Need help locating a used EFM 520 & info

Hello,

I am new to this forum and coal heat in general. I have a large 1800's house in Pottsville that I would like to install an efm 520 or larger in.
A few years ago I ripped out an old V-E stoker that had been converted to oil 30 years ago (it was shot). I replaced it with a new
Weil-McClain gold P-WTGO-4 145K/126K oil burner. Big mistake - a plumber whom I mistakenly trusted sized the unit for me and it is underated for the house.
An efm 520 seems to be the most poplular and available stoker. Can you tell me what the larger efm furnace models are? Are they similar
in design and operation to the 520? I plan to leave the oil burner in place as backup and pipe up the coal stoker in series. The entire house
is hot water/copper fin baseboard.

I would like to locate a used 520 in good condition and plan to install it myself. I would be willing to remove one from an existing home also.
Who is the local dealer (to get parts) for these Furnaces in the Pottsville area?

Any information or leads that you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I have listed my email address below.

Joel
426hemigtx@comcast.net

Send a PM to scrapper_23jr He is in your area.

efm Dealers/forum members who might have used efm stokers

You can also try that link. Good luck.

Thanks,

Another question I have - I have seen some installations use a 55 gallon drum and others with the
pipe going directly into the coal bin through a "dog box". What are the advantages of either/or?

What is the longest auger/pipe assembly that can be used? I may have place the bin further away
from the stoker than I would like.

Does the chimney of a coal stoker get any type of buildup? Should they be cleaned like a wood stove chimney?

On a stoker setup with the 55 gallon drum - how long would this last before filling in winter months?

Thanks in advance,

Joel

Both barrel and bin work well. With the barrel, you could have problems with CO, so use a sealed lid. A barrel holds about 400 pounds of rice coal which should last for one to several days. The longest distance to the bin, using worms, is about 11 feet.

With a bin, you can go for weeks at a time without worrying about running out of coal.

Chimney bases can fill with flyash, so clean a minimum of once a year. The chimney itself stays clean.