What Brand of Stoker Stove is Best

Interesting that coal provide's 63 percent of Wisconsin's electricity and yet is hard to find. When I searched the forum I found several members from Wisconsin, you should ask them where they buy from.

I found a supplier in Duluth. $180/ton for 2-5 inch lump. US Stove Co 1802G says it can burn up to 5" so I think this may be the route.

I am leaning towards the hyfire II. Just need to find a local dealer and install it. Thanks for your input

I must confess I am confused about where the LL AnthraKing (110K) hot air fits into this. Having owed 2 Poconos (110K) and being very happy with them, I can you this AnthraKing furnace is waaaay more efficient in the heat distribution dept. Nobody else seems to own one and LL are not pushing them. Did they decide not to make them? If you can get one put it one your list - trust me. If I have the only one on the planet - works great for me, parts are easy to get, runs flawlessly, absolutely no regrets and I have a one off. Just interested in where they are with this stove. Any other coal device that was unique on this planet would have a 100 posts requesting more details pics etc..... curioser and curioser. No complaints it's just odd.

Old Mill is the best of course.



Neal

coalnewbie wrote:

I am leaning towards the hyfire II. Just need to find a local dealer and install it. Thanks for your input

I must confess I am confused about where the LL AnthraKing (110K) hot air fits into this. Having owed 2 Poconos (110K) and being very happy with them, I can you this AnthraKing furnace is waaaay more efficient in the heat distribution dept. Nobody else seems to own one and LL are not pushing them. Did they decide not to make them? If you can get one put it one your list - trust me. If I have the only one on the planet - works great for me, parts are easy to get, runs flawlessly, absolutely no regrets and I have a one off. Just interested in where they are with this stove. Any other coal device that was unique on this planet would have a 100 posts requesting more details pics etc..... curioser and curioser. No complaints it's just odd.

Actually we have about 40 or so Anthraking's out there and all input and feedback has been very positive. It actually exceeded our hopes in performance. Truth is we just did not have the time to get the marketing done until recently. Being a small company you just have to choose the priority's we had a great year last year and hope for another. But with that the rush of stove, Furnace and boilers. Filling orders came first before the marketing. We just recently had the brochure designs finalized and will be getting them out to the dealers in the very near future, also we are working on our website. Keep checking you will see changes very soon. Thanks for everyone's patience and I know for sure that if you decide a Anthraking is in your future you will not be dissapointed. Dave

Hi Dave,

I just saw some welcome updates and changes to your website, great pictures and information about the Anthraking. I'm looking to add one to my Leisure Line inventory very soon!

I've been happy w/ my Hitzer 50/93 - no electricity needed, gravity fed. This was an issue in my selection because I feel that if I'm going to purchase an alternate heat, I want to be able to heat w/ it and possibly cook on the top, if the electricity goes out due to whatever.

well, I'm going to give my thoughts on stokers stoves (coal in particular)... Ive never liked the reliability of them OR the inability to repair them and get them functioning (out in the wilds of Alaska or w/e if something goes wrong) OR the lacking heat output as compared to a conventional manual load coal stove that burns Anthracite Nut well, The incredibly high heat in and around a small defined area in which electronics, moving parts and close tolerances MUST be maintained for proper performance just doesn't make sense to me (its bad enough with the heat output from glued up sawdust of wood pellets, nevermind 3x that with the high heat of coal) its enough to warp even the thickest best stainless steel in time .... having said that... I will say that of the few ive seen in action i do like Harman Stoves better then some others ive seen (for whatever thats worth). these are just my opinions from my experiences over the years and i do not mean to insult those who swear by these auto stokers, ive just always felt that you need to manually load them either way (maybe when they make an outdoor hopper that holds a 1 year supply i will re-evaluate) LOL

We all have our preferences. Mine is a stoker boiler. Just wrapped up the 9th heating season with the Harman VF3K boiler. It's been bullet proof. Yes there are moving parts and some electronics. I've had no problems with any of it. A little off season maintenance goes along way. I do have some spare parts on hand but they are still in the box.

As far as a years suply of coal, my bin holds a years supply in the basement with an auger to feed the hopper. I heated with wood for many years and I don't want to be a slave to a coal stove. You gotta tend a hand fired stove at least twice a day. I load my hopper with the flick of a switch and forget about it for 2-3 days depending on the weather.

No manual shake down and reloading, hoping not to lose the fire. No clinkers.

I've got a hand fired stove too in my shed. It's a Jotul507. Works great. But it's much more labor intensive and vulnerable to how consistently it's tended. The stoker just purrs along.

coalkirk wrote:We all have our preferences. Mine is a stoker boiler.

Same here. I started out with a hand-fired stove, and it worked great for what it was....a space heater. As for parts & reliability, any machine can have its faults. Grates can jam with rocks or clinkers, etc. Convenience, simplicity, and reliability rarely follow the same curve, so pick the best compromise for your situation.

Actually we have about 40 or so Anthraking's out there and all input and feedback has been very positive. It actually exceeded our hopes in performance. Truth is we just did not have the time to get the marketing done until recently. Being a small company you just have to choose the priority's we had a great year last year and hope for another. But with that the rush of stove, Furnace and boilers. Fill the build quality is first rate. Orders came first before the marketing. We just recently had the brochure designs finalized and will be getting them out to the dealers in the very near future, also we are working on our website.

Having completed my first season with the 110K AnthraKing stoker I can tell you it's fantastic, I would love to know how much it cost to get those dist tubes robotically welded but the efficiency is stunning (in my application of course). I was thinking Pocono to AnthraKing to hydronics but now I don't know. The damned thing just works SOO well. Think I will just save the money and buy the wife a diamond necklace (and then I woke up). Well Dave was I the first? It looked soo cool on the floor at Berwick, I just knew the design would work well. Will I be the last to see the brochure. Hmmm, interesting marketing technique. The world will beat a path to a better mousetrap.

One discovery I made is clean that lower exhaust T weekly, it really lowers efficiency even if it partially blocked. The stove has to breathe! I am working on a way to measure this fall off.

coalnewbie wrote:

Actually we have about 40 or so Anthraking's out there and all input and feedback has been very positive. It actually exceeded our hopes in performance. Truth is we just did not have the time to get the marketing done until recently. Being a small company you just have to choose the priority's we had a great year last year and hope for another. But with that the rush of stove, Furnace and boilers. Fill the build quality is first rate. Orders came first before the marketing. We just recently had the brochure designs finalized and will be getting them out to the dealers in the very near future, also we are working on our website.

Having completed my first season with the 110K AnthraKing stoker I can tell you it's fantastic, I would love to know how much it cost to get those dist tubes robotically welded but the efficiency is stunning (in my application of course). I was thinking Pocono to AnthraKing to hydronics but now I don't know. The damned thing just works SOO well. Think I will just save the money and buy the wife a diamond necklace (and then I woke up). Well Dave was I the first? It looked soo cool on the floor at Berwick, I just knew the design would work well. Will I be the last to see the brochure. Hmmm, interesting marketing technique. The world will beat a path to a better mousetrap.

One discovery I made is clean that lower exhaust T weekly, it really lowers efficiency even if it partially blocked. The stove has to breathe! I am working on a way to measure this fall off.

Brochures have been out for a while now, most dealers should have them I will get some out to you. PM me your address I am not sure I have it on file. As of right now we have been curtailed with the 110 but should have more soon. Both units are getting great feedback from users ,or at least they were till the weather warmed up. I am working on a tempering coil for hot water I will be testing designs this winter and they should be able to easily install on all units already sold. I have ideas that I know will work but want to be sure before releasing. Dave

i have the leisure line wl 110 stoker boiler. great product!! equally important unbelievable customer service. i mean matts cell # is in the manual. he always answers and is sharp as a tack. i just installed an alaska fire place insert for my father in law. equally great product. cant say about customer service because we haven't needed it at all. it simply plugs in and BLASTS heat. 85k btu i believe.

Hey everyone, I have a question. I currently have a keystoker 90 with a coal trol and 6 inch collar for the blower piped into the cold air return. Works great! The stove is in the basement of a 1040 ft. split entry. It works so well I ripped out the oil furnace and replaced it with an electric heat pump figuring to only use the electric if I was out of town. I have not had to use the electric yet this winter.
Now the question. We are building a new home this spring. 2600 square foot 1.5 story. It will be well insullated and tight. My property does not have access to natual gas so the primary HVAC system will need to be something else. I was dumb once but not twice so oil is out. Propane is also out. I have decided to go back to the well and install an electric heat pump. Of course it will not get much use because I also be putting in a coal unit. I am thinking Koker with a coal trol ducted into the HVAC system. What do you guys think? Am I thinking right? Also I will be building a new chimney. The Koker has 6 inch flue. What would be the optimum size flue liner? I am not going to do anything with a boiler lets just stay with forced air.

Just because you want you use forced air doesn't mean you cant take advantage of the efficiency of a coal boiler. I would do the heat pump and have a water to air heat exchanger installed in the duct work. The benefits are more efficiency AND it can do your domestic hot water.
Here's what it would look like. Also this will heat your home very evenly and not dry it out as much as a radiant stove would.