boiler of choice is?

Hello gents and ladies. I am contemplating a boiler. I currently have a d.s. basement #4. I love it! it has kept me warm in my 1800 squ ft ranch for the last 3 years. I burn about 5 ton of nut each winter. I do have the air flow all figured out. temps upstairs to down, only vary about 5 degrees.... I am totally non dependant on electricity also... That is a tremendous feeling. That being said.... I think a boiler system would save me $ in the long run possibly. Do they make a boiler just like my current ds stove with the gravity feed hopper? remember its basically a hand fed stove. Or.. Should i go for a stoker... rely on electricity...The only thing I am not fond of with my current system, is I have to have a friend come over every day, if I go out of town... shake and feed... I am leaning towards a rebuilt stoker I think.. Thoughts?

I believe that DSM makes a small boiler

EDIT: stoker boiler

STOKER.

My vote is for STOKER. You need electric to run circulators anyways. You won't have the up's and down's in fire box temps, due to ash build up. When it comes to stoves, I like my hand fired stoves; and not being dependent on electric.

Absolutely right! Since you will not be circulating hot water (efficiently and sufficiently enough to be useful) without electricity anyway, you might as well make it a stoker.

What model of stoker? And do you guys think I will burn less than 5 ton of coal?

Harman VF3000 or the Keystoker KAA-2 would be in your load range.

Leisure Line has the WL-110 too, and can have oil, gas or propane backup.

strat0 wrote: And do you guys think I will burn less than 5 ton of coal?

Hard to say. The stove room will be a lot cooler, and the rest of the house will be warmer. Domestic hot water may require a ton or two on top of the heat load.

The first question is HOW RELIABLE IS YOUR ELECTRIC ???

Right now you can stay warm totally off the grid. Any other stove/boiler will require electric. If you do not have that reliability, I would stay with what you got.......



If the electric is pretty well reliable, your possibilities are endless......... Stoker = set it and forget it.




Rick

Unless your electric is unreliable, I'd say definatley a stoker. I'm heating about 4000 sq. ft. with a vf3000 and 5 tons. so I'm sure you would burn less than 5 tons.

Don't disregard the cost of electricity. In my area a stoker with power vent would cost over $80 per month in additional electricity. By not using my oil burner except for hot water, my electric bill dropped by 15.

I like the security of not being dependent on electricity for heat and also the rising cost of that electricity.

Motors and linkages that run 24/7 have to be selected for heavy duty use. I am not sure this is always done.

I do like the potential efficiency of stokers and also the wider range of output.

If I were to buy a hand fired boiler my preference would be one of the old round pancake boilers in which I would put a lined fire pot.

As far as I have seen any new hand fired boiler I would regard as junk.

franco b wrote:Don't disregard the cost of electricity. In my area a stoker with power vent would cost over $80 per month in additional electricity. By not using my oil burner except for hot water, my electric bill dropped by 15.

I like the security of not being dependent on electricity for heat and also the rising cost of that electricity.

Motors and linkages that run 24/7 have to be selected for heavy duty use. I am not sure this is always done.

I do like the potential efficiency of stokers and also the wider range of output.

If I were to buy a hand fired boiler my preference would be one of the old round pancake boilers in which I would put a lined fire pot.

As far as I have seen any new hand fired boiler I would regard as junk.

Surely there is some cost associated with a stoker motor and combustion fan, but I gotta believe the lions share of the $80.00 figure you mentioned is the power venter. Probably 75%. The small amount the stoker motor and fan use is easily offset by the savings and convenience of a stoker over a hand fired boiler. Output can be regulated much better with a stoker.

The power venter would account for about half the cost of electricity.

I went by the amperage figures on the Leisure line site.

Yes, there are real benefits to stokers but it is not all golden.

How about the best of both? Keep your hand-fed stove for extended power outages, and get a stoker boiler to evenly-heat your house and provide domestic hot water the rest of the time. That is what my brother did in his house...EFM boiler keeps every room whatever temperature you want, and the big-bad-Hitzer sits next to it waiting for the call to duty.

Also, most stoker boilers do not require any kind of constantly-running fan to keep the fire alive...they merely run the stoker motor a few minutes per hour to keep the fire alive. I think LL and Keystoker use a small fan that runs full time, but I'm not sure on the LL units. They use a few pennies of electric per hour to idle, but the savings is big when you get a warm afternoon and the boiler just "sleeps" instead of overheating the house.

well, first off, my electricity is very reliable. My current electric bill is approximately 85/month. Burning 5 ton of coal a year tho.... is more than I think it should take... but it is what it is! My water is still separate on my elec bill. It is about 18/month. The 85, is water and electric total.... I just dont know if I could recoup the cost of a boiler and everything that goes with it, in the next 10 years.... As I plan on selling in about 10 years... choices choices...