AHS 260 Average Coal Use

So far the S260 has been burning heating both my shop and house for a month now. I had some puff backs after I switched from nut to pea coal. I was told to adjust the settings on my ash rate to 130 from 140 Sv, HTs to a setting of 5 from 10. Since these changes I have had no puffbacks at all.

I have been averaging 100-125 lbs on a mild day and 150-200 lbs on a cold day to heat both with a total sq footage around 6500 sq ft.. I thought my house would use less heat an the steel shop would be calling for heat the majority of the time. After spending time in the shop in the evening and on the weekends , my shop calls for heat hardly at all. The house is the majority of the heat usage. I guess I need to look at adding more insulation and replace a few door weatherstrips this summer.

I guess I am curious if the amount of coal I am using is the average with a S260 user?

Mac

macdabs wrote:I guess I am curious if the amount of coal I am using is the average with a S260 user?

It is within the range I have seen posted here, but that still doesn't mean it is an indication of how well your system is running. By that I mean what is "average" for someone else might not make sense for you.

Naturally the amount of coal you burn depends on the load placed on the boiler...it would be nice if you know how many gallons/KWH/therms/etc the house required before the S260 came online.

Do you have underground piping between the S260 and the home? If so, have you check to see how much of a temperature drop there is through the piping?

The run is long 245' one way. I am feeding the oil boiler also so I have some heat loss there. The pex run is eating up 5 degrees on average . The pex runs 45 ft under my mud room floor and keeps it nice and toasty before it ties into the oil boiler room. The house is a long cedar ranch( 135' ) so all the pipe runs are long for the zones in the house. I have a temp guage on the house loop to adjust the pex temp on the mixing valve I should have installed one on the return loop to see what the return temp looks like from the house after a large heat call..

Mac

I would have to say your doing pretty good with your sq. ftg. and the amount your burning, Im burning 100lb a day heating 2000sq ft(no insulation what so ever) with a 150 ft underground pipe run running a ahs130, that 100lbs is on a cold day average day Ill burn 60 to 75

I'm not sure the exact weight of a 5 gallon pail of buckwheat coal but I'm burning between 4-6 5 gallon pails in a 24hr period. I'm heating 2 separate buildings with roughly 5000. Sq ft combined. It may not be great but it's def better than the $6000 in propane the previous owner was paying each year.

I weighed one awhile back it was around 27 to 30 lbs I believe

Not everyone is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo exacting as to fill a 5 gallon bucket to the last freaking kernel of coal, so if you assume 30 lbs, I'm liking that number. 200 lbs on an average winter day, 300 when it gets really cold. Perhaps a little more. Either way, don't overlook the fact that you are heating more sq ft due to radiant off the boiler and every nook and cranny in your dwelling will be cumfy. I thought my eyes were playing tricks when I saw nut being burned in a big boy......whatever works, I guess. No matter how tight your envelope is you HAVE to experience at least a couple air exchanges. More is fine with coal, but propane especially and oil aren't as user friendly. The numbers I see here for consumption all look 'in the ball park. Factor in kids, animals in and out, old windows and/or doors and the frequent user who "Likes Fresh Air" in the house, and ALL bets are off.

Definitely liking what you have to say whistlenut...I've never filled my bucket to the very brim because who does that to fill up their hopper, and I never thought about my 3 dogs going in and out several times a day, the wind blowing through my large single pane windows isn't much help either

macdabs wrote:The run is long 245' one way. I am feeding the oil boiler also so I have some heat loss there. The pex run is eating up 5 degrees on average . The pex runs 45 ft under my mud room floor and keeps it nice and toasty before it ties into the oil boiler room. The house is a long cedar ranch( 135' ) so all the pipe runs are long for the zones in the house. I have a temp guage on the house loop to adjust the pex temp on the mixing valve I should have installed one on the return loop to see what the return temp looks like from the house after a large heat call..

Mac

That long pex run is costing you some btu's, but it is what it is. Did you insulate the piping yourself or buy something like Thermopex?

I bet your are enjoying the silent heat in the house. Personally I would be happy with your coal #'s considering what you are heating...I remember how much coal you were burning in that hand-fired beast and nothing was getting warm!

Rob R. wrote:

macdabs wrote:The run is long 245' one way. I am feeding the oil boiler also so I have some heat loss there. The pex run is eating up 5 degrees on average . The pex runs 45 ft under my mud room floor and keeps it nice and toasty before it ties into the oil boiler room. The house is a long cedar ranch( 135' ) so all the pipe runs are long for the zones in the house. I have a temp guage on the house loop to adjust the pex temp on the mixing valve I should have installed one on the return loop to see what the return temp looks like from the house after a large heat call..

Mac

That long pex run is costing you some btu's, but it is what it is. Did you insulate the piping yourself or buy something like Thermopex?

I bet your are enjoying the silent heat in the house. Personally I would be happy with your coal #'s considering what you are heating...I remember how much coal you were burning in that hand-fired beast and nothing was getting warm!

The pex tubing came from Pinnacle supply 02 1" with a 3/4 water line also. If I had to do it all over again I would have just used 6"Pvc 5 ft down with spray foam in the ditch and two hand off boxes in the run. That way you could pull the line if you had to.

I do love the fact of not hearing my oil boiler kicking on and off in the house. I am impressed with the boiler and the hand fed unit I had is not even in the same league as the AHS. Also no mess with the noisy pellet stove I was using to offset my oil boiler usage.

Mac

macdabs wrote:The pex tubing came from Pinnacle supply 02 1" with a 3/4 water line also. If I had to do it all over again I would have just used 6"Pvc 5 ft down with spray foam in the ditch and two hand off boxes in the run. That way you could pull the line if you had to.

I do love the fact of not hearing my oil boiler kicking on and off in the house. I am impressed with the boiler and the hand fed unit I had is not even in the same league as the AHS. Also no mess with the noisy pellet stove I was using to offset my oil boiler usage.

Mac

the inside of your line insulated correct? after hearing a horror story of pex melted inside of pipe with insulation in it from my plumber i ran my pex in sched. 40 and insulated the outside,4 ft down, i had to make brackets in the basement to keep my pex from sliding out the pipe itself

I have heard a lot of horror stories about the thermal pex and similar products with the insulation deteriorating. I would bury a 5" or 6" schedule 40 with long radius sweeps and pull the termal pex inside. that way you can pull the whole thing out and pull new in. It also give a lot of protection from rocks and water. I have seen too many lines buried in the water table where infiltration sucks the heat out of the line. A 5 degree heat loss is huge under constant circulation but there is not much you can do with that distance. Spending extra money on the install might seem steep until you spread it out 20 or more years of less consumption. It really does not matter what price of coal over that long.

ya but can you pull a line out of thermal pex? thermal pex just seems like a pain in the butt all around

I dont think you could pull a line out. What i was refering to was pulling the whole thermo pex out of the conduit if needed. The other thing to watch out for is some companys use pex that is not rated for heating. I can tell you first hand that it will blow up where the heating pex wont.