AHS S500 purrs into year 2 - some pics from the install

The disconnection and reconfiguration of the tired old boiler room (but with a rather new weil McClain oil unit)





During installation ... happily taping and mudding and wiring and insulating. I double sheetrocked the entire boiler room, as all the timbers are 110 years old, and tinder dry.





After installation ...

looks great! That's quite the machine....

That's some job you did! How long did that take to complete? Just the room revitalization looks like it was a big project. You Obviously know your way around. But,,,, one question,,, and This can't be said any other way. In case I didn't see it in your pictures, what keeps the exhaust from being driven backwards out the other boiler? That big coal gun has got to really pumping the air. Just wanting to be safe instead of sorry.

I agree with you about the exhausting problem - was very nervous about the blackflow on the pipe leading to the other boiler as well - and during startup last year when the chimney was cold, I did indeed get some wisps of wood smoke drifting out the damper. So this year I fired the oil burner first and got the chimney very hot. Then I started my coal fire and no smoke ejected from the damper. When the coal boiler is running the door is held shut on the damper, but I don't feel any blow-back from around the imperfect seal it makes .. and when the AHS 500 is off, the damper door gently flutters on a breezy day. So I believe I am at the hairy edge of "balanced" on the chimney. To be safe I have 2 smoke and CO combo detectors in the space, I have everything fire-doored from the rest of the house, and the air source is from outside through an existing window. I also notice no coal dust or ash on the downward side of the stack leading to the oil burner - so the draft on the chimney must be enough to keep it all rounding the bend and going UP.

I think my saving grace is that I have a 75 foot tall granite chimney outside with some excellent drafting capability.

BTW - the total labor invested was around 500 hours by my best guess. That doesn't include the 4 people it took to get the S500 down the basement stairs and pip-rollered into position. LOL

Wow, Nice! What size house? is that heating?

That is a big 'camp' if 500,000 btus are disappearing into it's shell! I've used an EFM 900's on two projects that are over 10,000 sq ft and it still loafs. The AHS 260's and AA 260's loaf too, 98 percent of the time.
You can't be doing just one building with that beauty, that beast pumps out the BTU's! You must be a steamfitter, and a damned talented one at that. Nice work!

It's either a church or a large apartment building I bet. What could have a outside 75' granite chimney

A church converted into a really cool house!
Or a converted something at about 5 stories.
And I am not being irreverent…
Stone Church, Newmarket very cool place but not 5 stories.
http://www.thestonechurch.com/
Truffle plays on 10/16 @8 pm great blues band.
http://www.gerardtruffle.com/epig.htm
Looks like a road trip in the making!
Time to load up tax free!

Well first I must apologize - because I re-read my post this morning and saw my chimney typo - its 55 feet with a 5 - not 75 with a 7. Sorry about that all big chimney fans. LOL Nonetheless it's a decently large stack for a house. And I should also disclose that I am an eager but amateur home renovator and careful and methodical learner with a keen interest in technology and things mechanical - but I am not a professional at any of the trades. Sometimes I tackle projects that 90% of folks would say are too big for me - but at the same time I work very hard to read all relevant materials, follow code, and learn as much as I can so I don't blow myself up or burn the house down, and make generally sure that I can be proud to show my work to anyone. By day I write computer software for a living.

I also had help installing. A friend (who probably hates me now LOL) pitched in and helped me with the sheetrock, pulling wire, and assembling the framing for the coal bin. With his efforts and mine it was 500 hours elapsed time, but really closer to 900 or 1000 hours of total man hours to install everything. Finally, my sister's fiance helped assemble the manifolds and made sure that I didn't screw up in the piping plan in any big way for the mains, hot and cold water feeds, water heater, backup systems, etc. The electric I handled myself on the controls for the dual system.

The house is 1899 vintage - edwardian style - 6400 sq feet, stone, 3 stories, with 49 original double pane windows (some up to 65 wide by 84 high) with no storms and a glassed in solarium. Even so, The demand is probably small for the output of the S500. When I started this I was naive - and I started with the premise of matching the btu output of the oil burner already installed which was 450,000 - not realizing that the reason the big oil burner gave so little heat was because a previous installer had used a toy taco circulator to pull water through a 3/4" housing that connects to 24 radiators on 3 floors through 4" mains. The S500 really DOES loaf in my house. If I had to do this over again I might have considered pairing an 260 and a 130 and be able to reduce fire as my load fluctuates throughout the year - but ... what's done is done. I realize now that in the slack season I am probably dumping heat up the chimney a lot of the time - however by learning to program the grate down low, my coal usage during slack demand is very very low. I barely fill an ash pan a week in the shoulder seasons (spring / fall). The fire has never gone out even after not being fanned for 4 or 5 days at a stretch.

I am also planning for the future, and I have 2 unused taps on my manifolds - one is a 1 1/4" feed for the pool heater which is next year's project, and there is a 1 1/2" feed for my garage / carriage house - which is around 3000 sq feet on 2 floors and currently unfinished. My plan is to run PEX out to the garage in the future where I would like to minimally heat the car area, and add a living unit upstairs. With those loads in mind it seemed better to err on the side of at least matching the output of the oil burner. The house itself is all radiators - which had been converted from steam to hot water many years before I got the place. The mains are all 4" in the basement - so I have a very large mass to heat before the house gets toasty. At the same time, those big pipes being warm helps to keep the basement mildew free and toasty in the winter without any other dehumidifiers or effort.

I used to freeze in this house, and in 2007 paid nearly $10,000 in oil for the privilege. Now with the coal unit, the house gets all warm and toasty for the winter. It has become a pleasure to get up in the morning and enjoy the all over sensation of warmth at any corner of the house - not to mention hot water that never runs out!