So I'm in the market for a stove...

[Deerthug]

But I am still not sure whether to go with wood burning, pellet or coal. I've had a wood stove for 20+ years and have been cutting, splitting and stacking/storing wood for that long, and I'm getting tired of it. I used to get the wood cut and split for free since my brother in law is a landscaper. But the last few years I had to buy cords of wood since I run quickly out of the initial supply.

I've done research on pellet stoves and like the idea but am concerned about the blower being noisy and losing power making the stove useless. Any thoughts?

Last night a friend told me about coal burning stoves and I did some research on them. I don't know much about them other than what I read online. Does any one use or had used coal burning stoves and if so what was your experience, whether good or bad! I am partial to the Vermont Casting Vigilant II coal stove based on the ones I saw as the one I choose needs to be freestanding in my den and I like its appealing look.

I like to make a decision in the next 4 weeks as I hear the stove places are looking to get rid of inventory and would get the best deal at that time.

Thanks.

Edited February 5, 2015 by Deerthug

[stoneam2006]

I just installed a rice coal stove it's awsome I love it as does my wife it's clean warm and doesn't smell at all. Easy to carry in and dump a 40 lb bag in I'm burning about 60 lb a day at 300 ish a ton should save me a ton of money on my propane bill...i have a Alaskan coal stove hearth model 5k- 85k btu and I've got it turned way down Heating about 1600 sqft. Would however have to get a genny to run it when power goes out bc it requires constant air thru fire box....good luck with choice

[First-light]

My brother in law upstate has gone through all different types of stoves over the years.

For the last 10 years its been coal. He loves it, very warm in his house and they both work all day long.

[growalot]

Son has a pellet. ...likes it...friend had a coal furnace ripped it out after 2 season...found it a pain and dirty.

[ncountry]

             I heat with a pellet stove . It works great. I bought a small inverter that hooks to a battery to run the stove in case of a power outage. Planning on a stoker boiler in the near future. There is roughly 50% more Btus in anthracite coal vs wood pellets and they are similarly priced in my area. Definitely louder than a wood stove or hand fed pellet stove.lol.. I don't even notice the hum of the blowers anymore though..

We installed a stoker (self feed)coal furnace in my fathers basement after it was evident he couldn't handle firewood any longer... Imo (depending on a reliable supply) coal is the way to go . We spend less money heating his old farmhouse with coal than we did heating with wood.. Coal prices seem to very stable, due to most of the supply is burned commercially not on a residential level. Anthracite coal is not what most people think about when thinking of coal. Bituminous coal is very dirty, dusty, and smokes a lot.

 

           

[hunter49]

  My buddy has 2 pellet stoves & loves them, nice heat & clean.  He goes thru about 2 tons of pellets a season. I believe he can burn dry corn in it also.  He burned wood for 20 yrs. & got sick of all the work.

Edited February 5, 2015 by hunter49

[phade]

A good friend has a Vermont Casting wood stove and he's had nothing but problems with it.

 

I guess the company has had some business issues - he went through hell finding replacement parts - so much so that he bought two of the parts in case he needed to go through it again. A part that wore out much faster than it should have, too.

 

Something about them going bankrupt or being bought out, or something. I forget the story, but he wasn't too happy with the cost of the stove vs. the performance and the following supply issue.

 

I'm all LP between the furnance and two ventless fireplaces. Not ideal, but at least the fireplaces can keep the pipes from bursting if power goes out.

[jjb4900]

I like to make a decision in the next 4 weeks as I hear the stove places are looking to get rid of inventory and would get the best deal at that time.

Thanks.

I bought two display models a few years ago for the price of one brand new stove.......one went into my home, the other in the place upstate...definitely worth going that route. 

[Two Track]

My neighbor uses anthracite coal for a large portion of his heating. He says it is cheaper than the oil that he uses.  Fills it up and stokes it in the evening and it is good all night along.  I think he has had it for 10 years or so.  He has a small genny.  Not sure if it just for running the refrigerator & freezer when the power goes out, or for a blower on the coal stove.

 

I know when he uses it from the thunk of the outdoor coal storage bin closing.  Can't tell by any smells outside that it is going. 

 

Now, the neighbor with the wood-burning fireplace - I can smell the wood smoke.  That wood smoke smell makes me think "smells good, wish I was camping."

[thphm]

When I was growing up we had an old cast iron  coal furnace in the basement of the house with a water jacket in it for hot water. In one corner of the basement was a room 10' x 10' , there was a window that the delivery truck would pit a chute into and dump the coal into the basement.My parents would buy 2 loads of coal a year that filled that room. We would fill that furnace 1 time a day . It was later converted to burn fuel oil.Now this was in an uninsulated 2 story house.

Coal gives off the most amount of heat for it's size.

I know of people going threw 2 to 4 tons of wood pellets a year. Plus they should be properly cleaned at least once a week. According to them.

There was a 911 call this morning for a pellet stove on fire, so the cleaning part must be true..

[ncountry]

I know of people going threw 2 to 4 tons of wood pellets a year. Plus they should be properly cleaned at least once a week. According to them.

There was a 911 call this morning for a pellet stove on fire, so the cleaning part must be true..

 

There is definitely a fair amount of maintenance/cleaning to keep up with on a pellet stove. Not a lot of time, but something that needs to be done regularly. It seems like the brand of stove makes a big difference in this part also, with the better ones requiring much less.

[hunter49]

When I was growing up we had an old cast iron  coal furnace in the basement of the house with a water jacket in it for hot water. In one corner of the basement was a room 10' x 10' , there was a window that the delivery truck would pit a chute into and dump the coal into the basement.My parents would buy 2 loads of coal a year that filled that room. We would fill that furnace 1 time a day . It was later converted to burn fuel oil.Now this was in an uninsulated 2 story house.

Coal gives off the most amount of heat for it's size.

I know of people going threw 2 to 4 tons of wood pellets a year. Plus they should be properly cleaned at least once a week. According to them.

There was a 911 call this morning for a pellet stove on fire, so the cleaning part must be true..

   We had the same thing at home, but ours was converted to a natural gas after a while.  My dad would feed it twice a day once in the am & once in the pm.

[Two Track]

OMG, sounds like the church I went to growing up. 

 

Someone had to light the furnace around 7 or 8 in the morning so the place could warm up by 10 for Sunday school class and warm-up the pipe organ a bit.  Otherwise the place seemed to just be a wind-blocker.

 

It had a coal room that had been converted to a storage room for old dusty stuff.  The furnace was converted to oil by the time I was going there. When I started college the furnace was on its last legs.  We took out all the old radiators, cast iron pipes, and the furnace ourselves.  Very dirty, messy, damp, noisy, heavy work to do in August.  Lots of sledge hammer work to dismantle the radiators and the furnace to somewhat manageable parts to get them out of the basement by hand.  The church was built in the early 1900's, maybe 1910.

 

30 years ago we added a second, single-user bathroom to it.  15 years ago they removed the old cast-iron gas stoves and put in modern stoves and a new refrigerator.  Now they run a soup kitchen there a couple days a week.

[HectorBuckBuster]

I have burned coal for the past 15 years. I have a Alaska 140 Dual Burner Furnace. It is hooked into my duck work and have it hooked up where it turns off and on just like a furnace, when the plemium on tops of the stove hits a certain temp. Yes coal can be alittle dusty, but I buy bulk coal at around $230 a ton. This has been alot colder Jan and will burn about 2 ton this month, but I have a old farm house, around 2000 ft, and pretty much keeps it pretty comfortable in there. Also a wood pellet stove only puts about 1/2 the BTU'S of Coal. Also seems like every year there is a shortage of wood pellets. I was just a Lowes and they had a sign saying the have Wood Pellets limit 1 ton per person.No matter what way you go, after the heating season is done. you need to tear and clean the stove up. I do mine every spring when I shut it down. I vaccum the inside out, take the hopper off and vaccum out the burners, pull the grates, and clean all the burner holes out, then lub everything up. I also stray my whole stove down with WD40 to prevent rust (its located in my basement and does get some moisture is there sometimes.), I unhook the stove pipe, clean the pipe and the damper. Then replace anything I need to, this way when fall hits I am all ready to go.

[Deerthug]

After a lot of research I decided on getting another wood burning stove to replace my 22 year old resolute acclaim. I've narrowed it down to the following:

I am leaning toward the first and the second because of the side load doors. I am not that crazy about the last one because it is a Vermont Castings and my old one was expensive to maintain the replaceable parts.

I found out that the pellet stoves were too expensive to install - need to install a stainless steel piping into my masonry chimney. I want something I can have delivered and stick the pipes into the opening.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Deerthug

[jjb4900]

if it were me, and all stoves were relatively the same, I would go for the one that accepts the largest logs..........

[SteveB]

Jotul has a large stove with a side load as well. Non catalytic as well.

35+ years in the industry and I would not own a catalytic stove.

[jjb4900]

Jotul has a large stove with a side load as well. Non catalytic as well.

35+ years in the industry and I would not own a catalytic stove.

my brother has a jotul.........great stove, I especially like the front doors that open and can be replaced with a grill to give a fireplace effect, and it has a side load as well.

[Dom]

What will you do with old stove?

[Deerthug]

I don't know probably sell it on craigslist. Needs work though i.e. new interior bricks, gaskets, and probably a good sandblasting and painting. It's a Forest green enamel color. If you're interested or know someone who maybe interested I can send you pictures.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Deerthug

[Dom]

I don't know probably sell it on craigslist. Needs work though i.e. new interior bricks, gaskets, and probably a good sandblasting and painting. It's a Forest green enamel color. If you're interested or know someone who maybe interested I can send you pictures.

I was thinking this would be a better heat source for work shop/garage.currently using electric baseboard in shop

[Deerthug]

Dom,

Tried to send pictures through the messenger but could not attach them. So here is my current set up...

Fire is lit so I can't take photos of inside right now.

[fasteddie]

We just had a natural gas stove installed . Got rid of the old Fisher Papa Bear wood stove . The gas stove will run if the power goes out but the fan and light wouldn't work . The remote batteries are supposed to last about 3 weeks if that happens .

Adjustable flame , adjustable burners , adjustable back light and adjustable fan speeds .