Fill me in- what am I missing?Just sitting here biting my tongue!! 'Eastern Pa, Southern Poconos'..............
Oh, I see! My father-in-law runs coal at his place. Cost has come up on coal over the past few years. It's still the best BTU value for the buck, but we couldn't find a zero clearance coal option. Pellet will have to do!
He harps on everyone living there to use coal instead like a door to door salesman.
I gave up after 2 years of a Jotul F-3 and buring Envi-8 blocks.... the wife was afraid of the stove, I'd come home late (I work in Manhattan until midnight) and the house would be cold (a.k.a. the fire would be out). That was one battle I was not going to win!
La Cretes are a slight notch above Energex soft in my experience. About the same heat but a bit easier ash to deal with, not that Energex is all that bad just a bit more of it.
That's too funny, I wasn't winning with coal after burning it for more than 30 years ! The wife dug her feet in about the political climate and the current view on coal impacting availability and cost in our area. We knew though that it would heat the house. I was leaning towards a stoker, sure enough just one supplier about 50 miles north of here was it. So we gambled the P61a would heat he house and it did it. Now the gamble is will pellets hold out or will that be the next"so called energy crisis". Driving cost and availability to unreasonable levels.
Wow 30 years with coal huh! I would have looked at a stoker... but coal prices in CT were more than pellets! (you know that loooong drive to CT from PA!). I would have imagined that coal would have been much less than pellets, but then what do I know... I easily made it through the polar vortex with my 52i, I imagine I could have gotten a tan from the P61A ! (Irish don't tan easily ya know)
....or you'd have to take matters in hand... but that's for another website!
Here BTU for BTU coal might actually still be a bit less expensive, it was availability of rice coal that was the problem. That and less coal dealer at all. The wife really wanted pellets, she wanted to make the change and felt if we were spending the money anyway for a new stove then get one with more than dealer around. I have to agree, I researched dealers, pellets were everywhere, rice coal just one dealer up Boston way 50 miles away.
My wife is a fantastic shaker, stove or otherwise. However, I wanted a stoker or some means of more hands off stove than a hand job stove.
Glad I picked a Harman product... it is a totally hands off, set n' forget type of stove. From my 2 short years of wood buring I learned the true definition of what 'burn time' means! A 12-hr burn time doesnt' mean you stove will be 400 degrees for 12 hours, it means after 12 hours you MIGHT have enough hot embers remaining to start up a new fire without having to use a match = translation - your wood stove will be about 83 degrees and the house about 58! (Meanwhile at the Harman houses... 12 hours later their houses are still 72 degrees!)
