OK here goes...
Square footage of your house: 2000 sq ft +-
Current system that is installed: Forced hot water, oil fired
Do you have an existing chimney? yes, have a small woodstove installed now.
Rough estimate of your yearly fuel bill and type of fuel: Maybe 700 gal./yr with home
heating oil at $4 + per gal.=$2800.00
Thermostat always south of 65 degrees.
Rough estimate of your budget for the coal stoker/stove: What ever it takes. I have a lead on an
old parlor stove for free. It's about 50 yrs. old,
Big unit. Nds a little work.
Your location: Boston area
Stoker or Stove for 2000 Sq Ft. House
Welcome!......Tough to beat "Free" but I'd say any coal stove/stoker you could get your hands on would work fine & save you money. I'd replace your small wood stove with a larger coal appliance if I could. I think anything but the real small parlor stoves would heat your whole house & keep you much more comfortable than you have been. Problem now is finding a stove!
Goods luck & let us know how you make out.
Goods luck & let us know how you make out.
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Adamiscold
- Member
- Posts: 1116
- Joined: Fri. Feb. 29, 2008 7:09 am
- Location: Winchendon,Ma
Any stove you can get for free and try out for a season is a great benefit to you. It'll give you a chance to evaluate how you like using coal and if this free stove is large enough to fit your needs and save you some money on this heating season along the way.
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Cap
- Member
- Posts: 1603
- Joined: Fri. Dec. 02, 2005 10:36 pm
- Location: Lehigh Twp, PA
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harman SF 250, domestic hot water loop, heat accumulator
- Coal Size/Type: Nut and Stove
- Other Heating: Heat Pumps
Joe,
You can go for broke and install the a hot water coal burning unit ( EFM 520 ) in the next 6 months and live with it for the next 20yrs or buy yourself a handfired free standing unit and see how you feel next spring. i.e Harman Mark II or Mark III or Hitzler 50-93. Burning coal is not without some additional work. ie buy coal, pick up or delivered, storage, fill & maintain unit sometimes twice a day and remove & dispose of ash. Either way you will have to buy & store coal but a free standing unit will be a back up.
It can be a huge commitment to go with a entire new system if you run the boiler rout. Somewhat less of a commitment to buy a 2nd hand freestanding and see how it works out for you & family.
Let us know what you decide.
You can go for broke and install the a hot water coal burning unit ( EFM 520 ) in the next 6 months and live with it for the next 20yrs or buy yourself a handfired free standing unit and see how you feel next spring. i.e Harman Mark II or Mark III or Hitzler 50-93. Burning coal is not without some additional work. ie buy coal, pick up or delivered, storage, fill & maintain unit sometimes twice a day and remove & dispose of ash. Either way you will have to buy & store coal but a free standing unit will be a back up.
It can be a huge commitment to go with a entire new system if you run the boiler rout. Somewhat less of a commitment to buy a 2nd hand freestanding and see how it works out for you & family.
Let us know what you decide.
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Rob R.
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 18009
- Joined: Fri. Dec. 28, 2007 4:26 pm
- Location: Chazy, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr
I am heating roughly 2000 sq ft. with a hand fed stove. I chose the hand fed because of the lower cost, silent operation, and the comfort of knowing that when the power goes out (as it often does during extreme weather in my area) my house will still be warm. When I have enough extra $$, I will make the jump to a coal boiler.