Anyone have/had this stove?

[bond1973]

I have a woodstove in my basement that's been there since I bought the house. I ignored it the first winter, started using it last winter and am REALLY trying to use it this year. I've had it cleaned and inspected (chimney/flue). I have no info on the woodstove. Like BTU's, square footage, where to get an addon blower, etc. I called the company and they had no info they could give me on it. They WERE able to tell me what gasket was used in the doors when it was new, so that was helpful as I'm changing it all now. Here's what I do have for info on it...

Alaska Company Inc,
Kodiak
Blower Parlor Stove I
Tested 9/1983
Serial Number 0300
STL-002

...and here are some pics...

These images were from last year...I've since cleaned up the ash and moved the nearby slightly flammable mattress.

Thanks all!

 

[Dok]

That's a beast of a stove! I would give it a try with the new gaskets. If it's too inefficient you can always replace it later. You will know its inefficient when it grabs the wood out of your hands when you open the doors.
Dok

 

[ASEMASTER]

thats a nice stove

If it makes heat , with oil at the high prices now a days ,who cares!
I'd be firing that thing up. It lookes like some sort of down draft type.

 

[Lignum]

I think I read about that stove in one of Stephen Kings books...

 

[Sprig]

cool!

Lol^^^^ *schnerffle*, or The Munsters
That there looks ta be one big ol' stove by golly, nice design too, I like the double screw-in/on dampers; I find them much more efficient than the slider type like I have on my Pacific Energy beast, they are a total PITA to clean. The ashbin access is nice too, does that door have a gasket too? New door gasket and you'll be ready for some real heat



Serge

 

[bond1973]

Haha Love the posts. Yes the ash door has a gasket too. That gasket appears to be in good shape, so I may just do the main doors gasket. Having a hard time finding what I need for gasket though. Figures since it's like 0 degrees the past two days. I'm tempted to just put the 3/8" gasket back in even though I know it's not the right stuff for it because I'm working on my computer (part time phone job out of home) and I'm freezing my knads off in the unfinished lower level of my house. Ugh...I dunno. Probably hold out until tomorrow THEN make something work. At some point I wanna put glass back in the doors too. Fire looks so nice. ;-)

 

[PA Plumber]

That's a beast of a stove! I would give it a try with the new gaskets. If it's too inefficient you can always replace it later. You will know its inefficient when it grabs the wood out of your hands when you open the doors.
Dok

Yep. We had one that ate 1 1/2 large wheelbarrow loads of wood every day. The smoke from the chimeny would fill the street. We made do last year to confirm we would keep burning wood. Got rid of that thing just before this heating season. Effeciency rating on it was around 36%.

Neat looking old stove. Looks like you might need a mechanical engineering degree to operate it though!!

 

[ktm rider]

Huh,, You think that stove works good now, just wait until you use the right fuel for it. That is an Alaskan Kodiak COAL STOVE. That is why it is inefficient when burning wood. It wasn't designed to do so. Notice the damper under the grates. That is so the combustion air can come up through the coal. You can burn wood if you want to, it won't hurt anything, just not as efficient as burning coal.
Here is a forum all about burning coal for residential heat. I believe there are quite a few guys on there that use those exact stoves. If you have any other questions they will be able to answer them for sure...

http://www.nepadigital.com/bb/index.php

 

[bond1973]

It actually does have a tag on the back that says Fuel: Wood/Coal or vice versa. I wouldn't know the first thing about burning coal or anything about coal really except that I want none of it for xmas. Or wait...if I can burn it, maybe I do. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll check that link out!

 

[ktm rider]

It actually does have a tag on the back that says Fuel: Wood/Coal or vice versa.

Yep, most, if not all, hand fired coal stoves can also burn wood, although not near as efficient.
I will have to warn you though, If you plan on burning coal, get ready to be hooked. Especially if you already enjoy wood heat. Coal actually burns hotter and the burn times are longer. And no, there is no smell ( if your stove has the proper gaskets on it )

 

[bond1973]

Hmm...I'll have to look into procedure and cost of burning coal. Wonder if I can "mix" at all..

 

[ktm rider]

Hmm...I'll have to look into procedure and cost of burning coal. Wonder if I can "mix" at all..

Sure you can mix it, I do all the time but i mostly burn coal.

Bituminous coal or " soft coal" is about $50 a ton in my area. That is all I burn.
Anthracite coal is a higher quality coal and burns like you wouldn't believe. it is the best coal in the world. It is about $175 a ton but last longer than Bituminous coal. Anthracite coal is used alot in stoker stoves but it is also used in hand fired ones like yours also. You can buy it in bags just like wood pellets if you like, but I think that is a tad more expensive.
I highly suggest you head over to the link i gave you and check out all your options.

 

[Vibes]

Burn the coal and just throw in a little wood to heat it up quicker. The problem with coal is getting good '' house'' coal. Coal has to be run through a grader. The nice nuggets are seperated from the shake. You want to find coal about the size of a walnut to a golfball, with some large chunks the size of a softball thrown in. If there is alot of shake it sort of heats up and globs together. Also alot of it falls through the grate. The shake usually gets trucked off to the power plants to destroy the world.

OH yea nice stove. If you get good coal you won't be cutting a whole lot.

 

[ktm rider]

Vibes is correct. But anthracite almost always comes in pea or nut sized. There is no need to inspect it, that is just the way it is sold.
I use the "Fines" in my boiler though. It just takes a few techniques to burn it. The whole key to burning coal is to get the air to go through the coal. that is why you want the golf ball sized piece. If air can't get through, there will be no fire..