What Do U Think Abou O/S Combustion Air? Long Post, Sorry

imcloud..

no boiler )but I wish)
.

heating about
4000 sq ft (when consider basement)...all with coal
dhw currently electric....(get it??....currently....electric??)
...anyways hot water coil hook up soon....cant wait.
Im in CNY...btw

So what do you do if you have to leave your home for a few days in the winter? What if the coal fails and parts aren't available that day? I would be nervous with a single appliance, never mind coal, my hat is off to you, that takes some commitment and faith for sure... Not that my coal system ever failed, but its a lot of eggs for one basket...

I know how you feel heating 4K sq feet, I can spend $1000 a month in oil as easy as some people use $200. How much are you spending a year in coal and what unit do you use?

keystoker A150. hot air furnace
...ive gone upto 5 days without touching a thing....but yes-it still needs tending to it
(ashes and hopper)...oil or propane would be my other options...and we are considering a propane insert for the shoulder seasons....but ive let the stoker go thru 70+ degree days idling....with no issues.
4 ton of rice coal seems to do us the whole year...
we pay about 260. per ton....bagged....deliveref.
I kick myself SOMETIMES for not opting for the oil burner on our koker...but I could retrofit it ...for carefree extended days away.
as far as. breaking down...the stoker mechanism is about the only out of the ordinary part to find/service....and our dealers a phone call away.
other components are pretty common
( plus Im "pretty handy")......

...believe me-i commend you for your well thought out design...
there is ALOT to say for reduntancy....its a true strength

Rigar wrote:keystoker A150. hot air furnace
...ive gone upto 5 days without touching a thing....but yes-it still needs tending to it
(ashes and hopper)...oil or propane would be my other options...and we are considering a propane insert for the shoulder seasons....but ive let the stoker go thru 70+ degree days idling....with no issues.
4 ton of rice coal seems to do us the whole year...
we pay about 260. per ton....bagged....deliveref.
I kick myself SOMETIMES for not opting for the oil burner on our koker...but I could retrofit it ...for carefree extended days away.
as far as. breaking down...the stoker mechanism is about the only out of the ordinary part to find/service....and our dealers a phone call away.
other components are pretty common
( plus Im "pretty handy")......

...believe me-i commend you for your well thought out design...
there is ALOT to say for reduntancy....its a true strength

I would even feel better with an electric duct heater, since you are running metal duct anyway, why not throw in a pair of Markel HF20's, or a hf20 and an hf10, the 20's are around 50K BTU and the 10's are around 25K, so when its not super cold and you need a little heat you can run them singly, when its cold and you need the heat you can run them together... You can buy the 20's for around $250 each and they are simple to wire, and simple to install in the dw.... I do this a lot with space packs, also sometimes when you install in floor radiant some rooms wont have enough room in the floor for enough BTU's to heat the room {high ceilings, glass doors, ect} and if the customer doesn't want to go into the walls with the tubing and raising the floor temps will make other rooms uncomfortable I will install a duct heater in that rooms ac duct work and run it in when the floor won't keep up.... They are 100% efficient of course, BUT electricity is expensive. But if your stove will run 5 days, and you were taking a 7 day vacation, load the stove, and rely on the electric to take over for the last 2 days or if something goes wrong.... as I always say, even a bad plan is better than no plan, lol....

$260 a ton, I wish, I pay almost $100 more than that, and if I pick it up {50 miles away} I can save $30 a ton...

imcloud1

...thanks for the idea..
electric is so expensive here...but it would only be for the shoulder season...or few days away...
i will look into it

Keep an eye on ebay you can get the best deals on "electric duct heaters" be sure and get a single phase 220-240 unit{or compatible} you don't want a 120 unit they will need more amps and use more electricity. The control can be 120v but you want a 220-240 coil, they sell them cased and with the control mounted, I like using multiple units so you can control how much electricity you use, if its 40 degrees out a single 50K BTU coil would be fine, if its 0 out you may want to run 2 50k BTU coils....

Im not sure if you have air conditioning bu another option is a heat pump system, obviously much more of an investment, but if your dw can be retrofitted to central air it may be worth while... I usemy heatpumps down to the mid 40's {I can go lower but with my math the HE boiler starts to even out at that point}, it will work down to the low teens with no issues and when you combine that with a duct heater you can get really good efficiency... Hybrid systems are nice, they give you a dual heat source and less energy usage with improved comfort {heatpumps obviously don't dry out your air like a furnace of duct coil...}