47 am

1. No electric needed

2. Very few moving parts

3. Can burn multiple and different size fuels

4. Extremely quiet

5. Can cook on the top or right on the coals

Please feel free to add to the list

Post by **ONEDOLLAR** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 8:49 am

Covers it pretty good I think.

6) Hand feds are MANLY stoves that real men use! Not that girly stoker stuff.

Post by **Lightning** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 9:16 am

I love my hand fed. I think there is some art and finesse that goes into operating one. It's rewarding to me

Carbon12 · Post by **Carbon12** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 9:33 am

MUCH less expensive than a stoker stove or boiler or furnace!!!

Pacowy · Post by **Pacowy** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 9:40 am

Carbon12 wrote:MUCH less expensive than a stoker stove or boiler or furnace!!!

Hey, are you even allowed to make that kind of manly talk when you've chosen to run a KA-6???

Mike

Carbon12 · Post by **Carbon12** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 9:53 am

After countless trips to the hardware store and HVAC supply house,....Yes! Lol! Copper pipe and fittings, PRV and back flow preventer, expansion tank, circulator, check valves, ball valves, solder, flux, hot air coil and lots of frustration entitles me! Fortunately I got the 4 year old KA-6 for (only) $2000.00. All the "accessories" cost about a grand more. The original asking price for the boiler was $3000.00 but I talked him down,...thank goodness. SOOOO,....it's all awash. House is nice and toasty throughout but I do miss my hand fired Hitzer 983.

Post by **franco b** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 10:17 am

Lightning wrote:I love my hand fed. I think there is some art and finesse that goes into operating one. It's rewarding to me

I think that is a major reason for most of the members of this forum. Even users of a stoker miss their hand fed. A fascination with fire is in our genes. Most people though just want heat and view tending as just another chore without any enjoyment to compensate for the effort.

Post by **dcrane** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 10:21 am

inexpensive parts that rarely fail (grate & piece of glass & a few feet door gasket pretty much sets it for life)
keeps you alive & toasty warm during power outages
can burn anything you wish to get rid of

can obtain some fantastic used stoves for literally pennies on the dollar and "know" exactly what your getting

DosDemiGod · Post by **DosDemiGod** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 10:24 am

I remember last year when I was shopping for my first stove, the salesman was doing his damn-est to sell me a stoker. I kept telling him I don't want something that will not work without electric. His response...come on..how often do you loose power and even when it does go out it is only for a few hours. Well I got my stove (Harmon TLC 2000) installed almost a week before Hurricane Sandy. We lost power for 10 days and I thought of that salesman every night as me and my family sat in the dark warm and toasty by my hand fired stove

In my opinion a stove should be reliable, flexible and ready when you need it most. Just my 2 cents.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 10:27 am

Well hand me my pink skirt - I'm going girly!

The novelty wore off for me after 5 seasons or so, but I continued on for a few more years. Didn't have a choice. Thankfully my good buddy Jim D. made the choice for me.

I've just got too much on my plate (namely trying to make a living), and the shaking, loading, waiting thing ...even though it was only every 24 hours .. was getting to be too much. By spring time, it was downright aggravating. I'd be going through my email, starting to nod off .. look at the clock and it's like 10:30 ... and I've got a pile of stuff to do the next day ... so start getting ready for bed .. then AWWW *censored*!! Gotta do the stove!!

I'd be so pissed ...

"Hey honey - can you do the stove for me?" "NO!!" ...... "AW *censored*!!"

In order to get a 24 hour burn, I had to get all the ash out of there, so it would take me 45 minutes to an hour .. and even longer if the draft was low .. to get the stove refreshed.

I love the automation of the stoker - best thing I ever did! Wish I had done it 8 years ago. Live and learn.

Carbon12 · Post by **Carbon12** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 10:36 am

Smitty,...if you can proudly go Girlie Man I don't feel bad. Stoker just makes sense if you're trying to heat a whole house. The hand fired stoves certainly CAN heat a whole house but are really best suited to heating less demanding spaces. I'm using a hot air coil installed in the oil furnace's plenum to distribute the heat. Already thinking of how to pipe subfloor hydronic radiant heat to the house or at least parts of it. Guess I'll just wait and see how my current set up works this winter. I'm glad you finally got your Frankenstein's Monster boiler installed before Halloween,.....and the cold weather!

It's Alive!!!

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 10:39 am

Thanks Carbon.

Getting that installed & running was a HUGE load off my shoulders. Now I can start trying to get caught up on the other billion things I had going on at the same time. That install took a large chunk of my time.

Bootstrap · Post by **Bootstrap** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 10:52 am

SMITTY wrote:Well hand me my pink skirt - I'm going girly!

The novelty wore off for me after 5 seasons or so, but I continued on for a few more years. Didn't have a choice. Thankfully my good buddy Jim D. made the choice for me.

I've just got too much on my plate (namely trying to make a living), and the shaking, loading, waiting thing ...even though it was only every 24 hours .. was getting to be too much. By spring time, it was downright aggravating. I'd be going through my email, starting to nod off .. look at the clock and it's like 10:30 ... and I've got a pile of stuff to do the next day ... so start getting ready for bed .. then AWWW *censored*!! Gotta do the stove!! I'd be so pissed ...

"Hey honey - can you do the stove for me?" "NO!!" ...... "AW *censored*!!"

In order to get a 24 hour burn, I had to get all the ash out of there, so it would take me 45 minutes to an hour .. and even longer if the draft was low .. to get the stove refreshed.

I love the automation of the stoker - best thing I ever did! Wish I had done it 8 years ago. Live and learn.

Wow. Well to each their own. Whatever works best for you I always say. The tending of my Hitzer is all of 5 minutes. 24 hour burns are no big deal in decent weather. Load up the hopper. Granted, with no power the blower wont work. And I'm not gonna run a generator just for that(I do have two generators).
I had a Harman. Good quality stove BUT.... The Hitzer is much easier to use. Tending times are much shorter, burn times are much longer.

MudFlapLip · Post by **MudFlapLip** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 11:08 am

I love my hand fired stove and heat my entire house with it as primary heat. The DS is in the basement and heating 3600 sq. ft. No fans, motors or other moving parts susceptible to malfunction. If the power goes out during a snow storm while I'm at work, I just smile knowing my house will be toasty when I get home. Sure I have a generator but that's more for the well, septic etc. There's nothing like opening the front door and hitting a solid wall of heat that has no inconsistencies and finds its way into every nook and cranny of my house. I'll take a hand fired over a stoker any day. Either way they're both cheaper than fuel oil.

SuperBeetle · Post by **SuperBeetle** » Wed. Oct. 30, 2013 12:02 pm

dcrane wrote:inexpensive parts that rarely fail (grate & piece of glass & a few feet door gasket pretty much sets it for life)
keeps you alive & toasty warm during power outages
can burn anything you wish to get rid of
can obtain some fantastic used stoves for literally pennies on the dollar and "know" exactly what your getting

You should see all the stuff I burn. Anything from cat *censored* to plastic.

Not much trash during cold weather I can say.