Wood Stove or Wood & Coal

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Mudmixer

Member
Jan 25, 2014
6
PA
Can anyone tell me of a good wood and or wood and coal stove for app $1,000? Live in 15537 area South Central PA.
 
Generally speaking - if a stove is a wood/coal combo, it generally is not really good at either one. The reason is that there is a design difference between coal (air from bottom) and wood (air from top). If I were to give you one piece of advice to start with, I would say "pick a fuel".
 
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I'm with Jags on this. I have a wood/coal furnace that burns coal really well, but not wood. Burns thru a full load in about 4 hours. If I try to slow the rate, it becomes a creosote factory.
 
I will concur with what the other 2 said as far as a wood stove around $1000 i would look at the englander nc30
 
I'll sell you my Russo coal and wood stove. I'm in NJ. You just need to acquire the extra components to burn coal. A shaker and a basket. Shaker is available from Russo. Not sure on how to get the basket.

As said above I get about 4.5 to 5 hours per load of wood. Not super efficient but not shabby either.

The stove is cast iron and built like a tank. I'm about 60% serious on selling it because I'm thinking of going to a catalytic stove. The stove is in great condition. Look up the thread about dogs by the fire for a pic.

If you want to wait until March/April when in done with the heating season I'll 100% sell it to you. I don't feel like having to deal with a swap mid burning season.
 
Check out DS MACHINE stoves in Lancaster. They specialize in this particular setup.
 
Check out DS MACHINE stoves in Lancaster. They specialize in this particular setup.
I have worked on 5 or 6 ds machine stoves and was not impressed with them at all good construction but horrible design. That and most of them are unlisted stoves
 
I have worked on 5 or 6 ds machine stoves and was not impressed with them at all good construction but horrible design. That and most of them are unlisted stoves
That's interesting. I never ran one but I have been in their factory many times. I know the quality is good, but yeah they are Amish so I wouldn't expect to find the newest technology. When you say horrible design do you mean for wood, coal, or both? I almost bought the energy max 110 but ended up with the Ideal Steel. Sounds like I made a good choice.
 
I have worked on 2 different models both with similar design. They have tubes in the top and a bypass that lets the exhaust go straight out the top when open. But when you close that bypass the exhaust needs to go down behind the back wall on one and the side wall on the other Then back up and out. The wall separating the firebox from that chamber is just firebrick held in place with a channel top and bottom and nothing at all behind them. 2 of them by the second year had broken bricks which means the smoke goes straight out bypassing the tubes not to mention all the leaks between bricks ect. I will say that they are made very well but the design is very lacking and they will be a maintenance nightmare
 
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Can anyone tell me of a good wood and or wood and coal stove for app $1,000? Live in 15537 area South Central PA.

Agree with the others: Either a wood stove or a coal stove would be the better choice; a combo unit won't be good at burning either. If you decide to go for wood, there are a few stoves in that price category but we would need to know more about your heating needs like: sqft to be heated, house layout, placement of stove, insulation level, primary or supplemental heat, possible chimney length, etc.

Be aware that a wood stove will need dry wood with a moisture content of less than 20%. Do you already have several cords of split firewood sitting in your yard to get lots of sun and wind?
 
I know this thread is 2-1/2 years old, but I have been burning an Energy Max 110 since the winter of 2011. I live on top of the mountain in Johnstown, Pa. It will burn coal or wood and I have yet to crack a brick. The new ones they sell do come with a plate you slide in on top of the grates, for burning wood to have the air come in from above. As for maintenance, I only clean mine at the end of the season. No replacement parts needed. I use mostly wood and basically 1 piece of wood is an hour worth of heat. It will go 10 hours easily. I have burnt a few tons of hard coal and when the fire is built according to the instructions, filling 8" deep, will burn for a weekend without adding additional coal with only a shake of the grates every 12 hours. I have 1800 sqft in 2 stories and have the thermostat at half or less 90% of the winter. This is a great stove and if this one ever wears out, hopefully DS still builds them, so I can buy another.
 
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If I were you I would burn coal being your in coal country .no wood to mess with at all no worries of a chimney fire. Long burn times better heat control with coal. Just all around a better fuel choice .
 
If I were you I would burn coal being your in coal country .no wood to mess with at all no worries of a chimney fire. Long burn times better heat control with coal. Just all around a better fuel choice .
No wood mess but lots of coal mess. And coal smell.
 
Anthracite coal is not bad. I think much better then wood mess. But I do love burning wood
I have burn both wood and anthracite and no way will i ever go back to coal. I had way more dust with coal both before and after it was burnt.
 
I don’t burn when we are gone for the day. I burn coal on weekends and holiday vacations. I burn seasoned wood, so no problems with creosote. Maybe a 16oz cup full in the spring.