Cold Weather Coal Usage

Stoker6268 wrote:I must be doing something wrong. @600 x24hrs I will easily go through 80-100 lbs...

There are so many variables in play that I am not sure one can gather much info to compare coal usage from one member to another. Like the big differance between Grafton , NH and Scott's location here in Taxachusetts.

joeq wrote:

lobsterman wrote:With the recent cold snap (low of zero) and being flush on coal, I burned with reckless abandon the past week. I just took inventory. Four bags of 40 lb Kimmels used, or about 23 lbs per day. This is up from my estimate of 15 lbs per day when we had 30-40 degree weather.

Lobster dude, you're saying your #6 will keep your home toasty warm, in zero weather, on 23lbs a day?! Do you live in a 1 room efficiency, or what?

Who said I was "toasty" warm? And zero was the extreme low for ONE night of that week. The others were in the mid-teens. I am heating 2-levels, 2000 sq. ft. I run the upstairs bedrooms quite cool, low 60s, what I like for sleeping. The downstairs is comfortable with an open family-kitchen-dinning room where the No. 6 lives. The living room is quite a bit cooler but I can light up anther fireplace if needed. If I want more heat for some reason (for example with company upstairs) I turn on the gas. My only comment is that in a very cold winter week on Cape Cod I burn about 50% more than in an average winter week. My house is not 80. Or even 75. It is around 68 downstairs. The thing about the stove is, if you want to be warmer, take a closer seat!

Stoker6268 wrote:

scalabro wrote:On average, I use a 40lb bag a day too. Now that nightime lows are below twenty or so I'm probably up to 50, but my house is nice and warm.

Much warmer than I could afford to keep it using HO.

For me it's 1/2 the cost of oil.

I must be doing something wrong. @600 x24hrs I will easily go through 80-100 lbs...

I don't keep the stove at 600 all day, lol!

All theory and math aside I have the 404 shaken sliced and banked up to the top of the rear baffle and have no idea how much coal I put in nor do I care. All I know is there is plenty in it till morning it is running at 600 on stove top it is colder than a ho's heart outside and my house mid 70's. It is funny on wood I would be delighted with 70 and now that seems a little chilly, how quickly we get spoiled LOL.

I understand about variables, and am not accusing anyone of "bending" the truth. I'm curious how many baseburner owners are burning 1/2 a bag a day in frigid weather, in an "average" house. You could kinda say it's a poll I'm taking. If 15 people say it's possible, I'm very impressed. I know these stoves are ancient mysterious marvels of heat production, but am amazed by the sheer size of them, that they could be that thrifty. My stove is a fraction the size of them, and I thought its diet to be relatively lean at 30-40 lbs a day in cold weather. And my house is in no means, "energy efficient".

joeq wrote:I understand about variables, and am not accusing anyone of "bending" the truth. I'm curious how many baseburner owners are burning 1/2 a bag a day in frigid weather, in an "average" house. You could kinda say it's a poll I'm taking. If 15 people say it's possible, I'm very impressed. I know these stoves are ancient mysterious marvels of heat production, but am amazed by the sheer size of them, that they could be that thrifty. My stove is a fraction the size of them, and I thought its diet to be relatively lean at 30-40 lbs a day in cold weather. And my house is in no means, "energy efficient".

1/2 a bag? I'm guessing a bag is 40 or 50 pounds? I buy bulk. I'm currently going through two coal shuttles a day. I weighted them the other day, they run about 25 pounds each. It's not overly accurate, but it's a ball park number. It's not too far off. Current outside temp is right now running about 7*F. I'm certainly not at 1/2 a bag... But, it sure seems that the #6 is pretty thrifty just listening to how much coal lots of folk use. My house is not very tight, although I have replaced all the windows and doors. I re-did the attic insulation. But that's about it. I'm in a 1950's ranch. When I moved in, it was VERY leaky. One of my daughter's bedrooms was like being outside.... I did fix that room. I'll only burn 30 to 40 pounds when the temps are up around freezing. Now, get the temps up above freezing and my usage really begins to drop.... I do keep a pretty warm house...

I actually think the size helps efficiency. It gives a lot more surface area to move heat from fire to room....

fwiw

dj

joeq wrote:I understand about variables, and am not accusing anyone of "bending" the truth. I'm curious how many baseburner owners are burning 1/2 a bag a day in frigid weather, in an "average" house. You could kinda say it's a poll I'm taking. If 15 people say it's possible, I'm very impressed. I know these stoves are ancient mysterious marvels of heat production, but am amazed by the sheer size of them, that they could be that thrifty. My stove is a fraction the size of them, and I thought its diet to be relatively lean at 30-40 lbs a day in cold weather. And my house is in no means, "energy efficient".

I burn close to 40lbs a day in my Glenwood No. 6 base heater . That's not running thrifty either . I keep my house , which is 1287sq ft , nice and toasty. I have no supplementary heat , no fans running . Just natural convection of this old farm house . I have no insulation under my house and a good size sunroom that sucks and is drafty that unfortunately is part of my living room . I have the old weighted sash windows , and my kitchen ceiling is not insulated . No modern updates, no central air or heat pump . Now with that being said : it is 75-80° upstairs which feels amazing , 75° in the living room and normally 65° in the kitchen and dining room. The kitchen usually goes up in the 70's when we cook . The cooler air always comes from the kitchen and dining room and pushes that hot air right up the stairs . The sunroom doesn't even feel drafty either . The natural convection of the Baseheater does wonders ! So I use zero electricity to heat my house which I think is something to brag about . And that's at temps in the teens . I'm not even pushing the stove . It's still on the low end of burning .

I haven't seen anyone on this site that wasn't "impressed" with these base heaters yet . It's like William always says " they are coal easy street" .

It's always hard to tell exactly how much I'm burning but I only open one bag a day . Plus if the fire ever does go out it will continue to heat the House for a good few hours later. This stove was worth every penny and then some more !

Also one more thing I would like to add . A lot of wood stoves and other stoves I've run into over the years at various peoples houses and even my old WM you can't sit by very comfortably . They are usually just to hot trying to heat the rest of the house . But the glenwood has the nickel skirts and interesting design. Those aren't just for looks they are what help create that convection to move the heat from the stove to the rest of the house . And that's why I can sleep right by it without dying !

When down near or below Zero, I run temp at just over 400, and that is 35 lbs a day. Warmer I can get away with a 350 temp and 28lbs a day. >> Really crazy I did try a small coal fire surrounded by ash, and used 10lbs/day for a couple days, but the tending and checking was crazy.
Its -6 here and 77 in the house, furnace fan in circulation mode. Stove at 430, stack at 179, and 36 lbs last 24 hrs with complete burns, almost pure white ash, very very few pieces.. I like it

Just put the empty bags out to recycle and 28 lbs. a day average in the last 2 weeks. I run it hard at night and while in shop cut it way back for me down to 300 to 350 on average, 600 to 650 at night. Mostly Blashsauck with some Kimmels during the day. I really not that fond of the Kimmels and for my house and my stove I can not get the burn tome I can with the Blashuack coal. Maybe in a different stove it makes no difference or even the other way around but I only have 1 house and 1 stove to chose from and fine with that.

ddahlgren wrote:Just put the empty bags out to recycle and 28 lbs. a day average in the last 2 weeks. I run it hard at night and while in shop cut it way back for me down to 300 to 350 on average, 600 to 650 at night. Mostly Blashsauck with some Kimmels during the day. I really not that fond of the Kimmels and for my house and my stove I can not get the burn tome I can with the Blashuack coal. Maybe in a different stove it makes no difference or even the other way around but I only have 1 house and 1 stove to chose from and fine with that.

At first, I wasn't crazy about how the Kimmel's burned faster either.

With time, that changed as I got to know how it would react under different conditions.

Now, I keep a bucket of it next to the stove.

I use it mixed in with the Blaschak during the day. Being it cost me less per pound it helps lower my daily cost to heat. And by mixing it at about 25/75 Kimmel's to Blaschak, the mix reacts like straight Blaschak.

To "wake up" the stove first thing in the morning, I put a couple of shovels of Kimmel's on top of the fire. It lights faster and gets the stove up to daytime temps much quicker.

If I forgot to tend the stove and have a near dead fire, using Kimmel's will bring the fire back almost as quickly as using wood kindling.

When relighting the stove, once the charcoal is going, I use straight Kimmel's. That knocks about 15 minutes off getting the firebox filled with burning coal and the stove up to temp. Then I just add the Blaschak/Kimmel's mix when needed there after.

So, while Blaschak bulk does the "bulk' of the heating, knowing when and how to make the best use of the Kimmel's has definitely helped.

I won't hesitate to buy more Kimmel's if TS is selling it next season at a decent price, just so that I have it on hand to help.

Paul

I agree Paul itis another tool in the toolbox. I have about 20 lbs. of dry dust kimmels in it's own container set aside for 'rescue coal'. You pros may have the one match club but I think we need to have a yearly winner for who saved the most fires and bet I am in the running for that one. I have made about every pickle head move so far. If nothing else it makes you creative as to how to save yourself from a total restart. I have the box of dry Kimmels some kindling and newspaper as wepoens to get it back and a couple of home made pokers to selectively poke from the top rather than shake and lose all the still hot ashes closing of the dead spots so air does not bypass them. The only thing I have avoided so far is a 'puff back' as I have been relious about leaving some hot cols showing on a reload.

I will have to try your 25% kimmels to 75% Blashauck mix and see how that goes tomorrow during the day. Tonight it is going to be cold and rather have the known reliable coal. It is getting pretty nip right now to be honest so will let it burn down a few hours so the top off will be mostly Blashauck.

Depends on your draft strength. My range and chimney system has rather strong draft, so I use less Kimmel's and more Blaschak to keep the draft strength in ..... "chak".

Randy (Photog200) has done similar experimenting with his range, which being in his garage has with less draft strength. He can get basically the same results as me by using a 50/50 mix.

Experiment with the mix ratio and your stove will let you know what it likes best.

Paul

ddahlgren wrote: I think we need to have a yearly winner for who saved the most fires and bet I am in the running for that one.

You must be kidding. This was a morning ritual for me for the past couple years. You know how bad my stove is? When I have to go outside to M/T the trash, I have to restart it. Once I sneezed, and B4 I could riddle the ashes, it went out. And when I'm clearing the ashes in the morning, I burn more calories than Dave Wottle running an Olympic marathon. I tell ya, I get no respect. So you may be in the running DD, but you'll never catch up, as long as you've got that Crane.

joeq wrote:

ddahlgren wrote: I think we need to have a yearly winner for who saved the most fires and bet I am in the running for that one.

You must be kidding. This was a morning ritual for me for the past couple years. You know how bad my stove is? When I have to go outside to M/T the trash, I have to restart it. Once I sneezed, and B4 I could riddle the ashes, it went out. And when I'm clearing the ashes in the morning, I burn more calories than Dave Wottle running an Olympic marathon. I tell ya, I get no respect. So you may be in the running DD, but you'll never catch up, as long as you've got that Crane.

What was this hateful device so I can avoid it like a STD LOL... I hope it is out of your life now.

Don't make me say it DD. and I still have it. but let me explain it like this.
If you're a teenager, and your 1st car is a 64 Chevelle, 283 2barrel, single exhaust, powerglide and a 2.73 open rear end, you think it's the fastest thing you've ever had. Why? Because it is. My stove is such a beast. The only one I know. Is it bad? It still beats paying the oil man. (And that's all I'm gunna say about that)