Wood or Switch to Coal in Heatmore 400 Dscc?
I will update to let others know our findings. We are waiting for colder weather as so far this fall we haven't had to use our OWB at all, (except to burn papers! Our log cabin, built with full logs, hold the summer heat and insulate quite well until late into the year. Living up near Erie, PA we will be turning on the OWB all too soon unfortunately.
- McGiever
- Member
- Posts: 10130
- Joined: Sun. May. 02, 2010 11:26 pm
- Location: Junction of PA-OH-WV
- Stoker Coal Boiler: AXEMAN-ANDERSON 130 "1959"
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: BUCKET A DAY water heater
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Warm Morning 414A
- Coal Size/Type: PEA,NUT,STOVE /ANTHRACITE
- Other Heating: Ground Source Heat Pump and some Solar
If/when burning anthracite bagged coal in your unit, place the pallets close to the boiler loading door, as it is not necessary to even open the 40 lb. poly bags...just open the door and toss bag and all right on top of the fire.
- windyhill4.2
- Member
- Posts: 6072
- 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
When we still had our OUTDOOR WOOD MONSTER , we burned several tons of coal in it,we used mostly bulk, but did buy some bags & threw 4-6 bags in at a time. The firebox was 60"L x 26"Wx30"H,the "grates in it were 3" water tubes that went front to rear & we raked the ashes from the top. Coal burning in ours just did not work good enough to be worthwhile. If yours has a better grate system & or you can rake from below, you may get reasonable results from burning coal. You might also consider disabling the combustion fan while burning only coal,as coal likes a constant air supply. OWB's are set up to force the fire when the fan kicks on,& then shut off when the temp high point is reached. I did not think to unhook the fan in ours when we tried coal,but have read of other's who have & that works much better for burning coal.If the draft flap is hooked to the water temp control,it would still close to prevent over fire. Good luck with the experiment.