Bum, I Just Burned 21.4 Lbs Per Day for 1 Full Summer Week

150 lbs of anthracite consumed for 1 week of DHW only operation. My all time summer record for lousy coal consumption by a long shot. Generally I'm in the range of 13-16 lbs per day for the summer. I'm fully into the Coal Contractors Stockton Mine coal (and out of Blaschak) at this juncture. Stockton does not appear to be a summer friendly coal.

The ash pan weighs a ton! Loads of partially burned coal edging upon unburned in appearance.

If you were mantaining a good draft the whole time, then, I guess it's the coal.

That sounds like a lot per day for DHW only.

-Don

StokerDon wrote:If you were maintaining a good draft the whole time, then, I guess it's the coal.

That sounds like a lot per day for DHW only.

-Don

Draft is similar overall to previous summers, if not better due to the colder nights this summer. So far I'm blaming the coal.

That's the same coal you used thru the winter right? Didn't you use less? Maybe you just need a combustion air adjustment for slower burning thru the summer...

That's about what I burn. Can't burn any less unless I rig up another idle feed rate timer ....

Only got 2 bags left, so the point is moot right now ...

Lightning wrote:That's the same coal you used thru the winter right? Didn't you use less? Maybe you just need a combustion air adjustment for slower burning thru the summer...

I burned Blaschak all winter and 2/3 of the summer.

Rob R. wrote:Sounds like you got some of that genuine Hazleton "hard" coal.

I'm hoping the benefits will materialize when the T-Stats go on.

I've never thought that burning coal during the summer was economical, especially when the load is just dhw. However, the main benefit is boiler preservation due to constant use. The heating of water for a pool would justify summer usage in my case.

Rob R. wrote:Depends on a lot of things. Mainly how much water you use, and cost of coal compared to alternatives.

Larry, does the fire still seem to be burning right against the wall of the combustion tube? Perhaps the fire has gotten a little lazy and shrunk away from the edge of the tube.

A while back you had an outfire...when you refired the boiler did you put a big load on it to make sure the fire was properly re-estabilished?

Perhaps I need to give it a big load again. My summer consumption hit an all-time low after I re-fired and gave it a whopper load.

You can measure the size and position of the fire in any AHS or AA by simple inserting a long stiff steel rod (poker) down in through the view port deep into the fire tube.

It is like using a dipstick in an engine and needs a reference point to give a position of fire and as a bonus will show the thickness of the fire too.

CAREFUL when you withdraw the rod it will be glowing red and until it has cooled down do not place rod in the proximity of any combustibles.

My EFM using rice burns about two buckets a week during the summer. It's Blaschak.
Very efficient and my range would be 140 -170.
Pleanty of hot water ash is nice too.

I'm presently in the process of giving the boiler a workout. First I ran hot water from a tap until the boiler fired, and then I cranked up the T-Stat in the basement until the zone valve opened and the circulator turned on, then I took a shower, and it was pulled clear down to 145 degrees. It just completed ashing out, and now its beginning to work its temp back up to 180 degrees.

Should I hit it even harder, or see what this accomplishes? The proof will only come on Sunday when I fill it up again and take measure of what it burned for the week. Though I may be able to get a handle on the look of the ashes to see if there is visible improvement before then.

Well so far, based on the look and quantity (and weight) of the ashes, I'm seeing no improvement.