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[pennyrilehunter]

Wondering if anyone had any experience with the Heatmor wood\used oil burners?  Is there much trouble, maintence, etc with the oil burner or does it run pretty smoothly once you get it dialed in?  Kentucky has a 50% tax credit for recycling equipment that I've been told these qualify for.

[Scott7m]

Where did you hear that?  At the show?


I wasn't aware of it, but in general heater are alright from what I've seen.  They are def a different design than most and a lot more stuff on them, sometimes more stuff isn't better though

[pennyrilehunter]

I did hear about it at the show, Got to do some checking to make sure its legit.  They do have some different designs on theirs, mainly the firebox.  Good or bad? I don't know.  It makes sense but I can see some drawbacks and some positives.  Not sure if I like the expansion bladder, something else to have to eventually replace.  I do like the high limit aquastat to dump heat if it starts to overheat and there is something to be said for a company that has been making OWB's for 20 to 25 years.  I also have 2 dealers within @ 45 minutes and the regional dist is @ 1.5 hours away.  I've pretty much narrowed it to the Heatmor and Heatmaster.  Local heatmaster dealer is questionable and the next nearest is 2 - 2.5 hours away.  It appears that both are good stoves and I would probably be happy with either.

[Scott7m]

Im not a big fan of heatmor as they aren't simple and have several things I don't like. 

Call Dave yoder in Harrodsburg, he's as honest as they come and has sold heatmor before and now sells heatmaster.  859-265-0793

How did they tell you the high limit dumps heat?  It will shut the fan off if the first one fails but seeing a ranco fail is extremely rare. They used to have more problems with aqua stats than now

But call Dave, he'll tell you the pros and cons of each as he has sold both brands

[tbone]

The high limit shuts off the blower and kicks on one of your zone pumps (which ever one you select as your dump zone).  This is year seven for me and I still have all the original parts on my heatmor (aquastats, bladder, etc.). My shaker assembly needed replaced a few years ago, but was covered under warranty.

[pennyrilehunter]

tbone

Thanks for the info. I assume your burning coal in yours since you got the shaker grates?  Kind of curious how well you like the sand and firebrick bottom and how well the ash auger works.  Also what model do you have, SQ footage heated, burn time and what part of the country.

Thanks

[tbone]

Yeah, this is my first year burning coal and I'm very pleased with the results.  I put a ton of soft and a ton of hard though so far and have a ton scheduled for delivery tomorrow.  I am going to burn coal for the remainder of the season and try to get my wood in for the next two seasons so it has a chance to dry.  I can burn seasoned wood and coal with very little smoke.  After the first burn cycle smoke free... Just clear waves coming out of the stack.  I live in central pa and heat a 2600 sq ft house and 600 sq ft basement plus a lot of dhw with a family of 5 (the washer and dishwasher runs pretty much non stop and lots of showers plus large corner  jaccuzi tub).  My house is a brick cap cod built in the 50s with very little insulation.  I added an addition to the back of the house and renovated the second floor insulating every thing I could with exception to my crawl space...which I plan on insulating in the spring.  Last year I put about 10 cord of straight wood through (about 70 percent of that was green).  This year about 5 chord of seasoned wood and I'm guessing 3 ton of coal.  I'm still trying to figure out how much coal I need to add to get me through to the next load if I'm burning straight coal...but ill figure that out soon...I know I'm wasting a lot now.

The set up works very well with the fire brick and sand.  I added some sand at the end of one season but you don't really have to.  The wood burns up into such a fine ash that you can leave some in the firebox and use that to level off with.  With the auger out the back you can empty your ashes while in full operation which works well especially while burning coal.  If I'm burning wood I auger once a week...if I'm burning coal I auger twice a week.  You get more ash with the coal, plus you want to make sure you keep the area below the grates clear so the coal gets plenty of air from underneath. 

Another nice feature of the heatmor is the second door on the exterior of the stove.  The blower is mounted at the bottom of the stove between the doors which preheats the air before entering the firebox as opposed to other stoves which pull cold air from outside.  This year I added additional insulation to the inside of the exterior doors which I believe is helping.  My underground lines are not the best...I have pex with the bubble wrap insulation inside of pvc which was the method everyone used at the time (installed the lines in 04).  I plan on a redo in the near future.  I would guess I'm loosing about two chord a year to the ground.  Whatever stove you go with, get the best underground lines that money can buy....don't go cheap.

Hopefully, I answered your questions, let me know if you have any more and GL.

 

[tbone]

I have the 200CSS...

[pennyrilehunter]

tbone

Thanks for the additional info.  How long of burn times do you get out yours with wood only?  I'm looking at heating about 1900 sq ft, have a 500 ft attached garage that I would occasionally (few days a month) put a little heat in, and DHW for 4.  Well insulated single story brick house in southern Kentucky.  Any thoughts on whether the 100 would be big enough?

[65fastback]

tbone

Thanks for the additional info.  How long of burn times do you get out yours with wood only?  I'm looking at heating about 1900 sq ft, have a 500 ft attached garage that I would occasionally (few days a month) put a little heat in, and DHW for 4.  Well insulated single story brick house in southern Kentucky.  Any thoughts on whether the 100 would be big enough?

Hi Im new to the forum but just wanted to say Hey to everybody! Love my Heatmor!   Tim

[tbone]

I can get about 14-16 hours with wood only.  I burn almost exclusively red oak which tends to burn slower and last longer producing nice coals.  That's assuming average weather.  Last season when it was really cold for long stretches I would add wood three times in a 24 hour period...fill the box up in the mourning and before going to bed...I would add some when I got home from work as well.

If you have access to coal, I would highly recommend keeping some on hand...I can get 24 hour burns with coal.

As far as the 100, I'm guessing it would do the job for you...especially if you are well insulated.  I don't know anyone with the 100 and I'm not sure what the price difference is...I know its quite a jump in price to go from the 200 to the 400  as that is what I was considering at the time I purchased mine.  Do you have a dealer nearby you can talk to?