Coal-trol efficiency

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Bbulkley18
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Location: Western New York
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Leisure Line AK110
Coal Size/Type: Rice

Post by Bbulkley18 » Sat. Nov. 09, 2019 6:26 pm

Hello everyone,
I’ve been reading a lot of useful info on this forum for quite a while. Thanks for all of that! This all led me to the decision to buy the LL AK110 this summer and switch from wood to coal.
I installed the unit myself, which went quite well. Some basic info- roughly 25 foot of 8” chimney, necked down to 6” at the ceiling for the furnace. 6” Field RC barometric damper, Dwyer Mark II manometer hard lined into stove pipe about 18” up from the outlet. Coal-Trol Min set at 6, max at 28. Blaschack rice coal.
House is about 1800 square foot, very well insulated split level.
My closest guess is I am burning at least 50 pounds of coal per day, and the temps the past week have been highs around 35-45, lows 20-35. The furnace never comes off idle, and the set temp of 68 is always met or exceeded. Circulation fan has yet to run above idle. The highest I’ve seen the feed rate is 12. My baro is set to about 5, so my draft is always between -.04 and -.05.
I am wondering if this is the efficiency I can expect, or if I should try to drop the Min feed rate? The manual recommends 6 so I have left it there. Also, Is this draft setting I’m using acceptable for high efficiency? The ashes look good, no unburned coal. The fire is always a thin burn across the plate. I have the block off plate on the combustion fan blocking about 80% of the opening.
I just want to make sure I’m not burning any more coal than I need to, as most of our money here in NY goes to taxes!
Thanks in advance for any input. Feel free to let me know if you would like any more info about my setup.

 
lincolnmania
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Post by lincolnmania » Sun. Nov. 10, 2019 11:49 am

that seems decent to me, you could try lowering the min feed, just make sure that it will still idle on a warm day.
i'm burning a lot more coal with my current setup, but i'm heating a poorly insulated in places 2500 square foot house (that's including the basement, coal stove is down there)

 
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2001Sierra
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Post by 2001Sierra » Sun. Nov. 10, 2019 4:58 pm

You can lower the min feed rate but, if you lose your fire than you know you went to far. Maybe try 5.

 
Bbulkley18
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Joined: Sat. Nov. 09, 2019 6:00 pm
Location: Western New York
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Leisure Line AK110
Coal Size/Type: Rice

Post by Bbulkley18 » Sun. Nov. 10, 2019 6:38 pm

Thanks for the input. I will try lowering the Min to 5 tomorrow and see what happens. I will post the results. Just seemed like I was putting a lot of coal through it considering the unit isn’t calling for heat.


 
xackley
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Post by xackley » Sun. Nov. 10, 2019 10:27 pm

I usually set the min to 5 or 6 for a good thin line. This year the coal I bought from Homestead Coal in Bath NY will idle nicely at 4. I'm not sure if that means it is a better batch. They tell me it is Reading coal.
I had it down to 3 for a day back when we had warm day times, but the line didn't go all the way across, but did stay lit.

 
Bbulkley18
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Joined: Sat. Nov. 09, 2019 6:00 pm
Location: Western New York
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Leisure Line AK110
Coal Size/Type: Rice

Post by Bbulkley18 » Mon. Nov. 11, 2019 3:16 pm

That’s good to know. I got my coal from a place in Woodhull. What is everyone running for a draft? Is the .05 I have mine set at too much possibly? I just can’t help but think I’m putting too much coal through the unit since it isn’t needing to work hard.

 
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WNY
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Post by WNY » Fri. Nov. 29, 2019 8:37 am

Just make small changes, and wait a couple hours for it to settle out. Since coal takes time to react.
You can try and drop it to 5, just keep an eye on your burn/idle and make sure you maintain a good draft at that low MIN. sounds like it's working correctly. if the blower doesn't come on, not sure if it's controlled by the CoalTrol or has a separate temp switch on the plenum. There are setting to make it come on sooner. I think you can change the CFM min speed and when it comes on per feed rate. Depending on the options in the coaltrol. If you mostly idling with the warmer temps, the blower may not even come on. On my hyfire, with both burners running, its feed rate is only 0-15 most of the time when it's warmer out, and blower doesn't come on or really low speed.

 
Bbulkley18
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Joined: Sat. Nov. 09, 2019 6:00 pm
Location: Western New York
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Leisure Line AK110
Coal Size/Type: Rice

Post by Bbulkley18 » Fri. Apr. 24, 2020 9:48 am

Just an update. I ended up getting my MIN setting all the way down to 3. I fired up the furnace Nov 1st and 4 tons of coal will get me to exactly May 1st. I am really happy with the LL unit. Thanks again everyone for all the help.


 
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WNY
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Post by WNY » Sat. Apr. 25, 2020 2:38 pm

Sounds good!
I left mine at 6 or 8 I cant remember, it's a 35ft brick chimney, it needs to stay warm to keep the draft going, i bump it up when it get warmer outside 40-60 deg or so, but nights are still cool 25-35. I typically go thru about a ton a month, but that is with 2 stoves running, my LL Hyfire and a Keystoker.

 
Mitch
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Leisure Line AK-110
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Post by Mitch » Wed. Jul. 22, 2020 3:53 pm

I will be installing my LL Ak-110 in the next few weeks. This thread was really helpful in giving me some ideas as to how to do up my setting. Thank you everyone.

 
leoman584
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Post by leoman584 » Wed. Oct. 21, 2020 11:24 am

It took me a while to dial mine in. Just experiment and be patient.
I don't like the coal trol only allowing two 12 hour blocks in the programming, but oh well.
I did have to mess with the MIN/MAX settings a bit to get it to burn how I wanted.

More of an issue was getting the heat to go upstairs.
My stove roared and cooked out the basement, but it had trouble getting the heat upstairs where I wanted it and where the thermostat is at.

I talked to a HVAC guy, and he said that 90K BTU is all well and good, but the factory 6 inch round hole that they put on top of the stove will never move that much BTU into your duct work. A little bit of fabrication later, I now have dual 6" pipes coming off the stove that dump into my main trunk. Problem solved.

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