Who's Burning Coal Straight Through the Summer for DHW?

Rob, There is only the two of us in the house, so that will play a big factor,, used to be 5 of us till the youngsters flew the nest!

I plan on running ours through the summer. I don't know how much hot water we use but with a family of 4 with two young kids I'm sure it's a fair amount. I'm hoping the basement will stay nice and dry through the summer And if we ever have some extra money may install a plate exchanger and heat the pool as well

The way electric prices are going, I see a boiler in my future to heat water and hot tub year round. I'm thinking my electric use is close to $50 a month for hot water (family of 4) and the hot tub is a power hog too. At least $50 a month to run it. So then factor in that the "supply charges" have tripled since last year (we'll see if it stays that high) and now yer talkin big money..

As has been argued for many years, the light load on the boiler and the dry basements are only a few of the advantages of year round operation. Obviously it is a great time to clean and lubricate, and replace anything needed, but take it from someone who has burned year round for 48 years now, the advantages FAR outweigh the small amount of coal used. Having the boiler 'at temperature' all the time is a no brainer. If you are so cheap as to think you'll save money with some other means of heating for a few months, then you are not a part of this discussion. Common sense far over-powers the 'bean-counter' in most of us. Try letting a vehicle sit idle for 4 months and then want to fire it up for 100% duty.
Last summer a neighbor walked into my garage on a 95 degree day......and he freaked out when the AA started stoking. He thought I was off my rocker, until I asked him what the garage temp was vs the outside temp. Two thermometers read 95 inside, 95 outside. However on a frosty morning in July (41 degrees), the garage was 68 inside, the basement was 68 (and stays there), so what is the harm.

My Boiler as had a fire in her belly for 7 years now , one or two out fires and clean chimney once or twice a year and most of the time I cleaned it hot ,had 4 kids and would use a lot of hot water ,not just me and the Mrs. but will be keeping the fire going

We've been burning continuously for years now, with no issues. I shut down only for cleaning twice a year and even then, the temperature never really gets "cold".

This will be my 4th summer burning straight through, I have the rheo stat combustion blower mod and my unit is in a detached shed outside so added heat isn't an issue (although I do pay for 2 basement dehumidifiers to run all summer).

I usually struggle with 6 or so outfires per summer as the chimney natural draft is nill at only 12' long and I'm trying to run the minimum pilot mode fire and temp is usually 130-140F range. What would be slick is if I could develop something to cut power to the stoker if the fire goes out so coal doesn't get dumped into the ashes to make the season transition less painful.

Out of curiosity once heat calls are done I'll have to weigh out a 250 lb hopper load and see how long it last, I know 3.5 yrs ago when I first got set up and electricity was cheaper $70/month came off the electric bill right away and I figured to be pretty much break even with coal vs. electric, but now I have a 2 yr old and a 2 month old so DHW consumption and electric rates may have risen enough that I'm actually saving some $ on top of preventing boiler rust.

QB, your logic answers lots of question. Like the expression: 'An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'.

I'd like to keep the boiler going all summer. I tried that but I just can't take the heat in my garage.

I burn year round mostly. I just leave all settings the same. My biggest problem is in the summer is to remember the ashes or to fill it.

Not Me............. Kaa-2 runs very efficient during summer months. That is, until central air starts competing.

I am. A hot boiler is a happy boiler.

I am. Got the Hydrostat turned down to High economy mode and am barely burning anything.

plumber wrote:I am. A hot boiler is a happy boiler.

Flyer5 wrote:I burn year round mostly. I just leave all settings the same. My biggest problem is in the summer is to remember the ashes or to fill it.

That's not a problem. If you forget either one it just goes out. It's not like you have to be concerned about the house freezing up!!
But if you can remember it in the winter, why not the summer also?

Rev. Larry