Craigs list find - Le Grand Godin Model 3720

Very interesting, anyone ever see one of these? How about those square footage heating claims
http://longisland.craigslist.org/for/3303313977.html

I'd say 5,000 sq ft is a stretch for that stove. Might be a typo. Coal would probably be the best option in the parlor stove.

coal stove as long as everything inside is intact. The paint looks botched and 20lbs of coal will not last too long. JMHO and good luck

The 3720 is Le Petit Godin, the 3721 is Le Grand Godin.

The 3720 is a 5kw (about 17,000 btu/hr) stove. With wood you can probably get 2 or 3 hour burns, with coal it is capable of a 12 hour burn. Good coal is about 12,500 btu/lb so to get the 17,000 btu/hr would need about 1.5 lbs of coal per hour.

It will never heat 5,000 sq ft, maybe 800 - 1,000. The Godin manual says it will heat 70 to 150 cubic meters. 70 cubic meters is 2400 cubic feet. With 8 foot ceilings that is about 300 sq ft. 150 cubic meters comes out to about 700 sq ft.

The manual, in french, can be found here:
http://www.godin.fr/notices-siteweb/3720A_petit-godin_4238B-05.pdf

The paint on the stove in the picture is not right, probably repainted. It is missing it's ash tray. Unless the insides are in mint condition and all the parts are there it is not worth $300.

Here is a picture of my 3721. It is a 10kw stove (about 35,000 btus/hr). I easily get 12-15 hour burns on coal and 4 to 6 hours on wood. It has been installed since the early 70's and is still used when the temperature is forecast to top out in the 30s or less for more than a couple of days in a row.



KaptJaq

Starting to see less and less of them here. They have not been imported since the early 90s. Many of the ones I see on the market are either fried from over-firing, rusted out, or covered in paint from years of ornamental use.

In France they are still manufactured and, especially in rural areas, are still popular. They are easy to burn, give pretty good heat, and are pretty durable. They will burn just about anything, hard coal, soft coal, peat, wood. There is even an oil option that can be dropped into the cylinder on some models. They are sort of like the Fisher stoves are here...

KaptJaq

This forum never ceases to amaze me, something that seems so old and random and here someone has one and can tell you all about it.

Wonder how these guys would run on bio-brix?

hi kaptjaq

gorgeous set up.

How much does coal cost these days? Is it readily available and still legal to burn for heat?

The price depends on where you live. In coal country (north east Pennsylvanian) it is about $200 a ton picked up. Last time I purchased it was $300 a ton (1 to 5 tons) plus $30 delivery. Recently I've done some basement mining. Post an ad on craigslist looking for old coal in peoples basement. You would be surprised how many older homes still have a half full coal bin that has not been touched in years. The hard part is getting it out. Usually a couple of 5 gallon buckets at a time up a flight of steps. If it was a walk in basement it would have been gone long ago...

I do not know of any areas where it is not legal to burn coal. There may be some local ordinances so check with your town.

If you want more information try http://nepacrossroads.com/, a site dedicated to coal burners.

KaptJaq

I owned one of these for a short time back in the mid-late 80's. Very cute and pretty decent with anthracite coal but totally underwhelming with wood. They probably meant 5000 cu ft. That's maybe doable with coal. These things use a 4" flue and it clogs quickly with wood. Probably best just to admire it and walk on by...

was surfing through craigslist and saw the add, then I googled the name and came acroos this thread (pretty cool)
I think it would be neat to have just to play with but not as a primary heat source.

Does it it load from the top? And is that glass that you can you see the flame through?
Since its still up for sale maybe he'll take $200

It does load from the top.

There is a mica window on the lower door. When the fire is shaken down you can see the burning red coals. The window is at the bottom of the coal bed where the air enters and the coal burns. There are deep blue flames on the top of the coal bed where the gasses that come off the coal burn but you cannot see them in a Godin.

KaptJaq

Oh does that picture bring back memories! That was the stove that was in our house when we bought it in 1989 and it introduced me to wood heat! Ours heated up quickly and threw good heat, I loved that stove...only regret was you couldn't watch the fire because of no glass, only that little mica window. In October of 1992 I won an Efel Symphony catalytic stove in a raffle at a local stoveshop, and after several weeks decided on selling the Godin and using the Efel because it had a glass front and was newer-it was junk!! No wonder they were raffling it off! But the good thing was I took what I liked from the Godin (no cat, firebrick lined inside) and the Efel (glass window, porcelain finish) and combined them and got the Dovre Aurora in 1993 which had all of those features, and I still have him today. But there are times when I think of the old Godin fondly and wonder where he is now; I hope that he is still being used and in good shape. Like they say "you never forget your first love" and he was what got me hooked on this wood heat thing!

"Burn on old friend, burn on"......