New Member and Need Advice

BudsWife · Post by **BudsWife** » Thu. Aug. 14, 2008 12:26 pm

Hi, my husband and I recently bought an older 2400 sq. ft. house in Kingston, NH, so my parents could live with us, but we are now paying the price to heat/cool the place. We have a small, low basement (maybe 5' ceiling) with central AC/120,000 BTU FHA oil furnace already installed, but are looking for a dual or tri-fuel furnace to supplement or replace it altogether. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm waiting to hear from Mike at Complete Heat, but he must be swamped.

Thanks!

BudsWife

Yanche · Post by **Yanche** » Thu. Aug. 14, 2008 2:08 pm

Coal stoker boiler with a water to air heat exchanger in the duct work. Use your existing oil furnace as backup.

Devil505 · Post by **Devil505** » Thu. Aug. 14, 2008 2:44 pm

Yanche wrote:Coal stoker boiler with a water to air heat exchanger in the duct work. Use your existing oil furnace as backup.

LOL.......A man of few words!

( I would have at least started that sentence with an "A"!)

CapeCoaler · Post by **CapeCoaler** » Fri. Aug. 15, 2008 8:14 am

Coal stoker boiler with a water to air heat exchanger in the duct work. Use your existing oil furnace as backup.

Ditto!
New boilers sold out till next year. Refurbished available.
A stove will/can provide the majority of the house heat if the layout is open enough.

If you're looking for advice on what to get please provide the following information:

Have the answers for these:

* Square footage of your house.
* Current system that is installed.
* What is current BTU rating of your existing system.
* Is Coal available in your area or can it be delivered reasonably?
* Geographic location

Now if you can answer these:

* Do you have an existing chimney?
* Do you have any spare working flues?
* Rough estimate of your yearly fuel bill and type of fuel.
* Rough estimate of your budget for the coal stoker/stove.
*Spare utility room besides the short basement/glorified crawl space? Garage? Outbuildings?
*How handy with tools or getting friends who are to help you?

BudsWife · Post by **BudsWife** » Fri. Aug. 15, 2008 9:54 am

Hi again Guys,

My first question is why a boiler and not a furnace?

Here is my info:

* Square footage of your house -- 2400
* Current system that is installed -- ThermoPride Oil FHA Furnace/SEER 10 AC
* What is current BTU rating of your existing system. 120,000 BTU
* Is Coal available in your area or can it be delivered reasonably? Hope so!
* Geographic location -- Southern NH seacoast

Now if you can answer these:

* Do you have an existing chimney? Yes
* Do you have any spare working flues? No
* Rough estimate of your yearly fuel bill and type of fuel. 6-8K OIL
* Rough estimate of your budget for the coal stoker/stove. Make me an offer
*Spare utility room besides the short basement/glorified crawl space? Garage? Outbuildings? None
*How handy with tools or getting friends who are to help you? Very

Cap · Post by **Cap** » Fri. Aug. 15, 2008 12:11 pm

Yanche wrote:

Coal stoker boiler with a water to air heat exchanger in the duct work. Use your existing oil furnace as backup.

Yanche, question for you. Why would a coal boiler with a water to air heat exchanger be preferred over a coal furance forced air unit? Thanks in advance.

sharkman8810 · Post by **sharkman8810** » Fri. Aug. 15, 2008 12:42 pm

I'd tap into your existing duct work with a forced hot air coal furnace/stove. There are several brands, keystoker, leisure line, efm, maybe are probably the 3 I would look at first. Getting one will be a challenge for this year, as most are already backlogged. With that said, a Reading utility stove, or look at Alaska models would be my next thoughts.

Cyber36 · Post by **Cyber36** » Fri. Aug. 15, 2008 1:46 pm

Don't forget Marathon........

coalkirk · Post by **coalkirk** » Fri. Aug. 15, 2008 3:54 pm

Cap wrote:Yanche wrote:
Coal stoker boiler with a water to air heat exchanger in the duct work. Use your existing oil furnace as backup.
Yanche, question for you. Why would a coal boiler with a water to air heat exchanger be preferred over a coal furance forced air unit? Thanks in advance.

I'm not Yanche but I'll take a stab. First of all, a boiler is more efficient than a coal furnace or stove as it can store heat in the water when there is no demand. It's easier to regulate and control the house temperature. You get "free" domesitc hot water as a bonus. It's not as drying to the house in winter as a furnace or stove. Proper humidity in winter is a key element of comfort level. I'm betting Yanche will have several other really good reasons too.

Cap · Post by **Cap** » Fri. Aug. 15, 2008 6:23 pm

Coalkirk wrote:

First of all, a boiler is more efficient than a coal furnace or stove as it can store heat in the water when there is no demand. It's easier to regulate and control the house temperature. You get "free" domesitc hot water as a bonus. It's not as drying to the house in winter as a furnace or stove

Ok. Now I have another question. Can you explain to me exactly what a water to air heat exchanger is and how does it work? I thought it to be no more than an *A* coil in the ductwork with a fan blowing air across it in the same manner as a furance. Thanks

CapeCoaler · Post by **CapeCoaler** » Fri. Aug. 15, 2008 7:02 pm

Yes, just like an A coil in function with slightly different design.

Remember the 5 foot basement? Would need some 'short stature fire person' to feed a furnace in the glorified crawl space. Someone must feed a coal furnace/boiler/stove and remove the ashes on a regular basis. If it is in the short basement the job will be unpleasant unless you are 4 foot tall.

No existing flue to use. Would need a chimney or power venter. You got snow issues and loss of power issues with a power vent.
The boiler can be setup remotely and provide you will a full headroom experience. The clearances would be tight with just 5 foot available under the house.

Boiler setup remotely in a insulated garden shed, coal bin outside the shed to hold 16 ton, blast some ledge for the trench and install an air handler along with an indirect DHW tank if one not yet installed all in the crawl space. Your house will be warm and the hot water will be almost endless. Any dust/dirt will be outside and fire issues will not be a issue in the old house.

How many gallons of oil did you use? My guess is 2300-2800. If you burned 2800 gal of oil you can guesstimate 16 ton of coal.
How warm did you keep the house 72-74?

Coal would not be an issue as you can get it direct from the breaker in PA, 24 ton truck load, because you will use 16 ton a year.

If you are resourceful 8-12k would be a good guess. 16 ton @ $3600 would save about $3500/yr. So payback is about 4 years; not a bad investment.

Seacoast is a great area, went to UNH and still visit regularly.

CapeCoaler · Post by **CapeCoaler** » Fri. Aug. 15, 2008 7:10 pm

Links to exchangers and air handlers or just Google it.

http://www.outdoorstovesupplies.com/Detail.bok?no=125
http://www.outdoorstovesupplies.com/Detail.bok?no=91
http://ctwoodfurnace.com/parts_water_to_air.htm
http://ctwoodfurnace.com/parts_home_hookups.htm

danzig · Post by **danzig** » Fri. Sep. 05, 2008 10:42 am

look at the marathon (logwood) line of wood/coal furnaces or boilers they are built to last. These units are true coal burners they can burn coal with no problem. You can get this unit as an add on (CF-22) or a combination multifuel unit. I have one and love it.