Simple, forced air wood and coal burning furnace

[Stoker_]

Hello,
First time poster here.
I'm looking at purchasing a new wood and coal burning furnace for my new house.
I've looked at DS and Hitzer, but both seem to have their complaints.
Are there any brands of wood and coal burning furnaces that folks here recommend?
I would rather stay away from the newer computerized gasification furnaces. I know that means I have to sacrifice some efficiency, but those units just don't appeal to me.
I was initially favoring the Hitzers as I'm from Indiana and they are made close to me. But now some of the stuff I read leads me to believe that they are not a very good dual purpose furnace.
I'm not new to burning wood. However, I don't have much experience with coal. The only reason I'm looking at something dual purpose is for when I'm older and no longer wanting to split wood.
Thanks for your input.

 

[brenndatomu]

But now some of the stuff I read leads me to believe that they are not a very good dual purpose furnace.

Dual purpose and "good" do not belong in the same sentence. Been there, done that, unfortunately!
Burn wood, or burn coal, pick one. A proper firebox design for either is much different than the other (if done well)
A coal burner can still be bought (new) legally, there are however only 2 "legal" wood burning furnaces available here, the Kuuma and the Heat Commander...but I'm not sure how much any of that matters at this point...I hear rumblings of the EPA maybe being castrated a bit (which they need IMO)

 

[Stoker_]

Dual purpose and "good" do not belong in the same sentence. Been there, done that, unfortunately!
Burn wood, or burn coal, pick one. A proper firebox design for either is much different than the other (if done well)
A coal burner can still be bought (new) legally, there are however only 2 "legal" wood burning furnaces available here, the Kuuma and the Heat Commander...but I'm not sure how much any of that matters at this point...I hear rumblings of the EPA maybe being castrated a bit (which they need IMO)

Thank you.
However, it does leave me wondering, how were companies, like Hitzer and DS, able to sell such stoves as "dual fuel" before the EPA cracked down on them?
Obviously they must have been getting a lot of complaints from people who tried to burn wood of it was really a coal stove.

 

[brenndatomu]

Yeah I dunno, have wondered the same...too small to bother with?
Seems like there are a number of small "Amish" shops that kinda fly under the radar somehow...

 

[Stoker_]

Yeah I dunno, have wondered the same...too small to bother with?
Seems like there are a number of small "Amish" shops that kinda fly under the radar somehow...

So the Amish still try to burn wood in those things?
I kind of figured they'd all been forced over to coal.

 

[blades]

They are advertised and sold as coal stoves, that in a pinch can use wood ( fine print). The simplistic control( spin draft damper) is optimized for coal. The interior grate is also optimized for coal and not wood. ( aka Hot blast from USS would be an example if still sold ).

 

[Stoker_]

They are advertised and sold as coal stoves, that in a pinch can use wood ( fine print). The simplistic control( spin draft damper) is optimized for coal. The interior grate is also optimized for coal and not wood. ( aka Hot blast from USS would be an example if still sold ).

Thanks. I had no idea the manufacturers were basically false advertising. Especially after watching people like this on YouTube.

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[Stoker_]

He has a DS Stoves Kozy King 300. It's advertised as a coal furnace.

 

[begreen]

A Swiss army knife is a great tool to carry in the pocket and handy for lots of stuff. But when real work needs to be done, like unscrewing 30 philips head screws or butchering a deer, it kinda falls short. This is where a purpose-built tool is sooo much better. If anthracite is easily available locally, then a proper coal furnace is worth considering. If osage orange and oak are more consistently plentiful, then get a good wood furnace.

 

[Stoker_]

A Swiss army knife is a great tool to carry in the pocket and handy for lots of stuff. But when real work needs to be done, like unscrewing 30 philips head screws or butchering a deer, it kinda falls short. This is where a purpose-built tool is sooo much better. If anthracite is easily available locally, then a proper coal furnace is worth considering. If osage orange and oak are more consistently plentiful, then get a good wood furnace.

Well, both are readily available. But since I plan on burning anthracite eventually, I will probably just get a dedicated coal furnace from the beginning.
I've enjoyed burning wood, but it looks like my days of that are over. It's just sooner than I had planned on.

 

[begreen]

Check over at the Coal Pail for recommendations

https://coalpail.com/coal-forum/viewforum.php?f=58

 

[Stoker_]

Check over at the Coal Pail for recommendations

https://coalpail.com/coal-forum/viewforum.php?f=58

Thanks begreen!

 

[bholler]

Thank you.
However, it does leave me wondering, how were companies, like Hitzer and DS, able to sell such stoves as "dual fuel" before the EPA cracked down on them?
Obviously they must have been getting a lot of complaints from people who tried to burn wood of it was really a coal stove.

The fact is most people dont know the difference between a good modern stove and an old inefficient one. The dual fuel units worked but burn through wood like crazy

 

[bholler]

So the Amish still try to burn wood in those things?
I kind of figured they'd all been forced over to coal.

They didn't change a thing. They just dropped th label saying they could burn wood because they would never pass emissions requirements

 

[Stoker_]

They didn't change a thing. They just dropped th label saying they could burn wood because they would never pass emissions requirements

They are probably also more likely to set your chimney on fire too. Especially if you're new to using one.

The fact is most people dont know the difference between a good modern stove and an old inefficient one. The dual fuel units worked but burn through wood like crazy

Yeah, I don't exactly like the idea of having to split 10+ cords of wood to get through the winter.

 

[brenndatomu]

would rather stay away from the newer computerized gasification furnaces. I know that means I have to sacrifice some efficiency, but those units just don't appeal to me.

Why?
If you got to demo a Kuuma for a winter, you'd be hooked.
Most people can heat their home to 70-75* on 3-4 cords per year...they are stupid easy to operate too.

 

[brenndatomu]

If you have some sort of an aversion to modern wood furnaces, an older model that worked pretty well and you can find used, often in very nice shape, is the Englander 28-3500. They were cheap too, I think the most I recall seeing them for new was $1200 at the end there....which you'd probably still have to pay that now for a nice used one.

 

[Stoker_]

Why?
If you got to demo a Kuuma for a winter, you'd be hooked.
Most people can heat their home to 70-75* on 3-4 cords per year...they are stupid easy to operate too.

Because where we're at, we have a good chance of losing power for several days at a time. I've heard those units can't operate without power.

 

[Stoker_]

If you have some sort of an aversion to modern wood furnaces, an older model that worked pretty well and you can find used, often in very nice shape, is the Englander 28-3500. They were cheap too, I think the most I recall seeing them for new was $1200 at the end there....which you'd probably still have to pay that now for a nice used one.

I'll check them out.

 

[bholler]

Because where we're at, we have a good chance of losing power for several days at a time. I've heard those units can't operate without power.

Any central furnace isn't going to work well at all without power

 

[brenndatomu]

Because where we're at, we have a good chance of losing power for several days at a time. I've heard those units can't operate without power.

How big is your home/heat load?
Another setup that works well is the older Caddy wood furnaces, the Amish like them because they can be converted to non electric by building a gravity heat duct system, (not possible with every home layout) and replacing the electric servo with a certain bimetallic spring

 

[brenndatomu]

We heat with the Kuuma for 99% of our heat, and while our power is darn reliable, stuff happens, and no matter what we will need power to heat with if it's more than so many hours...our fireplace stove is insert style and needs power for the little fan...so I have 2 Genny's, a big one to run the well pump/etc, and a small 2500W inverter genny to run the Kuuma and the fridge/freezer etc...it has eco mode and will only run as fast as it needs...much easier on fuel!

 

[Stoker_]

Lllaqrp tjrwo

How big is your home/heat load?
Another setup that works well is the older Caddy wood furnaces, the Amish like them because they can be converted to non electric by building a gravity heat duct system, (not possible with every home layout) and replacing the electric servo with a certain bimetallic spring

The new house will be around 2,000 square feet.
I'll check out the Caddy furnaces.

 

[Stoker_]

We heat with the Kuuma for 99% of our heat, and while our power is darn reliable, stuff happens, and no matter what we will need power to heat with if it's more than so many hours...our fireplace stove is insert style and needs power for the little fan...so I have 2 Genny's, a big one to run the well pump/etc, and a small 2500W inverter genny to run the Kuuma and the fridge/freezer etc...it has eco mode and will only run as fast as it needs...much easier on fuel!

Well, I didn't know the Kuumas required so little electricity.
But the price tag still isn't very attractive.

 

[brenndatomu]

Lllaqrp tjrwo

The new house will be around 2,000 square feet.
I'll check out the Caddy furnaces.

Just to be clear, they are no longer made, so you'd have to find a used one, but they sold a bazillion of them...PSG Caddy. (They made a larger Max Caddy too, but that would be WAY over kill for 2k ft)
A well insulated/air sealed home would be easy to heat from a walkout (for easy wood supply) basement with either a wood furnace or even just a decent sized stove...either could be non electric if you designed the house for gravity flow heating right off the bat. Gravity heat from a coal furnace used to be really common.
If you would consider the stove route, a large unit like the BK King or one of the large Woodstock stoves would do it nicely.