New Keystoker KAA-2 Install

I'm not great with computers, but I'll give it a try...

The first shot is of the boiler vessel. Yeah, small but not light. I hoisted it with a bucket loader. I used a come-along attached to my basement's ceiling joists to lower it into the basement. Slow, but steady. The second shot is the boiler being leveled. Note that I put it up off the floor to prevent rusting under it. The third shot shows more leveling and the basic set-up. The fourth shot is a pressure test of the system before applying the jacket. One will note that there are 3 aquastat wells in place. The Low Water Cut-Off is plumbed into the back of the rising HOT line. Also note the 1-1/4" plugs in the return and hot lines in the event that I ever chose to add the infamous Keystoker "bypass loop". The fifth shows the fire being started with a cup of wood pellets. I torched them with a soldering torch; it worked amazingly well. To the next post for more shots.

The sixth shot shows too much feed with unburned coal dumping into the bucket. Bad! Turn the pusher nut counterclockwise. The seventh is a test fire. I think the ash line, burning line, and feed coal line are about right. The low water cut-off is now visible behind the HOT pipe. This is a hot water system. There should not be steam in the line. The eigth shot shows a decent fire. It needed a little bit more air (the photo doesn't do justice to situation).

I hope this helps all those struggling through the Keystoker intallation manual. Note: this system is in SERIES with an existing oil fired boiler. All the zone valves, the pump, another expansion tank, isolation valves, water fill, etc are to the left out of the photos. The T-T screws on the triple aquastat are jumpered witht he the high limit set at 170F, ie: to keep at 170F. It does not control any pumps, nor does the low temp. limit control work in this situation.

The photo I accidentally omitted above:

Great job Ken with the setup and thread.

Very nice,, a clean professional looking job...

Are you enjoying the heat??

Did you install an automatic damper on the oil boiler's chimney to reduce heat loss up that flue??

Greg L

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Your description and pictures are very helpful to someone that is patiently waiting and gathering info about a kaa2.[me among others] How high off the floor did you place the boiler? What thickness of boiler floor plate do they install? Is it enough to keep the floor from oil canning under the weight of a full bucket of ash? Thanks , Mike

Very nice photo follow-through the setup. Logical, professional setup and good explanation of the flat plate burn sequence.
I know you are staying warm right now. Charlie

stovepipemike wrote:What thickness of boiler floor plate do they install? Is it enough to keep the floor from oil canning under the weight of a full bucket of ash?

I think the floor plate 1/4". The KAA-2 is built like a tank! I dropped mine moving it around in the back yard! Rolled right into the neighbors bushes! Great fun rolling back out of the bush worrying if I ruined it.

Very Nice, I would recommend people consider not over sizing the boilers, this size would easily do most homes most people think bigger is better. When in fact in the coldest day of the winter it should be running most of the time to be optimally sized. However you cannot expect to turn the house temperature way down and expect it to heat the house up in a few minute. Slow and steady is a better approach and zoning a home is a real big help reducing the demand for heat everywhere all at once. Again very nice job…

Machinist ~ I hope it didn't land on any of your neighbor's prized azaleas.If so,you could always use the old azalea for starter fuel after you replace it in the spring! I agree with not oversizing the boiler.I knew I was near the design output for the Kaa2 and called the factory.I was told that the Kaa2 will carry approximetly 100 feet of fin tube baseboard.[If my memory serves me] This location has approximately 86 feet so I am feeling O.K. about the sizing.Can't wait til February when mine will be complete.great thread ,keep us up to date. Regards, Mike

Thanks for all the comments!

As some of you know, I don't come from a family with "coal experience". I only know one other person who burns coal and his is a freestanding radiant stove. So, as there is no "Introduction to Anthracite" manual or DVD that I know of, this post was my attempt to help those of similarly deprived up-bringings. Also, for those who have not seen it, the Keystoker Intallation guide is simply terrible.

I will do my very best to help all those starting out on their own. I'll update the thread as I learn more or as questions arise.

Now to the questions:

1. Height off floor: 3-1/2" leveled with steel shims on concrete bricks. It is open on hopper and stack ends to allow plenty of ventilation in the event of a wet floor. My floor has been wet from cleaning and pressure valve leakage on my old boiler.

2. Thickness of boiler base: probably about 1/4". Make no mistake, this is a substantial unit. Keystoker may have gypped us on the quality of the intallation manual, but not the steel. Some of he welds aren't as pretty as others you've seen, but there is lots of steel here. This is far beefier than it had to be.

3. Flue Damper: This system has 2 boilers in series. They vent to a single chimney which has two separate flues. The Kaa-2 you see. The Biasi (85% AFUE) low mass oil-fired boiler is not visible. It is fired by a Riello burner which features an automatic damper. It is a nice feature as it limits the amount of conditioned air which can be drafted up the chimney through the always-warm Biasi boiler. The Biasi is always warm because return water first flows through the Kaa-2, then to the Biasi, then to the house.

4. Boiler sizing: This is a key point and, by far, the most overlooked. In an ideal world, one would only buy the smallest unit which could reliably do the job. It's true for freezers, cars, Central A/C, and for boilers. It optimizes fuel use and limits overshoot. Believe me, Syracuse gets cold! Like -20F cold. And the countryside is windy. Throw in a 2700sq ft ranch (with lots of roof) and 30+ year old construction, and, yes, a 70-75,000 BTU boiler becomes a dubious choice. Especially when it also provides domestic HW to a family of 7! So, yes, the unit is undesized, but not terribly. Even in Syracuse, even with a family of 7.

So, why make this choice? For starters, this house, and most houses, are required to have a "conventional" system (so you can visit Florida in February, or maybe sell the house, or because you're a little old grandma choosing to keep your home of 50 years). Whatever. The house has a high efficiency oil boiler. It was silly to me to NOT consider that. So, except for the coldest months, and even then, really, only the very coldest days, 75K BTU is quite a bit.

I still use oil, but way less than before. We're talking 200 gal/year which includes 0.6 gal/day for hot water from May-October (no coal durng those months). I'll give you the updates as I collect the data.

My father installed his Kaa-2 about 3 years ago. He's heating about 2500 sq feet on 3 floors of a house built around 1950's to a steady 78 degrees all year long in central Pa. He's using about 130 feet of finned copper baseboard in the house and also heating his domestic hot water. Since it was installed the temperature in the house hasn't dropped below 75. On the coldest days of the year it will run for 12 hours straight to maintain temperature but it always keeps up. He burns about 4 1/2 tons a year with it. I couldn't agree more that for most single homes it's more than enough.

If it does not keep in the winter which I very much doubt, just add 8 inches of Batt fiberglass insulation to the attic. Everyone looks to technology for energy savings when the secret is insulate, insulate, insulate....

I noticed you didn`t put the loop on like they recommend, is there a reason or is it still a work in progress?

I had the opportunity to tour the Keystoker factory yesterday at the Meet and Greet. These are very heavy duty, well made units. They still handmake each unit, no assembly line, no robotics. If I were in the market for a boiler, I'd sure strongly consider one of these units. They are maxed our right now as far as production goes. They are awaiting an upgrade to their electrical service so they can add a few more welding stations. The production supervisor who gave us the tour (sorry, didn't cath his name) was a very knowledgable and nice guy.