Stoker temp to create hot water ?

I have an extra pionner econno not being used, thinking of putting a hot water coil in it, and plumbing into my hot water electric heater. What kind of temps would I have to run the stove at 24-7 to maintain hot water & hopefully keep the electric heater from working very much.

I don't know what the electric costs are in your area but there are cost calculators on the internet all you have to do is plug in cost per kw. I don't think that you could idle a stoker at the lowest setting and beat the cost of just using the electric. I think coal would cost more. Now if your already burning for space heating, and you throw a coil in the unit you would probably save some money.

Wow thats it ? Nobody making hot water with a 90,000 btu stove.

Wow thats it ? Nobody making hot water with a 90,000 btu stove.

Thought about it on my Pocono (110K) and my Anthraking AK110. I even bought a radiator that I could strap on the front (hycoils are a waste of time, they corrode too easily) but after some preliminary testing abandoned the idea. In theory it would work but these LL stoves have great flexibility through the coal-trol and when only ticking over they would not do DHW well. Also don't forget DHW takes a lot of energy in my opinion - forgedaboutit. If you want DHW that bad do a complete hydronic upgrade or a bucket a day type inexpensive separate stove. So unless you are supplying a laundromat the amount of money saved is not worth it.

coalnewbie wrote:

Wow thats it ? Nobody making hot water with a 90,000 btu stove.

Thought about it on my Pocono (110K) and my Anthraking AK110. I even bought a radiator that I could strap on the front (hycoils are a waste of time, they corrode too easily) but after some preliminary testing abandoned the idea. In theory it would work but these LL stoves have great flexibility through the coal-trol and when only ticking over they would not do DHW well. Also don't forget DHW takes a lot of energy in my opinion - forgedaboutit. If you want DHW that bad do a complete hydronic upgrade or a bucket a day type inexpensive separate stove. So unless you are supplying a laundromat the amount of money saved is not worth it.

It takes about 40,000 btu's per hour of boiler capacity to put out 1 gallon per minute of 120 degree water...that assumes the incoming water is around 50 degrees. Most coils that I've seen installed in stoves are pretty small, so even if the stoker has enough grunt to do the job, the coil usually doesn't have enough surface area to harness the heat.

If you are running the stove for heat and have some extra capacity, a coil for hot water is a great way to save on some electric during the heating season. But to run the stove just for hot water...I think you will be disappointed in the output.