Introduce Yourself

Hi, this is Jim and I live in Upper Bucks Co. PA I've been burning wood as a supplement to the oil heater in my home for the last 15 years. Like another said it isn't free even if it's free! Anyway I picked up an old EFEL Lion two years ago after Gas hit $3 a gallon. After two seasons of fiddling, I finally know what I'm doing here!Wish I had found this site years ago! I just Picked up another used Franco Belge Normandie model and now can heat my entire home using only Coal!
We Need to start up a "Boycott Home Heating OIL group" and fight back against the "Pillaging" of the average Homeowner heating with Oil in the Eastern states, by Big Oil and Wall Street Speculators!
Right now my oil tank is empty and it's gonna stay that way for a long time! I got a Ton and half of coal back home and "getting the word out" about the advantages of the 'black diamonds'.

I should let my tank go empty too then I would have to finigh my coal to hot water recovery system. Too bad that coal has such a bad rep. Our government should be hyping coal as a residential fuel that burns rather clean and keep money and jobs in this country.

Hi all, My name is Jason. I recently purchased a Alaska Channing III about 5 weeks ago and am loving it. I am still trying to figure out some of the finer points like all of the beginners (lighting, adjustments, keeping the kids from playing with the hopper control ETC)

I got a "free" ton of coal with my purchase from Earley's Farm Store in Madison, NY and am 3/4 through it. I was hoping to get through the winter with 2-2.5 tons but its looking like it will be more as it gets colder out.

This site is one of the reasons that I decided on coal to begin with and i am very interested in being an active member of the community. I hope to find some lower prices for coal, info on my channing III and info on running it.

Stay safe all

Jason

I added a Coal-Trol thermostat to my Channing and looks like it is going to save me some coal this year, If you went through almost a ton in 5 weeks, it must be really cold where you are! or you have a big house.

BK

P.S. Great, another firefighter on the forum,this place is going down hill fast!

This morning it was -7 when i left for work and i am heating a 2200sq ft house

But it is still cheaper that fuel oil

My name is Bob, I live in Dallas, Pa. I recently decided to purchase a Channing III, because I am tired of high heating bills. So far it is working out well, with a few minor concerns such as heat distribution. But each day I try different ideas and it seems to be coming around. I am a Funeral Director and Certified Nurses's Aide. Love to bowl and I am huge fan of our local AHL hockey team. Glad I found this place as it has given me a ton of information.

Hello!

My name is Bryan. I live in Waynesboro Pa. I have been burning my Harman Mark III for a week now and am almost loving it. As for the heat? This thing is great. I am only having one problem now. I lose my fire about every two days and can't figure out why. I am shaking the fire down in the morning and at night. It seems there is still allot of ashes under the hot coals though. Could this be putting the fire out? Not enough air. I have the air adjustor turned out 2 1/2 turns. My son was able to save the fire tonight. It is now 17 degrees and the main part of the house is 80 degrees and the rear part of the house is a comfortable 72 degrees. The house is approximately 2200 square feet.

Also, this place is great as I have received quick responses to my questions.

im bill, live in central maine and im an alcho...... oops wrong forum. i heated my workshop with coal when i was 15 and loved it (fire it up in the a.m. and come back from school to a warm workshop). got my stove back from my father last year and tried to heat the house with it. didn't work well below 32 degrees, couldn't seem to keep up. anyway ive been reading a lot here the past few months and took all the advice i found and this little stove is keeping my 1,100 sqr ft place very warm plus the apt upstairs is liveably warm. (i own an apartment house and the upstairs is empty) and it was 12 below zero 2 nights ago. ive noticed now that the colder it is out the better it wants to run. my stove is a handfired cylindical style, like a barrel but not a potbelly. ive recently installed a heat reclaimer in the stovepipe and it made a world of difference. i would like to thank everyone for all the advice ive gotten even though i didn't ask the questions ive just read mostly through the q's of others.

Where are you located, Bill, and what type of coal are you burning in your King? Those stoves were designed to burn bituminous coal, but I think they'll do real well on Anthracite, also.

im located near bangor maine. im burning anthracite and the stove responds very well to it. i was burning beach coal in it when i was young. my uncle used to collect it. i think it came off the barges that would round cape cod in massachusettes (where we used to live) delivering to the power plants. i think that would have been bituminous.

Thechap wrote:Hello!

My name is Bryan. I live in Waynesboro Pa. I have been burning my Harman Mark III for a week now and am almost loving it. As for the heat? This thing is great. I am only having one problem now. I lose my fire about every two days and can't figure out why. I am shaking the fire down in the morning and at night. It seems there is still allot of ashes under the hot coals though. Could this be putting the fire out? Not enough air. I have the air adjustor turned out 2 1/2 turns. My son was able to save the fire tonight. It is now 17 degrees and the main part of the house is 80 degrees and the rear part of the house is a comfortable 72 degrees. The house is approximately 2200 square feet.

Also, this place is great as I have received quick responses to my questions.

I have the same problem with my stove, I feel it's the impurities in the coal I am burning that are causing the problem. During cold weather when I run the stove at a high burn rate I'll gradually get less heat from the stove and will eventually loose the fire overnight. I shake the coal bed with a really hot fire burning and then poke through the grate with a tool I made myself to try and clear out the openings in the grate. It's just a long piece of rigid round stock, around 1/8", bent up the end so you have about a 2" "probe" and go in through the ash door poking up through each grate opening.

I was banking the fire to the front and then adding more coal in the back, but this seems to pack the ash too tightly in the front, I'll loose the fire in the front, it didn't help to extend the burn time, maybe even shortened it.

Phill Becker, first time coal burner, long time pyro.
My mom used to let me play with fire on the cement porch 'cause she was afraid I'd do it in the woods otherwise.
There was an old harman Stoker in the garage when we bought the house last year, and I've got it running now.
(details and problems [url]in this thread[/url]
Looks like I'll have to rig up some ducting... And clear a path to the coal bin.
Great info here. keep it up
pb

Hi everyone,I'd like to introduce my self my name is mike & I've been visiting your site for a few months now & I've picked up alot of good Info.I installed one of the US stove Co-Clayton 1600 wood/coal furnaces this year to heat my one story home.I didn't really have the option to put the furnace in the house so I had a small 10'x12' barn about 15' from the house so I installed the furnace in there & buried the duct work in a cinder block tunnel & hooked into my existing duct work. I've been burning Bit coal,its strip mine coal out of clearfield co. PA
& it cakes up alot,after loading you need to go back about a half hour later & break it up alittle to keep it burning hot.I ordered 4 ton without trying it .I went by the word of one of the local coal yard guys.It does burn but takes lot of messing with.I stopped & got a bucket of reading nut hard coal the other day & was very impressed by it,so I figure on using the hard coal when its very cold or I need to keep the fire awhile with out messing with it.
Well that all ,just wanted to say hi & thanks for all the info. Mike

Howdy folks, my name is John. I live in west central Ohio and I'm just starting season 2 burning coal in a Hitzer 503. Didn't know anything about coal until about 2 weeks before I bought this insert last season.

While researching wood burning inserts I came across some inserts that burned coal. The more I read, the more interested I became. But I didn't know anyone using coal and I had no idea where to get it. I finally asked the right person who remembered seeing an ad for anthracite in a small local paper. I called the number and not only did he sell anthracite, he was just starting a business as a dealer for Hitzer. Plus he was only 20 minutes away. Great! We talked about the price of coal and a suitable insert and a week later we were installing it in my house.

There are some ongoing growing pains in learning to use it but I'm gettin' the hang of it. I don't have any gauges or other devices for monitoring or controlling it yet. Just wingin' it basically. But all in all, it's going good and I like it.

John

Hello all.
First off, Great message board. kinda overwhelmed at all the info.


My stove is a Locke 400 (warm morning) same as the "coalkid" For the past 10 years I have burned wood only in it. It has a large firebox but a small opening to put wood/coal. This year in an attempt to conserve my wood pile, I bought 25 40# bags of nut anthracite ..... I think I'm hooked... It took a while but I think I got the hang of it....
lesson #1 bank the coal when adding....

I do have a few questions... gonna go search for the appropriate place to ask.

BTW, my local place is getting $5.99 a bag 40# I have the firebox filled to the top of the firebrick... cooking good... been going for a couple weeks now steady.... about a 1/2 bag a day...

long live coal.
- john T.
Connecticut