need advice

i was wondering if anybody could help me figure out something , i have a old franco belge stove max 5400 btu and it keeps my little ranch fome pretty warm , ahh right now i have it on setting 5 and my house is at about 73 degrees , stove is in the basement , looking at a leisure line econo 1 stoker with a max btu of 70000, do you think this new stove will compare in heat output and will it work as good as my franco hand fired stove , need help is the leisure line a good stove ?

first-timer wrote:i was wondering if anybody could help me figure out something , i have a old franco belge stove max 5400 btu and it keeps my little ranch fome pretty warm , ahh right now i have it on setting 5 and my house is at about 73 degrees , stove is in the basement , looking at a leisure line econo 1 stoker with a max btu of 70000, do you think this new stove will compare in heat output and will it work as good as my franco hand fired stove , need help is the leisure line a good stove ?

I recently replaced an old Franco B. with a Harman Magnum there is a difference between the two it's hard to describe, first remember the size of the fire in the F.B. was much larger than the little plate of fire in a stoker and the F.B. was a constant radiant heat the stoker is up and down and relies on warm air a good bit .

That being said, while the room that the stove is in is not as HOT as with the F.B. the entire house is warmer from the coal and the room the stove is in is more even temperatured the oil heat has run very little if at all as compared to the assistance it used to give the F.B.

Coal usage again is different as you know the F.B. uses a bucket a day sometimes a bucket and a half when I say bucket I reference the standard black coal bucket available in a good old American hardware store, the Harman uses most days two of these and every couple a days needs three and there are mild days when it only needs one

The L.L. is a well developed product line that is pioneering an interactive customer relationship that some of the other companies need to sit up and look at . Keystoker and Alaska have been around a long time and really know the bizz, Reading stoves are low cost and relatively new on the market but use time tested technology, Harmans are the heaviest built products and use burner technology different than the others and a clean glass system that works . These are just a few of the variations

It is important that when a new visitor comes here that he or she does not ever get the feeling that there is only one or two right choices to make, every company that manufactures a stove and markets it to the public has faith and confidence in their product and each one prolly feels they are the best for the market they want to reach. While I don't work in a stove company I am sure the folks that have designed them are also confident their unit will compete and perform with the other products on the market .

If right now one of my two stoves split up the center and I had to immediately tomorrow morning go out and buy a new stove I am hard pressed to make that decision because each one has some features I like I have been burning coal for many many years and been around it most of my life, I have also been here in the forum for a good bit and looked hard at every product to come down the pike, I also am very very opinionated and strong willed, given all this, it is still a tough decision to have to make cause there is some great stuff available.

Shop around a bit and get points of view on the one that appeals to you

If you want ease of operation, I would go with the stoker. My Channing never goes out, my wife can't get coal wedged between grates or screw up the fire like she did on the handfired while I was gone. But for heat output I personally think handfired units put out more heat. My brothers Harmon MK II puts out more heat than my Channing. I have also actually missed the work involved with handfired units and bought a harmon sf 150, drove three hours from upstate ny to mass and picked it up yesterday. I have not installed it yet. If I had to pick a stove for an entire heating season I would probably go with a stoker. If I had to pick a stove for one 10 below day in northern NY I would go with a handfired stove. Good luck

It's pretty hard to buy a bad or poor stove today, all the stokers are good, all the made to burn coal hand feed stoves are good.. The only questionable units are the wood stoves that 'also burn coal'.

You will find no problems with the Leisure Line or virtually any other stoker on the market. I agree with the above statements about radiant heat from a hand feed vs the hot air output from a stoker. Depending on how hot you want to keep the basement, you may find the hot air output from a stoker more to your liking.

You will find the stokers are much easier to manage, just load the coal, empty the ash pan, and if you get Coal Trol equiped stoker, you can just set it and forget it once it is dialed in.

Greg L
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Hi first timer,
Our econo is a 70,000 BTU input. That means it produces about 52-55000 BTU's when max out. A Pioneer is 90,000 BTU input, about 72,000 BTU output. Most coal stoves are rated at input, not really a far evaluation for the customer. Input ratings are at 100% eff., and that can't happen in the real world unless it vent free and is pure coal. Don't buy a unit that is too small and needs to work hard all the time. Rather oversize a little bit and take advantage of the coal-trol system. Just my opinion, that my wife says doesn't mean to much.
Thanks for joining the forum,
Jerry LLS

coalstoves wrote:
It is important that when a new visitor comes here that he or she does not ever get the feeling that there is only one or two right choices to make...

Just to note the manufacturers listed on this site are not necessarily endorsed by me, they are here because they have chosen to participate. Any manufacturer is welcome and I'm pretty sure I have invited all of them to participate at some point in time. I'll also point out the only thing they need to invest is time, there are no fees so there is no financial interest on my part.