Introduce Yourself

Hi,My name is Terry.I live south of Minneapols Minnesota in a old country
home I have been fixing up for 15 years.I installed a AA 130 in my two story
shop and circulate hot water in the floor.I ran Pex underground to the house 130 ft. away.The
two story house has been converted to in floor heat .I put extra tubes in and heat my
domestic hot water too.I am able to heat everything for less dollars now than I use to
spend just to keep the house from freezing.I have a on demand propane hot water heater for off
heat times.This is my ONLY source of heat.Like many of you, Coal has become an
obsession brought on by my addiction to Coal.Can't leave the thing alone.

If you need a cure for your coal addiction you've fallen in with the wrong crowed.

I sit and watch it for hours trying and thinking I can make it better,I have
tried a lot but usually end up back where I started.All the more reason to keep trying.

It seams as the seasons change modifications present themselves, but house is warm, hot water never runs out, ash and mess are in the garage, advice is to be calm, but the reality is more like this. It was the night before Christmas when all through the house not a creture was stiring not even a mouse, except the guy in bed thinking about converting the cloths dryer to hot water.

I think you can find a thread on this if you need to go down that road, somehow I remeber reading dryers need 150 F air.

I'm sending you a personal message at the top of the screen so you can learn how that is done, I mean learn how the personal message is done.

Hello, My name is Peter and I am from the Nazareth area located in the Lehigh Valley. I have recently moved into a house that is 200 years old and has furnace heat / hot water as well as a coal stove. I am employed in Law Enforcement and i love what i do. I am looking to browse the site and gather some idea's and to attempt to solve some question's and problems i am currently having with my coal stove. So thank you for reading and i hope to enjoy the site, like it appears the rest of you are currently doing. Peter

Peter,welcome to the FORUM---don't spend to much time browsing--get to some specifics--there ain't no stupid questions here & people are more then happy to share thier coal burning experience. Later my friend

Hi. I have a Petit Godin Round 3721 (mid-1970s) that my folks gave me since they weren't using it anymore. It's great for my very small house, although burn times are not very long with wood. Last winter was my first winter in this house with this stove and I burned only wood, as I was not able to find anthracite in these parts. I'm in central Virginia. I'm still on the hunt, but I'm not having much luck finding anthracite. What are your thoughts about and experiences with burning bituminous in this stove if I cannot find anthracite?

I really enjoy reading the posts and look forward to learning more about using my coal stove.

Welcome to the FORUM Julie---I'll bet you'll be hearing from Lisa,who is close to your part of the country Again,welcome-0-ask questions & you'll get answers

..hello all..is the the right place for intros?..my name is Bud..I'm a retired railroader, live in Elkton, MD..getting ready to buy a Hitzer coal stove model #50-93 from a dealer in Quarryville, PA..never burned coal before, so I'll be asking lots of questions..I'm glad to have found this place..

Hi Julie,

Where are you in VA? I'm in Springfield. I've been burning coal in a Harmon Mark II for the last 4 years. I drive 50 miles to Jefferson, MD for my bagged coal. I've heard of one anthracite dealer in Christiansburg but that's as far south as I've seen. Sometimes farm stores will have it or will be willing to get it for you. It's all hit and miss.

You'd have to do a cost analysis to see if the savings is there. You could expect to pay $300 plus a ton for bagged coal. There are several fuel cost tables on the forum; use the search box in the upper right hand corner. That will give you a good idea of how much you could expect to use per year for your sq. feet. Bulk coal is less expensive but the cost of delivery is going to drive up your price. Many of the bulk dealers require the purchase of entire truck load, approximately 22 tons. Another option is to rent a truck and go get the bagged coal yourself. You may find that anthracite is not economically feasible for you.

I don't know much about burning bit or the Godin. If you posted the question on the Bit page I'm sure you'd get the answer to your question. The level of knowledge about coal on the forum is phenomenal. Don't hesitate to ask any questions that come to mind. Good luck, Lisa

Bud,welcome to the Forum--my Grandfather worked the rails back in the 20's & 30's--he lived in Wilmington,De. & retired there--you have made a good stove choice--last winter was my 1st coal yr. all wood before--I love the coal---& I love my 50-93---like anything else there is a combination you'll have to find for your stove & I can tell you from experience that this is the place to learn--ask away when you need to---Later my friend--Fred

budster wrote:..hello all..is the the right place for intros?..my name is Bud..I'm a retired railroader, live in Elkton, MD..getting ready to buy a Hitzer coal stove model #50-93 from a dealer in Quarryville, PA..never burned coal before, so I'll be asking lots of questions..I'm glad to have found this place..

Been lurkin on this site for quite some time. There's certainly a lot to learn and I'm sure they'll be a lot more for me. Living in North West Connecticut in a 60+ year old house with a Boiler of the same age. I've been told it looks like it might have been either a wood or coal boiler that was converted to burn oil. It's an old FitzGibbons with an asbestos liner and boy does it seem inefficient. Being so difficult to afford feeding it we originally went to check out Pellet stoves but one smart dealer turned us onto looking at coal stokers. Unfortunately the prices for new boilers and stoves, while fair, are just too much (if only we didn't spend so much on oil...its a vicious cycle ) so I've keeping my eyes peeled on CraigsList for something used and more affordable.

Unfortunately the first stove I bought turned out to be a letdown. It was an old Surdiac which looked fine at first but once I got it home found out a few of the cast-iron parts had rusted through. Maybe one day I'll start a thread and post pics of my partial tear-down, but right now its surrounded by my sister's stuff in the garage while she's uses it as storage during her move.

Having learned from that and doing a lot of research in the meantime I've finally found what will hopefully be some relief in the form of an old Ashley/King Stove Circulator. This time I made sure to give it a thorough look and my buddy that helped me move it thought it looked good. He took the grate assembly out to lighten it up. After getting it home I noticed one of the grates seemed off and my buddy thinks it was probably welded back together but that he could fix it up better. Part of the reason I picked it up though is because their still made and parts are sold by U.S. Stoves. So rather than take any chances I'll just get a new one.

Now the big project is checking with our town rules to see if its alright to hook it into the extra thimble in our old mason chimney despite the facet that the oil-burner boiler and oil-burner water heater are connected to the other side of the chimney. Then to let the insurance company know, gotta play it safe ya ya know.

Anyways, I try not to post too much. As you can see I'd just talk too much and would prefer to do that when I have something useful to contribute. Still wanna say Thanks for the great site!

Good to see your post--sounds to me like you've learned alot already

Hey, group !

Great message forum for coal energy. Thanks to the mods and developers for a great site.

I just received a coal stove that my father brought back from eastern Pennsylvannia; Kulpmont in Northumberland County where his family settled in the early 20th century, working as coal miners.









I've got a bit of an idea that I'd like to install the stove in the living/dining room area of my wood frame cape cod style home. Stove pipe would exit out the gable end of the house. Current interior is gypsum drywall w/ hardwood floors.

Will have to research feasibility of stove install, operation, and of course a supply of fuel (mid-Michigan). Sure to find a lot of resources here.

Thanks again for a great forum !

kulpmont wrote:I just received a coal stove that my father brought back from eastern Pennsylvannia; Kulpmont in Northumberland County where his family settled in the early 20th century, working as coal miners.

Welcome!
You have a kitchen "end" heater. They were designed to sit alongside a kitchen range. My Grandma had one at the "end" of her electric range and I still have that stove to this day. Not using it though, it's stored out at the farm because I have too many stoves at my place now.
Here is a link about these stoves.http://www.monarchrange.com/OtherProduc ... ate50s.pdf