New or Used Boiler Top W/ Oil Gun Option or New Oil Boiler

Good Morning all,
I am still tossing around the idea of switching over to oil for the convenience. I am however nervous to do so since I have experienced paying for $4.00 gallon for heating oil.
After the $4.00 heating oil I had a refurbished EFM 520 round door tube boiler installed in line with my old original 1964 oil burner.
This summer I switched over to burning oil and its been very pleasant to not have to empty ash, my basement is cooler and not having to restart the fire after coming home from being away for a week or 10 days at a time.

Also, with the oil there is no dirt or dust. My 520 unit does not have the ash pan deflector installed as there are no rails in the base for this to sit on. So we generate lots of dust/dirt scooping the ash that misses the tub, into the tub. My basement is very dirty from 5 or 6 yrs of this method.

I was thinking that maybe my best option would be to invest in a duel fuel boiler top with oil gun option. This would let me burn oil in the summer for convenience and burn coal in the winter. while the top is off, I could have the rails welded into the base and install an ash guide to help keep the dirt to a minimum ( hopefully this is true).
I think the cost of buying a new oil boiler & a new duel fuel boiler w/oil gun option could be close to the same in cost. Maybe just leave my oil boiler in place as a backup in case something happened with the new EFM top?

The duel fuel option would also allow me to now have to change/remove exhaust pipe from one unit to the other if burning the duel fuel.

Thoughts/ comments / advise?

Mitch

If it were me, I would bolt the rails in the base, install the ash deflector, and install a newer oil boiler. This would cost considerably less than buying a new boiler top and oil package, and probably cost about the same as a used DF boiler top with oil package. Having a modern oil boiler will save oil compared to burning it in the EFM, and would likely be needed anyway if you ever sell your home.

so I am unsure about the switch to oil or staying with coal.
Out of the blue today I got a call from a local resident saying he heard I was looking for a DF520 top or complete unit.
He tells me that he happens to have a DF520 currently in his basement uninstalled having recently just switching to oil and installing a new oil boiler.
I plan on going to look at this unit this weekend.
the owner tells me he put it in new in the late 1980's.

It is complete with the oil gun option, augers etc.
what should I be looking for? condition of the grates? the coil area in the back? what else?

going to try to get this for a good price, what is the value of something like this? I have to remove from this fellows basement if I buy it.

I have a 1960 efm 520 round door made by cobco currently. What kind of value would this have? I had replace the grates 6yrs ago. I replaced the auger and pot bushing.

this could be the answer to all my issue, not having a base with an ash deflector, being able to burn oil in summer fall, only needing one chimney stack, etc.

Thoughts ? advise? comments please

thanks,

Mitch

Oils down...easy goes up, when oils up, works not an option.... what life style, choice do you prefer? easy? than put a few more tanks in bulk up now..after all its only good o for so long before microalgae baacteria takes over... coal... what you say Willis?

the local oil guy and the cheapest in our area is up fifty cents already from earlier this summer.
The convenience of the oil in the summer is what I like. I ran my oil boiler for the first time in 6 plus years this summer and my house was cooler and I didn't have to empty ashes all summer and we were away a lot so I didn't have to worry about building a new fire every time we came home from being gone.

That being said, my family really noticed the difference in the hot water capacity with the oil boiler to the coal stoker. just thinking that the duel fuel could solve many of the needs.

Any idea what a used DF520 is worth? what a 1960 efm 520 is worth if I sell it?

The old round door boiler by itself will only have value to an EFM refubisher or someone that has a leaking 520. I think you can put the DF 520 boiler right on top of your base. Hook up the oil burner, done.

The old 520 base is a bit different than the new DF model. I don't know if the newer ash diverter will fit. On the plus side, you will have a complete spare stoker just in case!

One thing to keep in mind is the fact that the DF 520 will be a bit of an oil hog compared to a modern oil boiler. It might not be any better then your current oil boiler.

-Don

I was thinking just pulling my old complete unit and putting this new DF in its place, not putting the DF boiler on my old base.
As you mentioned the ash diverter, my old unit does not have one which leads to lots of ash scooping out of the base because much ash misses the tub.

My current oil boiler is a 1964 model weil mclain. it would imagine that its in the 60's for efficiency. Where does the DF stand for oil burning efficiency?
could be that I should just spend the money and have someone fit my boiler with the ash diverter and buy a new oil boiler.

I was hoping that my current 520 unit would have some sort of value to sell.

what would a late 1980's DF520 model be worth?
I am going to go look at it.
If my unit really has no value, this unit can't have too much value can it?

I got confused by this post. Do you have a complete operational unit you are trying to sell or are you selling the boiler top only and keeping the base and that auger? If you are trying to sell a complete unit send me a PM. I'm up the road in Girardville and might be interested.

It appears you are trying to use both oil in the summer and coal in the winter using one appliance?

Most everyone on here will tell you that any appliance that says they do both will do both not very well.

My vote? Keep your oil boiler and put a new stoker next to it.

mof1964 wrote:I was thinking just pulling my old complete unit and putting this new DF in its place, not putting the DF boiler on my old base.
As you mentioned the ash diverter, my old unit does not have one which leads to lots of ash scooping out of the base because much ash misses the tub.

My current oil boiler is a 1964 model weil mclain. it would imagine that its in the 60's for efficiency. Where does the DF stand for oil burning efficiency?
could be that I should just spend the money and have someone fit my boiler with the ash diverter and buy a new oil boiler.

I was hoping that my current 520 unit would have some sort of value to sell.

70% is probably the best you can expect for efficiency in the 520 when burning oil. I think the difference in efficiency is negligible between a 60's oil boiler and the DF520 fired on oil with a good tune. In addition to taking up less space, the 520 will have no problems with corrosion if you fire it on oil in the summer.

Your current EFM definitely has value, especially if the stoker has been overhauled. What is hurting you is that it is still in your basement. Talk to a few EFM dealers and see if you can work out a deal to have yours removed, and the DF520 removed from the neighbors house and put into yours. If the coil area needs any work I would have that repaired while it is above ground.

Anybody know what the price tag is on a new EFM DF520 not including instalation?

$10-12K would be my guess. The oil option would be about $2K more I would think. Personally, I prefer two seperate boilers. That is 100% backup.

Sorry if my post was confusing.
yes I currently have a 520 round door unit installed in my basement. I Have used it year round for the last 7yrs or so. This year I shut it down memorial day weekend and switched over to my oil boiler due to not being around much.
I have been tossing the idea of either buying a new oil fired hot water boiler or a good used DF520 unit so I can burn oil in the summer months through October.

I got the phone call from a local fellow that he has a late 80's DF520 unhooked in his basement -- he just switched to oil, put in a new oil boiler.

just trying to figure out what is the best option for me. I mentioned before my current 520 doesn't have rails in the base for an ash diverter so we generate lots of dust & dirt.
The rest of the family would like to make the basement usable livable space but with the current ash issue etc its too dirty.

I also have a chubby stove in the family room. We have considered the idea of a new oil boiler and running the chubby harder for the heating needs.

anything I do is going to cost a few grand minimum so I am looking for the best option/ suggestion.

just a side note: I called ugi gas company as gas is about 1500ft away in the next development & ugi says only 1 or 2 other home owners in my development have called for gas.
I can pay to have the lines run to my house for 40K.
I can buy lots of oil or coal for that.

I would look for a nice used oil boiler. They are taking them out left and right with all the change overs to natural gas. There are some nice ones down by you. Putting in an ash diverter isn't all that hard either. A couple pieces of bent metal screwed to the side and you would be good. I probably could get that for you.

Using a oil option for an EFM coal boiler is not a great option in my opinion. It isn't efficient. It Is good if you take off for vacation for a while and don't want to leave the coal on. Most twenty year old oil boilers run 83-85% efficient. If you needed to run oil full time for any reason, the EFM isn't the beast you want to feed.