still running for hotwater

I am still up and running making hot water I am wondering if I am just wasting coal and money? Is it cheaper to run electric Hot water heater or my oil burner for hot water over running the coal boiler? I was afraid it would get to hot but the small fire and damper seem to be regulating temps well.

Gary, it depends on how much "fuel" (coal, heating oil, KWH) it takes to do the same job and the cost of each btu source. Electric water heaters are very efficient from a heat loss standpoint, but the final cost will depend on what you pay for electric.

How much coal are you burning per day?

I calculated it out that if I would burn coal for DHW it would cost $90.00 a month and $35.00 a month for elec. hot water heater
If it's cheaper to burn coal then do so,as long as you can keep a good draft.
No need to kill the family with c/o gases

I'm cyphering that it should cost us about $60 to $65 per month to heat our hot water all summer with coal , and this is certainly higher than electricity (perhaps by as much as a factor of 3), but I'm sticking with the coal option for summer DHW since I'm convinced (thanks to the insight of many from this forum) that running it year round will prolong the lifespan of the boiler.

One reason why our cost differential is so great is that we are still on the "all electric homeowners" special low rate plan for electricity, as we have not gotten our "you don't appear to be all electric anymore" letter from the electric company yet. When we get the letter our electric rate will nearly double, and that will narrow the gap appreciably.

As I understand it, the special low "all electric" rate we enjoy here in Ohio is going to be phased out over the next few years. As it stands now, we are only paying 6.3 cents per KWH at present.

As someone who has burned 24/7-365 for over 40 years, I am convinced that no damage or degradation to the boiler and appurtenances occurs when you keep the system active. Sure I understand the need for an off season repair or cleaning, but think of an fine automobile, bike, boat, truck, etc. that is left out of service for 6 months and then returned to service.......

My .02 says it is much wiser to keep things in concert with your lifestyle, and if you want to shut it down, fine, BUT you better do some housecleaning and rust prevention work in the interim.

I've seen AA boilers come to me that had to be sandblasted internally to remove impacted ash products.......Zero maintenance is not a money saver! Like the Fram man said: Pay me now...or pay me later.
I've seen EFM's so plugged up that the auger wore through at the pot.....grates with baseball sized holes...still burning. Many of you saw the EFM Matt DeRenzo was called to repair.....one of the worst I've seen...and son of a gun if he didn't return it to service. ( I'm betting he lost some skin on that job, and emitted a couple colorful words too!)

Yes, I have a sizable dump zone in the form of a radiant slab area, but overheating is never an issue with or without one.

I have an oil boiler too to figure in but oil is very expensive these days. I throw in a shovel or too a day I guess. I use it for heat last night it went down to 39 degrees. My boiler is in a shed so co isn't really a factor. I think my electric is up to 19 cents a kwh but not sure on that

I have been running our KA-2 for DHW since the heating season stopped. Just the other day I finally started doing more adjustments on the timer. I am down to 3 pins evry 10 minutes with the stoker adjustment turned way down. Yesterday I topped off the hopper and will see how long a hopper load of coal lasts. Then will work out my costs.
I like the idea of running it all Summer to avoid the rust problem plus I am wondering if it will help keep the basement a bit dryer.

The EFM runs all year round. I haven't done any calculations regarding the cost of running the oil-fired water heater as opposed to the EFM, but I'll bet it would cost more, and besides, I'm just plain stubborn.

While the cost between the oil and the coal isn't really all that much for the 5 months of summer to heat the domestic, I still just hate to let any Saudi Arabian sheik benefit from me taking a shower during the summer. He's already been pushed away from the table during the heating season. They can keep their *##@+__&^# oil

Agreed!

I just went back in my records and calculated that over the past 65 days we have been burning on average only 14.5 lbs. per day of anthracite pea in the AHS S130.

I just topped off the hopper today after a span of a whopping 14 days and it only took 186 lbs. to top it off. That's only 13.3 lbs. per day during this overall very hot and very dry spell. The spooky part is that during much of this spell the draft has been close to nil. The CO monitors are all holding at zero though.

Today I also topped off my drum after 14 days of burning for just household hot water...no hot make up water for the pool during the heat wave. Anyhow, it came out to exactly 20 lbs per day. I would guess that our hot water usage is greater than average, and the basement is nice and dry...overall I am very pleased.

Rob R. wrote:Today I also topped off my drum after 14 days of burning for just household hot water...no hot make up water for the pool during the heat wave. Anyhow, it came out to exactly 20 lbs per day. I would guess that our hot water usage is greater than average, and the basement is nice and dry...overall I am very pleased.

It's only the wife and I using hot water. Plus no pool.

I have no clue about how this guy can do it , for under 200 Dollars for the whole year, but I guess it's possible if all the heat goes to the water and nothing else.

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.d ... 1/-1/rss22

As for me, I really like to know how to keep my beer cold instead !

Just the wife and I. We burn the Yellow Flame boiler year round. I calculated two years ago it was costing us about a dollar a day. Coal went up about 15 a ton where we get it so now it's probably about $35-40 a month. Electricity for an electric hot water heater would be about 40 a month. Savings aren't big enough to go through the hassle of buying a water heater, plumbing it in, breaking down the boiler and summerizing it every spring.