Small Coal Stove Practical? Recommendations?

We live in rural Maine and have heated with wood for 30 years. We are considering a small coal stove to heat a small living room, 12 x 15 with ten foot ceiling. We are tired of carrying so much wood. We saw a small draft type coal stove online called "the Squirrel" as I recall. However, this room is trimmed fancy from the 1800's and a modern stove just does not fit the decor. We can spill extra heat from this room, but we don't want a stove to take any more room than necessary, so smallest is best, and antique is best if possible. Thank you for any recommendations.

Welcome! Always glad to see another Mainer. From what I've read and seen of others small antique coal stoves they are very practical and effective. You won't regret switching to coal regardless of which stove you choose. Those with more experience in the smaller antique stoves will chime in soon I'm sure.
Seeing the beautiful base burner stoves on here has really given me the itch to get one myself. I'm sure at some point I will have one too:)
Best of luck in your search!

I would recommend the Glenwood Modern Oak no. 114 or similar.

By similar I mean having the same design of triangular grate with cover plate on shakers. Lined fire pot of 14 inch diameter which lining reduces to 12 inch. Back pipe would be good but not mandatory.

Easy to shake with very little mess.

I would stay away from the many cheaply made Oak stoves of the period.

Agreed, a Glenwood 114 would be a good choice. If I remember right, it only takes up about a 24 X 24 inch space, plus the pipe coming out the back.

And, if it's a bit too warm in a room that size, unlike a wood stove that will build up creosote if you run it too slow, a coal stove can be run at low temps and the coal just lasts all that much longer before needing to be reloaded.

I think this one might still be for sale on Craig's List in New Hampshire.
**Broken Link(S) Removed**

Welcome, by the way.

Paul

Welcome fellow Mainah', check out this stove: **Broken Link(S) Removed**

it is a Treasure Crawford and made quality stoves.

What beautiful stoves! My, what speedy responses! Thank you! Alas, I'm afraid the Glenwood is too big for the space we have due to the location of seating and the chimney. Perhaps the Crawford is smaller? I would be happy to stick one of these in the middle of the room but my wife has a say in this and does not want a stove that big. It would interfere with viewing videos. (Yes, better to see the glow through mica! ) But family visits.....The footprint needs to be down to about 16" square if this is going to work.

You might consider a Chubby or a Chubby Jr. You can see what a Chubby looks like here...

http://www.chubbystove.com Hope this helps..

Hi Burt. Welcome to the forum.
According to me, most antique stoves were very good heater stoves and made to last for ever in opposition to a lot of ""modern gadgets"" we get today. Just like cars, many like some brand name while other like an other brand...
My Sunnyside Heater is probably one of the most ignored stove , 1874, and nobody know that company. But all I can say, that unit heats my 2,100 Sqf with 92 nut bags (40 Pounds), 6months and 8 days on the past Canadian Winter, keeping all the house warm, not only the room where the unit sits.
OK now, to make it short, I have a small base burner in a small livingroom, 16 X 10 and the small Golden Bride can be set to idle at a very low temp. and burn 12 hrs non- touch as long as you want it to do so. It's a small 12" and lined to 9.5".
One thing to consider is : do you want to restore an antique stove or get one already restored?
Both options have + and -. BUT, if you go for a restored one, be shure to get it from an HONEST antique stove restorer .

If you need 16x16" then the firepot will be 10-12". If your in Maine I worry about BTU output.
This is my Union Invader 2 and I don't think it has ever even been used (nor does Wilson of wilson woodstoves) . Great foundry and pretty as hell but again will that footprint push out enough heat for you.

Thank you for making a newbie feel very welcome. I agree on the older things being more substantive. know of a local stove restorer who is honest. However, I would rather restore one myself. We've got a decent array of tools, including three welders...but I would not trust myself on a critical cast iron weld without doing some reading. So rebuilding sounds fun. This room also has the option of oil fired hot water baseboard heat and so the question as to small being adequate is truly a space issue due to shape and traffic flow.

I'm excited to hear this is possible. And that the stoves can be shut down more effectively than wood. Sharon (my wife) is very weary of carrying wood and a continuing battle with Lyme has severely limited the use of a hand at times....smaller pieces in a hopper sound wonderful.

We get most our wood for free and run one wood stove all winter. (There is another in the cellar for when the power is out). But this room has a lined chimney, so to not put in something would be shortsighted. Plus the extra heat is so nice! So, I will look for these. Thanks!

In terms of quality, efficiency, design and esthetics of true coal stoves their is not much one can dislike about our early American models including Glenwoods, Crawfords & the like.

BUT...

Im going to totally honest here and say if your wishing to heat a 12x15 room with the stove, you would need to find the smaller fancy antique room coal stoves that were bought by the very wealthy of the day who could afford to have a coal stove in each room and the staff to run them (Fuller & Warren as well as many other companies made them).... VERY hard to find and even harder to find in restored condition (which it surely needs to be for you).... That not withstanding, I would suggest a simple and small, space saving coal stove that would easily heat that room... Chubby Jr. comes to my mind first only because its available, parts are still made, Larry is still available, etc. A Crane Coal Cooker (model 44) would also work fine, Petite Godin would also work fine (if you like that "parlor stove" look).

Just my thoughts and opinion to try and help out whatever your decision... best wishes

Unless this 12'x15' room has mostly glass walls, then one of the smallest coal stoves will do the job. Even a small 'Oak' style stove will be plenty. I have a small 'Oak' that has a small 9-10" firepot, and is only 36" tall. With such a small room to heat, even the smallest coal stove will be plenty of heat.

I think that $250 stove in Oxford is a real steal if the grates are not eroded away. I do see a wrinkle in the sheet metal barrel in one photo, so some work will be needed on the stove.

Greg L

Welcome !!

I kinda get the impression that you are not looking to greatly impact the heating demands of the entire house, just a little supplemental heat but more for ambiance? If I got it wrong please forgive. You are looking for heating capability but a small foot print. The ornate parlor stoves would do it but your looking for something that won't take up much room.

Could I suggest something in the pot belly line? There are lots of very decorative pot belly type stoves that have a small footprint and put out tons of heat. They just take a little more tending because of their smaller size. Depending on the ambiance your looking for they come completely plane Jane up to lots of nickle plate, finales, and lots of scroll work. Go to google and type in Pot Belly stoves and click on images.

Something more to throw in the blender of choices available to you.

Rev. Larry
New Beginning Church
Ashland Pa.

Get the Crawford with the indirect back pipe or similar stove. These stoves are highly efficient and can be operated at very low temperatures without losing the fire. They are extremely easy to maintain and operate.

I just paced off a space the same size as Burt is wanting to heat. It is a smallish space, anything more than a 1# coffee can full of coal burning in a stove will be too much heat, unless it's a screened porch.

So very small heater is in order. While Burt is in Rural Maine, that doesn't mean that he needs tons of heat output, it probably means that the room is well insulated !

Finding a small foot print stove will be the challenge, one thing we need to know is the way the stove needs to be hooked to the chimney. A back pipe stove will sit out into the room more than a foot more than a simple top vent Oak style stove. So if keeping the stove back against a brick wall with the chimney connection above the stove is the setup needed, unfortunately the back pipe type stove will not work well.
If the layout is a fireplace, then the backpipe stove will work best, it can most likely be put right up against the fireplace lintel and the flue pipe passes into the fireplace, an elbow turns up into and through the fireplace damper, which would be sealed off with a plate or fiberglass insulation.

Burt: if you can, sketch a floor plan of your room, with window and chimney locations. Or post a photo or two of the wall or corner you where would be wanting the stove to be installed.

An important consideration is what is the wall material in your room? if you are trying to preserve as much floor space as possible, then the stove will naturally be close to the wall or corner, and then the wall construction, and wall material MUST be fireproof and save to have a stove near it. Otherwise you have a dangerous potential fire situation.