New to Heating With a Coal Stoker

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daburns
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Post by daburns » Tue. Apr. 29, 2008 9:09 am

I am thinking of replacing my wood burning insert with a l.l.hearth model coal stoker. Will this give me enough heat to keep my raised ranch style house warm if Iput it the basement family room.


 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Tue. Apr. 29, 2008 9:25 am

There's a lot of factors to consider.
  • How many BTU's is that unit.
  • How big is your house?
  • Is the house well insulated with new(er) windows?
  • What are you using now?
  • Can you distribute the heat adequately?
A 90,000 BTU unit should supply most of or all of the heat for 2,000 sq. foot home if you can adequately disperse the heat and its insulated. The important thing with any of those smaller radiant stokers is dispersing it around the house. It will roast you out of the basement in a house like that if you can't. ;)

Jerry from L.L. will be able to give you more info for that specific model. I sent him PM to alert him to this post.

 
daburns
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Post by daburns » Tue. Apr. 29, 2008 9:38 am

yes the house is insulated and the windows are new .the stairway is open to the second floor with the bedrooms down the hall. the wood stove insert that I have just won;t get it done.

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Tue. Apr. 29, 2008 9:51 am

How many Sq. ft is the home? around 2000?

Like I said a unit like that will roast you out of the basement for a typical ranch home that size but that's not doing you any good if you can't circulate it. There's a thread discussing how to get the heat to move around the house. How Do You Distribute Heat From Your Stove?

I could be wrong but Jerry might tell you it shouldn't be expected to heat the whole house but he generally tends to give information understating whats possible but then again I too don't want to tell you it will absolutely do it because it may not work as expected in a lot of setups. Regardless you won't be disappointed compared to wood...

I've had customers use units that size to heat entire homes, usually about 4 - 5 tons a year @$150 ton delivered if your close to coal country.

 
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LsFarm
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Post by LsFarm » Tue. Apr. 29, 2008 9:53 am

Hello, welcome to the forum,, what is your insert rated at? Is the LL model you are looking at significantly higher output??

One thing that a LL stove will provide is 24+ hours of constant heat,, something that a wood stove can't do without tending every 3-6 hours [from my experience]

Greg L

 
daburns
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Post by daburns » Tue. Apr. 29, 2008 9:54 am

1250 opstairs

 
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Devil505
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Post by Devil505 » Tue. Apr. 29, 2008 10:02 am

I've had my stove in the basement family room of a 24x44' raised ranch for over 25 years & I can get every room within a few degrees of the next. Basement is fine & at the worst, you may have to crack a window down there. Go for it! (you're gonna love how much easier & more controllable coal is over wood!)


 
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acesover
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Post by acesover » Tue. Apr. 29, 2008 10:28 am

I agree

 
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beatle78
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Post by beatle78 » Tue. Apr. 29, 2008 11:59 am

daburns wrote:I am thinking of replacing my wood burning insert with a l.l.hearth model coal stoker. Will this give me enough heat to keep my raised ranch style house warm if Iput it the basement family room.
Does your current wood insert provide enough heat?

Simply put, if it does, I would say, yes, that coal insert will heat nicely. And as Greg mentioned, you'll get 24 hours to a burn... ahhhhh no more babysitting :D

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Tue. Apr. 29, 2008 12:04 pm

What do you have for heat besides the wood? If you have hot water baseboard you might consider a coal boiler. If you have hot air, maybe a coal stove in the basement hooked to that duct work.

 
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Post by Jerry & Karen » Tue. Apr. 29, 2008 7:44 pm

Hi,
Your wood stove will produce a lot more heat then a coal stoker. The difference is that the stoker will produce the same amount of heat 24/7. Your wood stove is up and down with the heat, depending on how often you tend it. The coal stove is even heat. If your feeding your wood stove and always have a big fire and still can't heat your home, then a coal stoker won't do the job. There are many things that come into play. I would suggest that you read this forum, you'll get more info here then any place else.
Good Luck,
Jerry LLS

 
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Post by cosmo » Wed. Apr. 30, 2008 9:52 pm

hi,
I have a 2000 sf cape and purchased a LL Hearth. I'm happy with ccoal burning and the Hearth model. I bought the hearth because I had a bsmt. fireplace and it was a convinient place to vent. I also was concerned about the dust factor which really hasnt been much of a concern. As I said my house is a Cape, and the original portion heats fine. however I have a couple of additions that are more difficult to heat, fortunately thier seperately zoned and heat efficiently with the gas boiler. This is an old story on this forum, from what I've read. If you have a boiler or a funace, than chances are that will be your best distribution. In addition I would add that in making the upper floors warm the room with the stove is very hot. I would say below 32 the stove provdes 80% of heat, above 4o degrees it provides 90 to 100% . As my LL manual clearly states this stove is meant for supplemental heat .

Another observation regarding distribution, the distrution of antracite is obviously greatly affected by the price of gas and diesel for those of us that do not live in coal country.

regards

 
daburns
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Post by daburns » Thu. May. 01, 2008 7:28 pm

O.K. I did it I bought my first coal stoker! now if any one could point me in the right direction for coal in ct. that would be great thanks alot

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Thu. May. 01, 2008 8:35 pm

Cola in CT? Oh, Gee, there's no coal in CT. **Teasing**! I guess it depends on how much you want at once. I'll guess that animal feed places might have some in bags. Someone from CT should stop by and help you with exact locations. If you can handle bulk, as in 22 ton at once, Superior coal in PA is a good place to call.

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. May. 01, 2008 9:20 pm

daburns wrote:O.K. I did it I bought my first coal stoker! now if any one could point me in the right direction for coal in ct. that would be great thanks alot
Where you is? I'll point. How much and what size?


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