helping describe some variations differences and reasons, because the electric in rural PA is not always there in bad weather I have had coal stoves for back up heat. Thus stove has been my primary heat source this season
I am 72 and grew up in PA. My job as the eldest child of parents who worked long hours, often at night, was to keep my younger siblings fed , safe and taken care of AND to cook, clean etc. Plus filling the coal furnace with shovels of coal in the basement and maintaining an even flow of heat. I also helped my father keep the furnace clean. Your video brings back those memories. We had iron floor vents that the hot air rise through and we positioned furniture far enough away to not burn but also to keep the little kids away to not get bad burns on those iron vents. We lived in a simpler time.
We always burnt bituminous here in southern West Virginia. My grandmother had the same warm morning you have. Great heat and alot less work than wood. I now at 49 burn wood because i cant afford the bag coal for primary heat. All you said about wood is very true,but i have pretty easy access to free wood,its just alot of work. Congrats on your stove.
Thank you for the comment, I have burned wood in other indoor stoves, and setting an alarm every few hours was ridiculous. I've built my own log splitters, rebuilt chainsaws, just done with wood for primary heat. You should be able to get bituminous in your region. I still have ¼ ton from November left I'll burn up here soon and do a bituminous video
@@keystonecountryboy we used to buy it by the ton straight from the tipple,but they dont sell it to the public anymore. I cant get bagged coal like you have,but its cost prohibitive for me. My old fisher wood stove holds a burn pretty good with some good seasoned oak. I can easily get 8 hours of sleep. I will admit that keeping a good stock of split wood is tiresome, but it's also good excercise and gets me out in the woods some. I cant complain to much about it.
Old-school trick that my dad taught me: hold a match in front of the baro damper. If the flame sucks toward the flue, you're good to go. You can buy fire-brick pretty cheaply to replace your broken ones. If you take care of the fire every night, you shouldn't need wood to stoke up the fire. Keep a couple road flare on hand. If you get a chimney fire from the creosote catching, throw a flare into the chimney door. The flare will use up all the oxygen and put the chimney fire out. You get it.
You can't find the corner flue blocks made for these old warm morning stoves, the interlock each other in. They aren't in production anymore searched and searched