Questions about Crane Coal Cooker use and installation

Hi,

I have the opportunity to get a Crane Coal Cooker Model 44 for free. I have a fireplace that I hardly ever use and am considering using it for this purpose. I have the following questions:

- My city requires that I get a permit for it and that its installed according to the installation instructions for the stove. However, I don’t have that document. Does anyone know where I can get it?

- My fireplace has the typical vent that I can open or close. How do people install a coal stove in a general purpose fireplace?

- I’m assumming that I can get this professionally installed. What is the typical price range that one pays for this?

Thanks

Hello – I have the 4th edition of “The Coal Burner’s Almanac – A Guide to Coal Burning along with the Owner’s Manual for the Crane Coal Cooker” from 1981. It is a 27-page booklet with general information about burning coal and the advantages of the Crane Coal Cooker. I am not sure if this information will be good enough to get you a permit but I am willing to scan the pages on installation and e-mail them to you. I have vented my coal stove (not a Coal Cooker) into my fireplace by using a five-inch flue pipe up the chimney to at least the first tile and then blocking the opening where the pipe passed through the damper flap. The fireplace has a 12 x 12 inch tile liner, too large for wood, but it worked very well with coal. I have no idea what it might cost to have this arrangement installed. Joe

The town is looking for setbacks to combustibles, these usually range from 18 to 36 inches but are determined by the manufacturer of the stove. There are a couple of members who have a Crane Coal Cooker and between the manuals or plate on the stove you will get the proper setbacks. Speak with the inspector they may have a generic setback for solid fuel stoves that you could use.

Is your damper on top of the chimney or is it in the fireplace itself. The rooftop type should be removed or made so it will not be closed. The firebox type will usually be removed to get the stovepipe past the throat.

If you have a chimney in good repair and with a good draft, running the stovepipe above the smoke shelf will suffice. The throat must be properly sealed to prevent back draft or insufficient draft. If the chimney is in bad shape a SS liner and possibly a insulated liner may be needed. Google 'chimney liners' for prices and more install info.

Ask friends who have problem-free stoves who they recommend, check with a good chimney sweep or post your location and maybe some forum members can make a recommendation if they are in the area.

Installation time depends on how complex/difficult the chimney is. Could be as little as 2 hours to a full day. As with any contractor get a few estimates, get some recommendations and ask questions.

Hi,

Thank you for all the information!!

Joe, if you could scan the owner's manual, I would really appreciate it. My email is greene_bob@comcast.net. Can I paypal, say, $20, to you for the effort? If so, let me know where to send it to. I had called up my city inspector's office and they told me I needed the owner's manual.

Capecoaler, thank you as well for your inputs. Once I have the owner's manual, I'll look around for local installers. My chimmey has only been used about 10-20 times before and its only about 20 years old.

Anyway, thanks again for all the input. Oil is getting really expensive and coal is made in america. I'm looking forward to getting this working!!

the information required is on the metal UL label on the rear of the unit (this information is also on record with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwriters_Laboratories), The manual my dad wrote for his stoves was called "The Coal & Wood Burners Almanac" and if you still need one i could try to dig through my basement and find one for you (it may be available online by google ive never tried). You can PM me if you need help.

We're installing a Crane 44, and my question is about the damper flap. The opening is long and narrow, about 20" long by 5" wide, and it slopes down from front to back. Do we need to remove the damper. If so, how do you do that? What material do you use to block the opening and what sealing agent do you use to seal it?

The owner's manual says the pipe should be 6". Any harm in using a smaller one (say 5") because of the size of the damper? Finally, can anyone recommend a chimney sweep or a stove person in north central Massachusetts who would do a great job of installing this at a reasonable cost?

If the stove is built for 6" pipe using 5" is a bad Idea.
5" pipe has 19.6 square inches of area.
6" pipe has 28.6 square inches of area.
That is a signifigant reduction, if crane thought they could get satisfactory preformance out of 5" they would have used it, more versital for retrofits.

Makes total sense. If the opening isn't wide enough, is it possible to flatten the pipe a little, so you still have the same area, just in a different form?

If the circumference around the oval is the same as the circumference around the pipe, should work fine.

Great, thanks!
In one of the pictures it shows the whole front of the fireplace
closed off with a brick wall. Is this necessary if you do a
good job of sealing off the chimney around the pipe up
inside the fireplace?

Just cosmetics Elaine.