Refurbed EFM 520 Boiler being installed soon.

Hi guys. I recently decided to to replace my Alaska Kodiak II with a refurbished EFM boiler (Wife was getting sick of it in our living room, although she was thankful we had it). The guy installing said it was a 520, and I'm pretty excited. They managed to get it in the basement a few days ago and I've taken a good look a few times since then. I have to admit even though it isn't fully assembled yet, it is an impressive looking piece of equipment. I started burning coal 4 years ago with the Alaska power vented out my wall, and I got good at keeping the fire just where I needed it. Are the 520's fairly simple to maintain a fire? I never had to burn coal in the summer, so will I run into any issues keeping it lit then? Just for extra info, I'll be heating a 2200 sq ft house with base board down stairs, and some good old fashioned iron upstairs. I appreciate any information.

Thanks


Dave

You'll be very happy with your 520. It is fully automatic and all you have to do is make sure you keep the coal bin full and empty the ashes every day. Every few days in the Summer. Properly set up, you'll have no problems running it over the Summer.

Since you are mixing cast iron with baseboard, you'll have to experiment where you want the aquastat set at. I'd start with 150/200 and lower that to 140/200 for the non-heating months.

Dave, my house is silently heated with a 520 and I couldn't be happier. You made a good choice.

Can you post some pictures of your EFM and boiler room?

The others are right... soon you'll wonder why you hadn't changed over sooner.

The EFM is one of the best units out there, best of luck with the install.

stoker-man wrote:You'll be very happy with your 520. It is fully automatic and all you have to do is make sure you keep the coal bin full and empty the ashes every day. Every few days in the Summer. Properly set up, you'll have no problems running it over the Summer.

Since you are mixing cast iron with baseboard, you'll have to experiment where you want the aquastat set at. I'd start with 150/200 and lower that to 140/200 for the non-heating months.

I haven't emptied my ash's in 3 days..... Hmmmm be back later

Here are some pics of the basement. Sorry about the low quality but I don't have a whole lot of lighting down there right now.

Looks like the heavy lifting is done. Keep us updated.

You'll be happy with that EFM. Tell us where you live........fill it out in your profile. As freetown fred would say "We won't steal you".

Is that a bypass loop on the oil boiler? I've never seen that before.......coal boiler yes........oil boiler no.

sterling40man wrote:You'll be happy with that EFM. Tell us where you live........fill it out in your profile. As freetown fred would say "We won't steal you".

Is that a bypass loop on the oil boiler? I've never seen that before.......coal boiler yes........oil boiler no.

I'm not really sure what a bypass loop is. All I can say is I believe that there was a coal boiler in here at one time, as there is a coal bin. Perhaps they left it as is when the installed the oil boiler? There are a lot of things with this I am discovering that were done Bass Akwards. As far as you stealing me, Not too worried about that. The newly installed coal boiler on the other hand..........

sterling40man wrote:Is that a bypass loop on the oil boiler? I've never seen that before.......coal boiler yes........oil boiler no.

Yes it is, and if the house has a lot of cast iron radiation...it is important that the bypass be adjusted to keep the boiler above condensing temperatures. EFM shows a boiler bypass in their oil-boiler literature for this reason.

Now I know what a bypass is.
Just by looking around the site it looks like a guy names scrapper does refurbished boilers. I live right outside of Pine Grove, perhaps this is the same guy installing mine. I'll have to ask the next time I speak to him.

Rob R. wrote:Yes it is, and if the house has a lot of cast iron radiation...it is important that the bypass be adjusted to keep the boiler above condensing temperatures. EFM shows a boiler bypass in their oil-boiler literature for this reason.

Thanks Rob!

Anthracitemight wrote:Just by looking around the site it looks like a guy names scrapper does refurbished boilers. I live right outside of Pine Grove, perhaps this is the same guy installing mine. I'll have to ask the next time I speak to him.

I'm sure it is.

Anthracitemight wrote:Just by looking around the site it looks like a guy names scrapper does refurbished boilers.

The EFM king of Pine Grove is named Steve Wilhelm, and yes, he is a member of this site (scrapper_23jr). I have personally been to his shop to pick up an EFM for my dad. Nice boilers, lots of parts, and nice folks to do business with. Look him up...you'll be glad you did.

Watching this thread with anticipation. I also went from an Alaska stove to an EFM. The difference is like night and day.

Thats actually not the same guy. There must be 2 EFM refurb guys in this area then. I'll keep you posted.




My next problem is this. I have a coal bin, but they poured a new porch on the front of the house a few years before I bought it. The chute pipe is still in the stone foundation, but obviously cut off because of the concrete. What is the best way to go about reopening that hole? I will be using bagged coal in the meantime.