Summer DHW - Coal Usage

I have an EFM 520 with 3 people in the house. I am still adding a 5 gallon bucket almost every day. We do not do extra laundry or showers. Actually; half the time there are only 2 people in the house (daughter does sleepovers). How much coal are you going through and how many are in your home?

AKHEARTH wrote:I have an EFM 520 with 3 people in the house. I am still adding a 5 gallon bucket almost every day. We do not do extra laundry or showers. Actually; half the time there are only 2 people in the house (daughter does sleepovers). How much coal are you going through and how many are in your home?

With Blaschak pea I typically expect to burn between 15 and 16.5 lbs per day during the summer months (which most certainly have not arrived yet). My lowest ever summer average was about 13.5 to 14.5 lbs. per day (using Harmony pea). Only 2 of us at home.

I am not sure where you live, but in my area we are still in the heating season. I am burning about 1/2 to 1 pail per day right now, depending on the weather. In the summer I burn about 20 lbs per day...call it 1/2 pail. 2 adults, 2 kids using hot water.

If you want to stretch your coal supply, the boiler needs to be clean, and the feed rate & temperature settings need to be matched to the load.

The Binford will chew up about 15 pounds a day during the hot weather.
I do love a hot shower even in the summer.

I live in northeast PA. I dropped my feed rate to 3 and upped my air to 5. I have not cleaned since the fall. I am planning on doing so in a week. Does anyone have an EFM and what settings are you using?
Thanks for your responces!

I forgot to mention my timer is set at 2 minutes every 45 minutes.

You are probably still burning some coal for heat.

3 teeth and 5 air is not a good combination unless you have air leaks or some super slow burning coal. I would increase the feed to 4 teeth and reduce the air to 4, then see how the ash ring looks after a 30 minute burn. 160/200 is good for the aquastat if you use a coil for DHW.

Thanks Rob. I was at 4 and 4 but it seemed like there was more unburnt coal in my ash. I thought if I reduced the feed and increased the air that might help. I'm m new to the coal especially for DHW so all advise is appreciated.
Thank you

You can try running the air at 4.5 and see how it does. I just don't like running less than 4 teeth because the fire is slow to respond, and the fire burns deeper in the pot...which is tough on the grates.