Ashley Model CAC

I have the chance to buy an Ashley Model CAC stove at a reasonable (I guess) price of $200. Has anyone out there any experience with this stove? Is it an OK unit to heat a small (1000-1200 sq.ft. house, single story? What would be the BTU rating, if coal stoves are sized that way? What would be the minimum/maximum consumption of coal when outside temperatures are around zero and the desired house temperature arounf 68 degrees F? And most importantly, can this unit burn fairly dry wood with some success? Anf lastly, where can I buy coal living in NW Vermont? No dealers around here, so does it have to be mail-ordered?? I bet that would run the price up, and I have no idea what a ton of anthracite costs. I imagine it is less expensive in Penn. or West Va. than here, but I don't know what it costs there either.

Hope some of you people who have been burning coal for some time can help me out. Thanks. Tom

I forgot to ask if $200 is a fair price for a relatively new unit. Tom

Hello Iowaboy, welcome to the forum,

I did a google search for the 'Ashley Model CAC' stovem it is about 48,000 BTU, which may not be enough to keep a 1200sqft house warm on a -0* windy night in Northern Vermont.. It definitely would do the job most of the time, provided your house has decent insulation and windows. Distribution of heated air through the house will be important.

If the stove doesn't have any broken grates, or shaker grate linkage and no apparent warped panels or indications of the stove having been overfired, then you are probably Ok with the stove,, the price is certainly not too much... $200 is reasonable if it is in good shape.

In general the US stove products are more for ocassional use, and not for use continously near their maximum heat output. They are a bit 'light-duty'.. As long as you don't run it near the max all the time,, it should be a good first stove or supplemental heater. What type of chimney do you have, and how tall is it?? A good chimney and a barometric damper are 'must haves' to burn coal in a hand feed stove.

If you can, get to a Harman stove dealer, and look at a Harman Mark I, Mark II, or Mark III,,, they are very heavy duty, made burn near their max output for days/weeks on end...

For getting coal,, check with your fuel suppliers,, propane and oil suppliers and farm/fleet stores, I'm sure you will find someone who brings in bagged anthracite coal,, probably Blaschak coal,, it will cost you around $300/ton I'd guess. The US Stove .pdf manual says that the CAC should only burn 'stove size' anthracite coal,, You will do fine with nut size and maybe even mix of nut and pea size coal. Stove size is huge for this size stove.

Read through this forum,, there is a wealth of information, just takes time to read through it.

Hope this helps... Greg L

Hello Greg: Thanks for the good information. Regarding the chimney, it is what I used for my wood stove. A vertical run of 3 feet, a 90 degree elbow, a horizontal run of 5 feet, another 90 degree elbow, and then a vertical rise of 19 feet. The pipe is 6" black except the last 19 feet is 6" Metalbestos. I have never had any problem with draft, on the wood stove so I am assuming it will be OK for burning coal. Now, what is a barometric damper? And, is it OK to burn wood in this Ashley? Tom

A barometric damper is that flappy thing you see on most oil boilers between the boiler and the chimney. It lets air into the chimney so the draft in the stove doesn't get too much.

Hi Tom, do a search on this forum for 'barometric damper' you will find a lot of reading. The reason that a barometric damper is important is that it levels out the draft in the chimney. The draft in the chimney is what determines the air flow through the bed of coal, and therefore the heat output.. Without a barometric damper, you can go to bed with the fire set for the current chimney draft, then the wind comes up, the temperature drops, the draft drasticly increases, pulls a lot more air through the coal,, and the stove overheats. With a barometric damper,, the draft will be consistant.

I'm sure the reason that the 'owners manual' for the CAC says it is for burning coal only is because of EPA regulations.. I see no reason that the CAC would not burn wood,, but I don't like to see wood burnt in the same chimney as coal.. Wood creates creosote,, coal tends to dry this creosote out, then if falls off the inside walls of the chimney in sheets,, potentially blocking the chimney.

For $200 it is worth it just to learn about burning coal in your home. Just inspect it for condition.

Greg L

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Here is a link to the brochure
http://www.stovepartsplus.com/Merchant5/PDFFILES/ASHLEY/USS-ASH-EC95_CAC-BCH.pdf

Link to schematics
http://www.stovepartsplus.com/Merchant5/PDFFILES/ASHLEY/USS-ASH-CAC-SCH.pdf

I had the wood burning version in a house when I lived/worked in/at Killington, VT. It was a sheet metal hot box. Look at the weight of the Ashley 241lbs, it mentions gauge metal not inch metal.
Now look at a Harman Mark II, 449 lb, ¼” plate steel, no contest.
A good stove treated well will last a long time. I like the single window Harman, Russo and an occasional Godin.
Do not rush to buy a stove; people are dumping their coal stoves for pellet stoves. I just missed a Mark III for $500; it was a 2hr drive so I did not feel bad. Then I found a better deal, closer to home, that came with coal. I have a line on a Godin that is very pretty, maybe my sister will get it or I’ll keep it for myself.
Save up the cash and get a used Mark II, you will not regret the extra $300 spent.

http://www.harmanstoves.com/list.asp?id=13,14,15,16,17&title=Harman%20Hand%20Fired%20Coal%20Stoves