Best Stoker for Long Unattended Burn Times

I need a stoker stove for a large 2 story home. There is no chimney so it will need to have a venting system installed. I was looking around 100k BTU models. It will be in the back room of the house so the blower can heat the rest of the house. The house was built in the late 1800s and has the vent grates in the floor upstairs in the rooms.

Realistically when I am not there I will be trying to keep the house around 50 degrees or so in the dead of winter where I think it will be averaging around 5-25 degrees for awhile occasionally dropping to maybe 15 below at the max. The most efficient stove would help. I have been burning UAE and Direnzo nut coal in my Russo for the last few years but have no experience with rice. I appreciate the lower ash content coal from a maintenance standpoint.

If anyone can let me know what kind of burn times they can get with these type of stoves when set on low with a full hopper it would be much appreciated. I have been looking at Keystoker, Leisure Line, Alaska and Reading. If there are any other brands out there worth looking at please let me know. I was planning on burning rice coal. I have been looking at the Leisure Line Pocono but it may be out of my price range. I have heard people mention that the ash pail sometimes needs to be emptied before the hopper is empty on larger hopper stoves. I don't want to buy a stove with a 200lb hopper if it will only burn for 2 days before the ashes are full. I have seen a lot of 100lb hopper models and some options for 150 with the reading models.

In the future I would like to have a hot water coil. The room where the stove will be installed has plumbing that could be routed to the stove eventually.

rrob311 wrote:I need a stoker stove for a large 2 story home. There is no chimney so it will need to have a venting system installed. I was looking around 100k BTU models. It will be in the back room of the house so the blower can heat the rest of the house. The house was built in the late 1800s and has the vent grates in the floor upstairs in the rooms.

Well your first issue will be that any non chimney venting system needs a safety switch to shut down the stove if it needs to be shut down. So that could blow your long burn time right out the window.

rrob311 wrote:Realistically when I am not there I will be trying to keep the house around 50 degrees or so in the dead of winter where I think it will be averaging around 5-25 degrees for awhile occasionally dropping to maybe 15 below at the max. The most efficient stove would help. I have been burning UAE and Direnzo nut coal in my Russo for the last few years but have no experience with rice. I appreciate the lower ash content coal from a maintenance standpoint.

Problem # 2. The most efficient unit will be using a thermostat of some sort so it can cut back when temps rise outdoors. However depending on the configuration, and insulation in the house along with how tight the windows and walls are, if we get a cold snap with strong winds, it could suck the heat right out the house requiring more coal to burn to maintain even at 50*

rrob311 wrote:If anyone can let me know what kind of burn times they can get with these type of stoves when set on low with a full hopper it would be much appreciated. I have been looking at Keystoker, Leisure Line, Alaska and Reading. If there are any other brands out there worth looking at please let me know. I was planning on burning rice coal. I have been looking at the Leisure Line Pocono but it may be out of my price range. I have heard people mention that the ash pail sometimes needs to be emptied before the hopper is empty on larger hopper stoves. I don't want to buy a stove with a 200lb hopper if it will only burn for 2 days before the ashes are full. I have seen a lot of 100lb hopper models and some options for 150 with the reading models.

In the future I would like to have a hot water coil. The room where the stove will be installed has plumbing that could be routed to the stove eventually.

Almost every stoker in this size are listed as supplementary heat sources only. It sounds like you want this unit as a primary heating unit. And the only way to do that is to install a coal burning furnace or a coal boiler with water to air heat exchangers.

There are way too many unknowns in your scenario. And one of the first is how long are you going to be away where you intend to let this stoker run unattended ?????

Rick

I would like to be able to load the stove once every 3-4 days if possible. There is a forced hot air oil furnace in the basement which I intend to have as a backup in case the coal stove shuts down. So with all of the automatic features on the newer stoves high winds can harm the efficiency ? I was looking at the power vent or direct vent units that go straight out of the wall.

The windows are all old but the house has decent insulation. I will probably seal off most of the windows in the fall.

I think ashes are going to be more of a problem in just about any stoker than the fuel. My Keystoker 90 holds 100 lbs of rice but the generous ash pan would be overflowing and causing problems if I ever tried to burn all 100 lbs of coal, then running a hopper really low a hopper fire can be another concern. I have never had a hopper fire but others can respond to this issue, it can happen with all stokers if conditions are proper. I find emptying the ashes and filling a daily task even in the shoulder months just so one does not forget when it was done last.

Expecting a conventional stove to go for three days while supplying any form of heat above idle is not realistic. As noted your going to have more of a problem with ash than with the coal hopper. I ran a small Leisure Line Econo 1 and I could get three days out of the hopper if I dialed it to almost non-existent but it put me right on the edge of chimney reversal. That did happen one time while we were gone. I came home to that telltale sulphur smell and a 48 reading on the CO monitor.

If your looking for unattended heat for 3-4 days, solid fuel of any type isn't the way to go.

Rev. Larry
New Beginning Church
Ashland Pa.

To do what the OP has outlined would require a more substantial unit, like an auger-fed stoker furnace (or boiler with heat exchanger in plenum), perhaps with an ash pit. We did this one year to (try to) keep the pipes from freezing in our old house. Even with a decent furnace, distribution issues are critical. We still wound up with frozen pipes away from the primary hot air outlet.

Mike

That is the reason why insurance companies have a vacancy clause in them. X number of days with nobody there changes the status to vacant and the multi-peril policy goes away to fire and lightning coverage only.

Check your policy closely.

Rev. Larry
New Beginning Church
Ashland Pa. 17921

2001Sierra wrote:I think ashes are going to be more of a problem in just about any stoker than the fuel. My Keystoker 90 holds 100 lbs of rice but the generous ash pan would be overflowing and causing problems if I ever tried to burn all 100 lbs of coal, then running a hopper really low a hopper fire can be another concern. I have never had a hopper fire but others can respond to this issue, it can happen with all stokers if conditions are proper. I find emptying the ashes and filling a daily task even in the shoulder months just so one does not forget when it was done last.

Should not get hopper fires no matter how much coal is in the hopper. Just saying the draft and over fire pressure being off is the usual cause. I just don't want to scare new people away over a concern that a proper installation and design will avoid. Dave

Pacowy wrote:To do what the OP has outlined would require a more substantial unit, like an auger-fed stoker furnace ...

I had customer with a 12 foot ceiling in his basement, you could dump 10 ton into the bin and it would just disappear, the bin was angled on the bottom so it all went on the auger. He had an efm and that was on 2 courses of cinder blocks basically extending the base giving him a lot more room for ashes. I would imagine he could get at least 5 days out of it if not more. Perhaps putting something else on blocks might apply here.

Trouble with the efm is that it's not going to work with a power vent.

I will be looking to burn low ash coal. If I could get 3 days on a hopper while I am gone that would be great. I will probably be there 2 or 3 days a week. I am probably going to get 2 pallets of kimmel's bagged rice to feed the unit unless I can find a way to have 10 tons or so hauled up to NH from a breaker

There is an oil furnace in the basement but I would have to find a way to get a boiler down there through the dining room as there is no outside access. Then the brick chimney would need to be lined 3 stories. Short term would be much easier to but a stoker in the room central to the house.

rrob311 wrote:
There is an oil furnace in the basement but I would have to find a way to get a boiler down there through the dining room as there is no outside access. Then the brick chimney would need to be lined 3 stories. Short term would be much easier to but a stoker in the room central to the house.

How the hell did they get it down there now? Is it small? What are you going to do if it breaks in the winter and need to get something down there in a hurry? Sounds like it's time to consider a basement door.

Does the oil furnace have a decent chimney or is it the same one you are discussing? You can always power vent the the oil.

Something like a Keystoker KA-6 would have ample power, can be direct vented, comes with a big hopper and is narrow enough to fit down most (straight) interior staircases. Opening the bottom and mounting it over an ash pit might also be considered here, though it might make it difficult to load the hopper.

Mike

Easiest thing would be to find a friend, teach them what to do and let them take care of things.

Should not get hopper fires no matter how much coal is in the hopper. Just saying the draft and over fire pressure being off is the usual cause. I just don't want to scare new people away over a concern that a proper installation and design will avoid. Dave[/quote]

Agreed, just mentioned it out of caution.
Can we assume a factory install voids any questions, with manometer readings with a proper fire burning?
Not trying to start trouble, just want newbies to be sensible.

rrob311 wrote:
There is an oil furnace in the basement but I would have to find a way to get a boiler down there through the dining room as there is no outside access. Then the brick chimney would need to be lined 3 stories. Short term would be much easier to but a stoker in the room central to the house.

why would the chimney need to be "lined" for three stories? as with oil, the best thing for coal is to stay AWAY from stainless liners.