First Year With Coal

This is my first year burning coal and so far, I am liking it. We heated our old farm house with wood for over 30 years. I really enjoyed cutting wood when I did not have to do it to stay warm but, those days when I was low on wood and needed to get my butt out and make some firewood in the middle of winter are not going to be missed.
After the insurance company said they would not insure the house and farm with the outside wood boiler, we switched to an insurance approved free standing coal burner inside the house. I am still trying to bend logic around that whole thought process without breaking it. They must be working with a newer "logic update" that I have yet to assimilate. Anyway I am still capable off heating the house without using the LP furnace and have insurance all of which makes me happy.
We bought an EZ 50 stove from Ashland OH and have been pleased with it so far. I am certain there are things that I can and will learn to make it more cost effective with time. I can see many, many people using the hitzer 50 93 which I understand is similar but, it is different. Anyone else use the EZ 50 stove that may have any tricks or secrets they have learned by using theirs? At this point, I am a little beyond coal in, heat out but, not much. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I was just on the website of this maker and no pics of your stove that I could see. If possible post some pics and you will get more help, but it sounds like its a lot like the Hitzer 50-93 model. I'm betting you could read how to use the 50-93 and it will be about the same. It should be about as simple to use as they come if it is similar. Lots of happy users here of the Hitzer model.

Carbon Monoxide detectors are a must with coal, 2 are better than one. Thats the best info I can give a beginner and you will enjoy coal a lot more than wood.

With a hopper stove that size, its best to settle into a roughly 12 hour tending schedule of shaking and filling. Not much need to do too much more other than figuring out your air intake setting. Empty your ashpan daily or twice daily. Dont do it right after shaking. let it sit for a while after shaking for less dust. Some empty right before shaking but you can do it however you want. If ashes build up to the grates you can easily crack your grate.

This company sure makes a lot of models of cookstoves. Hitzer used to make at least one model years ago.

That covers it well W. Any specific questions can be answered.

That Ashland EZ Flow stove is the 'Hitzer knock off'. The guys worked for Hitzer at one time, then quit and started making and selling their own stoves. Every once in a while, they get talked about on here but we get no pictures Except the couple of poctures we have of the EZ Flow 2000.

Lucky, if you could take pictures of that stove and post them, it would be very much appreciated and it would help these guys to help you as there is no website for these stoves.

here is the link for the the ez flow 200 or 2000, it looks the a hitzer 55: Tell Me What to Do, Please

Here is a link to one of the few references to the Ashland EZ 50 stove: SteveZee @ Ashland EZ-50?

There is a little info on their cookstoves online.
http://www.antiquestoves.com/ashlandstove/
http://woodstoves.co/44-ashland-stoves

Hope this goes thru, The only adjustment available is the temp control on the front of the stove. That manipulates a flapper at the rear of the stove. Pretty straight forward...

One things for sure, it's not a Hitzer knock off, it looks nothing like the Hitzer 50-93

I like the long shaker handle.

Thank you for posting the picture. If at some point you shut it down, could you post pictures of the inside?

More like the HITZER 82 or 55

No, it doesnt look like a Hitzer. Thanks for posting it. Still, the operation should be about the same.

edit: yes I guess maybe it is similar to a 55, only with a window and hopper.

While this is my first coal stove, you don't need experience in burning coal to recognize good workmanship in the finished product. All the items on display showed the same quality and simplistic design that would make for a long lasting product in my opinion. Mr Schrock was very informative and a pleasure to deal with on the purchase of my stove.
An Amish friend purchased one of the stoves a few years ago and I was taken aback at the amount of heat it produced on such a small amount of fuel. When the insurance company told me they could no longer insure the wood boiler I had been using, I did not take a great deal of thought before we decided to go with that stove. Biggest problem was getting info on where to get it. I used the info from my friends stove to get the manufactures address and wrote a letter. (no phone available). It was about 10 days before I got the reply but after that , we made the trip to Ashland to pick it up. Like I said it was a good experience. So far I am VERY PLEASED with it. It is capable of cranking out some serious BTU's. We currently have it set on about "2" on the dial and the house is staying close to 74-75 degrees with hardly any fluctuation. Outside temps have been in the 20's at nite with some wind at times and the stove just kinda sets there and loafs along. Seems to be burning somewhere around 20-30 lbs ea day. I can live with that.
No doubt handling a couple tons of coal will be much easier than the 15-20 truckloads of fire wood I used to burn each year.

Amish simple...
DS stoves the older ones have a family resemblance...

Im glad you are happy with it and 20-30 pounds of coal a day is cheap heat so thats great!

When you find time I'd love to see more pics, plus the others already requested. And size of the stove too, outside dimension and firebox inside. We can somewhat come up with a BTU rating with firebox measurements. You are going to wish you'd switched to coal long ago.

A bit late but I also use an EZ-50. I bought it used a few years ago from a fellow who replaced it with an EZ-100 bought from Schwartz's in Pennsylvania. The EZ-50 was on his first floor and the EZ-100 went into his basement. When I looked at the EZ-50, his EZ-100 had his house pretty warm and cozy on a cold day. The house was 2 stories, large and my guess is built first half of the last century. I don't know what kind or how much insulation was present. He'd replaced windows and doors, as well as opened up the inside.

My EZ-50 generally does well in my very old and drafty house. Its in my basement and, with one house fan to help move air, the house is generally comfortable. However, when I'm gone for a few days, it takes a while to bring the house up to comfortable again.

I've made one trip to Ashland to get a new grate; took a chance on them being open. I learned the newer versions have a changed grate and lower burn chamer shape. Mine is sloped and uses a single moving grate. The newer model has a two piece grate with, I believe, vertical sides.

Regards,
G

Thanx for jumpin in G. Sounds like ya got that stove of yours figured out pretty well.

I have found that with my vigilant casting when the temps start fluctuating outside, I just baseload it and control the house temp with judicious use of "window stats." Coal don't like it when you mess with it.