Warm Weather Burning in a Hand Fed

 
User avatar
Lightning
Site Moderator
Posts: 14652
Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Wed. Apr. 02, 2014 5:07 pm

Well fellas, Its getting to be that time of year.. The shoulder month into spring. I'm happy to see it finally coming in! :D This is the tricky time of the season for operating a hand fed. Keeping draft in the chimney and at the same time not heating yourself out of the house or burning an excessive amount of coal to keep her alive. I like the challenge of it haha.. Today is a good example, currently 58 degrees outside and I've got the Clayton down to a cool simmer with 74 in the house. My fire is nearly in suspended animation and has been since this morning, about 10 hours. Last shake and load was 22 hours ago. It's running so cool that the snap disk mounted on top the air jacket won't hit 115 degrees to turn the blowers on. Only warm slow gravity fed air is circulating thru the duct work during days like this. I keep her going thru the day so I can revive her later for night time heating..

-.01 to -.02 on the manometer
192 over the load door
122 degrees on the pipe
20140402_162718.jpg
.JPG | 97.7KB | 20140402_162718.jpg
195 degrees just under the load door.
This is all the primary air she is getting right now.
The spinner is closed. Just a sliver open on the other primary air control.
20140402_162810.jpg
.JPG | 113.3KB | 20140402_162810.jpg
And here is what makes this coal stunt doable. Extra secondary air. This opening leads into the secondary air pipes I installed. There is one on each side of the load door. The extra secondary air flows in over the coal bed, gets heated and goes up my outside block chimney to keep the tiny amount draft flowing the right way while at the same time pulling just enough primary air in to keep her alive.
20140402_162746.jpg
.JPG | 93.2KB | 20140402_162746.jpg
From now till May I'll do the 24 hour shake and load with a grate slice and poke in between. Later this evening, I'll open the ash door to let her have a big breath of fresh air till her coal is burning good, then do my shake and load. I'll get her down to burning 30 pounds a day, maybe less, which is pretty good I'm thinkin for a fire box capable of holding over a 100 pounds.

By the way her name is "Ashley"..
Coal burning is so much fun!! :lol:

Yeah, yeah, I know... I'm such a coal geek... :)


 
User avatar
Carbon12
Member
Posts: 2226
Joined: Tue. Oct. 11, 2011 6:53 pm
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
Coal Size/Type: Rice/Anthracite
Other Heating: Heat Pump/Forced Hot Air Oil Furnace

Post by Carbon12 » Wed. Apr. 02, 2014 6:11 pm

Low and slow,.....time to make a batch of chili on the stove! :D

 
User avatar
michaelanthony
Member
Posts: 4550
Joined: Sat. Nov. 22, 2008 10:42 pm
Location: millinocket,me.
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Vigilant 2310, gold marc box stove
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Gold Marc Independence
Baseburners & Antiques: Home Sparkle 12
Coal Size/Type: 'nut
Other Heating: Fujitsu mini split, FHA oil furnace

Post by michaelanthony » Wed. Apr. 02, 2014 6:59 pm

I applaud your ability to improve a product and overcome it's engineering deficiencies. That hot blast of yours runs with the big guns. :clap: We can all lite and run a stove when it's 10* outside, now it's the physicists turn 8-)

 
KingCoal
Member
Posts: 4833
Joined: Wed. Apr. 03, 2013 1:24 pm
Location: Elkhart county, IN.
Hand Fed Coal Stove: 1 comforter stove works all iron coal box stove, seventies.
Baseburners & Antiques: 2014 DTS C17 Base Burner, GW #6, GW 113 formerly Sir Williams, maybe others at Pauliewog’s I’ve forgotten about
Coal Size/Type: Nut Anth.
Other Heating: none

Post by KingCoal » Wed. Apr. 02, 2014 7:25 pm

agreed, all I have to do is turn the Bi-metal down and shake it IF I remember :D

right now the bi-metal is on 2.5 the hottest spot on the stove top is 250*, the same spot on the pipe is 100* and i'm pulling .04 with 1" blues scattered around. house is 73*

 
JohnB
Member
Posts: 528
Joined: Sat. Jul. 06, 2013 6:06 pm
Location: Northeastern Ct.
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 50-93
Coal Size/Type: Mostly nut, some pea

Post by JohnB » Thu. Apr. 03, 2014 3:38 pm

With outside temps just hitting 60° I've kept the Hitzer between 190°-200° all day with the bi-metal control off & the front vent just cracked open. .025-.035 on the manometer & 100° on the flue pipe measured 2" out from the stove. The house has stayed a nice tee shirt comfortable 72.5° all day.

 
User avatar
Lightning
Site Moderator
Posts: 14652
Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Sat. Apr. 12, 2014 5:36 pm

How low can you go??!!
117 on the pipe
174 over the load door
-.01 on the man
Combustion air at a sliver :)

Dam sideways pictures haha..
Too many Keystone Lights :lol:

Attachments

20140412_172851.jpg
.JPG | 160.4KB | 20140412_172851.jpg
20140412_172547.jpg
.JPG | 134.9KB | 20140412_172547.jpg

 
User avatar
Sunny Boy
Member
Posts: 25517
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 1:40 pm
Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Sat. Apr. 12, 2014 7:25 pm

When I came down stairs this morning.

Kitchen was 75 degrees.

Only two of five primary air openings were open = .045 gap each.

102 degrees on the pipe - three feet up from the stove top.

.005 on the mano.

Stayed warm enough last night that it didn't need any check draft opening to slow it down.

The kettle was just below a boil, and the two top covers over the fire box were in the 600 degree range - perfect for cooking break fast ! :D

Paul


 
User avatar
Lightning
Site Moderator
Posts: 14652
Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Sun. Apr. 13, 2014 7:55 am

That's awesome!..
Gonna hit 78 here today but I'm idling thru for the 40's coming on Tuesday.
Then 14 degrees on Tuesday night!
:wtf:

 
User avatar
Sunny Boy
Member
Posts: 25517
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 1:40 pm
Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Sun. Apr. 13, 2014 9:13 am

After re-sealing much of the stove, it will idle down much better now. 8-)

Plus, having the choice of flue paths built into the range gives me more control over how much of the stove gets to radiate heat, and how much heat stays in the stove, or gets sent to the chimney to maintain draft, or using the check damper to let room air to slow the draft and the stove when not cooking.

Keeping it running when it's in the 70's outside is no problem.

And, coal is much cheaper to cook with than the pro-pain of my kitchen gas stove, so the longer we keep the coal range running the more I save. ;)

Paul

 
User avatar
Lightning
Site Moderator
Posts: 14652
Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Sun. Apr. 13, 2014 9:18 am

Sunny Boy wrote:Plus, having the choice of flue paths built into the range gives me more control over how much of the stove gets to radiate heat, and how much heat stays in the stove, or gets sent to the chimney to maintain draft, or using the check damper to let room air to slow the draft and the stove when not cooking.

Keeping it running when it's in the 70's outside is no problem.
NIce! Warm weather burning is a method of strategy.
Love it!!

:ugeek: :rockon:

 
User avatar
Sunny Boy
Member
Posts: 25517
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 1:40 pm
Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Sun. Apr. 13, 2014 1:02 pm

It's also a method to extend the savings, by not having to use expensive fuels to do the same job of cooking. ;)

Now Lee, you just need to figure out how to put a cook top on that Clayton, . . . :D

Paul

 
User avatar
Sunny Boy
Member
Posts: 25517
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 1:40 pm
Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Sun. Apr. 13, 2014 8:09 pm

Another option came into use today. Being able to change coal size to adapt to the weather.

It got up to 80 here this afternoon and windy. The range was still doing fine, but with the wind gusting so, rather than open the dampers more, or risk a draft reversal, I switched over from using nut coal to the larger stove coal. The slightly faster burn rate of the stove coal was all the boost the range needed to not be overpowered by wind gusts while running at such low damper settings.

And even with that, the kitchen stayed at 75 degrees - cooler than outside.

Part of the reason was, being able to shut off the flues to the water reservoir end of the range. That turns that water tank jacket into a heat shield of sorts for the entire right end of the stove. And, by shielding the right end of the stove and sending more heat to the stove pipe to keep the draft strong, the range can be run with less primary damper opening preventing over-heating the kitchen.

Those old timers knew a thing or two when they built these old ranges. ;)

Paul

 
User avatar
Lightning
Site Moderator
Posts: 14652
Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Wed. Dec. 24, 2014 9:08 am

Here we are, Christmas Eve.. We will have about 20 family members for a Christmas "get together" this evening. Unfortunately it's not gonna be a white Christmas. Highs forecasted to top out around 60 degrees today and it's 46 right now at 8:45am.

I already started dialing the furnace into sleep mode last night after shake and load. With the nut/stove mix in my bin, I sought out 60 pounds of the smallest stuff and got what looks like a pea/nut mix. I won't do a shake and load today, the 60 pounds I put in last night at this burn rate will run 36-48 hours.

This morning I opened all the secondary air ports including the flange on the backside of the furnace. I opened the door on the exhaust diverter also. These adjustments are needed to keep my draft flowing.

Here's some pics from this morning, about 9 hours since last tending. It doesn't appear to even be burning at all. I shut off all the lights in the basement and could make out a few points of dull red deep under the top layer of cold coal.

Merry Christmas everyone.. :)
I hope nobody gets TOO warm today.. lol

Attachments

20141224_082026-1.jpg
.JPG | 159.8KB | 20141224_082026-1.jpg
20141224_082049_LLS-1.jpg

If you look closely you should see a couple points of red..

.JPG | 19.1KB | 20141224_082049_LLS-1.jpg
20141224_082359-1.jpg
.JPG | 122.6KB | 20141224_082359-1.jpg
Cloud Connection_2014-12-24_083209-1.jpg
.JPG | 71.2KB | Cloud Connection_2014-12-24_083209-1.jpg

 
JohnB
Member
Posts: 528
Joined: Sat. Jul. 06, 2013 6:06 pm
Location: Northeastern Ct.
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 50-93
Coal Size/Type: Mostly nut, some pea

Post by JohnB » Wed. Dec. 24, 2014 4:06 pm

Only hit 50° here today & it's already down to 45°. Dialed back the Hitzer a little last night but it's pretty raw outside so no worries about being too warm. With my draft I can put foil over the baro & keep the stove running even if it gets up into the low 60's.

 
User avatar
Sunny Boy
Member
Posts: 25517
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 1:40 pm
Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Wed. Dec. 24, 2014 4:50 pm

With the warmer weather slowing the draft some, I've found that I can either open dampers more, or just add more Tractor Supply Kimmel's nut mixed in with the bulk nut. We're up to 50 outside here too and a 50/50 mix of Kimmel's to bulk burns just enough hotter to make up for the decrease in draft strength.

Paul


Post Reply

Return to “Hand Fired Coal Stoves & Furnaces Using Anthracite”