New to the coal pile.

Buy 8 tons, set the thermostat wherever you want, and smile at the coal leftover in the spring. A 520 is a very nice unit, once you get it online you will find out why they are so popular.

Mine is a 1981 boiler & base, stoker is a mix and match unit that I put together. I ran it the first winter without even scraping the rust off, just hooked it up and breathed a sigh of relief. I was burning 10-12 gallons of fuel per day when I fired up that EFM...it ran nonstop all day and drove the cold out of every corner of the house. Since then I have given it some TLC...paint job, new timer, stainless auger pipe, and a awesome set of "Custom Line" jackets. Here it is:

Very Nice Rob!!

Glad to hear that others are not just wringing their hands over the cost of heating, and are taking proactive steps to explore other alternatives....I live in upstate NY and this is my 3rd year heating with coal. Back when heating oil surpassed 1 dollar a gallon, I installed a wood furnace in the basement and endured the gobs of work for years, that is involved with firewood. Now 20 years later, and pondering the coal alternative for 5 years...I obtained a 1940's vintage 3 pass boiler, converted an Alaska carpet burner to the base, fabricated an ash pan and installed a hydronic coil in the furnace to heat my small ranch. The water maker was obtained used, and I dug a ditch to the garage buried my insulated PEX, to use it as a dump zone on warm days. I uses 1 ton of rice coal every 30 days, and use approximately 6 ton each year. We pay more up here in NY, than in PA, @ $380 per ton, but perhaps as time goes on, we will look into bulk, instead of bags. Innovation is very American and you are on a run.....Kevin

Come on dude, post some pix of that riggin, sounds interesting.

freetown fred wrote:Come on dude, post some pix of that riggin, sounds interesting.

Yeah! Really! Factory rigs are great, but putting something together yourself has a little bit extra that no one else has. How do you maintain the fire in the carpet stoker. A timer? What kind of settings?

Rob R. wrote:Buy 8 tons, set the thermostat wherever you want, and smile at the coal leftover in the spring. A 520 is a very nice unit, once you get it online you will find out why they are so popular.

Mine is a 1981 boiler & base, stoker is a mix and match unit that I put together. I ran it the first winter without even scraping the rust off, just hooked it up and breathed a sigh of relief. I was burning 10-12 gallons of fuel per day when I fired up that EFM...it ran nonstop all day and drove the cold out of every corner of the house. Since then I have given it some TLC...paint job, new timer, stainless auger pipe, and a awesome set of "Custom Line" jackets. Here it is:

Nice!

Nice, even has its own beer