Need Opinion Fire Only Lasting About a Week

I give up

Waswood be happy you have the hours many not working or if working not enough. Townsend nice country have a friend that lives there and nice country. Maybe set the stove for low cruise while gone to extend burn time?

Waswood....the videos are there. Impressive dancing blue flames ya got there!

I drove through Townsend today on my way back from Dover!

DD Townsend isn't to bad yet. Although things are closing in on me more than I like . Yes I'm thankful to have a job . I have always been lucky to work , and for the most a good paying gig. I am afraid I'm going to kick myself 1 day when my kids are gone and I have more work hrs than hrs with them. It's tuff when I can go a week in the same house as my wife and 3 kids and never see them due to long hrs. It hurts my gut! But it's not as bad as military and being deployed and go months or even years without being home.

titleist1 wrote:Waswood....the videos are there. Impressive dancing blue flames ya got there!

I drove through Townsend today on my way back from Dover!

Good ,thanks for letting me know . I'm glad you can see the video. I can't for some reason. Maybe sometime we can have a local red rock burners meeting with crabs and a few beers.

windyhill4.2 wrote:There is a HUGE difference between the Clayton that Lightning uses & the DS 160 Extreme that you are using. The Clayton has sloped fire chamber walls ,the DS has strait walls. I watched the silent video of the 160,it seems to me that you just have to shake more than you currently are. The last thing you want to do is to play around IN the hot coal bed,that is a good way to get clinkers & all the trouble that goes with them. I don't think I have ever had a clinker in my stove,at least I never saw one. You might have to drag a poker around the edge of the coal bed at most. The grates in that 160 should clear most of the ashes tho.160,000 BTU stove , you sure can't replace that with a Hitzer 50-93 & expect the same amount of heat.

My thoughts exactly Windyhill. When he asked what size HITZER to heat 4,000 square, I backed off, as I have no personal experience with any bigger HITZERs. The 50-93 is a GREAT stove but, I'm afraid it would fall short trying to heat 4,000 feet. I've worked on well insulated houses that big, and bigger. That's when you start putting two furnaces in.

The basement 1980sq foot is insulated 12 inch block . Really don't take much to heat it . Upstairs is 2x6 walls and house is 12 yrs old . Quite well insulated . The DS had it 78 upstairs today at 1/2 throttle and about 35 outside for a high today. I was thinking not to shabby for a little ole basement stove .

Have The DS2100WH #4 Basement Stove ...
Has the hopper which in my opinion is the only way to fly...
Pea in early fall late spring, Nut otherwise...
The stove would bridge on pea when run above a slow simmer...
Told me it was time for nut only...
Yours looks to have no hopper capability...
My #4 would hold close to 200# coal when stuffed...
at only 40# per day you are on slow simmer...
poke straight down to break the bridge...

CC how do you like that 2100? I believe it's similar to my 160 but has a hopper. Do you burn wood in it at all? Also how large of an area are you heating?

Love it...
Yes looked at pictures same +30k btu/hr and no hopper...
The hopper is the only way to fly for me...
Hitzer 503 has hopper too...
It is parked for now...
Sold old house for bigger house...
Old house about 1000 sq ft near the beach 600 ft...
1954 summer cabin...
minimal insulation in wall, good in ceiling, rattle windows...
lots of air infiltration...
A Harman MarkII would not keep up got it to maybe 65*...
Bought the #4 for output, hopper and coal capacity...
Most of all no fan noise!!!...
I can get 200# of coal in stove when loaded new fire...
#4 would keep house at 74* no problem...
Constant heat, was in basement with large grate directly overhead...
Basement stayed 68*....
spring fall 40# per day or less...
mid winter 60-80# day...
when the wing cranked up and it was cold 120# day...
the most it ate was 160# per day for 3 days...
Like I said leaky house...
Never burned wood, I like 12 and 24 hour tending's...
The #4 will probably heat the new house at twice the size...
Needed more space due to the "triplets" 3.5yo twins + 2.5 yo girl
It is well insulated and much better infiltration control...
The chimney layout does not have room for a third appliance...
So the Hitzer 503 will most likely be the heat source since we have the unused fireplace...
in the end will most likely go with an AA130 boiler as I see large hot water needs shortly...

Sounds like a nice stove. Have to keep those kids warm . I love the long burn times and would like a hopper but I would have to find out what one will fit my needs. I can tell you I have a coil in my 160 for dhw and it heats 2-50 gal tanks and keeps blowing the temp valve with a family of 5. I have to bypass it when I'm working a lot so I don't have to worry about it . Kinda wish I didn't get go through the trouble hooking up the water to it . Good luck in the new house .

You might call DS and see if they have a retrofit hopper kit...
Never hurts to ask, they may say yes...
It worked well for me in my dating years...

Waswood wrote: I can tell you I have a coil in my 160 for dhw and it heats 2-50 gal tanks and keeps blowing the temp valve with a family of 5. I have to bypass it when I'm working a lot so I don't have to worry about it . Kinda wish I didn't get go through the trouble hooking up the water to it .

Without the heat emitters of a hot water distribution system you have little places to "dump" the excess hot water heat when the tanks can not take any more.
One way that comes to mind is to have a 3 way 24 volt zone valve wired to be actuated by a aquastat to change the hot water loop circuit from feeding the tanks and to then switch the valve to divert the hot water to a length of fin tube baseboard or even to a kick space heater up above under a base cabinet...these will "dump" the heat into the space instead of blowing hot water down a drain or to the out of doors.

McGiever wrote:

Waswood wrote: I can tell you I have a coil in my 160 for dhw and it heats 2-50 gal tanks and keeps blowing the temp valve with a family of 5. I have to bypass it when I'm working a lot so I don't have to worry about it . Kinda wish I didn't get go through the trouble hooking up the water to it .

Without the heat emitters of a hot water distribution system you have little places to "dump" the excess hot water heat when the tanks can not take any more.
One way that comes to mind is to have a 3 way 24 volt zone valve wired to be actuated by a aquastat to change the hot water loop circuit from feeding the tanks and to then switch the valve to divert the hot water to a length of fin tube baseboard or even to a kick space heater up above under a base cabinet...these will "dump" the heat into the space instead of blowing hot water down a drain or to the out of doors.

That sounds great . That's way over my head on how to do it. I will have to call someone to look at that . Thanks for the ideal.

Update.... I been basically working 16 hr days for the last 7 days so I'm tending at about 17 hrs then the wife tops off coal at bedtime while I'm working. The stove has been running great . House 75-80 even with mid teens at night temp. After listening to you all I am now running a poker down to grates 1x every other day just to break up and get some ash out. It is working great. I have had a steady fire now for a week or more and the whole box is glowing like a fresh fire. Thanks to all the helpful advise and the videos. I'm glad to have that problem behind me it looks like.