Southerner Needs a Primer

HandLogger · Post by **HandLogger** » Tue. Jan. 21, 2020 7:42 pm

Yeah, I wasn't looking for the time literally. I was just wondering how many times a day you have to make a stop at the stove. Thanks very much for the 50-93 posts.

VigIIPeaBurner · Post by **VigIIPeaBurner** » Tue. Jan. 21, 2020 10:52 pm

For a power supply to reliably run a stoker consider a battery, small inverter, and a dedicated charger to maintain the charge. A solar panel & controller as a backup or main source of recharging is do-able and only as expensive as you want. The motors on flat bed stokers are not extremely current hungry. If power goes out when you're away it will run for a day or so depending on amp hours in the battery(s). Somewhere on this forum IIRC Freddy and others had a thread on this topic a few year back. I think they were using used scooter batteries.

Having said that, I rely on my hand fed batch feeder that I can cook on. Temperature of the top (~500-700*) isn't too easy to regulate quickly but a variety of trivets help.

HandLogger · Post by **HandLogger** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 12:37 pm

VigIIPeaBurner wrote: ↑
Tue. Jan. 21, 2020 10:52 pm
For a power supply to reliably run a stoker consider a battery, small inverter, and a dedicated charger to maintain the charge. A solar panel & controller as a backup or main source of recharging is do-able and only as expensive as you want. The motors on flat bed stokers are not extremely current hungry. If power goes out when you're away it will run for a day or so depending on amp hours in the battery(s). Somewhere on this forum IIRC Freddy and others had a thread on this topic a few year back. I think they were using used scooter batteries.

Having said that, I rely on my hand fed batch feeder that I can cook on. Temperature of the top (~500-700*) isn't too easy to regulate quickly but a variety of trivets help

PeaBurner: I'm not familiar with it, obviously, but I see that you own some kind of a stoker system in addition to hand-fed coal burner. Considering what you wrote (above), I'd really like to read a few words from you about your stoker stove.

I, too, see the possibility of employing some sort of a backup system for power failures. Is the battery/inverter backup you've written about being charged continuously? We have several batteries in our garage that we keep on 2 Amp "trickle chargers," but we never load them while they're on the charger. My thoughts on your backup system are that the dedicated charger would suffer once the power goes out and the load of the stoker system is applied to the inverter. Needless to say, the charger in your setup would be in parallel with the battery and, therefore, have an effect on the overall system design. What are your thoughts on this?

nepacoal · Post by **nepacoal** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 12:41 pm

Check out the Aims inverter/chargers. I have a 1000W pure sine wave model with a single 125AH battery. Gives me almost 2 hours of runtime to get the generator hooked up.

HandLogger · Post by **HandLogger** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 12:41 pm

Now that PeaBurner has me thinking about the possibility of a simplified battery backup system -- as opposed to a genset backup -- I'd love to read more from those of you who own stoker coal systems. So far, I've read a lot from the hand-fed folks, but not much from the people who rely on AC power. Thanks very much for your time.

HandLogger · Post by **HandLogger** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 12:53 pm

nepacoal wrote: ↑
Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 12:41 pm
Check out the Aims inverter/chargers. I have a 1000W pure sine wave model with a single 125AH battery. Gives me almost 2 hours of runtime to get the generator hooked up.

NepaCoal: Considering the rise of solar power technology, I should've known that someone out there was designing for the future. The Aims equipment looks like well-built stuff, and I will definitely keep them in mind if we decide on a stoker system. By the way, would you care to share any thoughts on stokers?

nepacoal · Post by **nepacoal** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 1:14 pm

Love our stoker boiler... We run year around and they can idle back to a thin line of fire to just stay lit during warm winter days but will ramp up to full fire in about half an hour when needed. Both hand feds and stokers have their place. Both need tending but the stokers can usually go longer between service. I have to change out my ash pan after burning 160 lbs or so. Depending on the weather, that can be 3 or 4 days or as little as a day and a half...

HandLogger · Post by **HandLogger** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 1:21 pm

nepacoal wrote: ↑
Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 1:14 pm
Love our stoker boiler... We run year around and they can idle back to a thin line of fire to just stay lit during warm winter days but will ramp up to full fire in about half an hour when needed. Both hand feds and stokers have their place. Both need tending but the stokers can usually go longer between service. I have to change out my ash pan after burning 160 lbs or so. Depending on the weather, that can be 3 or 4 days or as little as a day and a half...

Nice, NepaCoal

Do you use the Aims inverter system as a battery backup? If you do, are you employing the pure sine wave type inverter or the modified (square wave) type? Thanks very much for posting.

nepacoal · Post by **nepacoal** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 1:33 pm

The AIMS inverter/charger we have is a pure sine wave model. It is dedicated to the coal boiler and is wired to the generator transfer switch. So if the power outage lasts more than an hour or so, I can fire up the generator and flip a switch. The generator would then be powering the inverter/charger to recharge the battery, while also powering the coal boiler. I can also power the oil boiler, the fridge, and the stairway and bathroom lights through the generator transfer switch.

Post by **Rob R.** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 3:16 pm

I don't have any suggestions for stoker stoves. Personally I think if you are going to have a stoker, it should heat the entire house - not just the basement or first floor.

Den034071 · Post by **Den034071** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 3:38 pm

Hand Robs intelligent boiler comment .Do a search on Rebuilt E F M stoker boilers .This heats the hot water for showers and heats the house also .There are other brands of stoker boilers also .A very smart person and Source Of various other boiler brands is Stoker Don .Do it once . jack

Post by **Rob R.** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 3:45 pm

It all depends what you want to achieve and how much $ you have to spend.

Maybe I missed it...what type of heating system is currently installed in the house in question?

titleist1 · Post by **titleist1** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 4:02 pm

He has a propane furnace and wood stove. .... edit....ooops...propane boiler

Look out HangLogger....I warned you they'd have you installing a boiler!!

It's only due to our mild temps here below the mason dixon line that I haven't succumbed to peer pressure yet!

HandLogger · Post by **HandLogger** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 4:35 pm

Rob R. wrote: ↑
Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 3:45 pm
It all depends what you want to achieve and how much $ you have to spend.

Maybe I missed it...what type of heating system is currently installed in the house in question?

Yes, our 500 gallon propane tank fires a Navien (on demand) boiler that, on top of heating our water, pushes more hot water through our base board registers. Having written that, I'm a true rookie when it comes to fine heating -- as the thread title hopefully indicates -- so I could be mislabelling something.

If you go back to the initial post, I tried to describe why we're more than ready to leave propane and cord wood behind -- for heating our living areas -- but the propane system seems to work fine for heating the water we bath and wash our clothes in.

Nevertheless, I love to learn, so, if anyone has thoughts on how we could improve things around here, I'm all eyes.

Post by **Rob R.** » Wed. Jan. 22, 2020 4:54 pm

The bricked area in front of your chimney thimble - is that part of a finished basement?

Please post a picture of your propane boiler & piping around it.