DS Stoves

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with DS stoves in Lancaster County PA(good or bad)? I'm planning on purchasing a indoor coal/wood burning boiler and DS seems like a pretty good bargain compared to a lot of other woodburners. This unit is going outside in an insulated outbuilding, so I've been looking at outdoor woodburners also, but their cost is ridiculous.

You may get some replies in a while...but there are prior discussions about those units.

If you'll use the *Search* feature you will find much discussion.

go back to the front page of the "hand fired coal stoves" forum. the place where you hit the new topic button.

right next to the new topic button is a box that says "search this forum" type DS stoves in that box and hit search.

you'll come up with 52 pages / 774ish comments in ALOT of threads about DSMachine stoves.

good luck I hope you find what you need.
steve

This user summed up his 1-1/2 year run at one.

macdabs @ Help Choosing a Hand Fired Boiler

I just got through my first winter with a new DS 1100. It's in my basement and we love it.

Just bought a Comfort Max 75 with an extra ash pan today. It was a pleasant experience dealing with Rose and Leroy In the retail shop. My grandson and I went up last week to look at the stoves and I made my decision on which stove I was going to purchase. I would recommend purchasing a stove from DS Machine.

lancenator09 wrote:I was wondering if anyone had any experience with DS stoves in Lancaster County PA(good or bad)? I'm planning on purchasing a indoor coal/wood burning boiler and DS seems like a pretty good bargain compared to a lot of other woodburners. This unit is going outside in an insulated outbuilding, so I've been looking at outdoor woodburners also, but their cost is ridiculous.

Any boiler that burns coal or wood is most likely not optimal for either.

Wood needs a large firebox area and coal wants something more compact.

Wood releases half its heat potential very quickly in the form of gas. Unless that is burned, the result is smoke and creosote and very low efficiency. If it is burned then heat exchange area has to be large to cope with that sudden heat surge. Rapid clean burning requires shorter tending times.

Anthracite coal has only about 5 percent gas, so long slow burns are possible and each pound of coal has about twice the heat of wood, so less poundage to handle, store, and carry. Ash is far more than wood.

My advice is to get a boiler designed for the fuel used. Any coal boiler can burn wood inefficiently. To burn wood efficiently means frequen loading or enormous mass of heat exchange to absorb the rush of heat when wood is first heated.

Pellet stoves burn wood the right way with small amounts steadily fed and burned hot. Stokers for coal do it that way too.

I don't think a combination boiler, or wood boiler exists that can burn for 12 hours efficiently on wood.

franco b wrote:

lancenator09 wrote:I was wondering if anyone had any experience with DS stoves in Lancaster County PA(good or bad)? I'm planning on purchasing a indoor coal/wood burning boiler and DS seems like a pretty good bargain compared to a lot of other woodburners. This unit is going outside in an insulated outbuilding, so I've been looking at outdoor woodburners also, but their cost is ridiculous.

Any boiler that burns coal or wood is most likely not optimal for either.

Wood needs a large firebox area and coal wants something more compact.

Wood releases half its heat potential very quickly in the form of gas. Unless that is burned, the result is smoke and creosote and very low efficiency. If it is burned then heat exchange area has to be large to cope with that sudden heat surge. Rapid clean burning requires shorter tending times.

Anthracite coal has only about 5 percent gas, so long slow burns are possible and each pound of coal has about twice the heat of wood, so less poundage to handle, store, and carry. Ash is far more than wood.

My advice is to get a boiler designed for the fuel used. Any coal boiler can burn wood inefficiently. To burn wood efficiently means frequen loading or enormous mass of heat exchange to absorb the rush of heat when wood is first heated.

Pellet stoves burn wood the right way with small amounts steadily fed and burned hot. Stokers for coal do it that way too.

I don't think a combination boiler, or wood boiler exists that can burn for 12 hours efficiently on wood.

Don't know what brand it was. I saw one that the owner said goes 24 hours on a filling of wood when I was looking to buy the Garret Smith House in Peterborough NY. The stove was almost the size of a small SUV.

He said he'd fill it up with wood and turn on the oil burner for about five minutes to get the wood going, then shut off the burner. Empty out the ash and refill it the next day. Had a wood storage room with steel door next to stove. The wood room was about 15 x 20 feet with a loading shute to the outside. Owner said they used 10 cords a year to heat about 3000 square feet of 5 bed room Colonial.

If it wasn't originally meant for coal, that wood room with shute would make a terrific coal bin ! Just need to get a very large coal boiler.

Paul

Loading my DS 1100 full of wood, I get 8/10 hr. burn from it. Not bad for a wood/coal boiler.

My D&S did a good job with coal heating house garage and shop, filled twice a day . just not as efficient as my horizontal tube Pacific w/700 stoker. Never did burn wood. if the flue exited out the back and halfway down with a baffle to trap the heat longer, it would have been twice as efficient. Bobo K

franco b wrote:

lancenator09 wrote:I was wondering if anyone had any experience with DS stoves in Lancaster County PA(good or bad)? I'm planning on purchasing a indoor coal/wood burning boiler and DS seems like a pretty good bargain compared to a lot of other woodburners. This unit is going outside in an insulated outbuilding, so I've been looking at outdoor woodburners also, but their cost is ridiculous.

Any boiler that burns coal or wood is most likely not optimal for either.

Wood needs a large firebox area and coal wants something more compact.

Wood releases half its heat potential very quickly in the form of gas. Unless that is burned, the result is smoke and creosote and very low efficiency. If it is burned then heat exchange area has to be large to cope with that sudden heat surge. Rapid clean burning requires shorter tending times.

Anthracite coal has only about 5 percent gas, so long slow burns are possible and each pound of coal has about twice the heat of wood, so less poundage to handle, store, and carry. Ash is far more than wood.

My advice is to get a boiler designed for the fuel used. Any coal boiler can burn wood inefficiently. To burn wood efficiently means frequen loading or enormous mass of heat exchange to absorb the rush of heat when wood is first heated.

Pellet stoves burn wood the right way with small amounts steadily fed and burned hot. Stokers for coal do it that way too.

I don't think a combination boiler, or wood boiler exists that can burn for 12 hours efficiently on wood.

Those few paragraphs should be made into a sticky. Sums it up very well.

We sold a few this year and everyone loved them. If it's in an out building you will want to insulate the boiler well. By pass the jacket and use a couple layers of foil. DS will be coming out with their new stoker boiler this summer so you might want to check into that.

Did DS Boilers ever start to get ASME Certs? They hadn't for quite some time.

I don't believe they are certified. Would you like me to ask them to be sure?

jremington wrote:I don't believe they are certified. Would you like me to ask them to be sure?

Not necessary, Thanks