Coal Bin for EFM

Any designs out there for coal bins to feed and EFM boiler? I've been using a 55 gallon drum which works fine. However, I'd like to build something that will fit 1-1.5 tons. That way, I would fill the bin less often. How best to design a bin which feeds the auger with little left over at the bottom. The EFM manual says that coal will slide down a smooth angle of 20 degrees from horizontal. That means the best design would be to angle the bottom pieces at 20 degrees toward the auger.

I'd rather not recreate the wheel. I'm sure there are great designs already in use. Any pictures or drawings would be greatly appreciated.

COAL BIN Pics


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BillW has the answer. His boiler is up on blocks so his auger is higher in his bin than needs be but its a start.

BillW has a nice set up. Only thing is that there will be alot of coal sitting on the bottom, never to make it to the auger. This means that there will have to be a layer of coal in the bottom of the bin just for coal to make it to the auger. This design gives me a starting point. However, I'm still looking for a time tested design that will make the flow of coal more efficient.

I considered putting sloped sides in it to allow the coal to slide to the auger. Instead of spending 100 or so on plywood I have it filled with coal. The next time money gets tight I know I have a few tons of coal in reserve that I can count on instead of 8 sheets of plywood, 2 x 4's and dead air space. Can't burn any of them in an EFM. It's an individual choice. I've been strapped for cash one to many times in my life so I'm cautious. For me having the additional coal that I may have to shovel is more comforting than the plywood slides.

If you plan on building it out of block make sure to put caps on the top of the block. It's another thing I need to add this off season. The top of my bin is higher than the coal chute door. To fill the bin to the top I had to shovel the coal over the top. Without caps you'll fill the block with coal unless you cover it with a tarp or something like I did last year. If everything stays good with money I plan on having 14-16 tons in storage this year. Also make sure you add weep holes for the water from the coal to drain. Mine drained to the outside for a good couple of weeks when I first filled it up.

Good luck with your design.

Hi. I very happy with my design. I sloped two sides of my 8'x8' bin. The first year I did not do this and like others, I had a lot of coal that could not be burned. Some mornings there was no heat in the house because the worm was exposed. No coal was rolling down to it. Very frustrating. So I errected 3 4x4 post in the three corners and ran 2x4s standing on edge across the bin. Then I installed 2x4s like rafters sloped down to the auger. My slope is around 45 degrees. I can get 3.5 tons of coal in the bin. Maybe 4 tons if I raise the one wall a little bit. This design has made burning coal very very easy. I don't have to worry about the aforementioned.

Also, this past year my worm broke. Since I had the dog house (as efm calls it), I was able to replace the worm without touching one piece of coal.

I have a 96 gallon bin now, and have it sitting on a washing machine plastic drain pan to catch the water from the bags of coal. I put a couple small holes in the bottom to let the water out. I was surprised since I vacuum up about 1 gallon of water for every 3 bags I put into the bin. I can't imagine how much water would be draining from a larger bin if using bags. Does anyone else have this experience. The pallets of coal are covered with plastic so no water is getting in other than what they were shipped with during the summer.

Also, the bin ran out of coal early one evening and filled up with smoke. The lid was shut so it didn't go too much in the basement. I was preoccupied with fixing my computer after the HDD failed since I didn't want to loose all my family pictures. I fixed the computer, but didn't fill up the coal in the bin in time...

Dave

My harddrive failed two weeks ago. It was running slow and I did a Cntl, Alt, Delete on a slow program and that was the end of it. It never started up again. Lucky for me I have Carbonite or everything would be gone.

i use a 55 gallon drum......the coal bin holds 3 ton max and sits next to the drum......with the placement of my furnace, feeding coal from the bin would take up too much space......so shoveling coal into the barrel is good excercise