Where to Put My Stove.

Here I am asking more questions, but I appreciate all of you helping out! We live in a Cape Cod (in Colorado Lol) with a full walk out basement. Our basement is unfinished with insulation on the walls, but not the ceiling. The basement is 1500sf, the main level is 1500sf and the top is 1000sf. As you enter the house the entry way is vaulted. We have hydroponic baseboard heat, so no duct work. We have considered putting a Harman Mark III either in the basement, or in the main level entry way. We're not sure which would be best. We spent $4800.00 on propane last winter, and would like to get away from using it. Any ideas?

sounds like you want a boiler in the basement....

Boiler.

Wow! I have never thought of a boiler. What kind of boiler do you recommend. It is a little difficult for me to get anthracite in Colorado; although I found someone who sells it about 50 miles away. Near as I can tell they are the only ones around here. What do you think of the combination wood and coal boilers that Harman has?

In order to burn different fuels the boiler would have to make some compromises which will lower the overall efficiency of the unit. That is the main trade off for having more flexability in fuel choice. Most here will tell you that if you have a good supply of coal you will never want to use wood again.

If you live in Colorado, you should be looking at bituminous boilers. They are more wood friendly than anthracite units and the fuel will be a lot cheaper.

What is your price for anthracite in Colorado? You may want to bite the bullet and buy a truckload and stockpile it. If your house is only 1500 sq. ft. I would put a stove in a central location on the first floor. Then get a coil to do domestic H.W. A boiler is much more expensive and the install can cost a pretty penny too. With a stoker you can install it yourself. It will use less coal then a boiler too. If u put the stove int he basement you'll be wasting a lot of BTU's heating the uninsulated area. I'm just worried that you may need some heat down there to keep pipes from freezing.

My house is actually 4000sf and the basement walls are insulated, just the ceiling is uninsulated. We are concerned about a boiler because about once or twice a year our electricity goes out sometimes for 2 or 3 days. I finally found an anthracite dealer about 45 miles away and they are charging about $170 a ton. Not bad at all. We're concerned about our pipes in the basement, but also about wasting fuel heating an unfinished basement. On the other hand, we would like to finish it in the next couple of years. What to do, what to do?......

hillsbillies wrote:I finally found an anthracite dealer about 45 miles away and they are charging about $170 a ton.

To put it bluntly I'd be suspicious as to whether that is really anthracite. The going rate at the breaker is in the neighborhood of $130 and it certainly cost more than $40 a ton to get it to Colorado from here in Pennsylvania. Anthracite is only available in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The cost for example in Maine and other areas where its about 8 to 10 hour trip one way is about $300+/- a ton retail.

I want to encourage the use of anthracite but I don't want to see people spending their money unwisely either and if you expect to burn anthracite you better make sure that's what you are getting and will have a reliable source for it for many years if you invest in a boiler or even an anthracite stove. With the demand rising like it is the chances of having a reliable source that far away is pretty slim. You can't burn bituminous in a unit designed for anthracite. Bituminous is very abundant in your area, if you want to burn coal that is probably your best route but you also have to understand the issues with that, first and foremost is that it produces a lot of soot and smoke when burned.

EFM is working on design for a bituminous coal boiler, you may want to check this thread.

EFM Bituminous Boiler Testing Is Next Week

I re-read your post. 4000 sq. ft. is a big home so I would suggest a boiler. But before you invest in a boiler you better make sure your supplier is selling Anthracite and not soft bit coal. I found this info. I don't know how accurate it is but:

The largest fields of anthracite coal in the United States are found in Northeastern Pennsylvania called the Coal Region, where there are 7 billion short tons (6.3 billion metric tons) of minable reserves. Deposits at Crested Butte, Colorado were mined historically.

Anthracites of newer, tertiary or cretaceous age, are found in the Crow's Nest part of the Rocky Mountains in Canada, and at various points in the Andes in Peru.

You're right, when I called back today, the woman told me the coal was from Utah. She was very unsure about the difference between bit. and Anthracite. I called Casper, WY and they told me it is $300 a ton and they are 350 miles away. Sooo it looks like we'll be burning bit. Now to figure out which stove or boiler to buy. Humph!

You're options are limited for a boiler, the only one that I'm aware of the many manufacturers discussed here is the one EFM is testing in the link I posted. There are others that make them but in general they are not discussed here. Anthracite is ideal for home heating for a variety of reasons, bituminous is not for a variety of reasons. As I mentioned first and foremost there is a lot soot and smoke involved with burning it, if you have any close neighbors they are not going to be very happy. The exhaust also tends to have a strong sulphuric smell. How much is going to depend on the specific coal you are using.

Other issues is that it tends to clinker... Carefully reserch what you're getting yourself into before purchasing.

Try some of the threads in the Bit. forum: Hand Fired Coal Boilers & Hot Air Furnaces/Stoves Using Bituminous

hillsbillies wrote:You're right, when I called back today, the woman told me the coal was from Utah. She was very unsure about the difference between bit. and Anthracite. I called Casper, WY and they told me it is $300 a ton and they are 350 miles away. Sooo it looks like we'll be burning bit. Now to figure out which stove or boiler to buy. Humph!

Did you call Blaschak coal yet they have dealer's out in you Area they ship coal out to the springs give them a call they
will tell you where the dealer's are

I called Blaschak and found out that the closest dealer is about 350 miles away. I guess it's bituminous for me.