Hitzer 503 Coal Insert

Thanks to the great information I have received on this Forum, I am almost ready to order the Hitzer 503. But, since I have no experience with stoves, I have a question. Does the absence of an external shaker matter? Would I have more ash dust escaping than with a Harman? This unit will be in my family room. So, I am a little concerned.

As always opinions and shared experiences are appreciated.

I just called forum member davemich who has a Hitzer 503 insert.. he told me that he never had a problem with dust or ashes in his house from the stove... Dave reported that the chimney draft did a very good job of pulling the ash into the stove and not letting any out and into the room.



Hope that answers your question.

Greg L

lsfarm,
I am very happy with my 503 Hitzer!! Although I haven't used another coal stove before it seems to do a great job heating my 2200 sq. ft. home & garage. The internal shaker hasn't given me any trouble at all. I like the fact that it's not hanging out there. I was also impressed with my fireplace insert, because my grandson touched the outside of the stove & you barely could tell he got burned. The blowers take most of the heat out of the stove & put it in the room. I am also impressed with the price, it was at least $600.00 cheaper than a Harmon.

Thanks
Mike

Hey, this is Dave...I'm the guy that Greg called and yes, I can attest to the fact that my 503 is not prone to leaking ash into our living room at all except a little that falls to the hearth. Its heats my 1800 SF home wonderfully...when I use it. That brings me to a question to the previous poster whose grandson touched the insert. I ended my second to the last sentence with "when I use it" because I have a 16 month old son and therefore due to the obvious fear of him getting burned by it, I have not fired it up this winter. It pains me not to use it but my son rules! The outside temp on my insert with the blowers running and the damper almost closed on the ash door, is usually at about 170-190. Did he not blister up? I'm sure he cryed for a while but wow, I can't imagine him not blistering up!! That is great...don't take this wrong please...I just want to know what your setup is!! I would love to fire mine back up. I thought of blocking it with some sort of screen which Greg recommended but the wifey would have had a canary if I tried to do that. If she's happy...I'm happy!!!

Here an idea, put a gate around it...

There ya go Dave, show that to 'the wifey'

Greg L

Then put a motion sensitive alarm on it. So if any "little ones" start to climb or push on it you can be alerted to their actions and will soon learn to respect the stove.

I built a low picket fence arround 3 sides of my stove to keep the grandson from touching it. I made it out of used furring strips. When he got old enough not to need it, I made it into picket fence headboards for twin beds. Got good reviews on the results. I had told my wife that if we told him "NO" and he still touched it, that would teach him a good lesson in minding. She said that was a bit harsh.

How about one of them there underground fence systems that keep dogs in the yard?!?!?!?!? Adjusted installation to keep the kids away from the stove!!!

Just staple the fence wire in a perimeter around the stove, clamp the collar on the kids ankle and no more worries?!?!?!?!?


The more I think about it this is a system that can grow and adapt to the age of the kid!!
When they become teenagers, you can move the fence to the refrigerator perimeter!
And when they get their license to drive, just park the car inside the fence perimeter and they won't sneak off in it!

When my daughter starts to date I may just make her a necklace of the fencing material and clamp a shock collar on her date for the night!!!

Davemich,
I'm not sure how it was set up, but he did touch the front by the ash door. We did have a fireplace screen ( leftover from the fireplace days ) in front of it & figured someone could grab the child after he pushed it over & before he touched the stove. This may be cruel, but after the first burn none of my grandchildren have ever gone back for seconds. No I didn't allow it to happen. Who hasn't gotten burned in their life?

Mike

It's called learning,, we all do it... if it hurts, we quit doing it...

But telling a mother to let their child learn a lesson the hardway... probably means a month or two sleeping on the couch !!

Greg L

Thanks for all the replys...Mike, I agree with your logic of they'll learn once and never do it again. The wife is gonna be a tough sell but next fall is when I'm going to fire it up again. I miss the radiant heat!

Thanks to all for the info. I'll soon be on my way to the local Hitzer Dealer.

Bob

RX...if you ever need any help on anything with your 503...PM me and I'll feed ya facts! Good luck with your purchase...Dave

Same as what has been said, no problems with my 503 and ash. I just recently modified mine by removing the hopper. I get a much more consistant burning bed of coals than with the hopper. I can also increase the overall thickness of the bed vs just thicker under the hopper. Another thread mentioned sloping and I'm doing that too some, but just at the very front edge so it doesn't fall up against the glass. I'm also loading from the front now. When loading from the top (without hopper) some of the coal falls towards the front. Opening the front door then results in coal falling out. I made a rake for pushing the coal back out of some flat aluminum stock by bending a foot on one end. It looks cheap but it works.

John