Question Regarding Coal/Wood Stove

I am looking to buy a house that currently has what the owner is claiming to be a coal/wood stove in the basement. From what I can tell, the maker is DS Machine and the model is "Riteburn I Basement IV". The stove is huge, and looks oversized for the 1,500 sq. ft. house. The EPA placard on the stove says that it is illegal to burn any substance other than coal in the stove. My question is, is this stove truly built to burn wood and coal? I was able to read some information on this forum that seems to indicate it can, but I am not totally sure. Can anyone lend their expertise here? Is the current owner telling the truth? I don't see how he is burning coal, since there are no chutes accessible to get it into the basement. He does have a small plywood bin that could hold maybe 1 ton. He has about 4 cords stacked, so it almost looks like he is burning wood only in it.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

EPA regulations forbid hybrid coal/wood stoves from being labeled to burn wood (It has to do with the particulates from wood IIRC) in the US so its likely a situation like that. I have a multi-fuel stove myself with the same label on it.

Wood burns just fine in it...though coal is far, far easier. I did a quick search of the model you listed and its the same thing. You can definitely burn wood in it if you want. Still, I'd recommend going with coal...its easier to deal with and produces a far steadier heat than wood.

As for coal, he might be using bagged coal instead of loose so that would explain the lack of a chute.

If the stove you list is the one I found online, its a monster of a stove, 170,000 BTU.

Thank you so much for your help. Makes me feel much better.

You won't be cold with that thing in the basement, that's for sure.

There are a lot of reasons a particular stove might end up in a particular house, and being perfectly matched is not often how it came about. Almost every stove I had came about because someone no longer needed it, which might explain why such a big stove is in a house of that size.

I do hope you give coal a shot through, you might like burning it. Many of us have come to love burning coal because we stumbled across an old coal stove. In my case one was given to me, and I quickly liked the high heat and ease of use. I am a farmer and have a few hundred acres of woodlot at my disposal, yet I buy coal and sell my firewood...there is a reason for that. You might discover like me, that you like burning coal.

Good luck with trying it anyway!

Welcome to the forum Garder54.
As said before the house will be very confortable even in the coldest Winter. Just give to yourself the chance to try anthracite

If this is your stove it is the same one burning in my basement now. You have a great stove that will burn wood very well but burns coal even better, IMO of it so far. It wont be too much for your house because it is so easily adjusted and it can be throttled down to 175*-200* with no problem. I absolutely love this stove, enjoy the warmth.

Bruce M wrote:If this is your stove it is the same one burning in my basement now. You have a great stove that will burn wood very well but burns coal even better, IMO of it so far. It wont be too much for your house because it is so easily adjusted and it can be throttled down to 175*-200* with no problem. I absolutely love this stove, enjoy the warmth.

Bruce can you tell me what for is the upper lever on the right side?
Thanks

They call it a down drafter stove. Basically an internal damper to reroute the exhaust back down through the coal bed to keep thesome extra heat in the stove. At least that is how I understand it. I keep that up during the load time and while the gasses are burning off but other than that it's down.

That stove is awesome.