New Stoker on Order Is It Ok ??? Newbie !!!

bzizzi · Post by **bzizzi** » Sun. Jul. 20, 2008 1:31 pm

I am new to this forum and heating with coal,I now have a Burnham boiler with two heat exchangers and a inderect HW heater.I want to try coal without spending a ton of money for now.I ordered a reading Juinata with 450 cfm blower and a 6"x12" hole in top to hook into my return to help subsidize my oil heating bill.I have a Harmon/Reading dealer near my house and he said that he sells lots of these units and people installed them exactly this way.I do not have several thousand dollars to put into a coal boiler at this time because of kids going to college is priority right now.I did the math,and filling my 550 gal oil tanks @ 4.50/gal will be $2475 and I got this stove for $1700 so it should really pay off if all goes well.However down the road I will more than likely upgrade to a coal boiler,but for now I will just be happy with slowing the oil consumption of the Burnham.It will still be used for donestic hot water and some heating.What do you experts think ????

bzizzi · Post by **bzizzi** » Wed. Jul. 23, 2008 8:01 am

Anyone ????

Post by **Richard S.** » Wed. Jul. 23, 2008 8:18 am

You'll most certainly save money, that stove is rated at 85,000 BTU which could provide most if not all the heat for a 2000 sq. ft. home and keep it comfortably warm. A home that size typically requires about 5 tons of coal a year. At local prices of about $160 a ton delivered (you'll have to factor in your own cost here and adjust for the size of the house) that's $800. I ton of coal equals approx 180 gallons of oil, at $4.50 a gallon the cost for oil would be $4050....

Cost of stove: $1700
Cost of coal: $800
Grand Total: $2500

Net savings first year: $1500

Net saving second Year: $3200

Sticking it to the Arabs... Priceless.

Edit: If you expect to only use 550 gallons of oil for the heating season your savings will diminish slightly but you'll still come out ahead of the game even after one heating season assuming you can get the coal for a reason able price.

coalkirk · Post by **coalkirk** » Wed. Jul. 23, 2008 8:55 am

I understand about $$ being tight with kids, college etc., however here's the flaw in your plan. With the stove you purchased, you are still going to need to burn oil.

I would beg or borrow the $$ to install the boiler which will completely eliminate the need to burn oil. Your pay back will be quick given the crazy price for oil and your savings will be greater, allowing more to go to the other expenses you mentioned. Higher initial investment but much greater return. I'm spending money I don't have now (don't ask me how) to build a bunker to store 24 tons of coal. Buying in bulk every four to five years also yields greater overall savings.

Freddy · Post by **Freddy** » Wed. Jul. 23, 2008 9:26 am

The sad reality is that 4 or 5 yrs ago a $10,000 heating investment would have had a 15 or 20 year payback, now the payback is 2 years! It's either spend it on oil and it's gone, or invest in a coal device and get paid back over and over again.

Mantis · Post by **Mantis** » Wed. Jul. 23, 2008 7:56 pm

The sad reality is that 4 or 5 yrs ago a $10,000 heating investment would have had a 15 or 20 year payback, now the payback is 2 years! It's either spend it on oil and it's gone, or invest in a coal device and get paid back over and over again.

This sentance makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside

I'm so glad I found u guys! Can't wait to get shakin.

bzizzi · Post by **bzizzi** » Thu. Jul. 24, 2008 11:00 am

Actually,I want oil as my back up and to heat my hot water.I put 200 gallons of oil in the tank and believe it or not I can heat my water for a year on that.there is only three of us in the house .I also want to shut down the coal burner if we go away on a trip so I don't have to worry with filling up a stoker.I will turn the thermostats down to 60 and let the oil heat do its job,keeping things from freezing up with out worry.All I care about is the really cold months anyhow,Dec,Jan,Feb,march.
when the oil boiler seems to run all the time.I am glad I found this forum,you guys inspired me to order a stoker and give coal a try !!