It's Alive!

Post by **Rob R.** » Mon. Dec. 12, 2016 10:16 am

Wednesday Night: A 40 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 11. Southwest wind around 8 mph.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 16. West wind 7 to 10 mph.
Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around -2. Northwest wind 7 to 11 mph.

Friday: Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near 10. West wind 8 to 11 mph.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 3. South wind around 6 mph.

Thursday night and Friday should be a good test. I am interested to see if the EFM can pull through it on 4 teeth.

hotblast1357 · Post by **hotblast1357** » Mon. Dec. 12, 2016 1:47 pm

I hear ya rob!! Going to put the New Yorker to the test also, We're gonna burn some coal this week, also a possible storm this weekend coming.

Post by **StokerDon** » Mon. Dec. 12, 2016 6:34 pm

If you can pull through that kind of weather on 4 teeth I will be amazed!

There is a limit to what you can achieve through heat storage and management, Isn't there?

-Don

Post by **Rob R.** » Mon. Dec. 12, 2016 6:39 pm

StokerDon wrote:If you can pull through that kind of weather on 4 teeth I will be amazed!

There is a limit to what you can achieve through heat storage and management, Isn't there?

-Don

My control system improvements will do nothing for the weather coming in a few days. There is no heat "stored" in the boiler when it is 0 and the wind is blowing the bbq off the deck...the heat goes into the house nearly as fast as the stoker can produce it. What would help is if I split the first floor into two zones...the wind blows the heat to one side anyway.

I am also hopeful that I will see a difference from the few extra insulation batts in the attic, some spray foam in drafty areas, some extra insulation on the boiler piping, and the excellent coal I got this year.

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 5:23 am

I am claiming victory over the first round with old man winter. Last night around 7 pm was brutal, I think the stoker ran continuously for an hour, and then began to occasionally shut off. The wind gradually died down overnight. My porch thermometer showed -5 last night, and still does this morning...but with no wind this morning the boiler is hardly running.

hotblast1357 · Post by **hotblast1357** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 5:31 am

Good deal!!

The New Yorker combustion fan ran just about all night too, -6 here, god only knows what with the wind chill!

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 5:40 am

It was pretty bad, I went out to my shop around 6:30 pm and just that 100' walk was enough to make my face burn.

I should add that I never touched the stoker, it is still set on 4 teeth. I thought about bumping it up so it wasn't running as much, but was curious to see if the house would hold 72 - and it did. If we had used a bunch of domestic hot water that may have been a different story, but overall I am pretty happy with the performance.

hotblast1357 · Post by **hotblast1357** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 5:55 am

Absolutely! For the size your heating and where it's at, the EFM is standing it's ground! I bumped my low limit from 155 to 175.

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 7:55 am

I think my porch thermometer is thrown off by the heat from the house. My car said -15 while the porch thermo read -5.

Post by **StokerDon** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 8:42 am

Glad to hear your system pushed through that nasty, windy, cold night. Did it do this just on the EFM on 4 teeth? I am assuming the oil burner is not running.

-Don

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 8:56 am

I am feeling pretty happy with my EFM,i have it set on 5 teeth,we had 8* this am & had 25+mph winds overnite & we stayed warm with no glitch. I don't have any timer & I can't tell from the house how long the stoker ran any given time nor am I going to stand in the boiler box for hrs to see what happens. Still heating 3 buildings + DHW.

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 9:08 am

StokerDon wrote:Glad to hear your system pushed through that nasty, windy, cold night. Did it do this just on the EFM on 4 teeth? I am assuming the oil burner is not running.

-Don

Correct. No need for the oil boiler. My oil boiler is 200k BTUs net, I hate to think about how much fuel it would drink on one of those nights.

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 9:09 am

windyhill4.2 wrote:I am feeling pretty happy with my EFM,i have it set on 5 teeth,we had 8* this am & had 25+mph winds overnite & we stayed warm with no glitch. I don't have any timer & I can't tell from the house how long the stoker ran any given time nor am I going to stand in the boiler box for hrs to see what happens. Still heating 3 buildings + DHW.

Glad to hear it. I bet the Crane stove helps as well.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Fri. Dec. 16, 2016 10:04 am

Rob R. wrote:
windyhill4.2 wrote:I am feeling pretty happy with my EFM,i have it set on 5 teeth,we had 8* this am & had 25+mph winds overnite & we stayed warm with no glitch. I don't have any timer & I can't tell from the house how long the stoker ran any given time nor am I going to stand in the boiler box for hrs to see what happens. Still heating 3 buildings + DHW.
Glad to hear it. I bet the Crane stove helps as well.

Rob, I do have to give the Crane some credit,but I am not running it quite as hard/hot as I did the past winters. Since my wife died & I get to do most everything in my shop,my house & property related stuff, I do not have as much time to monitor the Crane. I have been running it in the 400-500* range which still allows me to do 2 times/day tending. If I push it up to the 600-650* range ,then I need to do an 8 hr schedule tending or the ashes build too much to keep the stove up to that temp. So with that in mind is why I am so happy to have made it thru this 8* temp with the EFM on 5 teeth. The past 2 winters I would have set it for 6 teeth for the same OAT. New doors on the shop likely are contributing to less heat demand too.
I did put 210 # in the hopper for the EFM last nite,the wind we have endured the past few days has really pushed the heat out thru the leaky windows in my house.

Post by **Rob R.** » Sat. Dec. 17, 2016 10:17 am

I think cleaning the 40' of fin-tube baseboard in my living room has made a noticeable difference. I don't even have any curtains on the windows of sliding glass door right now (removed for painting), and that room still held 72 degrees while getting blasted with -5 air. In the past there have been nights when that room would not get above 68 degrees. I also pulled the couches and such a few inches away from the wall to allow more convection. Lesson learned.