The End Is Near! ... Hehe

Reached 73 degrees here yesterday. Generally, we're in that (from a coal-burning standpoint, awful) season when the highs can get to around 60 and the lows are in the freezing range, sometimes lower.

The stoker does very little work all day -- and sometimes it's touch and go keeping it from going out. I'm nursing it along at about 60#/day, but I think this weekend is about all that'll be worthwhile.

Then it's back to closing doors and using the elec baseboard to take the chill off.

On the brighter side, I'm just scraping the bottom on the 6 tons I had delivered last August. 8)

It's been quite a successful season, thanks in significant part to this board. =D>

Yesterday it was in the upper 70s here in central NJ. My stove has been out for a couple of weeks already. There is about 75 lbs. of coal left in the bin.

I have never before enjoyed burning coal so much as this year. Thanks to all of the forum members, I have a better understanding of what is actually going on while my stove is burning away and I'm burning more efficiently than ever.

Thanks to "OUR LEADER" for creating such a fine website.

I installed a timer on the stoker unit to run the stoker about 5 minutes every two hours, this feeds just enough coal to the firepot to keep it burning.

The overnight temps are still cool enough that heat is needed, especially if the wind is blowing. Plus I retain coal heated domestic hot water.

I'll probably keep the boiler going for another week or so, lows over the next ten days are forcast to be near freezing. Highs in the 50s.

Greg L

Looking at the forecast for the next 10 days (50* hi & 30* low) tells me I'll be running my hand fired boiler for a while. I don't shut it down until the days average (hi-low) is about 60-65*. It just burns a shovel or two evey day then.

I think I have developed a twitch when the oil burner fires.

Ian, that must be the same 'twitch' I have when the propane boiler or hot water heater fires up..

Greg L

We are still down into the teens/20's, but 65-70 the other day. The stove been idling along about 1/2-1#/hr. I haven't put anything in it since Fri or Sat. It actually gets the stove hot enough to kick the blower on for about 5 mins. It still has 50#'s or so in it. Probalby another week or so...I am down to about 10 bags left....probably just keep it burning until everything is gone.

My Harman is burning as I post this. Ran out of coal last Saturday, but I have a few bags now. The forecast low for tonight is 27, so my coal season isn't over yet. With the Baro Damper and good coal I have been able to get long burn times, finally!
By the way, I have the window next to me open....44 degrees out.

That's the trouble; this time of year you can get a 30-, even sometimes 40-degree swing on a sunny day. :hotsun:

:-k So what should govern shutting down, for those of us who do? The high? The low? The mean? If any of these, what should the number be?

Or is it just when you either run out of fuel or go away for a few days?

(I guess I'm a little slow to light and slow to shut down; I'm looking at when lows reach 40 and above on average. Then I'll be able to limit the elec baseboard for the most part to taking the chill off in the morning.)

stockingfull wrote: :-k So what should govern shutting down, for those of us who do? The high? The low? The mean? If any of these, what should the number be?

Well, with a stove, it would have to go out based on temps in the home more or less. A boiler you can run much deeper into warm weather. The limit would be how well the unit drafts @ higher temps. Stoker boilers do not require a lot of draft and can pretty much run year round.

The answer typically is 50* as low temp for the day.

This time of year a stoker is really efficient. The first photo below shows the stoker during a cold night, where the stoker feeds up a large quantity of coal and makes for a very large fire.

The second and third photo show the fire during a 65* day, the fire is just barely going, the quantity of coal is about a double handfull. The stoker can increase this small iding fire up to 8"+ diameter fire in about thirty minutes.

In the idling mode, the boiler uses about 20# a day. Hardly any ash in the pan.

Greg L

I fired the Harman about 4 PM today, It's raining out and currently 42 degrees. The forecast this week calls for highs in the 40's Wednesday through the weekend. Guess my coal season isn't over yet!

I have the same twitch when the oil furnace starts!

I heat my hot water with oil, my electric bill dropped $50 a month when I replaced the electric water heater in 2002, so I don't mind the sound of the water heater running.

I'm having difficulty maintaining a low fire in the Harman on warm days. I can go as low as 1 turn on the air vent, any lower and it will starve the fire for air. I lowered the draft to .06 on the baro damper, and bank the coals to the front of the firebox, but I have to keep a check on it, hard to do if I'm asleep or not home.

The plus side is it's easy to restart now, if it's been out for some time I do have to build a good kindling fire to warm up the chimney first.

LS- I see what you mean when you say the stoker is efficient! Nice pictures.

John

Yes, the spring season is upon us. The time of year where I stay busy outdoors repairing cars, motorcycles, lawnmotors and everythiong else with nuts & bolts.

I have to choose between the heat pump or coal to take the chill off of the house. But you'd all be happy to know I have not yet turned on the heat pump. I let the coal fire die twice but will need to re light today for the balance of the week as the temps drop into the 40's and the air will be damp.

But it has been a real pleasure spending winter eves with all of you fine guys. It's kind of like a family we have going on here with Greg being everyone's reliable & knowledgeable Uncle. Of course many guys contribute and that is what makes this board so great.

Burning coal for me is sort of a hobby, a task and a skill all wrapped in one. I kind of miss it once the temps warm up.. I'll check in to this board once in a while throughout the summer.

I do plan on ripping up the carpet on the first floor above my stove and re-positioning the floor vents to allow better heat convection from my stove for next year. I have to be making improvements or else I ain't happy! Happy & Safe Summer guys!

Cap wrote:Yes, the spring season is upon us. The time of year where I stay busy outdoors repairing cars, motorcycles, lawnmotors and everythiong else with nuts & bolts.

* * * *

But it has been a real pleasure spending winter eves with all of you fine guys. It's kind of like a family we have going on here with Greg being everyone's reliable & knowledgeable Uncle. Of course many guys contribute and that is what makes this board so great.

Burning coal for me is sort of a hobby, a task and a skill all wrapped in one. I kind of miss it once the temps warm up.. I'll check in to this board once in a while throughout the summer.

* * * I have to be making improvements or else I ain't happy! Happy & Safe Summer guys!

Ah, another motorcyclist!

Funny, the coal and riding seasons dovetail rather nicely together, don't they?

I'm shutdown here. I was away for the weekend and didn't like burning for nothing. I learned a lot in my first coal burning season, and I’ll be taking steps so my stove doesn’t rust up.

My gas furnace is running and instead of measuring how many pounds a day, I'm measuring how many cubic feet I’m burning every day. I'm almost looking forward to see what it’s like when it cools down later in the week. I will be doing a true comparison with my new duct work with gas. I’ve never measured how much per day with gas, I’ve only looked at the monthly bills.

I'll have to post my results on the "how much are you saving" threads. I'm keeping track of cost per heading degree days. So far my old 50 year old stove tied into my duct work is looking better than my 92 efficient gas furnace… however March really hurt the average with it being warm and idling at 30-40 lbs / day. I know April I was shutting down because 30-40 lbs per day is more $ than my April gas bill last year ~$30(trying to adjust for cooking and hot water).