Low Cost Anthracite Warm Air Furnace

Yeah I thought the 55 was about 1500 with all the bells and whistles.
DON

PAdutchman;
What is your electric rate where you live?What do you spend on electric in the middle of the winter.If you're spending 200 or 250 bucks in Jan I don't know how much you will save burnning coal.Some towns up here are @ .04/KW and a coal stove won't save them that much.
DON

Here's where I saw the $1900 for the 55FA
**Broken Link(s) Removed**"SKU: Model 55 FA Blower w/Filter Box "
No picture but a short description.

PAdutchman

Big Beam;
Wow $0.04/KWH where's that exactly, I'm moving!
I'm in southeast Pennsylvania PECO/Excelon territory with what they call RH (Residential Heat) rates.
PECO/Excelon = one of the highest rates in continental US
Pennsylvania Electric Utility Deregulation Act = Promise voters lower rates while allowing electric companies to charge higher rates.
Two power meters - two feeds to my house:
Off-peak feed only energized from 5PM-8AM weekdays and all weekend, customers are only allowed to connect electric clothes dryer and hot water heater - illegal to connect heat pump to this feed. I think the current rate is about $0.09/KWH
On-peak feed always energized heat pump and everything else. I think the current rate is about $0.16/KWH
Complcated (Deregulated) bill broken down into separate charges for transmission and generation (customer can select from a limited number of other electric generation companies) oh and the taxes and "recovery/transition" charges are included in the $0.16/KWH rate. "Projections" are our rates will increase 25% in the next 1-2 years and double in 5-7 years.

So the short version at our house, in a month like May or September when the heat pump only runs 1-3 days our total electric bill is about $150 , in January or February our bill is about $450 (with the thermostat set at 68F, and my Boss constantly reminding me how cold the house is) so about $300 a month to heat the house in Jan and Feb and about $150-$200 a month to heat in Dec and Mar is my estimate. I was hoping to sell my Boss on an ROI of 3-6 years and a temp of 72F+. I should have my bill for September in a couple of days - I'll check my numbers.

I need to take a blood pressure pill I've been thinking about our utility company and government officials too much.

PAdutchman

If that is with all the stuff, which it appears to be, it isnt nuts, I was told the 55 is about $100 cheaper than the 82, so I went with the bigger one because there isnt much price difference. By reading through the thread, I thought of a few options. The first is put a nice hitzer insert in the fireplace, they are over the budget, but a pretty insert might tickle the boss's buttons, and the warm air is right there where you guys are. This may or may not be a do it yourself project, the inserts are quite heavy I think. Next is the tie in with an 82 or 55. This is probably closer to budget if you build your own cabinet and blower and buy just the stove. My 82U.L was $980 and about $200 for sheet metal, and metal studs for vertical legs, and duct fans, this is not "pretty" but I think it will work. It is going to be tested this winter.

Probably the best long term solution depending on how long of a payback you are looking at is a stoker forced air unit, I don't know the pricing on them.

What I am doing is just shooting hot air into a room , as I don't have good access to my main furnace ducts and using my furnace fan to circulate. I hope this works, it should. Good luck, electricity is going to be nuts for the rest of us in pa real soon.

With thoes electric rates coal would be a GOOD investment.A lot of the smaller villages in upstate NY own the distibution system and buy the electic in bulk.Hamilton and Sherburne are 2 villages that do that.I live in between so my rates are like yours(NYSEG electric).
DON