Pioneer BV fired up

Well, finally fired the stove. Vented everything to get rid of the paint smell. Settled down now to making some heat.
It will take a while to warm up the basement, but the heat is already starting to flow up stairs. After reading the Coal Trol
manual a few times, I feel pretty confident in its use. They need a better tech writer, it could be clearer. I will try the dvd.
I left the factory settings for now, except feed rate. 40 was not giving much of a fire, so I bumped up to 45. Seems to fill
out the grate better. It is possible to set to 80, but I think I will take it slow. Baro seems to be working well. I have really
good draft in this chimney, so set a 4, it is open 1`1.5 with out wind. CO2 alarms are quiet, so far so good! This is a very
different animal from the wood stove it replaced. Seems steadier heat if not quite as hot. Hopefully dialed in , I will be able
to get the big heat from it. Thanks to all here, because I would not have taken the plunge with out this forum.

Every stove is different on the feed rate, I wouldn't go over 45-50, my LL Hyfire runs about MAX 45 and only has 1/2-1" of ash at the end, you would only know if it is set correctly at a FR (Feed Rate) of 99. The factory setting are there for reason.

Yes, I am at maximum feed rate. Takes a while to heat up this old house. Oil boiler is.....quiet, just what I like.
Stove is not in ideal setting for central heat, but under the coldest part of the house. Makes a huge difference. I have central
chimney-dutch oven set up in an old 1790s colonial. I put the thermostat around the back of it, opposite the stove, couple feet off the floor and
set it to 80*. That keeps the stove pumping at full feed rate until I see 80* two feet of the concrete floor. I figure if I can keep
the basement at 80, floor above should be 70, and the floor above that 60. Oil should fire rarely for the top floor, and 0
for the 1st floor. So far so good. As an added bonus, my coal, judging from heat and ash, is the good stuff!
Filled stove about 12:30 am, used about half so far at full tilt. With wood, I would have touched the thing 3 maybe 4
times for the same burn period and heat output. One thing I noticed, convection fan is pretty loud. With the two fans
running, I get a low freq hum. I was hopping it would be quieter. Ah well, down in " the hole", not a big deal. If it was in my
living room......it would be an issue. I will post picks soon.....Coal On !

Do you have CoalTrol thermostat?

Do you have it ducted upstairs at all? Or just trying to get radiant heat? If you did, it wouldn't use as much coal and you probably wouldn't have to run so hot.

I only 1- 8" duct going upstairs, Mine barely idles and around 15-30% FR (feed rate) and mantains 68 or so in the living room.

Yes, I have the coal-trol, stove is at end of wing. I have a central stair in the house, with the doors open, heat moves nicely.
I have a granite block basement. Takes a while, several days, for the block to come up to temp. The stove should back down
when that happens. By physically putting the coal-trol thermostat low on the floor, shielded from the stove and air path, I am
forcing it to run at max. My goal is to learn the feed rates, etc, and heat the walls up. Should run flat out for maybe 2 days,
then settle into a lower rate to maintain temps. I am blown away by the difference from wood. Such a small fire for the heat
out put. Air flow through out the house should be similar with wood and coal. The coal is WAY more efficient. Flue temps
are a joke compared to wood. Way safer I would think. I am lucky in that my chimney is 45ft ish tall, and Ihad it lined. Draft
is amazing, even with a dead cold stove. That is my only concern, the baro. I will have to get a gauge to measure draft. I have it set at a little less than 4. Big heat, no alarms, windy last night! Stove is physically hotter on one side than the other.
Side with the convection fan is cooler..wonder why no dual fans are available. Maybe too noisy.
Coal trol and fans etc, are more complicated than the wood stove. I bought direct, no dealer near me. I wanted to become
one, but they could not supply me.....then. So with dealer support, really painless I would think. With out it, the average Joe
would not have fun. I am kind of a gear head, plus the info-help here, I am all set. But for wider market use, dealer support
will be a must. My daughter is looking up COAL songs and burning me a DVD.
So far I am happy with the LL. I had ordered a couple of Keystoker items. A 105 stove and ka-6 boiler along with the LL
back at the end of May, beginning of June. LL was on time as promised, Keystoker as of 11-01 could not give me a delivery
date. So I canceled them. So, as I set up a stove dealership at my shop, you can bet LL will be my first choice! I suspect
with declining oil prices and passage of time, the manufactures will get caught up. Gas is down, but #2 oil is still pricey,
so market should hold on for coal.

Emptied ash bin for the first time. I am glad that I got an extra. Pretty easy, much less mess than wood.......so much for
dirty coal! Cleaned the glass...... Not fun, used recommended cleaner, came out O.K. not great. Have the funky
plate to cover door opening while glass cools......worked so so. Alarms did not go off, but caught a very slight smell. Do not
see myself doing this every day. I have been using bagged coal. No mess at all. I stuff the bag in the hopper, slice the bottom
and pull......no dust or mess! Coal is damp, but burns fine . In 24 hrs at full tilt used about 75lbs. That is with tons of
messing around with the feed rates, etc. So, over all, a good move, better than wood, cleaner too!