EFM520 VS. Electric Heat???

Post by **StokerDon** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 7:14 pm

This has been bothering me for months now. Last year I was in the General Store in the little town that I live near. I noticed an ornate radiator, then I looked around and saw them where you would expect to see radiators placed. I said to the owner, "These are nice look'in radiators." he replied "Oh, they are hooked to my coal boiler. Do ya wanna see it?".

We went down the basement and there was a nice EFM 520 square door hooked to a 10 ton coal bin with a 4" grain auger going through the wall to the outside for the coal man to fill the bin. It was fall, so I asked, "When are ya gonna fire it up?" he replied, "I don't use it anymore. I converted the whole building to electric heat 2 years ago. It's cheaper that way." I was Dumbfounded! This is a large 100+ year old building with old windows and everything.

So, the question I can't answer is, how is this poissble? Granted, he was paying $240 or $250 a ton from some place an hour away. Even so, I can't imagin electric being cheaper.

For the recored, I have lived here for 4 years and this place has by far the most expensive electricity I have ever had.

-Don

hotblast1357 · Post by **hotblast1357** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 7:20 pm

Is he right in town or something and do they have different rates? I'm only 5 miles out of the city and electric here is expensive, but the majority heat with electric in the city because they have a lot lower rate.

Post by **StokerDon** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 7:27 pm

hotblast1357 wrote:Is he right in town or something and do they have different rates? I'm only 5 miles out of the city and electric here is expensive, but the majority heat with electric in the city because they have a lot lower rate.

This is a very, very small town, dosen't even have a traffic light. The electricity there costs the same as mine.

-Don

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 7:51 pm

When he had the EFM doing the job,he heated the entire building & the DHW,he bought less than the best coal,didn't maintain the EFM or set it for the season it was working in.When he shut the EFM down,he installed a hot water heater,installed new windows & more insulation& doesn't heat quite all the building anymore. See how much cheaper it is to heat with electric ??

Post by **Rob R.** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 8:05 pm

Something had to change besides the fuel source. It is also possible that there were other reasons for changing to electric heat and he tried to pass it off as cheaper. Unless they have some real cheap electric rates, there is no way the math works.

I have a small rental house (1000 sq ft) that costs me as much to heat with electric as my house costs with coal heat (3500 sq ft heated area).

Post by **Lightning** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 8:33 pm

I agree Don, there is more to the story. Perhaps you could get a little more curious about his current arrangement and he'd spill the beans lol.

Post by **Rob R.** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 8:37 pm

Start reading his meter once per week.

titleist1 · Post by **titleist1** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 8:44 pm

Hey SD....
Tell him you'll be glad to take that 520 out of his basement and free up that room for him since he likes his electric so much!

I can't believe this thread is over an hour old and i'm the first to suggest this!

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 8:48 pm

I guess some of us are just slow thinkers or not thinking or

Doby · Post by **Doby** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 9:32 pm

something ain't right, I here horror stories about electric heat in tiny closed in on two sides row homes of 350 a month and these things aren't 1000sq ft and kept at 65F or lower

2001Sierra · Post by **2001Sierra** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 9:57 pm

Is this post from the "Twilight Zone"?

Doby · Post by **Doby** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 10:17 pm

Back in the early 90's I lived in a half double in Mt Carmel pa maybe 1000 sq ft, had a hand fired that the grates went bad don't even know what it was. I put a a van wort va 600 in it and heated plus DHW. Way oversized. The nice older lady in the other half told me she paid 250 a month back then with electric and that was on a budget arranged with pp&l so she paid that year round. I used 3 ton @ 80 bucks back then

davidmcbeth3 · Post by **davidmcbeth3** » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 10:25 pm

Lightning wrote:I agree Don, there is more to the story. Perhaps you could get a little more curious about his current arrangement and he'd spill the beans lol.

No one said the guy's good at math.

SWPaDon · Post by **SWPaDon** » Mon. Mar. 23, 2015 5:34 am

When I first moved in this house, about 18 years ago, it had electric baseboard heat with a small wood burner in the basement and a hole in the dining room floor for the heat to rise up through.
It was either September or October(we think Sept.) we had to use the electric heat for a month. The bill for that month was 400.00 just for the heat alone. I can heat the same area with 1/2 ton of coal that's 42.50 at todays price.

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Mon. Mar. 23, 2015 5:51 am

Where I live electricity heat costs 2.5 times more than coal heat, and that is with coal at $275/ton.