Stove BTU 50K or 90K BTU's

Hi,

Would like any opinions. I have the opportunity to purchase either a Hitzer 3095, 50K BTU or a 5093, 90K BTU EZ flow stove.

My circa 1900 small farm house has 2 floors of 625 sq. ft. each. It has R-50 attic isulation, the lower level, a walk out basement has 3 exposed walls but all 4 basement walls have 3'' rigid foam on the exteriors. The upper level walls are not insulated but all windows and doors are thermopane. The house sits on a hill top in WVA and gets lots of wind.

The stove is to be the primary heat source using the existing supply/return duct work to distribute the heat to both levels. The existing oil burner is quite old and is not working. It is rated at 112K BTU's with 600 gallon oil storage capacity. I recently bought the house in foreclosure and have no idea as to previous years' oil consumption.

Which size stove would best suit my needs, 55K or 90K BTU?

Any idea as to possible coal consumption during the winter?

Any other thoughts?

Thanks,

GE

Buy the bigger stove as it holds more coal. You can get longer burn times between refills. They do not have to run at 100% of their ratings, you can throttle them back quite nicely. But when you need the heat on one of the real cold and windy nights you be glad you have the big one. It is the leakiness of the house that will determine the heat requirements at this house. Windy, hilltop, tall house, and uninsulated upper walls will cause more infiltration than a 'normal' house.
The large tank capacity gives some clue that the house might be a heat hog. At least the Btu rating is reasonable on the old oil burner.
Look for an oil company service sticker they might have some oil delivery records.

OK so I was just going to say to get the larger of the 2 for reasons CapeCoaler stated and I was going to say that someone who owns or ordered a Hitzer would probably add something soon and as I was looking up the Header for CapeCoalers Thread, he beat me to it!

My neighbor ordered a 503 and it will be in soon and he is heating the space you are.

Hello GE, welcome to the forum.. as stated above, cold air infiltration will be a big issue with your house.. I'd make a point to get a case of caulking tubes and caulk the exterior of the house, around windows and doors. etc.. this will make a big difference in heat loss.

Since you are in WV, and you may plan on using the local Bituminous coal.. Make sure you don't buy a Hitzer stove that has the hopper feed, You cannot use Bituminous coal in a hopper fed stove,, the coal in the hopper will catch on fire.. ONLY anthracite coal can be put in the hopper..

Greg L.

I have both , the 50-93 and the 30-95. Both great stoves. At rated operating BTU's , both models will use the same amount of coal in 12 hours , which is one 5 gallon pail. Ones no better than the other as far as coal consumption goes. Now , lets talk efficiency. The 50-93 puts out a lot more heat. It's like being hit by a wall of heat when walking into my basement , which is not quite 1700 square feet. The 30-95 will do the same thing in my garage , which is half the size of my basement. When experimenting with the stoves , I found that if the 30-95 is cranked up (over fired) to feel like it is putting out the same amount of heat as the 50-93 , the fire would be out in 12 hours. So , that tells me , if both stoves are running at RATED BTU's , and both stoves are useing a 5 gallon pail in 12 hours , the 30-95 is less efficient. That's great if you don't need the heat output of the 50-93 , and the chimney needs the heat in order for good draw. On the flip side , should you need to calm down the more efficient 50-93 to mtch the output of the 30-95 , you would have hardley any heat going up the chimney to help with draw. This is my hands on observation of the two stoves. Like I said , both GREAT stoves. Now , back to your house; From the way you describe your house / location , I also agree with capecoaler. Go with the bigger one(50-93). You can throttle it back some. The 50-93 will coast along and heat your house. That's better that the 30-95 being over fired , and useing more coal. If your upstairs was fully insulated , I'd then recommend the 30-95. One nice feature of the 30-95 is that the hopper does lift out through the top.

Hi,

I greatly appreciate the feedback to my posting.

As was suggested, I have purchased to 50 93 and will begin the installation process this week. Might not be too soon as evening temps here have been in the low 50's.

I hope with a little practice I shall become as adept burning anthracite coal as I was with wood.

Thanks again,

ge