Coal Bin Size

This is for all of the auger fed boiler owners that are using coal as their primary heat. How much coal do you store?

I'm planning on giving up part of my workshop to put in the coal boiler and relocate my oil burner to the same area. I was thinking about an 8L X 10W X 7H area as a coal bin. If my arithmetic is right that should hold around 12 tons, enough for a couple of years supply if I've got everything calculated correctly. I started reading threads about coal that isn't so good and now I'm wondering if I should buy that much at once. Just wondering what you experienced guys are doing.

It'a abut 40 cubic feet for ton , my calculator tells me you can get 14 tons in there if you could fill every nook and cranny but that is really never possible. Really depends on your layout. Are you going to get this delivered? Preferably you want a centrally locate window as high as possible if the company has a high-lift. You of course still some space by the window and some room for the guy shoveling it around so a more realistic number would probably be 11-12 tons but that will require some work at the end.

As rough estimate you can assume about 4-5 tons per year 2000sq. ft.Really depends on the insulation, windows etc.

YOu always make it a bit larger, you never how much the coal truck will hold....my dealer stated 4 ton, ended up with 4.75, luckily my bin was a bit larger with an overflow 4'x4' bin....WOW, it's about half empty now!! Hope I have enough for a few months.

It's definitely getting delivered. The bin will be accessible through a garage door. My concern is reading all of these posts about 'bad' coal. I'm not sure how often that happens but I don't want to buy 12 tons of coal and find out I've got 12 tons of driveway fill.

WNY wrote: you never how much the coal truck will hold....my dealer stated 4 ton, ended up with 4.75.

Well I can tell you I know how much mine will hold and more imporatantly I can look at it and tell you what's on there within 100 pound one way or the other. You have to know as you'll be spending all your time at the breaker going back and forth shoveling it on or off..

billw wrote:It's definitely getting delivered. The bin will be accessible through a garage door.

Make sure you put the access for the bin as close to the garage door as possible. Personally i hated putting it through garage doors because a) your restricted on the height of the chute and b) they were always too far back. I'll put it to you this way, putting it through a garage door is pain in the ass. Only way its simple is if the height is like a commercial garage...

What I would suggest instead is if you have an area where the truck can get really close to the building without any overhead obstructions to cut out a window or opening with the bottom sill about 6 feet off the ground as centered as possible. Wider is better but a absolute minimum of one cinderblock, they even make metal doors this size if its ciderblock. Put the inside entrance as far away from this opening as possible. By the size you describe I could get 6--8 ton in an opening like that without touching a shovel and maybe more. Putting it through a garage door even if the opening for the bin is right near the front cuts that in about half... truthfully.

That's assuming you're getting it delivered by a competent coalman with a high lift.

As far as coal quality goes just make sure its reputable dealer but that is not exactly easy either because I know more than few people that were shocked by either the amount of coal they got from me or the quality compared to others... I'm not selling either so don't ask.

Thanks Richard, now I have to re-think my coal bin idea. Fortunately I've got the time to get this right the first time. BTW can I place an order from you for delivery sometime this summer?


Couldn't resist.

Just to add, not only does it make the delivery guy job harder but it reduces the area available for the coal. Typically going through a garage door you can expect to get as high as 4 feet if you're lucky. From that 4 foot point the only usable space will be going at about a 45 degree angle from there.

and If you really want to make it easy, make you opening go all the way to the roof. This way the coal guy can get the chute as high as possible. 5 or 6 extra inches when you get that high is an extra ton.

Hi Billw, as for the coal quality, try small quantities of coal from several sources. Each stove/boiler/furnace/chimney/installation is different. Most good coal will burn in most good coal burning appliances.. But there are exceptions. So try before you buy in quantity.

On my last trip to Pa I brought back coal from two different sources. One didn't work well in my AA boiler at all, but the same coal worked great in Harman Mag Stokers, Alaska Stokers and a few hand feeds... but not in my AA boiler.. The other source sold me excellent coal, and I would consider getting more from that source... untill I learned that a few weeks later, a load of coal from that source had lots of wood and stone in it... So much for that source...

You aren't that far from coal country, certainly not as far as myself or many others.. I'd just go get a few hundred # from several sources and try the coal in your appliance...

So what are you going to burn coal in? and what size coal?? I can make some suggestions once you fill in your signature information or buy your stove.

Greg L

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thanks Greg.

I plan on starting in earnest in March or April. Right now I have my son's 96 eclipse apart in the area I plan on putting my new heating system. Once that's back on the road I can get started. I'm leaning toward an EFM 520. Hopefully I can find a used one when I'm ready. The company rep provided a few dealers that handle used equipment. I'm also checking the paper shop, newspapers etc. If I can't find used I'll bite the bullet and buy new. I believe they're a rice burner. I live in coal country so I should be able to find a reputable dealer. What made me start wondering was all of the posts about 'bad coal' We had coal heat when I was young and don't ever remember bad coal being an issue. Not saying it didn't happen, I just don't remember it.

bill w

One of the many good things about EFM's is that they burn even bad coal really well. You will just see more ash and some umburnt coal in the ash with lousy coal..
My underfeed stoker in my 'Big Bertha' boiler is great at burning anything.. I was running the ash from the AA [when it was only partially burning the coal ] through the underfeed stoker, it would burn it to perfection, even though it was half ash to start with.. amazed me.

Just have patience. A good used or rebuilt EFM will show up.

Lots of good coal to burn in that stoker... UAE, Superior, Summitt, Lennigs, and many more. Greg