Newbie Questions

Helllo all! I am new here and am in need of a bit of help.

Backstory: my husband and I just purchased our first home and have inherited a lovely Automatic Keystoker as the main heat source in the house. Unfortunately, the prior owners didn't leave us any help or a manual for it, and no one I know (including myself) has ever run a coal stove before. We are temporarily running the forced air furnace but quite frankly we know that it is costing us a lot to run it as it's well over 50 years old and the efficiency is very poor.
So we are itching to get ready to burn some coal!

However, I will openly admit that I am a complete newbie when it comes to using my stove. For me, it is better to feel a fool and ask questions, then do it the 'wrong' way and cause damage to my stove, property, or person!

I've written to Keystoker to see if they can send me a manual for my stove a few times but haven't heard back yet. With this cold weather we're having I am ready to get started on this if I can...
I've been reading your wonderful forum for a few days while I've been unpacking and have gleaned some knowledge. It's been a bit hit or miss-- the information is all great but finding it is sometimes tricky. I think I understand how best to start the stove, and what safety measures to take. From what I understand it is best to keep the hopper full, and keep the ash pan from overflowing (obviously). I have no idea how to control temperature or anything much beyond that, so I do have a few questions...

How do I control temperature?
Is there any danger in letting the fire 'die' if we need to? I know that Carbon Monoxide is usually a byproduct of improper combustion.
I am home most of the day as I work out of the house, but while we are asleep or if we need to leave for the day are there any extra precautions I should take with the stove? Other than the permanent precautions- Carbon Monoxide detectors, smoke detectors, a way to extinguish a hopper fire (I read that calcium carbonate or sand works best).
How do I take care of my stove? I want it to last many many years and am willing to put the work into keeping it nice.

Here is a photo of our inherited stove! Please pardon the mess, moving is dusty business...
Things I know about the stove:
It's a Keystoker
It's less than 3 years old
No idea what model it is (is there a way to find out??)
It is vented into an external brick chimney

http://featherdust.critter.net/house/stove.jpg
http://featherdust.critter.net/house/basement2.jpg

Thank you all kindly for your help and advice, I genuinely appreciate it!

Check the back to see if there is a Thermostat Box (RA86? or something). Or is there a Rheostat box (with a knob)? Can you post a pic of the back part. Maybe they ran the wire upstairs? If there is a 2 conductor Wire, see where it run and maybe you will find a standard ROUND Honeywell thermostat, if not, then you only control it with the Rheostat knob to increase/decrease the speed/feeder for more or less heat.

Usually a nameplate on the back with the model or size, looks to be a 90K (90,000 BTU) output.

It is basically the same as mine

The Black box on the side is for Convection Fan Temperature, it will kick the fan on about 140 to move the air around the room.

Letting it just die out is no problem, you can just unplug it, the fumes will go up the chimney.

Also, open it up and take a pic of the inside for us too.

Also, you are in WNY? WHere at, so am I.

Hi WNY!

Ah that makes sense, sorry for the airhead moment. We thought perhaps the heat was zoned off of the forced air, but on further inspection the downstairs thermostat is for the coal stove. It's a standard round thermostat. Thanks!!

I'm at my folks house for the moment, borrowing a computer with internet until we get ours hooked up.

I'll take a look to see if it's the 90,000 BTU unit and snap a few photos for you as soon as I can!

And yes I'm in WNY too. We go to Cuba regularly, we're in Olean. We're going to go through Petersons on 305 to get our coal since we currently need it bagged.

Hi jennifer,

Once you get behind the stove and find the plate WNY is referring to, record the serial number. There could be two; one on the plate and one on the stoker. Once you have them, give Keystoker a call at 570-385-3873. Keuysoker keeps a build sheet on every unit they manufacture and can tell you about yours. They can send you a manual for a small fee. That's how I got my manual and unit information. Although I've not called for operating assistance, I understand from others on this forum that they have a tech support person that can help you thru any issues you might encounter. Most of that info is probably on this forum already

Good luck, oh yeah, and WELCOME!

Easiest way to light is go down to Worth Smith and get some Coal Starter or Coal Mice (Bags). You just put one on the plate, fill the hopper up with RICE coal, put some on top of the starter bag, light it, let it get going, then just plug it in.

Set the Thermostat to the room temp or just below until the stove gets going, they turn it up a couple degrees and let it run. That should be about it.

If you need help, let me know, I work in Olean. You can just PM me for a phone number.....

You will like it!! One you get it figured out, it's pretty easy.

Yes, that is where I get my coal is Petersons.....Welcome aboard!!!

Looks like a very nice installation. Probably nothing to worry about, but from observing the pictures, Is there proper clearance from the top of the stove pipe to the drop ceiling? I believe 18" is the minimum recommended to combustibles for a single wall 6" stovepipe. Just something to check. It looks close. I know you will be very happy you bought this stove.

I just wanted to thank everyone for their help, especially WNY! We've had our stove on since last Friday and are very pleased with it. Haven't had the Natural Gas furnace on since and don't plan on running it again as a main heat source (though it is on 'back-up at 50° just in case the power goes out when we're not at home or something- with these winds lately there have been a lot of outages in the area)!

Doug-- thanks for your concern! I measured it and it's about 16.5 inches, so a little less than what you are saying is recommended for the piping. I will keep a close eye on it, temperature wise, and if we feel it is unsafe we will seek an alternative to the current drop-tiles.

Jen-

Great! Glad to hear it!!

For outages, you can get a backup generator or power inverter with batteries, either way, it will help power the stove for a while depending on the length of the outage. A generator will last longer than the batteries.

As per your ceiling height, you could always put a piece of sheet metal, or something above the pipe on the ceiling, but you should be okay as is, the previous owner ran it that way and looked like it worked.

Enjoy the heat!

If you need anything, just let me know!