New Stove, New House, Very Unsure of Myself

wsherrick wrote:What you have there is a, "circulating stove," which dates from the 1920's. These are very common in throughout the Country as they are designed to burn Bituminous and other soft coals. Your stove works by drawing in cold air from the bottom and it is warmed as it rises inside the enamel outer shell, it comes out of the top of the stove as hot air. These stoves are rugged, basic units that can take a lot of abuse. You need to replace the mica panes in the front window in the loading door, take the stove apart and reseal all of the seams with new furnace cement. You also need to replace all of the old bolts with new ones. It sounds like a lot of work but it is really pretty easy. Just plan on getting dirty.
Once you fix it up then it will give you many decades of good service. This stove is perfect for the type of coal that is available out west where you live. Not only will the stove keep you warm. It will also keep you secure as it will work no matter what happens with electric power, etc.
The best part is that the stove will save you thousands, I mean thousands of dollars in heating bills. It's worth a little effort and some education to learn how to use it.

Again, this is a coal stove, NOT a wood stove. You can burn wood in it, but; the difference in how the stove performs with the fuel it is made for will amaze you.

Utahstove wrote:I would just like to add that I read all of your replies, and I'm really looking forward to fixing this baby up. I found the square shaft, pictured below, so I've begun searching ebay for a replacement. The HVAC guy came yesterday to check out our (electric) furnace and was really excited by our stove, saying we should fix it up and "It's not just for decoration, you know". At which point I began telling him waaaay too much about my stove plans. You've created a coal-consuming monster!