What Have You Learned About Your Coal Unit This Winter?

What I learned this year. I have been using wood for 2 -1/2 years. Had to feed the fire 12 AM and then around 3 AM so it would heat when I got up in the morning and feed it again . Went threw 7-1/2 to 8 cord of wood a year. This heated the domestic water as well . This year we went throw 10 cords of wood and needed to feed the fire when it was 2 degrees every 2 to 2-1/2 hrs. We ran out of wood mid January. Then converted the boiler to burn coal. I have been burning coal now 4 weeks. Fill it up at 11pm and then feed it when I get up in the morning and it good to go when I get home. IT goes 8 hours and more between loadings. Now I can sleep all night. Lets see now 10 cords of wood and 2/3 of a 330gal oil tank as back up . And so far I went threw almost a ton of coal since converting. The million dollar question ???????? Why didn't do this 2-1/2 years ago. Spending all that time getting the wood and cutting it up and hauling it home . Then spitting it and stacking it and rotating it covering it. It didn't dry for beans this year. The was wet one. To fill the tank of oil at 4.25 a gal would almost $1000 bucks. That not happening. I am going to get coal for next year heating season with out a doubt. I haven't used a drop of oil since converting to coal.

Welcome. You bring up a good point. Many people that burn wood also burn heating oil to pick up the slack when the wood fire dies out at 3 am...they often forget to add that cost onto the wood when they are comparing wood to coal.

welcome g10mm,your fortunate that you have only been burning wood for 2-1/2 yrs,most go 20 yrs before switching.Where are you located,you might need a triaxle load since you went thru a ton in 4 weeks.Post some pics. of your set-up,and maybe we can help you to get longer burn times,it is nice to sleep at night and wake up to a warm house.

Rob R. wrote:Welcome. You bring up a good point. Many people that burn wood also burn heating oil to pick up the slack when the wood fire dies out at 3 am...they often forget to add that cost onto the wood when they are comparing wood to coal.

Your right. When you fill the tank even if the oil is 3.25 a gal its almost 1000 bucks and with the wood I would burn a tank with using wood for the year . In the summer I use electric water heater to heat the water. It ads 70 to 80 bucks to the electric bill. This morning I took two 60 lbs bags of coal and put that in to the wheel bower and the look like what we have been getting . Instead of 200 to 250 pounds of coal its more like 120 to 150 pound . Its more like 1080 to 1350LBS . I keep forgetting coal is lighter then stone and with all that snow to plow throw to get the pile of coal. We been loading the wheel bower light not to the brim

I learned this past Sunday that it su*ks when you break off the lug on your shaker grate (one of two grates) with the shaker handle! It just snapped cleanly off! Fortunately I had a spare grate on hand. But I had to let the furnace fire die out, heat with propane for a day *gasp* and got it fired back up yesterday. 'Spose I could have relied on just the other grate, but in experimenting I find I only get a mediocre shake down if I only use one grate. Would be OK if only burning wood, with less and finer ash, but not for coal. So, it pays to have spares of certain items, if possible, that might be vulnerable to fail.

I learned with the real low temps we had that damp rice coal will freeze & bridge in my outdoor bin. And to get my vac system to keep working I needed to connect the hose to the discharge port on the vac to blow warm air into the bin for about 10 minutes and that melts it enough so I can then switch the hose and the vac can then fill the barrel! The remedy is to get the shed built around the bulk coal bunker this spring and get next years load of coal under roof early so it can dry out real good before going into the outdoor bin.

DennisH wrote:So, it pays to have spares of certain items, if possible, that might be vulnerable to fail.

Excellent point! I understand money can be tight and to have it tied up sitting on a shelf waiting to be used may not seem important. BUT.....it is nice insurance to have when something breaks on that late Sat night and nothing is open until Monday morning for a replacement part.

Think of it this way, we are saving pretty significant money heating with coal, the price of a few replacement parts can be figured in as part of the yearly cost. Just like the cost of a CO monitor and manometer and chimney are part of the cost of an install. You don't have to get them all at once, but maybe one spare per year to spread it out. This year get a spare grate, next year get a spare blower, have some rope gasket on the shelf along with some high temp rtv, extra section of flue pipe, etc. Pretty soon you'll have a spare stove sitting in the corner!!

I learned something very important yesterday. Do NOT disturb the fines in the bottom of your coal bin or hopper on a cold day. With all of the excitement in my life recently I let the 55 gallon drum of coal that I feed my EFM from get pretty low...almost low enough to expose the auger. Sunday afternoon I redistributed the coal that was left in the drum to pile it over the auger, and filled the drum completely on Sunday night. Last night I got home from work (15 degrees and windy out) and walked into a 65 degree house. It didn't take long to figure out what happened...boiler was down to 80 degrees, all zones calling for heat, stoker running non-stop, nothing but ashes in the pot. Auger sounded empty, and it was...I gave the drum a solid kick and the coal settled about 2", then started feeding up the auger. The coal was mostly dry, but the stuff I stirred around in the bottom had noticeable fines...it bridged over the auger and caused the stoker to run out of coal.

The bright side is that I got a chance to clean every air hole in the grates and gave the boiler a quick brush down. It had everything back up to temperature in about an hour.

It has been two years since I cleaned out the bottom of the drum, looks like it will be getting dumped this summer.

First time I have had an issue in 3 years.

I guess I learned that I'm REAL GLAD I don't have a boiler or a stoker--- I'm to dumb

iam with free. fred on that....

freetown fred wrote:I guess I learned that I'm REAL GLAD I don't have a boiler or a stoker--- I'm to dumb

Naaaaa, they just got a few more moving parts, that's all...

freetown fred wrote:I guess I learned that I'm REAL GLAD I don't have a boiler or a stoker--- I'm to dumb

Lots of wood burners say the same thing when they search "coal stove" and read about multiple dampers, shake downs, puff backs, over-air fire, pea vs. nut, and if they find the MPD vs. baro thread...

My point is that you would figure out a stoker the same way you figured out your Hitzer. Asking questions, a few mistakes, and experience.

freetown fred wrote:I guess I learned that I'm REAL GLAD I don't have a boiler or a stoker--- I'm to dumb

You don't know what you are missing. The hardest part to a stoker is keeping that 2 day schedule. Now did I fill the hopper yesterday or was that the day before?

michaelanthony wrote:I have used 3 different hand fed stoves in 3 yrs (I don't have any issues's ).

Thats what they all say ,Im in the same boat as you. Iv had 3 different stoves in 3 years, I really like the combustioneer it is very easy to take care of an even easier if the power goes out.

I learned that the Sunnyside can easily heat the entire home alone. The Golden is sleeping since a few weeks and even on the coldest days, the Baltimore Heater base burner keeps the house so confortable.

I also learned that I should have switched from wood to anthracite 30 Yrs ago.

I've learned that the tipping point of my Kaa-2 is minus 8 degree outside, with the wind just-a-howling. While running flat out; and maintaining house temps at 73*, boiler temp is pulled below 180*. At minus 5 degree, boiler stays at 180*, which is my design temp. I do know I'm proud of the little boiler. Although running flat out during the bitter cold, it held it's own all winter.