KA6 Boiler Questions

We live center valley ,PA
Our house is a cape cod style built in 1958 ( need to add quite a bit of insulation to attic and crawl space behind knee walls )
Sq 2900
Existing boiler oil baseboard heat ( down the road my plan is to remove baseboard and install cast iron radiators )

My present oil boiler is located in basement about 3ft from chimney ,height of basement 7'-3" , garage side has a ash shoot for my fire place in living room ( this is the *censored* coolest thing I ever seen , when cleaning out ashes just lift trap push ashes down then remove ashes from garage , never had anything like this in Ireland ( where I'm from) . So I could build a bin in garage

Existing boiler give
BTU/Hr 151,000

Lochlann wrote:Thanks don will check out gravity options ....
Guys you all seem to have vast knowledge and I'm very grateful of you sharing it , I went onto consumers affairs about coal boilers wouldn't you know they didn't have anything ... Is keystoker a good brand

Keystoker is and always was located in the hart of anthracite country, they have been there since the 1940's. There products are well engineered and well built. They build all the stoves, furnaces and boilers right there in Schuykillhaven PA. Any time you have a question, you can just call them, you won't get to talk to someone in a different country, you will talk to someone in coal country that, if need be, can walk out into the shop and get an answer. That is priceless.

I would not hesitate to buy a new OR used Keystoker. As long as it fits your needs and you take care of it, it will last a lifetime.

-Don

Lochlann wrote:We live center valley ,PA
Our house is a cape cod style built in 1958 ( need to add quite a bit of insulation to attic and crawl space behind knee walls )
Sq 2900
Existing boiler oil baseboard heat ( down the road my plan is to remove baseboard and install cast iron radiators )

My present oil boiler is located in basement about 3ft from chimney ,height of basement 7'-3" , garage side has a ash shoot for my fire place in living room ( this is the *censored* coolest thing I ever seen , when cleaning out ashes just lift trap push ashes down then remove ashes from garage , never had anything like this in Ireland ( where I'm from) . So I could build a bin in garage

Existing boiler give
BTU/Hr 151,000

WOW!, that is slick! Sounds like gravity is the way to go.

The KA-6 comes in at 144,000 BTU gross. That is slightly less than what your oil boiler is but, being that the KA-6 is a soild fuel burning aplliance, it runs continuosly, not intermitently like the oil boiler. So, it should work well, in my opinion.

-Don

Center valley ,PA
I went to Stoves n stuff in emmaus , one of the sales guys has( well said) he has the dual fuel option and swears by it as if he ever goes away over winter he can switch over to oil during that period which saves him having to rely on getting a friend in to load hopper and clean out ...
All the guys thT work there are old school are old school and he didn't come across as he was trying to pitch a sale as he stated if I wanted to go with a different manufacture that they could get me whatever we wanted ... When searching the web of different options of coal boilers most said using a hopper that I would only need to load 4/5 days and if your leaving for wk or 2 over winter you could turn burn rate down and you would be good to go , seems this is incorrect as seems you need to load every 2/3 days ...

StokerDon wrote:

Lochlann wrote:Thanks don will check out gravity options ....
Guys you all seem to have vast knowledge and I'm very grateful of you sharing it , I went onto consumers affairs about coal boilers wouldn't you know they didn't have anything ... Is keystoker a good brand

Keystoker is and always was located in the hart of anthracite country, they have been there since the 1940's. There products are well engineered and well built. They build all the stoves, furnaces and boilers right there in Schuykillhaven PA. Any time you have a question, you can just call them, you won't get to talk to someone in a different country, you will talk to someone in coal country that, if need be, can walk out into the shop and get an answer. That is priceless.

I would not hesitate to buy a new OR used Keystoker. As long as it fits your needs and you take care of it, it will last a lifetime.

-Don

My Brother is finishing up his KA 10 install today....let me tell ya...its built like a tank! I have actually looked at several installs of each of the major brands and they are all built well!

Thanks don , I'm very much into USA built , and it seems that the keystoker is well put together . Regarding the BTU it would be more than enough as we keep the temp down when using oil to save costs , but when it gets really cold and turn is up it's toasty , the installer that came by said that the KA6 would be more than enough .....most annoying think in the world talking to someone from another country when calling customer service , do you know if your caught in this situation again that you can request to be connected to a branch in the states ( I always do it )

A stripped down K-6 boiler vessel is crowding 900 lbs.

That K-10...whew!!!

McGiever wrote:A stripped down K-6 boiler vessel is crowding 900 lbs.

That K-10...whew!!!

NO KIDDING! I helped move it into his basement! After is was down in the basement we rolled it on pipe without issue. He is heating 2 homes with it!

johnjoseph wrote:My Brother is finishing up his KA 10 install today....let me tell ya...its built like a tank! I have actually looked at several installs of each of the major brands and they are all built well!

Pictures?

ShawnTRD wrote:

johnjoseph wrote:My Brother is finishing up his KA 10 install today....let me tell ya...its built like a tank! I have actually looked at several installs of each of the major brands and they are all built well!

Pictures?

I will see if I can get some posted this evening!

I'd want to double-check a couple of things before concluding the KA-6 is the best size. Keystoker recommends a load of 675 sf of installed radiation, which translates to about 101k btu/hr. This is lower than the 122k net theoretical capacity of the boiler. You should verify that your installed radiation is not greater than 675 sf, and that there is enough capacity left over for any DHW load you plan to put on the boiler. If the KA-6 covers both loads, you're all set. If it doesn't, you may encounter situations where you have to sacrifice performance on one load or the other.

Mike

Pacowy wrote:I'd want to double-check a couple of things before concluding the KA-6 is the best size. Keystoker recommends a load of 675 sf of installed radiation, which translates to about 101k btu/hr. This is lower than the 122k net theoretical capacity of the boiler. You should verify that your installed radiation is not greater than 675 sf, and that there is enough capacity left over for any DHW load you plan to put on the boiler. If the KA-6 covers both loads, you're all set. If it doesn't, you may encounter situations where you have to sacrifice performance on one load or the other.

Mike

How do you calculate that?

Lochlann, Keystoker is a good boiler. You won't be disappointed with it. They are also really good to deal with. They will help you out on the phone, and are good at service after the sale. They are in business since 1946. If you measure your baseboard and call Keystoker, they will tell you what size boiler you need. They have 24hr emergency service, so they can always be reached. I'm installing a Kaa-2 boiler into my oil boiler and will use oil only in early fall and late spring. The phone number for Keystoker is 570-385-3873 and you will talk to Don. He will even tell you the cost of the boiler. They are located in Schuylkill Haven Pa, so depending where you are located, the price will be more. Check out their web site at http://www.keystoker.com I hope this helps out some what. There are a lot of other boilers to think about. I did all the home work on Keystoker because I live only 15 miles from there, they are the company that fits my needs. I'm also located 10-15 miles from all coal breakers.

Mike brings up a good point, you should figure out how many square feet of radiation you have and your domestic hot water load. I would assume your installer would do that, but, it would be nice to know before you commit to the K-6.

-Don

ShawnTRD wrote:How do you calculate that?

For baseboard units I think there are standard factors for converting linear feet of baseboard to sf of radiation. For cast iron radiators you need to take a couple of measurements and use a look-up table, such as appears in http://www.columbiaheatingsupply.com/page_images/ ... 0Guide.pdf . I don't have a clue how to measure for radiant heat. I think most modine-type units provide a BTU rating based on water temp and flow rate; if you can figure that out and divide by an appropriate heat transfer rate (typically 150-170 btu/hr/sf, depending on things like the temp of the circulated water) you'll come out with the equivalent sf.

The load imposed by DHW requirements depends on your hot water usage and ancillary equipment. If you are going to run directly off a coil, each gpm of DHW flow will take about 40k btu/hr out of the boiler output available for heating. If you have a few people taking showers before work or school in the morning, and if you don't have low-volume shower heads, the BTU load can really add up. Even two people each taking 12 minute showers w/low-volume heads within the same hour will chew up that 40k of capacity. The impact can be cushioned somewhat through use of a storage tank or indirect, but those still will be sucking BTU's from the boiler to try to replenish what they have lost.

And thanks, Don.

Mike