Tune Them up !!!

It is going to brutally cold the end of the week and weekend over the northeast. Buffalo's leading news channel is suggesting highs Sunday may not break 0 (yes, that is Fahrenheit) on their weather blog. Clean them out and make sure you are getting max heat transfer to your room or convection fan air, whatever the case may be.

Like Arnold Schwarzenegger said in his movies....

DO IT!!!! DO IT NOWWWWW!!!!!

I have the stove size coal on standby. Its ready, willing and able to do the job. Just did my mid season clean out a couple weeks ago and I brush the interior of the firebox at every tending, we're ready!

I'LL BE BACK.....

Good Reminder....It is surprising what a little fly ash will do to insulate against heat transfer. I know with the Harman hand fed fly ash would accumulate on the baffle plate on top and insulate the square tubes the distribution air is blown through. It would knock the temps of that air down a good 75* or so if I didn't clean up there regularly.

For someone in their first year of coal burning I also suggest checking the horizontal flue pipes and any places fly ash can accumulate near the exhaust port after burning a ton of coal. It probably won't be blocked by that point, but you can see how fast your system accumulates fly ash and by checking after each ton burned you can schedule the cleaning accordingly.

The forecast here for the bitter weekend

Our predicted highs and lows are close to that unfortunately. Our lowest will be Sunday at minus 6. The rest of the time it's single digit stuff.

Only supposed to go down to 1 on Sunday night. I've seen colder but not for awhile.

Supposed to be effing cold here in 'da U.P. eh, but we are so used to that, it's no big deal. My coal furnace keeps our 2500sqft ranch a comfortable and toasty 72degF inside with NO problem whatsoever!! Bring it on!!

blrman07 wrote:Like Arnold Schwarzenegger said in his movies....

DO IT!!!! DO IT NOWWWWW!!!!!

OK !

With the newly installed KA-6 and ventless propane heaters boosting upstairs until we get the baseboard up here, this is the warmest we have been steadily and with minimal work for several winters!

We are forecast to get all the way up to 4F on Sunday. 3F tonight.

"Baby, it's cold outside"

The cold has finally come to the Mid-Atlantic region. We are expecting the coldest temps in years and certainly in the 32 years I've lived here. When you add in the wind chill it's going to feel like it's below zero. The Marks Brothers are standing by and biting at the bit. It's a good weekend to stay inside and hunker down. Take care, Lisa

-8* plus -21* wind chill here on the hill, it got up to 29* yesterday afternoon & the old HITZER continues to hum along. I might turn her up a couple #'s on the bi-metallic thermo--sittin on 10 now & the house is a comfy 71* with MUCH colder forecast for the next few days!

freetown fred wrote:-8* plus -21* wind chill here on the hill, it got up to 29* yesterday afternoon & the old HITZER continues to hum along. I might turn her up a couple #'s on the bi-metallic thermo--sittin on 10 now & the house is a comfy 71* with MUCH colder forecast for the next few days!

BRRR! That's cold. It's 8 above here this morning. Supposed to be around 0-4 on Sunday morning. Boiler is down to 145 degrees and holding. House is at set point. It struggles with cold AND wind. Glad to hear you are nice and warm there Fred.

titleist1 wrote:
For someone in their first year of coal burning I also suggest checking the horizontal flue pipes and any places fly ash can accumulate

Present and accounted for...that would be me. If I can share with other first-year burners, I took the time last week to run a brush down the SS pipes from outside the house down to the stove (direct vent). The manometer had crept toward -0.01, so I knew (from reading on here) that there was probably fly ash accumulating, even though my installers were good to NOT have any horizontal runs (all are either vertical or angled, with the exception of the connection to the outside (whatever the fancy term is for that). Long story short, I was amazed at how much ash I pulled out as well as pushed down to the stove bottom (to vacuum out)! Brushed down the exhaust tubes, changed filters on the blower, and started back up. Back to -0.03. Ready for the cold.

I recommend first-timers read here, a lot! And learn from the wealth of knowledge in play right here.

It is +3 in the center of the Southern Anthracite Coal Region this morning according to my electronic outdoor thermometer. I'm sure as heck ain't going outside to read a standard thermometer!!! The 50K VC2310 is holding the living/dining room at 65. The upstairs bedrooms are a nice 65 also. Griddle temperature is at around 700-750 for these frigid temps. That puts the stove at about max. I have goosed it to 800+ before but that is when you get that hot metal smell. I don't like that smell said Sam I AM.

This is the sole source of heat operating in our 985 sq foot home. We have a dino juice sucker in the basement for hot water rad heating. We keep the thermostats set at 60 just in case. It's classified as an installed backup for when we decide to take an extended road trip.