Thoughts on furnace location please.....

Just looking to bend a few ears here....

Id like to get a stoker going here at the house till this winter rolls around. Im definatly not new to coal as far as that goes...my family has sold coal for probably 60 years.... but I just moved into a house that burns oil....

Anyhow, after looking at the dimensions of a 520 EFM, Im not so sure I can fit one into the basement of this 150 year old place. I mean, it would have room down there but the trouble is getting it in there. I have no outside entrance, and it would need to come through the house.... and there is a bad corner at the top of the basement steps. Nothing short of blowing a hole in the floor or digging an outside entrace is going to get that thing down there. I have an attatched garage but the bugger is just about too small to put one out there. Barely enough room for the car. I know I need an outside entrance, and that is on the plan... but just not affordable now.

SOOOOOO here we go..... Been scratching my brain trying to figure out how to make this work. I dont know what codes come into effect, or anything about them. But what about a guy putting up a small metal shed.... like an 8 by 8 or 10 by 10.... the kind you buy in a box at Lowes to house this thing in beside the house, and then pipe the hot water in. I say metal because it would be fireproof. Could a fella use double wall stainless flue pipe then? Instead of building a block flue? There isnt much to those little sheds, but it would be substantial enough to house a boiler, and not permanent. I cant see why that couldnt be done, considering a fireproof shed, keep stoker out of weather, and pipe hot water 35 feet underground right into the basement and tie in on the hot water system. Also give me your thoughts on the domestic, how that would work outside in cooler temps, and also how high of a flue pipe would I need.... 10 foot? 15 foot?

Anyhow give me your thoughts.... tell me what system you have as far as you folks that have the furnace outside of your basement. I need to come up with something.... had 3,000 dollars in oil this winter

Any thoughts, positive, negative, are appriciated!

Tyler Hall
Loysburg PA

Have you considered it does come off the base? Are the dimensions you are going by the smallest possible without the covering and anything else that comes off?

This may sound nuts but if it were me it would be going in one way or the other even if the kitchen had to get a new floor..

Here is a photo of an EFM in two pieces..

Greg L

1: You say an outside basement entrance is in the plan eventually. I'll bet the cost of a shed and digging the ditch would be exactly the cost of digging a hole and cutting the wall. A piece of plywod over the hole would get you through a year or two so you could save up the money for the footings and walls for a Bilco door. This is assuming you have good drainage.

2: Or... Does any room have carpet? I'll wager that in one day you could remove a carpet, cut a hole in the floor, lower the boiler, repair the stringers, replace the floor and lay the carpet back. That would be a fun project! Remove carpet down to the wood. Stack cement blocks 5 feet high, put a beam across them. A winch, hoist, come-a-long could lift the boiler off the floor. Remove the floor beneath it, (make sure the weight of the boiler is not on the stringers that you're about to cut) (No humans allowed under the boiler!!!) Lower the boiler to the cellar floor. Repair the hole and be done in time for the evening news.

I like option two better.

Well I do like those ideas. I am going to measure one more time to be sure that the bugger wont go down the steps... BTW app. how heavy is an empty 520 EFM boiler? Bet that thing could be a bear to wrestle down the narrow steps.

The only thing about taking up the floors. I kindof have a problem there too. The place has old old old hardwood floors. They are in pretty good shape and id hate to have to rip em up. So that kind of puts the klinkers to going through the floor.

Digging an outside entrance into the basement is probably the only good way about it really. Id say a couple of buddies and a case of beer and we could have that well on the way

The only other thing is that I read on here previously that you are not supposed to run an oil furnace and a coal furnace into the same chimney.... that kindof sucks because im gonna keep the oil hooked up.

Dont know how long I may be living here, so the outside steel shed idea I like alot because it would be easy to move the coal stoker with me if I go.... rather than carting it back out of the basement....

Just dont know what the heck to do???

i just installed one it comes in at 750 - 800 lbs not a light thing