Antique Vs. Modern Coal Burners

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Thu. Jan. 26, 2017 1:15 pm

I LOVE my G109. I'm heating a 1100 sq ft ranch with drafty windows and poor insulation. I'm getting the heat I need, just that the burns times are a bit shorter with the smaller pot. I am tending 3x a day in the dead of winter just to keep a healthy fire in it. The stove temps are averaging 450 - 550 with some bite in the air. I managed to tighten it up enough to idle through warm days. I find it easier to idle down rather than shut down and start up a fresh fire. I've had it down to about 150 on the barrel, I could put my hand on it...

. It is simple to tend and could really throw the heat. I'm not too familiar with the G6 style stoves but heard they are excellent heaters as well. Their grate system is top of the line, so I've been told. They are multi fuel, so that's a plus. I will say that the suspended pot stoves are engineering masterpieces and damn sexy! They have a smaller footprint and insulate the fire a bit better, hence the extremely low temps they are able to run at. Both are excellent stove styles, it all depends on your needs. I love my G109 so much that I am on the search for a G111, a better fit for my house. Best of luck with your search.

TOTP...

Canaan coal man · Post by **Canaan coal man** » Thu. Jan. 26, 2017 2:35 pm

if you wanna drive to Vermont

https://vermont.craigslist.org/atq/5902357321.html

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Thu. Jan. 26, 2017 2:43 pm

tcalo wrote:I LOVE my G109. I'm heating a 1100 sq ft ranch with drafty windows and poor insulation. I'm getting the heat I need, just that the burns times are a bit shorter with the smaller pot. I am tending 3x a day in the dead of winter just to keep a healthy fire in it. The stove temps are averaging 450 - 550 with some bite in the air. I managed to tighten it up enough to idle through warm days. I find it easier to idle down rather than shut down and start up a fresh fire. I've had it down to about 150 on the barrel, I could put my hand on it... . It is simple to tend and could really throw the heat. I'm not too familiar with the G6 style stoves but heard they are excellent heaters as well. Their grate system is top of the line, so I've been told. They are multi fuel, so that's a plus. I will say that the suspended pot stoves are engineering masterpieces and damn sexy! They have a smaller footprint and insulate the fire a bit better, hence the extremely low temps they are able to run at. Both are excellent stove styles, it all depends on your needs. I love my G109 so much that I am on the search for a G111, a better fit for my house. Best of luck with your search.

TOTP...

While the G6 is bigger and can throw serious heat, I think your 109's suspended pot has an advantage over the base heater designs for very low temp, slow running.

Just by being able to keep the pot temps and thus burn efficiency up while being dampered down so much.

Paul

KingCoal · Post by **KingCoal** » Sun. Jan. 29, 2017 3:38 pm

scalabro wrote:That's a big deal, and makes me wonder how well a high end antique gravity furnace would do in a newly constructed home designed specifically to utilize one. I'm not talking about a 1930's octopus but a turn of the century unit. Some amazing units were built then.

Oh, and in case anyone cares, my Crawford 40 ashpan measures 15&1/4x13x5.

thanks for the pan measurements.

if you would please, in the design of the C 40, does all but the VERY least of ash make it into the pan and thus need no extra clearing ?

thanks,
steve

scalabro · Post by **scalabro** » Sun. Jan. 29, 2017 3:58 pm

Yes, you get a little when you pull out the slide grate sometimes, but there is only ash on the top edges of the pan from shaking. The ashpan covers more than the entire circular grate so it all goes in the pan. When removing the "cold" ash pan open the check damper & shake the pan a bit. This knocks the ash off the edges and sucks it into the chimney.

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Tue. Jan. 31, 2017 1:58 pm

scalabro wrote:Yes, you get a little when you pull out the slide grate sometimes, but there is only ash on the top edges of the pan from shaking. The ashpan covers more than the entire circular grate so it all goes in the pan. When removing the "cold" ash pan open the check damper & shake the pan a bit. This knocks the ash off the edges and sucks it into the chimney.

The ash pan in my range does not extend past the grates.

But I do the same by opening the MPD and getting a strong draft going. Then I just tap, or bounce the ash pan some before removing it and the ash along the edge gets sucked up into the firebed like you say your check damper does.

I don't get an ash outline whereever I put the pan down, like the police chalk outline of a dead body.

Paul

Post by **Rob R.** » Tue. Jan. 31, 2017 8:19 pm

tcalo wrote:I LOVE my G109. I'm heating a 1100 sq ft ranch with drafty windows and poor insulation. I'm getting the heat I need, just that the burns times are a bit shorter with the smaller pot. I am tending 3x a day in the dead of winter just to keep a healthy fire in it. The stove temps are averaging 450 - 550 with some bite in the air. I managed to tighten it up enough to idle through warm days. I find it easier to idle down rather than shut down and start up a fresh fire. I've had it down to about 150 on the barrel, I could put my hand on it... . It is simple to tend and could really throw the heat. I'm not too familiar with the G6 style stoves but heard they are excellent heaters as well. Their grate system is top of the line, so I've been told. They are multi fuel, so that's a plus. I will say that the suspended pot stoves are engineering masterpieces and damn sexy! They have a smaller footprint and insulate the fire a bit better, hence the extremely low temps they are able to run at. Both are excellent stove styles, it all depends on your needs. I love my G109 so much that I am on the search for a G111, a better fit for my house. Best of luck with your search.

TOTP...

Are you retired or working from home? I could never manage an 8 hour tending schedule.

Seal up those air leaks and add some insulation to the attic. I went from 9 tons per winter to 6.5 for very little money, I bet you can make similarngains.

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Tue. Jan. 31, 2017 8:55 pm

Rob,

I'm not retired, I wish I was though! I don't work from home either. As you could imagine 3x a day is tough. I work 2nd shift in a civil service position. I get up with my girls around 7am and tend it before sending them off to school. This tending is a quick shake and fill just to get me through the morning. I give it a good shake down and fill up around 12pm before heading off to work. I give it a good shake down and fill up again after work, around 11pm. I've tried skipping the 7am tending but it gets close. Sometimes I'll just fill it and not shake it down, depending on how hot it was burning over night. Often times I work double shifts or get stuck on snow detail over the winter. Luckily I showed my wife how to handle the stove and she takes care of it when needed. So as you could see...it's tough!

I've been slowly tightening up our house. Funds are tight (when aren't they) with 3 little ones. I've been slowly renovating our house, room by room. What a world of difference (only in the renovated rooms...haha).

Tom

Hoytman · Post by **Hoytman** » Tue. Jan. 31, 2017 11:02 pm

C coalman, keepeyeonit,
How many sq.ft. are you heating?

Keepaeyeonit · Post by **Keepaeyeonit** » Wed. Feb. 01, 2017 11:28 am

2400sqft bi-level built in 1974 with the original windows and wall insulation but I do have 20" of attic insulation.

Canaan coal man · Post by **Canaan coal man** » Wed. Feb. 01, 2017 12:12 pm

1800SQ feet house built in 1923 stone foundation dirt floor basement early 1980s updated windows and blown in insulation. sits on the east side of a 7 acre corn field with lots of wind. G6 handles all temps so far, but I run a chubby in the basement during 15* and below to keep pipes from freezing.

Hoytman · Post by **Hoytman** » Wed. Feb. 01, 2017 3:14 pm

Since I have an early onset of sometimers disease

and for those reading into the future I thought I'd bring this information together into one post. It helps me to see it all in one location so I can process it in this little pea brain of mine. Been a bad week. Also may help someone make a decision on choosing a stove.

Hoytman wrote:C coalman, keepeyeonit,
How many sq.ft. are you heating?

Canaan coal man wrote:1800SQ feet house built in 1923 stone foundation dirt floor basement early 1980s updated windows and blown in insulation. sits on the east side of a 7 acre corn field with lots of wind. G6 handles all temps so far, but I run a chubby in the basement during 15* and below to keep pipes from freezing.

Canaan coal man wrote:To the OP, Im one of the few if only members that has swapped a "state of the art" rice stoker stove with a old out dated antique base heater. While I can write ya a book on my personal feelings and advantages the Glenwood #6 has over the alaska channing 3, Ill jot down a few now.

The channing witch I burned with for 3 years, I burned roughly 4.5-5 ton (30 to 80lbs) a day of rice kept the living room were the stove was located 70 give or take a few degrees and the rest of the house 60-65. It uses electricity. It has 2 noisy fans that run 24/7. It has motors that can fail and leave ya cold in the night. No madder the coal or setting it would leave un burnt and partially burnt coal in the pain. stack temps were high like 250* plus depending on fire rates.

The Glenwood #6 keeps my house a 70* and living room at 75-80, burns 20lbs a day in the shoulder months and 50lbs running it a 500* for 24hours. ALL THE ASH IS BURNT TO A POWDER IF THE STOVE IS SHAKEN DOWN PROPERLY. It is quiet no motors to replace. the house is more evenly heated my up stairs bedrooms are far more conferrable. I can burn wood, bituminous, anthracite in a range of sizes from pea to stove. This give me far more flexibility when im Craig list hunting for free or cheap basement coal.
During the 2015-2016 heating season I burnt roughly 3 tons of nut coal.

Brenden

Keepaeyeonit wrote:2400sqft bi-level built in 1974 with the original windows and wall insulation but I do have 20" of attic insulation.

Keepaeyeonit wrote:Ok I'm going to give my 2 cents on this( 1st year with a base heater so take it for whats its worth ) I previously ran a Hitzer 983 insert so Its not exactly apples to apples but I'm sure you will get the idea. I have been keeping track of outdoor temps, coal usage, what and where I got the coal from since day one ( not to our resident math guru "Larry" standards but ok for me )
IMG_0037.JPG
I know without pictures it didn't happen so here you go and please don't check my math I'm sure there are a few mistakes.
I only really care about the HDDs and how much coal I burned, my house temp Is 78° give or take a degree or two( taken in the living room upstairs while the stove is downstairs at the opposite end of the house, I used March 2015 with 998 HDD and December 2016 with 1036 HDD the only two that were close and the same amount of days in the month.

Hitzer 983----------------------------------- Glenwood #8
1485#'s -------------------------------------- 1035#'s
47.9lbs/day--------------------------------- 33.39lbs/day

I know Its not scientific but my right arm is telling me the numbers are close and I'm using less with the #8 and Its very quiet without any power too boot , .

Thanks for the replies guys.

My wife says I'd forget me head if it wasn't attached. LOL!

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Wed. Feb. 01, 2017 9:24 pm

I'm not sure when stove gaskets were first available. I wonder if antique stove manufacturers would've incorporated gaskets into their designs or kept the stoves the way they were made?

KingCoal · Post by **KingCoal** » Thu. Feb. 02, 2017 6:58 pm

scalabro wrote:Well I can say with confidence that when I ran the Crawford 20 the most I could but through it, flat out, was 40 lbs a day (24hrs) .... and I mean pegged!

With the 40 I'm currently burning 50lbs a day. This stove probably has close to twice the surface area.

Boink, I almost swallowed my tongue over that 50#'s in 24 hrs. statement till I went back and found that you said your house is approx. 2450 sq, ft.

that's just over twice as big as my house and so puts me back at ease with the news William recently gave me that he is using 25#'s per 24 in his C 40 at constant 400* barrel.

thanks,
steve

scalabro · Post by **scalabro** » Thu. Feb. 02, 2017 7:27 pm

Hahaha! Yes..... if I cruised my C40 @ 400 it would do the same. Maybe I should install another chimney then I could idle both!