Do You Think This Set-Up Will Work?

Good evening.

If I am duplicating questions from another post which I don't know about on the forum, I apologize. Please feel free to re-direct me to where it is on the forum. Otherwise, here's my situation:

I live in a 100+ year old two story 1700 square foot home. I have new windows and insulation which is blown in the attic floor. Otherwise, there most likely is nothing in the walls. I currently have an oil-fired hot water boiler (only three years old) which absolutely killed my budget last winter. I do not have the funds to insulate the house, so I'm trying to do the next best thing. I'm very close to purchasing a re-furbished Keystoker direct vent coal stove - I believe it's a "70" model and I was told it puts out about 70,000 BTU's max. This stove measures approximately 36"x23x39 (LWH). Much of its parts have been replaced and it was repainted, so it is almost like new. I'm trying to decide if it would work to put the stove in my basement (which is unfinished and not used for much except storage) and create a duct system to pump the air into my first floor and then allow gravity to work to the second floor. Otherwise, I'm looking at putting a hole in my living room wall and putting the stove in the one corner (not necessarily bad, but I want to be double sure before I do it). Would I lose too much heat in the process if the stove is in the basement? Am I wasting my time with this option? Thank you for any feedback, folks. I greatly appreciate it.

If you want the appliance in the basement, get a boiler. A stove would be best on the first floor.

I think that stove would fall way short in the basement or even upstairs for that matter. A bigger stove upstairs or as stated a boiler. Still not going to be great with little/no insulation.

What is the BTU rating on your oil boiler and does it heat the house well?

Punch a hole in that living room wall and install it in there. That will be much more satisfying than putting it in the basement unless of course you and the family spend more time there than anywhere else.

You will save a ton of money with the 70 Keystoker.

Welcome to the forum.

If you are going to put it in the basement, I would go bigger in BTU. If you put it in the living room, It will keep you nice and warm.

Stoker boilers, even used are a bit on the expensive side. Have you considered a Hand fired boiler? With a boiler you can plumb it into the oil boiler and your existing zones will work as if the oil boiler was running. If you only have one chimney you can hook the coal boiler to it and power vent the oil boiler.

Here is one hand fired boiler for sale. **Broken Link(S) Removed**

-Don

I ran a Buderus hand fed for years in a similar setup. It was about 60K BTUS if everything was perfect. It save me thousands. I now have a Keystoker 90. I am heating a partially insulated basement, and 1100 sq ft upstairs. I ducted the new Keystoker upstairs, and the heat is all we use. The oil boiler just heats the hot water. I am concerned that you really need at least a 105 just to keep up with your sq footage.

Thanks everyone for the great replies so far. I appreciate it very much. I knew I'd get some good feedback.
Here's an update on where I'm at right at present:

The stove is definitely going to go in my living room - I'm sure this will be the better place for it. Also, I was originally going to get the 70, but the guy also had another one that is an older model (still refurbished and looks new). It is a bit smaller but still puts out the 70,000 BTU's. I"m not sure what the model is. It does have the coil inside for optional hot water, and the coal "tray" is slanted instead of flat. Maybe this will help you to identify the model. Actually, if you want to see it, I've included the link at the bottom of this post. There are a series of pictures and it would be the 8th picture from the left. It originally did not have a direct vent, so he's going to put one on for me. My dear wife is a wonderful decorator, and you can see clearly that this stove is much "prettier" than the original 70 model I was going to buy. I think she will like this one better, and it should still get the same job accomplished. The hopper is smaller, so I'll have to load it more often, I'm sure.

Someone asked about the boiler in the basement. My current boiler is a Burnham, and I don't know the BTU rating, but I can tell you that it works overtime. Last winter I went through a tank each month! The furnace also heats my hot water. I have radiators, and the furnace does a good job with them, but because it works hard, our upstairs bedroom is oppressively hot during the winter. We have to open a window to cool down. My radiators do not have good adjustment valves on them, so they are either "on" or "off" - not much play in the valves. We just put up with it.

I realize that insulation is a factor, and like I said before, unfortunately I do not have the money to pay someone to blow it in my walls. So for now, I have to live with it and do the best I can. I'll be interested to see how much coal I go through. Does anyone know the average coal consumption for these stoves? I'm going to have to buy bagged coal at the local hardware store - 5.99 per bag, and I plan on getting 1 ton to get started. In my previous home, I probably went through 3.5 ton for the winter, but that was back in 2012 when we were still having mild winters here in my part of PA. So for now, I'm figuring 300.00 per ton. If I go through even 4 ton, I'll be doing far better than with oil. I guess we'll wait and see.

Keep the great comments coming, friends. I appreciate it . Y'all are great to chat with!

Here's the link to the stove: **Broken Link(S) Removed**

That model appears to be an older Keystoker 70. The grates look like they have been sealed nicely. Installed in your living room it should save you a ton of money on heating oil. Granted it probably won't heat the entire house. We would need to know a whole lot more about your layout before commenting on that. If you fill out your profile so we know where your at, there might be a forum member close to you that could lend a hand if you needed it. Have you ever used a coal stove before?

As another forum member says don't worry about filling out your profile information, nobody's gonna steal ya.

At that price your starting to get close to some of the less expensive refurbed stoker boilers. Of coarse the boilers are a bit more time consuming and expensive to install.

This EFM is down to $2000 and he will take an offer. **Broken Link(s) Removed**

Just a thought. I must confess, I am biased towards the boilers. After doing the stove thing for years, then the furnace thing, I love the boilers!

-Don

If you want to save a lot of money and heat the whole house with the least amount of work, get a stoker boiler. It will cost a little more to get setup and running. But in the end, well worth it. The pluses are: Warm, dry basement. Whole house warm without the fans, ducts and every other concievable idea taken from the pages of NEPA Crossroads free time, tending a hand fired 2X a day VS every two or four days. No coal dust/ash "accidents" in the living room.

StokerDon wrote:At that price your starting to get close to some of the less expensive refurbed stoker boilers. Of coarse the boilers are a bit more time consuming and expensive to install.

This EFM is down to $2000 and he will take an offer. **Broken Link(s) Removed**

Just a thought. I must confess, I am biased towards the boilers. After doing the stove thing for years, then the furnace thing, I love the boilers!

-Don

Yes, you are correct, and my hope is to someday do the basement boiler thing. Right now, I'm just really hard pressed financially and I'm trying to make the best of what I can afford to do. I figure I can do this for a few years until I get my finances more in order. Then I'll hopefully take the deeper plunge! Thanks again for the good advice, everyone. I appreciate it.

blrman07 wrote:That model appears to be an older Keystoker 70. The grates look like they have been sealed nicely. Installed in your living room it should save you a ton of money on heating oil. Granted it probably won't heat the entire house. We would need to know a whole lot more about your layout before commenting on that. If you fill out your profile so we know where your at, there might be a forum member close to you that could lend a hand if you needed it. Heave you ever used a coal stove before?

As another forum member says don't worry about filling out your profile information, nobody's gonna steal ya.

Profile is updated (as much as I can at present without officially owning my stove yet! )

FYI, my home has a large living room (30x12), a dining room (11.5x15), a kitchen (12x12) , and a washroom (8x8). Upstairs we have 3
bedrooms and a bathroom. I was looking at my home appraisal document, and they are saying that I only have about 1550 total square feet. At any rate, these are the specs for your consideration if you want to try and figure how well the stove is going to do. I personally think that I'll still be to the good vs. using my oil furnace. I guess we'll wait and see!

musikfan wrote:I personally think that I'll still be to the good vs. using my oil furnace. I guess we'll wait and see!

But of course!

musikfan where exactly in pa are you from? I notice the stove you are looking at is in pillow not real far from me. I also know of a 8500 BTU alaska channing for the same price, I have not seen it yet but I could get more info if you would be interested. Also you could blow insulation in your self most places that sell it will rent you a machine for very little cost when you purchase the insulation from them,its not hard to do and all you need is a ladder& drill, just a thought