Reading Lehigh Coal Stove

[mgambuzza]

Has anyone had any experience good or bad with Reading stoves - specifically the Lehigh line. I was recently at an open house and the use of Coal - especially in Central NY is attractive, but I was wondering about items such as longevity, quality, and longer term appearance of this stove with use over time.

I purchased a Quad Castille last year and after 3 months of use, and sitting over the summer, I was extremely dismayed to find that the entire inside of the stove was rusting. VERY DISAPPOINTING as I paid a fair amount for this stove little over 6 months ago. Communications with Quad and dealer said that it is normal for Rust to form on the inside of these stoves and just a little spray paint will take care of it. I also own a Thelin and after the same period of time I have not experienced the volume of rust (or any) that the Quad currently has.

The Coal stove is attractive for the BTU/Ton advantage, but I questioned longevity and appearance of the stove over a period of time.

Thanks for your responses in advance.....

 

[HarryBack]

well, clean the unit well, when you are done burning for the season, spray WD40 all over inside the unit. Is the rusty unit in the damp basement, with all that humidity? The oil will provide a protective layer between the moist air and the metal. It will burn off in your first fire as well. Coal has alot of sulphur in it, when combined with water forms sulfuric acid, which isnt exactly cast iron friendly.

 

[mgambuzza]

Suprisingly no - the Castille is in the Kitchen, and the Thelin that hasn't rusted at all is in the "damper" location. That's why I was a bit disappointed in the Quad. Thanks for the WD40 tip - I wish I had asked this earlier this year (and I wish that Quad had included that in their DVD that they include in their documentation).

 

[webbie]

Back during the first pellet stove craze (early 90's), we sold Whitfield and one of our first customers was this 75 year old Belgian woman with a strong accent. We installed the stove and it worked quite well, however after she cleaned it out a few times and saw what it was made of (very thin sheet metal) - she stormed back into the shop saying:

"I'm from Belgium - and in Belgium we work with metal - and I can tell you that stove WILL NOT LAST".

Sad to say, she was probably correct.