Cichewicz Futura Eco 70

LW3 wrote:HI, ALL. I AM LOOKING FOR A COAL SUPPLIER WHO I CAN PURCHASE 1 TON QUANITYS AT A TIME WHEN I AM TRAVELLING THE PA TURNPIKE. I TRAVEL FROM UPSTATE NY DOWN 81 TO SCRANTON TO THE PA TURNPIKE TO NJ TURNPIKE EVERY OTHER WEEK. I AM LOOKING FOR BULK ANTHRACITE RICE COAL.
ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

Thats one high tech lookin coal heater yer feed'in

Cichewicz Futura Eco 70

That is an interesting piece. Two passes for 86%. Check it out, its from Poland.

http://www.cichewicz.com/solid_boilers/wood.php

http://www.cichewicz.com/solid_boilers/coal.php

WOW!

That is one fancy lookin machine, must be u-r-a-peein (actually the manual says Poland and East Germany), especially with manual language like this:

"You are politely requested for the familiarization with the manual prior to making the connection and activating any of our machines. Should you have any doubts, please do not hesitate to contact our firm between 8 a.m. and 16 p.m."

All kidding aside, that thing looks really cool, and seems to be auger fed into a really fancy burn pot set up. If you have time please let us know by starting a thread in the "Coal Stokers" forum explaining how you selected this unit and how well it runs. That unit looks very interesting, and since you have the 70KW unit you must be heating a mansion!

I'm intrigued. I'd love to hear more about it.

Yeah this is the first winter with it. got it going in december. I will get some pics on later this afternoon. The 70k unit is a monster. I am currently burning pea coal in it. The auger system handles pea no problem. It came programmed for rice, so I had to change the auger off time and auger on time parameters. If you read the manual on their website you would think it might be complicated but it was really easy. I saw a video of this unit in operation on http://www.gototolenergy.com but they have since taken it off. They appear to be going more in the "carbon neutral" direction. Anyways I was impressed with the ease of operation and the versatility of being able to burn 4 types of coal. As mentioned in my previous post I travel to NJ every other week or so and am not home for a day or two. Just fill the hopper and go. I am heating a 3500 sq feet 1875 Brick Victorian with it. My house is actually a "forced air " house. I am sure it wasnt forced in 1875, just gravity with a whole bunch of parlor stoves. There are actually tin ducts layed in with the brick exterior walls (good for cold air returns). But I put a water to air heat exchanger in my duct work. The house is set at 70 degrees and has not been this warm in years. I bought it from Alternative Heating of North America in Burlington Flats N.Y. I didnt think I needed this big of a unit I wanted the 45k but the only ones imported here are the 70k and bigger. So Mark of Alternative Heating basically sold me the 70k for close to the price of the 45k. I am building a garage in a year or two so having future capacity was fine. I will get some pics on later but I attached what the 70k looks like.

Looks like the Anthratube may have a competitor!

Thats a real nice and clean looking unit . Something like that could interest a lot more people toward coal burning . Its a lot more modern looking . I also found this interesting for storage . I would think coal can be stored it it as well. http://www.cichewicz.com/heating_system ... _silos.php

Pardon my lack of knowledge of the metric system or whatever that is, but what does 70k translate to in BTU output? And what does a unit like that sell for? Thanks.

coalkirk wrote:Pardon my lack of knowledge of the metric system or whatever that is, but what does 70k translate to in BTU output? And what does a unit like that sell for? Thanks.

Roughly = Capacity: 70 kW . 240.000 Btu/h

A little closer = 238933 Btu/h

Hmmm, I wonder if it will burn the wonderful bituminous I have out here??????

As a sidebar, I've met many "Old World" Polish people, and they are usually exquisite craftsman. My father had a whole fleet of them working in a machine shop some years ago and aside from classic European pride and a bit of stubbornness, they were the best group of workers in the plant.

coalkirk wrote:Pardon my lack of knowledge of the metric system or whatever that is, but what does 70k translate to in BTU output? And what does a unit like that sell for? Thanks.

I paid $7500 + shipping (400) For a total of $7900. I called AA and they quoted a new Antratube somewhere in 6k range. I was also quoted in the 6k range for a new efm. The unit is shipped from West Virginia Somewhere. So I imagine that you could go down and pick it up. I thought I would go get it in my 2500hd P/u but it would not of been fun. Better to figure on trailer. Also it weighs 1100 lbs and is 60+ inches tall. Also the BTU equivelent is around 230,000 btu. What I have found though it that by regulating the airflow and the auger on time and auger off time you can adjust the size of fire in the retort pot. So if you lengthen the auger feed time and shorten the auger rest time you will build a big fire, and visa versa. I just played with the settings until I was able to build heat in the boiler at a reasonable rate while under full load. When the call for heat is satisfied it just shuts off the combustion fan. Every couple of minutes it turns the fan on for a few seconds and runs the feed for a few seconds to keep the fire going. I will get those pics up later. I have to run down the road to my business this afternoon to get my digital camera. As far a burning Bituminous I dont know, It is very adjustable. I was told that the importer was experimenting with burning composted grass in one. I would think anything that is augerable and air can get through would burn.

Here are those pics of the Futura I have a couple of short movie files of the burn pot and auger running, but am not sure how to post.

Amazing.

Definitely a robust gear train driving that auger!

Only thing I notice right away is the ash pan seems awful shallow/small compared to the big ash tubes that the A-A, AHS, EFM, etc. stokers use. How often do you have to empty it and how much coal per day do you burn?

europachris wrote:Definitely a robust gear train driving that auger!

Only thing I notice right away is the ash pan seems awful shallow/small compared to the big ash tubes that the A-A, AHS, EFM, etc. stokers use. How often do you have to empty it and how much coal per day do you burn?

I took some pics of the ash pan. Pic was taken with 7 hours of burn time since emptying. It is approx 24"wX38"ishX3"tall (i didnt measure) As far as coal usage. I am burning just under 3 40lb bags of pea per 24 hours. I think that will go down to around 80 lbs/day when I get the house restoration finished. I currently have open ceilings upstairs in rooms that are gutted. The doors are closed but hot air has a way of drafting up through the roof. I also have solid brick walls with plaster directly over the brick. So anyways my heat loss is incredible right now. 36 new windows though I empty the ash every morning but It could go 2 days before it would get messy. I think I am going to try rice when I get through burning the pea coal I bought. I see some unburnt pieces in the ash, not too bad but the rice might get a more complete burn with this "idle" type of burner. I also seem to be getting melted metallic chunks in the ash. Does not matter with this type of burner but if I had a hand fired I might have a problem.