My 3 Month Keystoker Koker Review.

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Tater1977
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Joined: Tue. Oct. 08, 2013 9:33 pm

Post by Tater1977 » Thu. Feb. 27, 2014 9:49 pm

In mid November of 2013, I lit my brand new Keystoker Koker 160 For the first time and the blue flames have been dancing ever since. So far, I have been very pleased for the most part with both my stoker and coal heating in general. I am heating my 2400 SQ ft colonial built in 2005, with a full walk out basement. Total square footage heated including 1400SQ ft basement is 3800. My basement is of the poured wall type, with foam insulation below grade and under slab. The house is built with 6 inch walls with R23 fiberglass insulation, and blown in R38 in the attic. I was using radiant electric base board heat up until my Stoker, So my duct system is still a work in progress. I currently have 3 registers every 16 or so ft on the first floor back wall of our house, which is our kitchen and main living areas. The floor plan is pretty open. I do not currently have any ducts upstairs yet, but I do have a 2 story open foyer that gets some heat up their. The basement is heated strictly by heat radiated off of the stove and 20x20 x40 plenum, as well as 30ft of 8x20 duct for the first floor.

Up until mid December, where temps were pretty normal for our area, My thermostat settings and fuel usage averaged out to the following.

Thermostat setting 74 F
Actual first floor Temp 72F
Temperature fluctuation, + - 1.5 degree F
Average fuel consumption per day 56lbs. [Rice] [24 hrs.]
Average per month 1750 Lbs.
Draft reading 4-5.5
Stoker feed setting , 6 3/4 out
Convection blower on time per hr avg. 15min.
Basement avg temp [Radiant only] 69 F

This is my data from late December till present. Most days were single digit temps with most nights zero or below.

Thermostat setting 74F
Actual first floor temp 72F
Temperature fluctuation + - 1 degree F
Average fuel consumption per day 76 lb rice [24hrs.]
Average per month 2,280lbs
Draft reading 4-6
Stoker feed screw setting 6 3/4 out
Convection blower on time per hr avg 23 min.
Basement temp avg Radiant only] 71 F

This time last year I was averaging 6500 KW hr of electricity usage per month. currently I am averaging around 2000 KW hr.

I am very impressed with the heat output of the Koker, as well as the fuel consumption. I am never going back to electric heat !!!! Complaints..... Just a couple. The feed screw needs to be adjusted every month or so as it somehow backs out and the house starts to cool off. Usualy have to turn it back in 2 to 3.5 turns to get back to the desired 6 3/4 out. Not sure what is up with that, but will look harder at it when I shut it down for the season. Next, this thing makes an enormous amount of ash. I fill a 50 gallon steel trash can in about 7 days. Good thing I have acreage to lose it, a front end loader and a walk out basement lol. Other than those two small items, it is awesome !!!!!!

 
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2001Sierra
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Posts: 2211
Joined: Wed. May. 20, 2009 8:09 am
Location: Wynantskill NY, 10 miles from Albany
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Keystoker 90 Chimney vent
Coal Size/Type: Rice
Other Heating: Buderus Oil Boiler 3115-34

Post by 2001Sierra » Thu. Feb. 27, 2014 9:56 pm

Very glad to hear another success story. I bet with electric your stats where not set that high. Can you imagine your Edison bill with those set points! Ash is ash we all have plenty of it, small price to pay for a fuel that can be easy and does not spoil. Just stay up wind when dumping the ash and all will be well.

 
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freetown fred
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Joined: Thu. Dec. 31, 2009 12:33 pm
Location: Freetown,NY 13803
Hand Fed Coal Stove: HITZER 50-93
Coal Size/Type: BLASCHAK Nut

Post by freetown fred » Thu. Feb. 27, 2014 10:04 pm

Lookin real good for ya T :)


 
WNYRob
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Posts: 264
Joined: Thu. Apr. 14, 2011 12:13 pm
Location: Springville, NY
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Keystoker Koker controlled with CoalTrol

Post by WNYRob » Thu. Feb. 27, 2014 10:22 pm

Glad things are working good for you. One request though, can you explain further your draft readings. I realize you are leaving out the decimal points, but even with an appropriate number of decimal places your draft seems too high. Unless new kokers are different, they usually run at .025 measured at the ash pan door. Are you taking readings at the flue opening on top of the stove in order to get the high values you have stated?

Remember, too high a draft sucks too much heat out of the stove along with increasing the chance of a hopper fire.

 
jrn8265
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Joined: Tue. Jul. 22, 2008 11:52 am
Location: Near Coal Country, PA

Post by jrn8265 » Fri. Feb. 28, 2014 10:23 am

I have had my koker for 6 years now and love it. I burn my oil for only a few days each year to exercise the furnace....

Your draft of 6 is high and you are losing a lot of heat.

Do you have your damper set correctly?

I keep mine around 2-4

Also, that bushel coal collector from keystoker is too small, I replaced it with a 11.5 gal round tub and I go 3-5 days without changing it.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback! Your numbers are pretty much inline with mine as my house is about the same!

 
Badog
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Joined: Tue. Nov. 06, 2007 3:39 pm
Location: Lehigh Valley Pa.

Post by Badog » Fri. Feb. 28, 2014 11:08 am

This year my ash does not even make it to the curb. I have actually receive a beer in trade for them:)


 
flyboydale54
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Joined: Wed. Apr. 13, 2016 11:52 pm
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Leisure Line AK110 forced air stoker furnace
Coal Size/Type: Rice

Post by flyboydale54 » Thu. Nov. 29, 2018 3:06 pm

I found a solution for a lot of the ash. Dump two 5 gallon buckets at the top of the driveway, one on each tire path = 2 buckets. Using a barn shovel, swat at top of the pile working downward with each swat of the shovel, and presto sanded dirt driveway. Better than any sand or salt can do and the black ash works nice during the day as the suns rays penetrate the clouds, heat up the ash and melts down to the dirt, clearing the path even if it is below freezing. Fairly steep incline, but yields great traction coming up the driveway, even if there is an inch or so of snow in the driveway. I love the swat the ash method with the barn shovel because it really goes way down the driveway. Sometimes I have to take an extra 5 gallon pail out with me if I need to really get the bottom part of the driveway coated. If I try to come up the driveway with an inch or two of snow in it with my Dodge Grand Caravan, I will generally get 1/2 to 2/3rds way up and not be able to crest over the top. With the Coal Ash from burning my rice coal, it blasts up over the top easily without spinning the tires. Great stuff.

 
CoaLen
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Posts: 601
Joined: Wed. Apr. 09, 2008 7:05 am
Location: Geauga County, NE Ohio
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Keystoker Koker
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by CoaLen » Thu. Nov. 29, 2018 7:05 pm

I agree with the others. I have a direct vent Koker. I added a rheostat to the vent motor and "tweak" the draft to maintain -.03.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I've been heating with my Koker for 10 yrs and I agree with you; it's awesome!

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