DS Anthra-max 15 Anthracite Coal Stove Tutorial Tending

Featured is a DS Anthra-max 15 Coal Stove built in Lancaster County, PA. Hopefully this how-to video helps someone else with their coal heat. I made this video also as a reference for anyone who may have to house sit for us in winter from time to time to be knowledgeable in the coal fire tending process.
If done right a coal fire is lit in fall, and continues all thru winter into spring where you can let it die off. Try that with a wood fire! No chimney smoke, no creosote, no fluctuations in room temps!
Check out these Facebook groups for more stove information:
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[@rat8356]

its a clinkerrrrr!

[@hermanheine3291]

I have a 50 93 hitter. I recommend filling the hopper completely full before shaking. I only use mine when it does not go above 20 degrees . Otherwise coal for me has doubled and it may not be worth it. I have gas though.

[@danagapie559]

I have a DS 300 Kozy King. I paid $475 for a ton this season. Last season I paid $325. Outrageous for coal this season. I am in southeastern Indiana and no means of buying in bulk. So i have to buy it by the 40 lb bag. I can't justify burning the coal at that price. Been burning wood lately except for the really cold days/nights then I change over to coal. I don't understand how they can charge so much for coal now. Just crazy.

[@applearmoryvlogs7279]

Holy cow yea I'd be burning wood too if I was in your shoes at those prices. We bought about 2500lbs a couple weeks ago at 372/ton and even that's ridiculous compared to where it should be at about 200-250/ton

[@4xdive366]

You're telling me.. .

[@kermitmitchell476]

I'm looking at getting the anthra max fireplace insert. My question to you is how low of a temperature can you run your stove without it going out?

[@applearmoryvlogs7279]

I run it into the shoulder season of March or so - it definitely is a bit trickier keeping it going when the thermostat is turned down further. Slow gradual adjustments to get it down. Tending less frequently and or less vigorously with less poking. It won't be a full glow of burning coal, but look almost dead on the surface as the fire is burning low deep under the surface. An occasional open window to cool off the house if it's a bit warm. An insert may be easier to maintain temp as it would have a blower to circulate the heat out from around it that you wouldn't run. Hope this helps

[@jean-annsuchy7532]

Thank you for this video. We had a 15 installed in June. Lit it today for the first time, but as of 1:30 am it has gone out twice. What are we doing wrong? Built wood fires both times, and added about 20lbs of coal each time. Are we not adding enough? Finally, we were thinking we would run through a ton a winter keeping our house in the mid 60's. What is everyone else's average usage? Sorry for all the questions. Had this installed by the Amish and we cannot find much information online.

[@applearmoryvlogs7279]

If you had the Amish install it, you may be local to me if you're referring to Lancaster County Amish? In regards to lighting - it's a slow process(several hours) to get it fully transitioned into coal due to coal being hard to light and burn compared to wood. But once it's going it'll go for months. Yes start with a wood fire(kindling, newspaper, seasoned dry split firewood etc). Probably better to lift the metal hopper out of the top so you can get more wood in the stove for a good wood fire. You may have to adjust the thermostat air damper on back open as it wants to auto adjust down. Leave the front air wash lever open for airflow across the top(wood likes air from over, coal burns from air coming up thru bottom). After wood is burning well and you've added many pieces over time and have built up a healthy amount of wood embers burning and wood burning you can SLOWLY add coal one small shovelful at a time so it can light. Don't smoother it. May require still adding some wood to keep it going well. After enough intervals of adding shovels of coal in and it's burning well and air thermostat on back is adjusted to give it the air it needs to light hopefully it's going ok. Coal requires a deep bed to last and burn. So once it's fully lit, load the bed of coal up to the height of the metal "Anthra-Max" logo top edge - again - slowly in stages as to not smoother it. Of course once it's going good that metal hopper can be dropped back in so that you're able to top the hopper off. Hopefully I'm explaining it so it makes sense, I'm trying to think it thru. The hopper likely holds a good 35+lbs, and the deep coal bed from the grates up to the bottom of hopper is likely 50+lbs. The stove I believe calls for the size called nut coal(sometimes called chestnut coal). Large chunks may not be ideal, and small rice or other small sizes won't be feasible either

[@applearmoryvlogs7279]

As far as usage: last year was our first full season: we lit it in Nov and let it burn out in spring. Only lit it once. Almost lost it a couple times but was able to revive it (likely my own fault for stirring/screwing with it too much - coal doesn't like that unlike wood). Overall it burned for the whole season 100+ days I forget the exact number of days. I believe we burned thru 2.5-3tons to heat a 1000sqft ranch with the stove in the basement of the same size as the upstairs living space. Never touched the baseboard electric heat. Used a wall mounted propane heater in upstairs during the shoulder seasons of fall prior to lighting stove or some cold mornings on occasion. During coldest parts of winter it was over a 5 gal bucket per day. During warmer days it was less usage. We will be lighting it this week. We lit it once a few weeks ago for just a wood fire one chilly evening.

[@jean-annsuchy7532]

Thank you very much for your response! Indiana Amish installed for us. However, my husband is from PA and that is where the original idea came from. We do not have access to bulk coal like you, but we did buy 4 tons of bagged coal. The Amish gentleman told us he thought we would go through about a ton a year. Ha! Guess he was wrong. Ok, back to the drawing board for us on trying to get this lit. Thank you very much for your help!!

[@matthaft2048]

According to my dad, the best way to get your stove going is to use the fancy hardwood lump charcoal. Fire it up like you would your grill and once that get going good and hot start adding in coal SLOWLY. Also the Amish build their houses to optimize radiant type heat distribution while keeping it from escaping out thus using less coal.(At least the ones here in Wisconsin 🤷🏼‍♂️). Most “modern” houses are built for forced air heating (or have been updated to)

[@andrewseamans1419]

Nice stove. Doesnt seem like it's running all that hard. Is it possible to get the upstairs into the 70s with outside temps like that? I have a 1700sqft ranch and was thinking of doing something similar in the basement.

[@applearmoryvlogs7279]

Yes it has ability to run hotter than what I'm using it at. I'm confident it can get an upstairs into the 70s assuming you have good windows/well insulated. Your size ranch is bigger than ours so it may take a slightly larger stove and depending on location in basement and home design getting the airflow to migrate to either end of the house.

[@applearmoryvlogs7279]

Check out my latest video on the lighting procedure for the initial lighting for the fall / winter season: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXyakmaYotWeors

[@peteantos-ketcham3493]

Thanks for posting. I have a 14 in my shop and a 15 in the house. Very well built stoves. do you poke down around the edges every time you reload? On my 15, I can't set the thermostat any higher than 3 and half or else the stove starts to overfire - especially after being reloaded. Have you had any challenges like this? I'd like to be able to run the thermostat higher when it is colder out. Any suggestions? Thanks again.

[@mattd2080]

Yes I try to make sure I poke down around the edges - I feel like that's the place where ash builds up and will smother the most because it's along the edges where the grate don't shake it out as easily. As far as getting the fire too hot after reloading I haven't noticed that issue. I did adjust the chain on the damper 1 link shorter so I can have a better range - I don't go below 2.75-3 on hot days(50-60degrees) outside for fear of it dying and have turned it up to 4.5+ or - on some of the coldest nights (under 15-20 degrees) to keep house warm. Prior to the chain adjustment I turned it as far open as possible overnight and stove never got too hot and had room to go further to keep house at acceptable temps. I remember a few times where it was really hot fire , not sure if that was after reloading or after messing around with it opening it up more. Couple times it's scared me after reloading a half hour to an hour or so a loud puff back when the gasses built up so much and the new coal finally lit all at once in what seemed like an explosion - so now I've been keeping the over air lever on high or close to it especially when reloaded

[@dogshaff9307]

I have a DS basement 4, never poke it, thermostat set at 3 1/2, front of stove 450, runs like this all winter, last 10 years or so

[@andrewseamans1419]

Do you ever burn any wood in that? How does it do? Thanks

[@applearmoryvlogs7279]

We had a wood fire last night. It does a good job on wood too, took a little adjustments to get it at a stable temp, then again it was the first fire of the season. I kept the air wash on high, and used the thermostat on the back. Not sure if that's the best way or not considering wood fires use over air, coal uses air from below. I did let it die out overnight however. This stove was originally approved and sold for wood or coal. However with recent EPA restrictions on wood stoves, they are now sold as coal only. They have made no changes to it from the prior wood/coal model years to the current coal only model years so use that info as you will...

[@therocinante3443]

the question i still have which seems to have no answer is what you do with the ashes.

[@applearmoryvlogs7279]

Some people dump outside if they have a wooded area. However unlike wood ash which is organic and breaks down, coal ash is forever... So when I dump the ash pan outside in a metal wheelbarrow, after a few days once I know it's cooled off, I shovel the ash into a black trash bag and put in our normal trash can for pickup.

[@therocinante3443]

@@applearmoryvlogs7279 ah okay that makes sense. Thanks! I guess other people I've asked didn't have a pick up service in ther areas.

[@rickyamsbaugh7397]

Where do you buy your coal

[@applearmoryvlogs7279]

Martin AG Service in New Holland, PA. They are a distributor for Blaschak which is a coal mining company in PA. We buy in bulk picked up by weight. Typically we'll get half to 1 ton at a time. They also do delivery for those who need that.

[@patriot198130]

How do u have this vented?

[@mattd2080]

The back is a 6" outlet which goes to a 90 up to another 90 which steps up to 8" into the duravent I think it's called chimney which goes up thru main floor of home, up thru attic and out the roof(8" chimney was there from prior owners - technically manufacturer would want the 6" all the way.

[@chriskreseski6361]

I paid $255/ton for anthracite last year and the price has jumped to $385/ton this year. Not sure it's worth the work anymore at that price.

[@jean-annsuchy7532]

We paid $409 for our last load. We believe still cheaper than propane.

[@fostexfan160]

In the UK its around £650 a ton. Doubled in price since last year

[@scottreynolds4827]

What work is involved with coal exactly? Transporting it. Thats it.

[@chriskreseski6361]

@scottreynolds4827 Transporting the coal,loading the stove, shaking it down, emptying the ashes and cleaning all the dust. I love the heat it produces, but it is work. Anyone that has burned coal as a primary source of heat will admit there is more work than Transporting it

[@dogshaff9307]

Just payed 400 for a ton of coal, going to put in natural gas furnace,

[@applearmoryvlogs7279]

Wow 😲. I'll be getting more coal in the next couple weeks - hopefully I don't have a surprise like that