I'm thinking I should have got a coal stove

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slls said:
All pellet stoves break down, even the BMW class.

I will raise my glass to you, Sir.

Eric
 
kinsman stoves said:
I have a HARMAN DVC-500 burning next to the Heatilator PS-50. I have to empty the ashpan on the DVC-500 after every three bags of coal. I can go up to three months on the Heatilator. As soon as I open the door on the DVC-500 there is ash everywhere. If I had that in the frontroom and a rug surrounded the hearth pad I would be in big trouble with the Bride.

The DVC-500 is an awesome unit but the three bag thing sucks A$$.

Eric

Since you sell them, I have to respect your opinion on the coal stove you sell BUT it sure sounds like something is amiss if ash comes flying out when you open the door. Don't know anything about that brand so can't comment. All I know is that in 8 years of burning a Franco Belge as my sole supply of heat, I never, ever experienced anything like that. My house in Pa. stayed at 78 or more all winter. Drinking beer in a tee shirt and shorts watching TV is how to spend a winter!!!
 
tjnamtiw said:
kinsman stoves said:
I have a HARMAN DVC-500 burning next to the Heatilator PS-50. I have to empty the ashpan on the DVC-500 after every three bags of coal. I can go up to three months on the Heatilator. As soon as I open the door on the DVC-500 there is ash everywhere. If I had that in the frontroom and a rug surrounded the hearth pad I would be in big trouble with the Bride.

The DVC-500 is an awesome unit but the three bag thing sucks A$$.

Eric

Since you sell them, I have to respect your opinion on the coal stove you sell BUT it sure sounds like something is amiss if ash comes flying out when you open the door. Don't know anything about that brand so can't comment. All I know is that in 8 years of burning a Franco Belge as my sole supply of heat, I never, ever experienced anything like that. My house in Pa. stayed at 78 or more all winter. Im a college girl Drinking beer in a tee shirt and shorts watching TV is how to spend a winter!!!

Fixed it for you. muuuuucho bettero
 
tjnamtiw said:
kinsman stoves said:
I have a HARMAN DVC-500 burning next to the Heatilator PS-50. I have to empty the ashpan on the DVC-500 after every three bags of coal. I can go up to three months on the Heatilator. As soon as I open the door on the DVC-500 there is ash everywhere. If I had that in the frontroom and a rug surrounded the hearth pad I would be in big trouble with the Bride.

The DVC-500 is an awesome unit but the three bag thing sucks A$$.

Eric

Since you sell them, I have to respect your opinion on the coal stove you sell BUT it sure sounds like something is amiss if ash comes flying out when you open the door. Don't know anything about that brand so can't comment. All I know is that in 8 years of burning a Franco Belge as my sole supply of heat, I never, ever experienced anything like that. My house in Pa. stayed at 78 or more all winter. Drinking beer in a tee shirt and shorts watching TV is how to spend a winter!!!

Same here. Just a little common sense like closing the primaries before shaking and letting the ash cool overnight before pulling the ash pan makes a huge differance. I have a cookstove in the kitchen and a cylinder in the (carpeted) living room and it's not dirtier then when I used wood. Maybe even less so.
 
well said, Paleo! Common sense is all that's needed. People who don't take the time to learn their stove, any stove, can give it a bad reputation. Perhaps QUICKLY opening the door does not allow sufficient time for the hot air to maintain its path up the flue. Even on wood fired cook stoves, they tell you to SLOWLY open the firebox door. http://sopkainc.com/stv_dr/ryl720.php

You're right about the ashes too. They are quite hot after shaking down and the heat coming off of them can carry dust into the room if you pull out the pan right away. Just learn your stove and there are no problems. Also, most modern coal stoves are bottom feed stokers now which eliminates a lot of other problems for casual users.
 
Yea but...

The beauty of pellet heat is that it comes from a renewable resource. Coal and its brother oil are a one time gift from mother nature. There ain't no more being made - anywhere!

EarlyMan
 
EarlyMan said:
Yea but...

The beauty of pellet heat is that it comes from a renewable resource. Coal and its brother oil are a one time gift from mother nature. There ain't no more being made - anywhere!

EarlyMan
Coal is a biological sedimentary rock that forms from plant debris.

America has more coal than any other fossil fuel resource. The United States also has more coal reserves than any other single country in the world. In fact, just over 1/4 of all the known coal in the world is in the United States. The United States has more coal that can be mined than the rest of the world has oil that can be pumped from the ground.

Coal is used primarily in the United States to generate electricity. In fact, it is burned in power plants to produce more than half of the electricity we use. A stove uses about half a ton of coal a year. A water heater uses about two tons of coal a year. And a refrigerator, that's another half-ton a year. Even though you may never see coal, you use several tons of it every year!
 
Paleostoveologist said:
EarlyMan said:
Yea but...

The beauty of pellet heat is that it comes from a renewable resource. Coal and its brother oil are a one time gift from mother nature. There ain't no more being made - anywhere!

EarlyMan
Coal is a biological sedimentary rock that forms from plant debris.

America has more coal than any other fossil fuel resource. The United States also has more coal reserves than any other single country in the world. In fact, just over 1/4 of all the known coal in the world is in the United States. The United States has more coal that can be mined than the rest of the world has oil that can be pumped from the ground.

Coal is used primarily in the United States to generate electricity. In fact, it is burned in power plants to produce more than half of the electricity we use. A stove uses about half a ton of coal a year. A water heater uses about two tons of coal a year. And a refrigerator, that's another half-ton a year. Even though you may never see coal, you use several tons of it every year!

Paleoman -

What you say is true; however regardless of the reserves, it is still a finite substance, where wood is not. Although we joke about putting "dead dinosaur" in our car's gas tanks, coal was formed during the carboniferous period (eons of time before dinos ever walked the earth) and is composed almost exclusively of decayed plant matter (which includes lots and lots of trees - see, it comes full circle!)

EarlyMan
 
yep, coal is definitely dirty and far from green on all accounts. Just think, that bag you bought may have cost an Appalachian American his life, lung cancer, or other result of mining that led to a crap life.

Coal isn't a waste/byproduct like pellets are. Without pellet burners, this saw dust would just go to waste for the most part. Until houses/floors/cabinets/etc etc are done being made of wood, there will be waste from cutting and that's what we burn.

So, until we get flux capacitors that can burn banana peels and other table scraps and stuff like human feces, it's really hard to find a cleaner, renewable, available, inexpensive, fun, green, clean, and nice fuel choice for heating our homes than with wood pellets. It may not be the most efficient, but short of setting up water wheel and solar panels, it's pretty dang reliable to boot. And all those water wheels and panels need batteries that have a finite life and contain hazardous materials, so i'd hazard a guess that pellets may be the #1 clean way to go, even though it emits gases.
 
forya said:
I was looking around to find the best prices for pellets at some of the local shops yesterday, and noticed that a 40lb bag of rice coal is the same price as a 40 lb bag of pellets, and they produce a lot more heat. I guess Pa is coal country.
Oh well at least when i spill pellets on our off-white carpets, I don't get black stains!

Coal in NH is not as cheap as where you are!! Pellets are king here!
 
EarlyMan said:
Yea but...

The beauty of pellet heat is that it comes from a renewable resource. Coal and its brother oil are a one time gift from mother nature. There ain't no more being made - anywhere!

EarlyMan

So I assume you pedal a bike where ever you go since to use gasoline would be to use oil, which is 'a one time gift from mother nature'????
 
forya said:
I was looking around to find the best prices for pellets at some of the local shops yesterday, and noticed that a 40lb bag of rice coal is the same price as a 40 lb bag of pellets, and they produce a lot more heat. I guess Pa is coal country.
Oh well at least when i spill pellets on our off-white carpets, I don't get black stains!

25 million btu's per ton for coal versus 16 million for pellets means that, even at the same price per bag, you are getting 50% more heat out of that bag of coal. No one can argue against the fact that pellets are 'greener' than coal. It just comes down to economics versus 'feel good to spend 50% more to 'think' you are saving the planet'. Both types of stoves offer the same cleanliness IF you learn how to use them. Coal, as others have said, is our most abundant resource so why sell it to the Chinese when we can use it? When pellets hit $300+ this winter, maybe the tone will change. :)
 
tjnamtiw said:
EarlyMan said:
Yea but...

The beauty of pellet heat is that it comes from a renewable resource. Coal and its brother oil are a one time gift from mother nature. There ain't no more being made - anywhere!

EarlyMan

So I assume you pedal a bike where ever you go since to use gasoline would be to use oil, which is 'a one time gift from mother nature'????

As a matter of fact, why just today when I was peddling by my local HD, I noticed that they had received a shipment Greene Team. I wasn't planning on buying pellets, so I didn't have my bicycle pallet hauler with me. But I couldn't pass on them, so I bought a ton. I had to tie a rope around the pallet and peddle back home, dragging the pallet behind me. Well, let me tell you, that pallet was worn down to a nubbins by the time I finally peddled into my driveway. I'm glad it was only 11 miles from the store to home, otherwise I would have worn into the bottom layer of pellets. Bad luck, that! ;-)

EarlyMan
 
EarlyMan said:
tjnamtiw said:
EarlyMan said:
Yea but...

The beauty of pellet heat is that it comes from a renewable resource. Coal and its brother oil are a one time gift from mother nature. There ain't no more being made - anywhere!

EarlyMan

So I assume you pedal a bike where ever you go since to use gasoline would be to use oil, which is 'a one time gift from mother nature'????

As a matter of fact, why just today when I was peddling by my local HD, I noticed that they had received a shipment Greene Team. I wasn't planning on buying pellets, so I didn't have my bicycle pallet hauler with me. But I couldn't pass on them, so I bought a ton. I had to tie a rope around the pallet and peddle back home, dragging the pallet behind me. Well, let me tell you, that pallet was worn down to a nubbins when I peddled into my driveway. I'm glad it was only 11 miles from the store to home, otherwise I would have worn into the bottom layer of pellets. Bad luck, that! ;-)

EarlyMan

:lol:
 
This is what I meant by cost comparison
 

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You can get a lot on a bike. When I was a kid, we used to ship our hogs at 200 pounds. So when I went to Southeast Asia in 1970, I can without fear of correction assert, I saw live 350 pound hogs trussed up in bamboo on bicycles heading for market I presume. I don't think they were going to the vet.

That said, they had very good stock. Looked like big fat Yorkshires. Don't know why they let them get so big. Probably didn't have a USDA grading system. :lol:
Must have been tough controlling that bike with those short little legs while tied up in a bamboo basket. ;-)
 
Clean Coal. Tons of toxic sludge from washing after mining, tons of toxic ash after burning.
 
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