Idling Along
- joeq
- Member
- Posts: 5739
- Joined: Sat. Feb. 11, 2012 11:53 am
- Location: Northern CT
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: G111, Southard Robertson
Given our current "warm spell", (guess Al Gore was right! ) in order to keep the house tolerable, turned the thermostat down to almost "0" on my Surdiac. Haven't touched it in about 8 hrs, yet the coals still look healthy. Heat exchanger temps down to less than 200*, draft a piddly -.03. Curious to see how much pea coal goes through the hopper tonite. If nothing more, Santa's reindeers won't have to worry about getting burned on my chimney tonite. Merry Christmas all.
- freetown fred
- Member
- Posts: 30293
- Joined: Thu. Dec. 31, 2009 12:33 pm
- Location: Freetown,NY 13803
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: HITZER 50-93
- Coal Size/Type: BLASCHAK Nut
HITZER's idling along real nice also. JQ, their callin for 20 mph winds plus 40-50-mph gusts from 1 AM till 7 PM tomorrow here in CNY--reindeer are gonna get a workout & then some
Woke up at 5 AM to the sound of wind wind and more wind. Got up and settled in with some coffee. My VC 2310 is on idle with nut coal and is about as far down as I dare to take it with nut coal. 250 on the griddle and 135 on the pipe. The living room and dining room is 72 with the indoor/outdoor thermometer reading 43 outside. Just right for opening presents in about 4 hours or so when Momma gets up.
- lowfog01
- Member
- Posts: 3889
- Joined: Sat. Dec. 20, 2008 8:33 am
- Location: Springfield, VA
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Mark II & Mark I
- Coal Size/Type: nut/pea
Me, too. We have another day in the mid-50s in store. The Marks Brothers are idled so far down it's real chore to make sure I don't lose the fire by the end of the day. Heck, I haven't seen the Blue Ladies dance for a week or so except during my refresh routine. It looks like we will be in the same general weather pattern for another week or two. That's ok, my coal doesn't have an use by date. Lisa
I'm still pretty new to this black rock thing, but I have finally been able to just "look but don't touch". For the last couple weeks it has been on a "once per day" feeding schedule. We have not needed a lot of heat, I have everything closed. Enough air leaks by to sustain the fire and the stove holds around 250 F, consuming about 30 lbs/day. I was going to let it go out a couple days ago, but with the rain and chilly nighttime temps I figured we would need a little heat and would end up using propane anyway.
Merry Christmas everyone.
It is more sad than happy here, as my son was killed last Christmas.
Merry Christmas everyone.
It is more sad than happy here, as my son was killed last Christmas.
- davidmcbeth3
- Member
- Posts: 8505
- Joined: Sun. Jun. 14, 2009 2:31 pm
- Coal Size/Type: nut/pea/anthra
I opened mine up all the way .. now we have a Christmas like on a tropical island !
lol
really, just idling ... 177F measured on top ...
still high 70's inside.
lol
really, just idling ... 177F measured on top ...
still high 70's inside.
- SMITTY
- Member
- Posts: 12520
- Joined: Sun. Dec. 11, 2005 12:43 pm
- Location: West-Central Mass
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520 Highboy
- Coal Size/Type: Rice / Blaschak anthracite
- Other Heating: Oil fired Burnham boiler
That's terrible Top Top - I hope you and your family somehow find peace this season. May God be with you.
I can't really relate to the idling thing, as I've joined the girly side with a stoker ... But I don't miss it ... I can tell ya'll that much!!
Supposed to be 60° today. Was 59° at 05:00 ... and now it's 52°. Rain hit hard earlier. Seems to let up for the moment. Hope that warmer air is coming. Today is the first day I got dressed without 3 layers of thermals!
I can't really relate to the idling thing, as I've joined the girly side with a stoker ... But I don't miss it ... I can tell ya'll that much!!
Supposed to be 60° today. Was 59° at 05:00 ... and now it's 52°. Rain hit hard earlier. Seems to let up for the moment. Hope that warmer air is coming. Today is the first day I got dressed without 3 layers of thermals!
- joeq
- Member
- Posts: 5739
- Joined: Sat. Feb. 11, 2012 11:53 am
- Location: Northern CT
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: G111, Southard Robertson
Like a lot of you, the temps in the 50s here today also. Even with my stove "almost" in reverse, my house is warming more than I want. And I refuse to do the windowstats, but the wife succumbed to it yesterday, briefly in the upstairs laundry room. I was thinking of putting some dry ice on top of my stove. Think that would help?
- davidmcbeth3
- Member
- Posts: 8505
- Joined: Sun. Jun. 14, 2009 2:31 pm
- Coal Size/Type: nut/pea/anthra
Fire up the stove all the way and turn on your air conditioning - let them battle it outjoeq wrote:Like a lot of you, the temps in the 50s here today also. Even with my stove "almost" in reverse, my house is warming more than I want. And I refuse to do the windowstats, but the wife succumbed to it yesterday, briefly in the upstairs laundry room. I was thinking of putting some dry ice on top of my stove. Think that would help?
[similar to old Steven Wright joke -- I borrowed it here]