Hotblast 1557M

I close mine all the way at night unless its under 20 degrees I have 2600 sq ft. (how's your inslation?)somthing wrong thats enough heat out put to keep it in the 90's easy!(you seem to be running very well)

hi everyone, thanks for all the input. i haven't been able to do to much as we're without power, as well as 200,000 other people. we just got back some heat; temp was only 45 in the house this morning. blower motors need electricity to operate. even right now we're still on a generator and probably will be for a few more days. i'll be back at another time. thanks again for those tips. i'll work on those just after i get the water running again. it's a slow process but steady as she goes. take care & keep warm.

I also just installed a new 1557 Hot Blast in my basement. It is connected to my gas furnace plennum. The problem I am having is getting it hot and stay hot. I got a fire going last night and slowly added more coal till I got it almost up to the top of the fire brick.
It burns but does not create a lot of heat. It is only 65 in the house and it just maintains that temp. The blowers only come on for a short time and then off.
I have a damper on it and thought if I close it, it may keep the heat in.
Any suggestions how to operate this unit and get a good blast. It seems to heat better with wood than with coal.
Any suggestions would really be appreciated

coal need lots of air underneth of it. best if you have a draft inducer on it, if you dont have one open the ash damper all the way and mabe put a small fan by it to get more air! you want your flue damper wide open!

If your trying to burn anthracite, then I would just stop. The units are not meant to burn anthracite. And the draft inducer will give you a dead fire. The firebox shape, and design just won't work with hard coal. Soft coal on the other hand would burn fine in the unit. I have modified the ashpan with a small induced draft under the grates, and tried just about everything. If you have a nice steady suppy of hard coal, I would consider selling the furnace and upgrading with a furnace that will burn hard coal. Sucks, but thats the reality of those units.