First Year Operation With The LL110k

Well, what can I say?

I'm very happy with this boiler and the money that it has saved me over the course of the heating season.

First off, I'll cop to ~500lbs of coal that was wasted because of start up, unintentional shut downs, dialing in performance etc...and I'll also acknowledge that the winter was very mild in SE PA. That said, I ordered 4.5 tons of coal at 265 per ton, and I currently have ~700lbs in my bin. The house was kept between 65 downstairs and 72 upstairs all winter long, with the final adjustment being 69 downstairs and about 74 upstairs. I was still playing with radiators up until the end of the year, but that's an acceptable trade off for the abilty to heat the house at low cost.

As far as the operation of the boiler, I could and do wish that I had slaved my old boiler in line with this one so that I could have increased the mass of water maintained at operating temperatures. 52 gallons of hot water running through a ~75 gallon system would have made the heat transfer into the house much quicker and more efficient, I'm thinking. However, that said, If I didn't re-program my thermostat for lower temperatures in the off hours, the boiler kept the house rock steady at the temperature setting. It was only when I tried to 'economize' and reduce the house temperature during the night that I had issues bringing the temperatures back up, and that was more a timing/radiator issue than a performance issue.

Loading coal was a novelty, but it never became a grumble. Same with emptying the ash pan, though I would recommend a dust collection system be installed similrr to some I've seen here. The one issue that I did not expect was the amount of times that I would have to vaccuum out the tubes in the boiler. However, access through the fire box opening allows me to perform a weekly cleaning that takes place without even shutting the unit down, while I do a monthly clean out from up top.

Get the easy cleanout option when you order yours.

I have had many relights of the unit through carelessness about emptying the ash pan or trying to stretch that last bit of coal in the hopper through one more night, but I expect that's a common problem when one transitions to a solid fuel appliance. I have become a stud at getting this baby going after it goes out, however, and have done so many mornings before my daughter had to get up to use the hot water. Good thing about the 12 gallon capacity is that it heats up in a hurry.

Overall, I expected to use about 5-6 tons of coal had the weather been colder, and it appears that I would have been right on the money with that estimate. I expected it to be more work than burning gas or oil, and it was, but not so much as to make me wish I had gone another route. And I've learned more about my heating system than I ever thought I would, so all things considered I'm a very happy guy.

With the exception that I probably won't be using this again, as I've met someone and we'll be moving in to her house together before the next heating season.

Life, go figure....

I'm happy that you're happy kstills!

Matt and Dave are leading the pack with innovative new products.

My AnthraKing 110K stoker is aces too. Efficient and super controllable. The Poco 110K is a great stove but this leaves it in the dust. Yes, it is expensive but you get what you pay for with LL. During shoulder season heating it really shines, I am going down stairs to shut it down now.

I thought about a boiler but they seem to consume a lot more coal. I have a 2k sq. ft. house and don't live that far from you and only used 2 ton. The stove kept the main floor and upstairs at 74 and 70. I have no idea what size your house is but from other posts it seems the boilers use more coal than stokers.

You are welcome to come over any time to inspect (and laugh) at my set up and swallow a beer/coffee or two. However, you should get the illuminati to comment on your boiler statements. Every setup is unique and based on cost and needs you might first try to narrow it down to a coal heating type and then proceed to choosing a heater manufacturer. Hydronics may be right for you, I just don't know. First of all write out your decision tree. That is worth doing as unless you have money to burn you do not want to select in haste and repent at leisure. When absolutely all else fails and as a last resort, you can always follow my advice. Just a little thought, why change a damned thing? The Alaska is a good stove, simple and inexpensive, did you win the lottery?

traderfjp wrote:I thought about a boiler but they seem to consume a lot more coal. I have a 2k sq. ft. house and don't live that far from you and only used 2 ton. The stove kept the main floor and upstairs at 74 and 70. I have no idea what size your house is but from other posts it seems the boilers use more coal than stokers.

The LL110 mentioned in this thread is a stoker boiler, and your Alaska is a stoker stove...lets get the terminology straight. Now, about his boiler burning more coal than your stove...how can you compare your home & coal figures to a home of unknown size and condition? Naturally it takes more coal to heat the entire house and domestic hot water than to just heat part of the house and no DHW. I think you are the guy that heats his basement with an oil boiler and produces DHW with a stand-alone water heater? If you were heating the basement and producing DHW with coal, you would probably double your coal consumption.

coalnewbie wrote:Every setup is unique and based on cost and needs you might first try to narrow it down to a coal heating type and then proceed to choosing a heater manufacturer.

Well said.

Some people look at me funny when I tell them I've burned 7 tons of coal since October, but compared to 1600 gallons of fuel oil I am smiling all the way to the bank.

With three buildings I have burnt 12 tons in a mild winter and I am dancing on the roof top, I'm sooo happy. However, my problems are unique and I would hesitate to recommend anybody follow my path. I love KISS and this guy has a POH device that seems capable of giving him great heat at a very reasonable cost, how can that be beat? We know manufacturer heat output specs are BS and if the Channing is cutting the mustard. Winter can be a bitch around here but this is not Santa land and wind loads are light in comparison. Heat seems to travel where he wants it and he is only burning two tons, let me ask the first question .. why change. What exactly is he unhappy about.

I am not suggesting he change a thing, just pointing out why someone else may burn more. Back to the original post, I think he did very well.

Kstills, how much heating oil did you burn before the LL110 got installed?

Rob R. wrote:I am not suggesting he change a thing, just pointing out why someone else may burn more. Back to the original post, I think he did very well.

Kstills, how much heating oil did you burn before the LL110 got installed?

The year before this, I burned ~550gallons of oil.

Average price of ~3.50 per. Total ~1925.00. Because the house temperature was set at 50f over the winter, I supplemented the heat with electric room heaters that added ~350.00 to my heating bill.

This year, heat and hot water for the winter was ~954.00, allowing for the 500lbs of waste and the ~700lbs I have in the bin.

As a bonus, I've finally found the set point for the boiler so I'm not constantly tripping the HL, which crashes the boiler temp and forces me to use a lot more coal than I would have ordinarily. Since my dump zone was my house, I didn't mind the extra heat in the winter, but I had to get serious about cutting back on that once the weather started getting warmer.

So a warmer winter certainly played a part in my savings this year, however the bulk of the savings was from switching to the coal boiler. I wish I could take it with me.