Efficiency of non EPA furnace

So I had been planning on buying a Drolet tundra to heat our 2,200 sqft ranch.
Honestly though I can't shake the idea of wood/coal. Especially since I live in PA and can get it delivered for $70 a ton.
It's tough to find the time to find enough wood before cutting and splitting.
Took me until the end of February to find split and stack the 3.5 cords for this year.
And of course the savings account I was using to save the $1700 for the tundra got raided for Dr. Bills and summer tires for the wife's car. That leaves me quite a bit short for the tundra. Not to mention the cost of ducting, running electric, etc.

So I checked into and found that I can get a big enough daka wood/ coal furnace with extra blower and coal grates for $500 less than the tundra.

I'm trying to be non biased and get all the facts. But the $500 and the ability to burn coal when I run out of wood every year is sure sounding like a win win.

But in the spirit of finding all the facts I am trying to figure out what efficiency this thing would actually burn with. So far I want find any numbers on the old style furnaces besides "epa exempt"
Anyone have actual information to help me out?

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I should have stated better. It's soft coal bituminous. I know it's not all the rage. But the price per btu is un beatable. Proper burning techniques help with the dirt people complain about. A lot like wood
Anthracite is about $200 a ton here

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Why not? People burned it for 200 years before oil. My neighbors still do. Bit coal only. Never Noticed a smell or dirt from them. Coal makes no creosote, It doesn't have to be seasoned, it makes more heat than most of the wood around me, it doesn't need stacked, and can burn 18 hours at a time in an old wood burner. Not to mention I can call order it and throw it in the fire the same day. Forgive me I'm not quite understanding your tone.
I want to burn mostly wood, all the wood I can find for free. But the idea that I'll never run out, or my job won't make finding the time impossible, or that I can just afford to buy all my wood is foolish.

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bholler said:

I have no problem with burning coal I burnt anthracite for years. But I would never consider bituminous. It is very dirty it makes tons of coal gas and co. There is a reason almost no one burns it for residential heat anymore. Out of all of our customers only one burns bituminous and i absolutly hate servicing their stove and chimney. The stuff is nasty.

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I guess it depends on how much you are willing to clean up. We are high in elevation with a lot of wind I'm not to worries about the smell or air quality (i know shame on me)

My dad burned almost nothing but bit coal for the first year ever in his buck stove. Said his only complaint was how little he could fit in, and how much ash it makes.

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brenndatomu said:

If it matters...Tundra is still on sale for $1499 at Menards...probably go even lower in the fall if they still have any of the original model Tundras left.
If you are looking to burn coal and money is tight, I'd consider just buying a used unit. There are usually plenty of "gently used" Dakas, HotBlasts and the like on CL in the heating months.
If money was no issue, I hear DS Machine makes a decent wood/coal furnace. http://woodstoves.net/ds-stoves/wood/ds-machine-stoves-300-09-kozy-king-wood-and-coal-furnace.htm
Also, nepacrossroads forum is a good source of knowledge for coal heat junkies...just FYI

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Yeah I saw that. Bummer I don't have that much saved up yet. I'll probably hold off until late summer to buy just in case the deals get better or I come into some money.

I joined nepa cross roads. Certainly lots of informative folks. Thanks for the suggestion.
I'm thinking the daka is better then the hotblast. It has double the thickness steel, actual shakers, and will take an induction blower kit if I need one.
Also made in USA.
I'm thinking this could also be a stepping stone could of years.
Burn wood and coal while I build up a well seasoned supply and money is tight. Hopefully if I stick to my plan in 3-4 years I should be able to buy one of those nice Amish made wood coal 74% furnaces. I saw on DS stove

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So I'm guessing no one knows the actual efficiency of the old style smoke dragons.
I would imagine the epa to have numbers somewhere if they set a minimum for the certified ones.

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Any of you guys know about the Shelter furnaces. SF2631 looks perfect for my needs. Has secondary combustion and shaker grates for coal.

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Thanks. It comes in darn close to the price of the daka with all the coal stuff added to it. I know a local hardware store sells fire chief. I'll see if he can do a shelter and price. There aren't any menards around here.
The fact what it can burn Anthricite is pretty impressive daka specifically forbids it.
I know you guys with 3 years wood ready and still adding might not understand. But being able to order fuel like coal with a days notice for 1/4 the price of propane is a huge weight off your shoulder. I will be giving this a through look

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Highbeam said:

I've read good things about the shelter.

Efficiency of any woodburner is really a silly figure to worry about. The burn cycle, the quality of fuel, whether it is being run hard or idling, the flue setup, etc. all have huge effects on actual efficiency. Even the emissions rate tells you little about how much wood you will use each year since some manufacturers have sacrificed efficiency just to get a cleaner burn.

What I think is odd about the shelter or other wood/coal designs is that the air is fed under the fire through grates. You won't see this on a wood only unit like the tundra. That air feed under the fire will get you a dang high output fire when you want it but long burn times are not very likely since there is no place for coals to hide. In my rather huge shop I burn my stove (no furnaces were legal until recently in WA) at max output to heat the place from 50-70 so the Shelter design would be pretty awesome. Like a little blast furnace. In my house, or heating a house, the inability to burn low and slow would be irritating.

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About the air intake.
I looked up the diagram. On the Shelter there is forced induction with a plate on the inside. The plate has holes drilled at the fire level for normal burning I imagine. But when that blower kicks in and calls for a lot of heat it blows it both through the holes and underneath the grates following that plate
My understanding is for coal. Coal likes air to come from the bottom up and lots of it. That is what I have been told anyway by old timers. No real science shown to me

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Highbeam said:

Oh and burn whatever is legal and cheap. If that's soft coal, then I would burn that too. Take safety precautions, install to code with permits, have insurance, and perform maintenance of course but burn what's cheap. That's why many/most of us do this.

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Yeah, I all ready have the insurance paper work. Probably can't do professional install I imagine it's pricey. But will be sure to follow all safety codes. I actually want to line the walls around it with cement board or similar. Right now they have foam insulation. It is a poured concrete foundation. I imagine that if that Styrofoam like material would ignite it would be bad.

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Thanks. I didn't know that. I imagine the foam isn't considered living space being it is an unfinished basement. But I wrongly assumed it was fire retardant to be okay.
I need to find some information on how thick of cement board or other product I should put up.

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