Best of Both Worlds?

Dcrane, michaelanthony... thanks for the hearty laugh! You guys nailed it.

I've never been in therapy but it must be like this....
Log in, Mr Hog, the doctors will see you now.
Lie down, get comfortable.
They're going to tell you the truth.
It's going to hurt.
But you need to hear it

I believe what you're sayin', both of you...all of you!
I know it's only a matter of time. ..But Coal??? Stoker??? Can I modify the drive mechanism so it delivers oak? What will the neighbors say? _Sell_ my firewood???? How can I explain this to my chainsaws? What will I do on Saturdays?...Is that when people do those things called hobbies???

On another note, since I'm having a new A/C unit installed and that guy's doing my tie-in ductwork, if I place a furnace next to my antique oil burner, feed return air to my new furnace, can the coils for my A/C reside directly over the furnace? The environment ( heat) seem a little more intense than where it's currently installed ( above the OB) and I was concerned it would affect the life of the coils?? Similar situation anyone? Any options?

Thanks in advance....gotta search furnaces.....

coalkirk wrote:Woodhog, welcome to the dark side. I heated with wood for 20+ years. Coal for the last 10 with a stoker boiler. I'm also in Harford County MD. If you'd like to see a stoker boiler in action I'd gladly show it to you. I would recommend you not only get a stoker but get a boiler instead of a furnace. Why? Better control of the house temperature, bonus of heating your domestic hot water and greater efficiency. Boilers store heat in the water. To heat your home you would need a water to air heat exchanger in your duct work.

heat exchanger.jpg

like this.

I understand the part about liking to be out in the fresh air and getting the exercise. Personally for me 20 years of cutting, splitting, stacking and moving of wood has been quite enough. My back is still screwed up from it. I still burn wood fires in my firepalce and outdoor firepit. Standing there in the fresh air with a cold beer works for me.

Coalkirk is 100% right!!!

I have a stoker boiler and right now I am enjoying the fire in my wood burning insert.

I'm headed out tomorrow morning to pick up a Keystoker Koker Lite, with a DHW coil. HVAC guy coming over Monday to size up the tie in to my ductwork. Awaiting delivery of 5T rice coal in the next couple weeks...

This forum, all of you, have been of great assistance helping me get this figured out to make a decision. I've got a lot to do over the next couple weeks from building my coal bin to removing my oil fired water heater (!) to getting in the HVAC guy's way as he works. His rates will probably double with my 'help'

I plan to drop a few photos and progress reports along the way.

Special thanks to Coalkirk for inviting me over to check out his operation a few weeks back. He graciously tipped his hat to all of you as he passed on tips and ticks he's picked up along the way, ranging from coal storage to auger transfer, burn rates, cleanout 'T'....and on and on. Thanks Coalkirk...and all!

_Former_ Woodhog!

dcrane wrote:Welcome to the forum... You are defiantly one of those who has not actually started burning coal yet and that's OK... you plan to and amidst all your planning you keep thinking in your head things like (back ups, enjoying wood fire and also burn coal, I want a new boiler and it would be great if it could burn coal too...so I can just try it out when im feeling ambitious)... let me tell you this my friend, what WILL happen AFTER you start burning coal (be it in a coal stove instead of a wood stove OR be it in a coal boiler instead of an oil boiler) is that you will SEE THE LIGHT and come to realize the silliness of your former thoughts

You will see that coal wins in every category (especially if your near PA!)... heck.... it wins here in MA for me at $350-$400 per ton! in PA its a downright sin to use anything else.

Listen to dcrane, as well as the other replies. Most of us are former wood burners. We know exactly what you're thinking. Oliver

Woody

Look you can still cut and handle all the wood you want, just burn some in the stove upstairs and sell the rest and buy coal with the proceeds . Net BTU /hr to your house from stoker coal v. wood hand fired and the exchange on the wood / coal swap you gonna be way ahead , way ,way ahead.
Lets us know when you want to sell your chainsaw, I need one for work, damn trees

Waldo

I just got my first stoker boiler up and running a couple weeks ago, after running a handfired coal stove for 8 years. I have 3 things to add ....

STOKER ..... STOKER ....... STOKER!

Hey Woodhog,

So, your finaly, actualy going to buy this thing? Let me know if you need company, I'll go along with if you want.

Smitty,

That looks like a Keystoker? I thought you just installed an EFM?

-Don

StokerDon wrote:Hey Woodhog,

So, your finaly, actualy going to buy this thing? Let me know if you need company, I'll go along with if you want.

Smitty,

That looks like a Keystoker? I thought you just installed an EFM?

-Don

Smitty's unit is a science project of sorts...it carries no official brand name.

Science project you say,,, that sounds right up my alley. What ever it is, it looks like it throughs a few BTU's!!!

Smitty has come over to the dark side.

Congrats on making the jump to a coal stoker. No need to thank me. I'm always happy to help another recovering wood burner. Thank you for the cold Sam Adams you brought along! Keep us posted on your progress and don't forget to post lots of pics too!

Here are so pics from "Woodhog's Keystoker Adventure".

We whent up to Groff's in Boyertown PA yesterday to pick up Woodhog's brand new Keystoker Koker Lite.

Here's the Koker Lite stuffed in the van, strapped down and redy to head home.
Here is a lot of interesting stuff in the Groff's garage.

The smallest Keystoker I have ever seen! One of the old salesmen sample wood/coal cook stoves. Groff's K6 boiler with flat grate for burning buck coal. "OK, here it is, all we got to do is get this Koker Lite out of the van and through that little doorway." " How the heck are we going to do that?" "Well, it's not a real adventure untill you get a tractor and some pallets involed!" "OK, we got it out of the van and off of the tractor, now what?" To be continued....

"Strap it to the hand truck and squeeze it through the doorway". And there you have it. One brand spank'in new Keystoker Koker Lite with the optional glass door and DHW coil devivered! Best of both worlds? I know the cats will think so... Don

SMITTY wrote:I just got my first stoker boiler up and running a couple weeks ago, after running a handfired coal stove for 8 years. I have 3 things to add ....

STOKER ..... STOKER ....... STOKER!

Now that is very interesting.. I've been studying the burn cycle of a hand fed somewhat.

In the front, where the fresh coal is coming in, I see the same blue flames as when I put a fresh load of coal on and get it burning.. Then behind that, I see what my fire looks like after burning a couple hours.. Then after that, I see on your burn plate what my hand fed fire looks like before I shake and reload..

Yeah its silly, but still kinda cool

Good observation. If it were a stove instead of a boiler it also would be a good comparison of the efficiency of a hand fired stove versus a stoker stove.