Old Friend New Stove

I'm still recommending the 254. Just the shaking alone on the 55 is a PIA compared with the 254.

Being this guy has been a wood burner forever, maybe the D. S. would be the better stove, because of having over fire air for wood burning. If he resorts back to wood, he'd be double disappointed with HITZER, unless he adds over fire air.[/quote]

Oliver, the DS Circulator 1400 is still in the running. I have given serious thought to having him get one of these. I especially like the secondary design. However in one of your more recent posts you were describing how the hopper in the Hitzer is acting somewhat as a baffle; forcing air around it and heating exterior walls of the stove. All makes perfect sense to me. Now my question is , do you think a DS w/o a hopper lose efficiency ?
Jim

freetown fred wrote:I'm still recommending the 254. Just the shaking alone on the 55 is a PIA compared with the 254.

Fred, I'm pretty much in agreement with ya, and others. I'm pretty sure we're gonna go this way. This guy wants basic & simple. Just had to throw this out there in order to reassure myself. It's neither my money or stove; And I sure don't want to mess up.
Jim

Ya got a dealer close enough to take him to check out the different options?, even if it's a day trip.

For an elderly person I think the ability to feed through the top would be safer option to use. Opening the door increases the potential for burning oneself plus the potential of accidentally pulling hot coals out of the stove when he is loading it exists.

freetown fred wrote:Ya got a dealer close enough to take him to check out the different options?, even if it's a day trip.

Maybe we have forgotten that the end user may want an opportunity to make the choice of which he likes best based on info that you & a stove store give him. Sometimes our perception of what others would like & what they actually would like are 2 very different choices. At 74 he is hardly stupid nor totally clueless . He did burn wood for many yrs. which would make him tired ,but he burned wood to avoid the liquid heating options,so he has been "heating smart" & now that he is wood tired is going for "heating smarter". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've seen several comments about pulling hot coals out while loading ??????????? Am I loading thru the door in the wrong fashion ? I am not having any issue with hot coals coming out the door when I am putting coal in the door. BUT, I do not "rake" my coal either as someone mentioned earlier,coal don't like being messed with ,so leave it alone !! Shake & poke the ash from below.

WH, the guys 74 & not getting any younger. Hate to say this, but at 70, I would not own a stove like yours that takes as much care to keep it going. Not as a beginner for sure. I remember when you hooked up that CRANE & there is/was quite the learning curve. I doubt this guy even has a computer unless his kids hooked him up.

freetown fred wrote:WH, I would not own a stove like yours that takes as much care to keep it going. Not as a beginner for sure. I remember when you hooked up that CRANE & there is/was quite the learning curve.

FF,you threw me for a loop !!!!!! I even went back & reread my own thread ,where is the "much care" taken from ? Quite the learning curve ?? I lit this stove 1 time ,it is still lit,still heating,i tend it every 12 hrs thru most of the cold weather,when the cold turns bitterly windy cold,i tend it 3 times per 24 hrs just to try for the maximum comfort in this typically cold concrete slabbed room. I also do not recall even mentioning my stove much less recommending it for the Old friend.Since you are throwing stones my way,i will say that it is impossible to do 1 thing with this stove that can be done with yours,& that is , the coal bed can NOT get dumped,not even a beginner can dump it !! Yes,i asked a few questions early on,maybe I should have just retreated into my shell & done it on my own with no advice,i just prefer to get everything working as good as possible as soon as possible. Its called shortening the learning curve,which I believe a learning curve was part of your early coal burning days too.

windyhill4.2 wrote:

freetown fred wrote:Ya got a dealer close enough to take him to check out the different options?, even if it's a day trip.

Maybe we have forgotten that the end user may want an opportunity to make the choice of which he likes best based on info that you & a stove store give him. Sometimes our perception of what others would like & what they actually would like are 2 very different choices. At 74 he is hardly stupid nor totally clueless . He did burn wood for many yrs. which would make him tired ,but he burned wood to avoid the liquid heating options,so he has been "heating smart" & now that he is wood tired is going for "heating smarter". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've seen several comments about pulling hot coals out while loading ??????????? Am I loading thru the door in the wrong fashion ? I am not having any issue with hot coals coming out the door when I am putting coal in the door. BUT, I do not "rake" my coal either as someone mentioned earlier,coal don't like being messed with ,so leave it alone !! Shake & poke the ash from below.

FF, did you not mention here that JFG should take the OF along to the dealer to ck things out ??? I agreed with you on that & just expounded further on my opinion.I do not understand why this thread was even started if only the "select few are allowed to post any opinon,it could/should have been done all by pm among the "chosen few". After learning today that a big job I have finished in my shop will not be payed for till maybe the end of March by the decision of the customer & we get no paycheck now when we desperately need it,i am in no mood to take crap thrown at me here too !!!

Ok guys, I'll confess under great protest!!!!! My friend Bob and other friend Spence neither own or know how to operate a computer; so I will go way out on a limb here. And hope this never gets back. Bob is just a regular guy, and a little on the slow side. He has held a regular job for 40yrs; but had to endure the harsh reality of ignorant ridicule. His co workers would regularly make fun of him because of his gullibility and naivety. It's a real cruel world we live in. Even as ADULTS!!!!! Bob , Now retired for quite a while I feel a strong obligation to help this guy out. You may all have your indifferent opinions of myself; Which I could frankly GAF!!!. But, I'm trying to do the right thing!! As it is well noted " not two situations are alike". And just like not two human beings are alike. I am doing my best with " life experiences" to appraise the current situation, and come up with a bullet proof plan. Ifn I were perfect, then wouldn't be here; however, am relying on this forum for experience and "OBJECTIVITY". This forum has helped me immensely in the past; I'm hopin just maybe we can keep the ball rollin.
Jim

Graham, you are smart guy and you know what you have to work with.. I understand what yer saying. Some people don't adapt well to change. Keepin it easy and familiar for him is a good choice.. I admire your effort to help him out and wish ya the best of luck with it..

How soon does he plan to make the switch to coal?
Before this season is over? or is this going to be a summer installation?

Well, JFG , maybe you shouldn't be taking your OF to a dealer. It kinda sounds like you need to decide what is best for him & just set him up with it. It is obvious that not everyone living can make all the right decisions & it is great to see that you care enough to walk him thru this & basically decide for him as to what is best for him. My hat is off to you for caring that much Very worthy project

Lightning wrote:Graham, you are smart guy and you know what you have to work with.. I understand what yer saying. Some people don't adapt well to change. Keepin it easy and familiar for him is a good choice.. I admire your effort to help him out and wish ya the best of luck with it..

How soon does he plan to make the switch to coal?
Before this season is over? or is this going to be a summer installation?

Lightning & windy, as you can figure I ain't much of a computer guy. Just a simple guy tryin my best to help another simple soul. Am really in appreciation of you're guys support; means a lot to me!!! Just maybe we can eventually come up with a plan. Also Rev. Larry seamed to nail it down, with his rendition of the 254, no BS just had it down, period!!!
THX
Jim

J F Graham wrote:Being this guy has been a wood burner forever, maybe the D. S. would be the better stove, because of having over fire air for wood burning. If he resorts back to wood, he'd be double disappointed with HITZER, unless he adds over fire air.

Oliver, the DS Circulator 1400 is still in the running. I have given serious thought to having him get one of these. I especially like the secondary design. However in one of your more recent posts you were describing how the hopper in the Hitzer is acting somewhat as a baffle; forcing air around it and heating exterior walls of the stove. All makes perfect sense to me. Now my question is , do you think a DS w/o a hopper lose efficiency ?
Jim[/quote] The D.S. hoppers are narrow. It takes less draft to pull gasses around the D. S. hopper, than the wider HITZER hopper. It takes more draft to pull gasses around any hopper stove, than it does a stove without a hopper. The D.S. Circulator models are 1300, 1400, 1500, and 1600. The 1400, 1500, and 1600 all have baffles, AND optional hoppers. So should you pull the hopper out, you still have a baffle for which gasses have to go around. The 1300 does not have a baffle. I'm thinking the 1400 does, but check to verify. When pulling the hopper from D. S., the stove should still be efficient. You mentioned earlier how you were concerned about your friend not wiping off the top of stove around hopper opening. That may be a concern of the HITZER. Not a concern of the D. S., as it has a standing rib which presses up into the hopper door gasket. Debris should not set on top of that rib. I've been researching the D. S. Circulator stoves. They seem to be a decent quality stove, with some good features. My big concern with the D. S. is fan-less circulation. Members with D. S. stoves claim they circulate very well. As you know, I'm a HITZER fan. I can't say enough good about the HITZER. They are GREAT performers. But you can here the fan running. More so on the 30-95, which is close in size, and looks to the 254. More than likely, the 30-95, and 254 use the same fan. Oh, if you pull the hopper of a 30-95, it will be less efficient, as it has no other baffle. I'm going to need a bigger stove in my shop next year. Thought I'd give the quiet (fan-less) D. S. Circulator a shot. I can always put one of those heat activated fans on top. Because the D. S. is going in the shop, I can stand to loose a little performance, should it happen. I'll have D. S. experience next year. Now you have it. Two GREAT stoves; The HITZER 254, and D. S. 1400 Circulator. Highlights that separate the two: 1.) HITZER = Good fan circulation, but noisy (Needs electric for fan. Without electric, circulation suffers. Nicer looking, and Shovel style ash pan (Nice). 2.) The D. S. 1400 circulator (no personal experience YET)= Quiet no fan circulation. Power outage does not effect circulation. Top hopper door loading, with raised rib around hopper opening. And hopper (Nice). Air wash for glass. NOTE: The raised rib around D. S. hopper opening is nice for gasket seal, but less easy for cleaning top of stove off. Where as with the HITZER, you simply wipe everything into the hopper. The HITZER hopper door seals just fine.
Don't forget dealer support. I have both dealers near me.

[quote="Lightning"]Graham, you are smart guy and you know what you have to work with.. I understand what yer saying. Some people don't adapt well to change. Keepin it easy and familiar for him is a good choice.. I admire your effort to help him out and wish ya the best of luck with it..

How soon does he plan to make the switch to coal?
Before this season is over? or is this going to be a summer installation?

Thanks Lee, this will be a summer project. Just tryin to put all the pieces together now.
Jim