Comments on: The Coal Chronicles – Book III http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2008/02/21/coal-chronicles-iii/ Your online simplicity village Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:07:56 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Greg http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2008/02/21/coal-chronicles-iii/comment-page-1/#comment-389 Greg Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:48:25 +0000 http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2008/02/21/coal-chronicles-iii/#comment-389 Our house has the basement stairwell in the garage so allowing the heat to "wander up" the stairwell is not an option. We have our exercise equipment in the basement! I agree with you about the heat output, our fireplace does not put out anywhere near the amount of heat that the Hitzer can. Like you say, it stays that way for a long time. Best of all, very little attention is needed. Fill it, and enjoy. Shake it from time to time and empty the ash once a day. Our house has the basement stairwell in the garage so allowing the heat to “wander up” the stairwell is not an option. We have our exercise equipment in the basement!

I agree with you about the heat output, our fireplace does not put out anywhere near the amount of heat that the Hitzer can. Like you say, it stays that way for a long time. Best of all, very little attention is needed.

Fill it, and enjoy. Shake it from time to time and empty the ash once a day.

]]> By: Rob http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2008/02/21/coal-chronicles-iii/comment-page-1/#comment-388 Rob Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:26:35 +0000 http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2008/02/21/coal-chronicles-iii/#comment-388 My configuration is the stove lives in the downstairs which is a finished basement. There is a stairway 14 feet in front of the stove which allows a lot of the hot air to simply rise up. On very cold or windy days I put a small pedestal fan at the bottom of the stairs and it sends up enough warm air to keep the upstairs around 70°F. The downstairs will always be around 80°F when the stove is cranked up. It's nice to sit in front of for a little while, but gets hot quickly. The fan helps move this heat where it is needed. I will say that being an experienced wood burner made it even harder to believe just how much hotter coal burns than wood - and it stays incredibly hot for hours without much change. Very impressive. Some day I'd like to put a small coal stove in my upstairs for decoration and primary heat. My configuration is the stove lives in the downstairs which is a finished basement. There is a stairway 14 feet in front of the stove which allows a lot of the hot air to simply rise up. On very cold or windy days I put a small pedestal fan at the bottom of the stairs and it sends up enough warm air to keep the upstairs around 70°F.
The downstairs will always be around 80°F when the stove is cranked up. It’s nice to sit in front of for a little while, but gets hot quickly. The fan helps move this heat where it is needed.
I will say that being an experienced wood burner made it even harder to believe just how much hotter coal burns than wood – and it stays incredibly hot for hours without much change. Very impressive. Some day I’d like to put a small coal stove in my upstairs for decoration and primary heat.

]]> By: Greg http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2008/02/21/coal-chronicles-iii/comment-page-1/#comment-387 Greg Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:04:01 +0000 http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2008/02/21/coal-chronicles-iii/#comment-387 Rob, thanks for the comment. So you know what kind of heat that stove can put out. As I said in an earlier post, the basement where the stove is located is generally over 90° F. I turn off the stoves blower and the basement manages to cool slightly away from the stove. Yesterday (without the stove blower on and the house blower running) the thermometer near the stove (about 4 feet away) was reading 86° F. The main level of the house generally hovers in the 68° to 72° area. The other night I forgot to turn the house blower back on and the house got down to 62° (this is when the electrics kick on). The latest problem: my youngest daughter (almost three years old) has discovered the thermostats on the electric heaters. Rob, thanks for the comment.

So you know what kind of heat that stove can put out. As I said in an earlier post, the basement where the stove is located is generally over 90° F. I turn off the stoves blower and the basement manages to cool slightly away from the stove. Yesterday (without the stove blower on and the house blower running) the thermometer near the stove (about 4 feet away) was reading 86° F. The main level of the house generally hovers in the 68° to 72° area. The other night I forgot to turn the house blower back on and the house got down to 62° (this is when the electrics kick on).

The latest problem: my youngest daughter (almost three years old) has discovered the thermostats on the electric heaters.

]]> By: Rob http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2008/02/21/coal-chronicles-iii/comment-page-1/#comment-386 Rob Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:24:59 +0000 http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2008/02/21/coal-chronicles-iii/#comment-386 I've had a Hitzer insert for 5 years now and love it. The quality is second to none. Just the simple design of the door latch are appreciated after seeing some of the other designs used by other manufacturers. I will say that this model when burning coal is too strong for our house. I bought it to be used as a wood stove and it functions perfectly for that purpose with far more adjustability than when burning coal. This is because coal requires a certain amount of air flow - if you go below this point the coals will go out. The heat produced while keeping the coals glowing is more than my 1800 square foot 2 level home can handle. This model does not use a hopper, but can still hold around 80#. Burning wood, you can fit over an arm load of large split 20 inch long wood in this stove. This will allow 8 hour burns when turned up or 12 hours+ when burning moderately. The shaker grates and ash pan allow emptying while the stove is burning, which is something I'd never go without after getting so used to it. On this model the blowers have an automatic setting which turns them on only when the stove is hot. I like this feature as you can hear them turn off which tells you it's time for stoking. The blowers are needed on this model since it's an insert, but they do a great job and only use 80W of power combined. Feel free to ask any questions. Rob. New Hampshire. I’ve had a Hitzer insert for 5 years now and love it. The quality is second to none. Just the simple design of the door latch are appreciated after seeing some of the other designs used by other manufacturers. I will say that this model when burning coal is too strong for our house. I bought it to be used as a wood stove and it functions perfectly for that purpose with far more adjustability than when burning coal. This is because coal requires a certain amount of air flow – if you go below this point the coals will go out. The heat produced while keeping the coals glowing is more than my 1800 square foot 2 level home can handle. This model does not use a hopper, but can still hold around 80#. Burning wood, you can fit over an arm load of large split 20 inch long wood in this stove. This will allow 8 hour burns when turned up or 12 hours+ when burning moderately. The shaker grates and ash pan allow emptying while the stove is burning, which is something I’d never go without after getting so used to it. On this model the blowers have an automatic setting which turns them on only when the stove is hot. I like this feature as you can hear them turn off which tells you it’s time for stoking. The blowers are needed on this model since it’s an insert, but they do a great job and only use 80W of power combined.
Feel free to ask any questions.
Rob.
New Hampshire.

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