Forum Member Efo141 Passes

Paula,

I likewise offer sincere condolences. It's so nice of you to take the time to let the forum members know of Ed's passing and how much the forum meant to him. I showed this thread to my wife and have requested that she do the same when I leave this earth. I lost a brother at age 40 from a heart attack. God bless you and your family.

Our deepest sympathy to you and your family.

I,m very sorry for your loss, Ican't stop wipping the tears as I am writing this.I at 46 and having three small children and my best freind my wife, can't even begin to imagine how they would get along with out me here . Ipray for your strength in your every day needs, God bless and be strong

Ken and family

Sorry to hear the sad news. My sincere sympathy to you and your family.

As I sit here and read this I am feeling the pain in my heart... I am so sorry for your loss.... It is just extra upsetting when the person is so young... My thoughts and prayers are with you and everyone in your family.

Once again-I thank-you all for such kind words and prayers. Ed and I have been on our own since we were 16 and 18 and I still can't believe he is gone.My heart is just broken...We had so many plans... His hand fed boiler is still going ,we are calling it his eternal flame(he would have loved that!) Did suffer thru my first clinker that jammed the shaker for a day++! I thought I would wait it out but ashes were building up so I had to 911 his buddy to help. I didn't understand how the grates worked to get it unstuck-we ended up scooping out a lot of coal to get that darn clinker out of the top side? The good news is the fire never went out. Funny thing ,my son and I have talked about finding more free coal for next year. Can this addiction happen this fast? I am wondering if anyone knows what kind of battery back up to use for these stoves in case we lose power. Is it expensive? Since we have been getting a lot of snow and high winds I am starting to worry. Should I go somewhere else to ask questions? Thank you all , Paula

Hi Paula. I agree about keeping the flame going. Glad to hear your talk about finding coal a continuation with your son. Theres many great memories from them 27 years stored away and they will forever keep your flame for ed lit. there are some threads on here about battery back ups. basically many use a car battery connected to a power inverter and then plug in the stove.

the inverter changes the 12 volt DC power (direct current) over to 120volt AC power (alternating current)

the time frame that the battery lasts varies. another option is a back up power generator that can also run the lights and or fridge too. ill try to find those links for the back up stuff

Gene

heres one Making Pure Sine Waves? up power#p144316

more Emergency Back up Power for Coal Stove

the second post down WNY gives several links to more posts!!

Hang in there Paula. We all share and understand your loss..

Thank-you Gene,
We do have a generator but Edmund made me promise never to try and hook it up myself(something about back feeding the lines). He used it 2 times last month. He did want to add a car battery back up or something but I didn't pay attention to the details. Do you feel this would be a safe option. Ed tried gravity feed last time and it didn't work. I just don't want to go to work and panic all day. And by the way if the power does go out now-will it be ok to open the feeder door and let it the coal go out?(It is in an outside addition) And also do I have to turn on or off and water valves. Paula

Paula, I am sorry to here of your husbands passing at such a young age. I really think it is great your son and you are carrying on his love for coal. You will find yourself talking to him often as you work out some of the issues of the art of coal burning. I find myself talking to my father when I use his old fishing boat, he too passed away about 5 years ago. Just writing this note brings tears to my eyes. God Bless you and your son. Keep in touch with us all.
Kevin

Hello Paula ; I'm sorry for your loss. If you do have a generator and you are able to start yourself, you may think of having an electrician hook up a transfer switch. That way you do not backfeed to the grid ( the man on the pole trying to restore power ) . Manual transfer switches are a simple matter of flipping a switch and starting the generator,and their are automatic transfer switches (more expensive) that sense when their is a power loss and do the switch for you and start the generator also. These types of switches would have separate breakers for individual circuts (the more important things, water pump, refrigerator, heat ) TAKE CARE

Kevin you are right we both keep going out to the coal room to chat,yell cry and fill the stove. It is a sacred place to be with him in spirit. I must say I have to give him credit -how the heck did he never get black fingerprints on everything !! I have now stained my jeans looking at the ash pan and am quite a menace with dirty hands! Thank-you all for the information on a back-up system. I am going to call my friends husband (an electrician) and ask him about wiring in a switch. Much appreciated Paula

efo141 wrote:Thank-you Gene,
We do have a generator but Edmund made me promise never to try and hook it up myself(something about back feeding the lines). He used it 2 times last month. He did want to add a car battery back up or something but I didn't pay attention to the details. Do you feel this would be a safe option. Ed tried gravity feed last time and it didn't work. I just don't want to go to work and panic all day. And by the way if the power does go out now-will it be ok to open the feeder door and let it the coal go out?(It is in an outside addition) And also do I have to turn on or off and water valves. Paula

Hey Paula,

late post due to snow shovel,blow,plow kinda 11 hr day!
The battery back thing is just like the ones they sell in best buy like the "Geek Squad" type. they come in different sizes; meaning how many watts they could supply for so long. bigger is more watts for longer time before the battery runs dead. last I looked I bought a few of them that were the largest at the time I think 1500 watts. they were like 200 bucks. I wanted one for the 50 inch plazma and bose surround sound cause we all know we cant have the tv just shut off over a silly power outage! The other I actually use for the computer. I was very suprised at the ability of them and feel they were a worth while investment. Now you know the generator is a great source of back up power for you even if you don't have a transfer switch yet! Because push comes to shove you can simply have it running (outdoors) and use a good extention cord to plug the stove directly to it. It wouldnt be connected to the house so no "back feed" problem.
If the gen is of sufficient size naturally a second extension could feed the fridge and a light or few ... then your electrician buddy could explain a different approach im sure!

now back to the battery back up, theres several here that put together thier own back up power supply system using a car battery and a power inverter. the car battery is much much longer lasting than any thats in a store bought computer style system and also some generators have a car battery charging port on them so it can charge the bigger battery which is inverting the power for the stove. now this home built set up is great in another way in so much that it can be made to automatically come on when the power goes out and keep the stove running substantially long enough if your at work and the power fails. then when you get home you can bring the generator on line and control things .

All these things and senairos are no big deal if ya just think them thru, learn how they work, practice a bit, and of course keep a calm relaxed head if something does happen. I am sure with help from friends every thing will work out ok. Its great to be able to go in the coal room there and know Ed is always there ...

Paula, So sorry for your loss. Your eternal flame is very warming to all of us coal burners.Thanks to you and your family for staying with the coal forum family. Greg

Hi Paula , I am very sorry for your loss as well. I haven't been on the forum as much lately due to being very busy . Ed will be missed . I hope you stay around on the forum , it really is a great bunch of people on here . Dave

Well it has been a year, RIP my coal man! My heart still aches that he is gone. An update on the Boilers..... Sadly The New Yorker is unhooked ready to sell and the Keystoker has been running great since Oct 24. Not one problem,although the oil burner kicks on quite frequently in the morning. I have even kept track of how many bags of coal I used. 108 in 100 days....Is that good? I am really thrilled to know we bagged enough coal to get us through the winter. I am working on a coal bin idea but the bags are quite easy to do, just kind of back breaking getting them in and out of the truck. Where are all those men that said they'd help?? Oh yeah-they're in the woods with their chainsaws, still! Sooner or later one of them will come to their senses and buy the New Yorker, LOL! So that is where we are at this cold snowy year later. Can't wait for spring to break out the kayak and motorcycle and put these skis and snowshoes away! Sorry KEYSTOKER-I love ya but am ready for sunny warm days. I hope everyone is doing great on the forum, Paula