Efficient Coal Burning
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- New Member
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Mon. Aug. 08, 2011 1:38 pm
- Location: Pottstown, PA
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: LL Pioneer LE Top Vent
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
I decided to start adjusting my coal-trol temp this month to see how it affects the temperature in my house. But with that I am looking for some thoughts, ideas or tested theories on day/night temp adjustments for efficient coal burning.
Let me explain.
My stove is the basement, I have a few vents popped in the 1st floor but the most of the heat comes up my basement steps.
the Coal-trol is directly above my stove, but on the 1st floor. (closest vent is 10 feet away)
I used to set the day time control (5:30am) at 68degrees and then at night (8:30pm) at 66degrees.
I have just adjusted it to day 70/night 68. (it definitely made a noticeable difference) I'll probably kepe it at 70/68, but...
I am wondering your thoughts on the efficiency of adjusting the temp for day and night. Does it save me any money or coal by having it go down 2 degrees at night or is it just as efficient to keep it at the same temp so it doesn't spend 3 hours in the a.m. trying to bring it up to temp? Am I just making my self feel better turning it down at night is my question?
If yes, tell me.
If not, and it does make sense, how many degrees do you usually adjust it? I have kept it a a 2 degrees up or down.
(also worth adding, we heat the kids rooms with space heaters because they are light sleepers, and leaving their doors open would mean I lost my hair faster due to lack of them sleeping)
I welcome your thoughts.
Let me explain.
My stove is the basement, I have a few vents popped in the 1st floor but the most of the heat comes up my basement steps.
the Coal-trol is directly above my stove, but on the 1st floor. (closest vent is 10 feet away)
I used to set the day time control (5:30am) at 68degrees and then at night (8:30pm) at 66degrees.
I have just adjusted it to day 70/night 68. (it definitely made a noticeable difference) I'll probably kepe it at 70/68, but...
I am wondering your thoughts on the efficiency of adjusting the temp for day and night. Does it save me any money or coal by having it go down 2 degrees at night or is it just as efficient to keep it at the same temp so it doesn't spend 3 hours in the a.m. trying to bring it up to temp? Am I just making my self feel better turning it down at night is my question?
If yes, tell me.
If not, and it does make sense, how many degrees do you usually adjust it? I have kept it a a 2 degrees up or down.
(also worth adding, we heat the kids rooms with space heaters because they are light sleepers, and leaving their doors open would mean I lost my hair faster due to lack of them sleeping)
I welcome your thoughts.
- Lightning
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 14669
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
- Location: Olean, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
- Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite
So.. It sounds to me like its working pretty hard to lift the temp back up 2 degrees. Does it idle just as long when you turn it down in the evening?kurtdavidf wrote:I am wondering your thoughts on the efficiency of adjusting the temp for day and night. Does it save me any money or coal by having it go down 2 degrees at night or is it just as efficient to keep it at the same temp so it doesn't spend 3 hours in the a.m. trying to bring it up to temp? Am I just making my self feel better turning it down at night is my question?
- WNY
- Member
- Posts: 6307
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 14, 2005 8:40 am
- Location: Cuba, NY
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Keystoker 90K, Leisure Line Hyfire I
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
- Contact:
I typically leave mine at a set temperature, it takes too long to heat up and then over shoots and cools down if change it more than a degree or two. Every heating situation is different. What works with one, may not for others. its hard to say, unless you monitor your useage.
- windyhill4.2
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- Joined: Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 2:17 pm
- Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
We have a programmable t-stat that we had set for 5* difference for day vs nite,last yrs cold temps convinced me to set & forget the t-stat settings,i closed the hot air vents in the bedrooms ,they stay cooler around the clock & the living areas stay warmer all the time. This current way works quite well without the long warmup period in the a/m with the temp setback. I also had figured at the same time the t-stat called for warmup was the coldest part of the 24 hr period generally,so the boiler had to work very hard for several hours getting everything back up to temp.
- lsayre
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- Posts: 21781
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 23, 2005 9:17 pm
- Location: Ohio
- Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S130 Coal Gun
- Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Anthracite Pea
- Other Heating: Resistance Boiler (13.5 KW), ComfortMax 75
I have programmable T-Stats, but for each of them I have set the temperature on all of the various programmable date and time slices to one single temperature. In retrospect I could have saved money by purchasing much simpler T-Stats.
The only thing I do vary is the "fixed" temperature setting for each of my zones T-Stats.
Garage = 46 degrees
Basement = 67 degrees
Living Room/Dining Room/Kitchen = 69 degrees
Bedrooms = 70 degrees
The basement is my dump zone so it gets periodic extra heat. Plus it gets a bunch of heat directly from the boiler, so it is nigh-on always a couple degrees above 67.
The single degree difference in my bedrooms vs. living Room/dining Room/kitchen was only done to even out the rate at which these two zones call for heat (which ultimately fires the boiler). With my previous T-Stats this was not necessary, so I chalk it up to a minor anomaly between the temperature calibrations of the two new T-Stats.
The only thing I do vary is the "fixed" temperature setting for each of my zones T-Stats.
Garage = 46 degrees
Basement = 67 degrees
Living Room/Dining Room/Kitchen = 69 degrees
Bedrooms = 70 degrees
The basement is my dump zone so it gets periodic extra heat. Plus it gets a bunch of heat directly from the boiler, so it is nigh-on always a couple degrees above 67.
The single degree difference in my bedrooms vs. living Room/dining Room/kitchen was only done to even out the rate at which these two zones call for heat (which ultimately fires the boiler). With my previous T-Stats this was not necessary, so I chalk it up to a minor anomaly between the temperature calibrations of the two new T-Stats.
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- New Member
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Mon. Aug. 08, 2011 1:38 pm
- Location: Pottstown, PA
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: LL Pioneer LE Top Vent
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
Yes - once I turns down we are talking 1.5 - 2 hours to see a temp drop.Lightning wrote:So.. It sounds to me like its working pretty hard to lift the temp back up 2 degrees. Does it idle just as long when you turn it down in the evening?kurtdavidf wrote:I am wondering your thoughts on the efficiency of adjusting the temp for day and night. Does it save me any money or coal by having it go down 2 degrees at night or is it just as efficient to keep it at the same temp so it doesn't spend 3 hours in the a.m. trying to bring it up to temp? Am I just making my self feel better turning it down at night is my question?
Ideas?
I also am a set it at one temp and leave it even though I have a digital 'stat and could if I wanted to. Now I will set the 'stat at different temps at different times of the year but not from day to night. I think from the replies you are going to see a pattern of not setting back. (hey - if I knew how to do it that could be a poll question)
The ramp up and down time associated with burning a solid fuel makes the over shoot / catch up tricky to get dialed in and I'm not burning enough $$ in coal to make the savings worth the fiddling for me.
The ramp up and down time associated with burning a solid fuel makes the over shoot / catch up tricky to get dialed in and I'm not burning enough $$ in coal to make the savings worth the fiddling for me.
I also tried a 2 degree set back and found that our hitzer ran like crazy bringing temp up those 2 degrees then over shot temp. Heater cools off ,then heats up and over shots again. Didn't notice and real savings in coal so now just at one set temp. Set it and forget it and just let the coal-trol maintain.
- Hoss
- Member
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- Joined: Sun. Nov. 30, 2014 3:52 pm
- Location: Kenilworth, Pa
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Reading Juniata
- Coal Size/Type: Rice / Anthracite
- Other Heating: Oil Hot Water
I also used to use the setback on my Coal-Trol for a 3 degree swing. This heating season I tried just setting it at 70 and leaving it alone. The house is more comfortable and it seems like I'm actually using a little less coal because it doesn't have to work so hard to bring the temperature back up those 3 degrees. Also as others have said not the problem with over shooting or getting to cold until stove comes back up to temperature.
- Horace
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- Location: Central PA
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Harman ST8-VF8 / Frankenstove
I bought a setback T-stat several years ago with visions of all the money I would save by turning the stove down a couple degrees for many hours per day. Didn't work out that way. As pretty much everyone prior has stated, I burned more coal, the house was uncomfortable, and it just wasn't worth it.
I now set it and let it go.
I now set it and let it go.
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- Member
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- Joined: Thu. Jan. 02, 2014 1:48 am
- Location: Vestal, NY
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Keystone Koker with thermostat
- Coal Size/Type: anthracite rice coal
- Other Heating: none
I would speculate that he must have a really nicely insulated home. And someone else alluded to that also. We burn a lot more when the temperature drops. Our field stone basement has really lousy insulation.This still leaves the question of why Larry's pounds per degree day remains constant regardless of outside temperature. Perhaps increase of efficiency at higher firing rate?