Help Please-Suggestions for Kast Console II Use

Hi all,

I just got a new Alsaska Hearth Stove in my 2150 sq. ft. home. It is installed in the living room fireplace. I have only had it running for a couple of days but I wanted some input on the best way to run it. So far, it keeps the first floor of my house pretty warm but not super warm. My house ha a pretty open floor plan. The room with the stove gets up around 69 degrees but the rest of the downstairs stays around 63-4 and that is with the blower on full. The upstairs stays more around 61-62. I seem to be burning a lot of coal just to get those temps. I went through about 40lbs. in 14 hours. Does that sound right to any of you? I was hoping that the hopper would hold enough for a couple of days but at this rate I will need to fill it at least once a day. Having never burned coal before I am not sure how high the fire should be allowed to go. I have it attached to a thermostat and when it calls for heat the fire rises up about 3/4 of the height of the stove and most of the burning surface is covered with glowing, burning coal. I have the low setting at about an inch of glowing coal on the grate and a small, maybe 2 inch fire height. Should I burn a higher fire when the thermostat calls for it.....should the fire touch the top of the stove? When this happens the stove smells really strongly so I haven't done that. I am just hoping for maximum heat output while using as little coal as possible. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot. Oh, one more thing....what color should my fire be and do you think a coal-trol would help/can it be installed on this model.

If it';s a new stove, you have to turn it up and get the "NEWNESS" smell burnt off it. It may stink for a while and smell like hot metal, but it will go away after a while.

Yes, the flames can touch the top of the stove, when burning on FULL, you should have approx. 1" or so of ash at the end of the burn plate without pushing hot coals off. You can probably run it a bit hotter by the sounds of it. So your feed rate can be adjusted in a turn or so. Just wait at least an hour when you make an adjustment to let it settle into the new settings.

Thanks for the suggestion. I would say I don't really ever have ash at the end. When the fire gets hotter it just spreads to the end so the whole platform glows. Does that mean that the hopper is pushing in too much coal?

If you are pushing hot coals off the end when fulling burning, the feed rate has to be adjusted back just a bit. The hopper doesn't push coal, just the stoker unit. There should be a FEED Adjustment somewhere, just back it one way in/out (not sure) about 1 turn if that.

If the whole burner plate is burning, you should be getting some heat out of the stove...

Welcome to the forum.

Something isn't right here, there should be a lot more heat from that stove. I have an Alaska KC in the cellar, connected into the forced hot air ductwork, with a thermostat that controls the blower in the oil fired furnace. My house is old and poorly insulated, around 2000 sq. ft. The Alaska will keep the house at comfortable temperatures until the outside temps fall below 45, then it will start to get cool in here. Below 40 and it cannot supply enough heat. The cellar is always very warm. Below 40 I fire the hand-fed stove on the first floor. Right now the outside temp is 28, the Alaska is at a medium burn, the Harman hand fed is at a low burn and it's 70 up here on the 2nd floor. The Alaska also heats our hot water, I burn no oil (the tank's empty).

We need more info and pictures (we love pictures).

Details about the chimney, how the stove is connected to it, if you have a barometric damper connected, what brand of coal you are burning.

You shouldn't have burning coal to the end of the grate, lower the burn rate so there is about 1" of ash at the max burn rate.

Thread about my Alaska stove:

Alaska Kast Console Is Home

Thread about Articcatmatt's stove:

Old Alaska Kodiak Stoker II Rebuild

A barometric damper is critical, do you have one installed in the chimney flue?? If not you probably are losing a lot of heat up the chimney..

Greg L

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The stove was installed by my local alaska dealer so I know it is hooked up correctly and there is a damper. Right now I am burning the entire hopper (70lbs. for the hearth model) in 24 hrs. I have to dump the ash pan at least once a day, sometimes twice, which I feel is a lot. I am unclear as to the hopper vs. the stoker unit as far as feeding coal. I can't believe that all that coal would be fully consumed in 24 hrs. with that much ash. The guy told me if I turn it down I will burn less coal but the auger is on a 3min cycle so isn't it always feeding coal regardless of the fire intensity? I will try and put some pictures of it burning on here soon. The fire is always yellow which I hope is good. The house just doesn't get that warm with the coal.

Your stove is rated up to 85,000 BTU, it should be keeping the house warmer then you state.

Right now I am burning the entire hopper (70lbs. for the hearth model) in 24 hrs. I have to dump the ash pan at least once a day, sometimes twice, which I feel is a lot.

During extreme cold this is possible.

so I know it is hooked up correctly and there is a damper.

Never assume! Was the stove burning before the installer left? Did he have it burning with a full fire and check the draft with a manometer? What is the draft set at?

What brand is the coal you are burning? Good coal burns with a blue flame, you will see some yellow from time to time.

I am burning blaschak coal. He did not start it when it was installed because it was really warm that day. It hasn't been extremely cold here yet and that is why I am concerned. My oil heat has still been coming on even with the coal stove burning so much coal a day. I don't really know how to check the draft setting or what it should be set at. I only have it burning hot for an hour in the morning and then from 5-10pm in the evening. All the other times it is running at the low setting and still using all that coal. It probably kicks on late at night to keep the 60 temp I have the thermostat set at but not a lot. The upstairs of the house does not stay warm when the stove is on the low setting so the zoned oil heat compensates.

I am using a Kast console II with a power vent. I haven't had it running that long (bought it used and had problems getting it running--works good now) I have seen ash pans for other stoves and they are MUCH larger than the Kast Console II. If you look on the Alaska website, it is the only stove that DOESN'T have a "Large muti-day ashpan" I have to empty mine daily, so that is normal. (if it's on low, maybe once every 2 days)

This stove can put out a TON of heat. It was 24 degrees last night in PA and I had it on medium, it heated my 2200 sq ft 2 story house just fine. The best way to keep the burn efficient on this stove, (And guys , correct me if I'm wrong) is to have the combustion fan on HIGH all the times and use the feed adjustment to regulate the amount of coal. I have a red "lobe" on the back of mine attached to a threaded rod. I will probably go through 70 lbs of coal today. My ash has a nice red color to it, which is a sign of a good complete burn, and very few unburnt coals.

crochunisclan
Could you tell me how high you crank the stove to get it to heat your whole house and how often it will burn on high? I have it set on 70 in the room with the stove and it only gets about 62 in the rest of the house. How do you keep the combustion fan on high vs. the stoker running a bigger fire?

He did not start it when it was installed because it was really warm that day.

You need to test the draft with a manometer and adjust the barometric damper accordingly to maintain a draft of -.04" WC. I'll bet all your heat is going up the chimney because the baro is set incorrectly. The installer should have explained this to you and offered to return to set the draft when you had the stove burning.