Outdoor Coal Boiler

 
btarby15
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Location: Upper Bucks County, PA
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite, Stove
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Post by btarby15 » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:13 am

Hi, this is my first post! I recently purchased and installed an Heatmor 100CB outdoor boiler. This model's main fuel is coal, but most guys run it with wood. I want to use coal but have no idea how much coal to buy. I plan on running the boiler only from November to March, I live in Southeastern PA. My home is 2200 sq ft, good windows but not great insulation (stone farmhouse). Cast iron radiators. Does anyone have experience with this type of thing and how much coal it would go through? Is coal more efficient than wood? I have 10 acres of woods but time is money so I don't want to spend all of my time cutting wood. Thanks!


 
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McGiever
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Post by McGiever » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:27 am

Welcome Aboard!
How much and what type fuel has it taken for prior years?

 
btarby15
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Location: Upper Bucks County, PA
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite, Stove
Other Heating: Heatmor 100CB

Post by btarby15 » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:39 am

McGiever wrote:
Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:27 am
Welcome Aboard!
How much and what type fuel has it taken for prior years?
I actually just bought the house in December of 2017. Went through 500 gallons of oil from late December to March. I also realized after the winter that the boiler wasn't set hot enough, the water was only getting up to 150F, but I've heard that the water should be upwards of 180F for cast iron radiators to really work well.

 
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lsayre
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Post by lsayre » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:46 am

Coal is not more efficient than ideally well seasoned hardwoods. They are about the same on that score. But since many (to most?) people burn less than ideally well seasoned hardwoods, coal for that case would jump far ahead in efficiency. But any appliance made to burn both will be compromised as to its efficiency to begin with.

What kind of coal is it designed to burn? If it is designed to burn wood and coal, generally this implies bituminous coal. If that's the case, then burning anthracite is going to prove to be a struggle.

 
btarby15
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Location: Upper Bucks County, PA
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite, Stove
Other Heating: Heatmor 100CB

Post by btarby15 » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 10:02 am

lsayre wrote:
Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:46 am
Coal is not more efficient than ideally well seasoned hardwoods. They are about the same on that score. But since many (to most?) people burn less than ideally well seasoned hardwoods, coal for that case would jump far ahead in efficiency. But any appliance made to burn both will be compromised as to its efficiency to begin with.

What kind of coal is it designed to burn? If it is designed to burn wood and coal, generally this implies bituminous coal. If that's the case, then burning anthracite is going to prove to be a struggle.
It's not really designed to burn both, it is meant to burn anthracite but most guys just buy it and burn wood in it, which voids the warranty because it's not designed for it! There are three main types of coal approved for use in a HEATMOR™ furnace. They
are Pennsylvania anthracite, Eastern Canadian bituminous and Western Canadian subbituminous.

 
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Post by franco b » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 10:16 am

Your 500 gallons of oil would be about three tons of coal. Order four tons to start off.

A boiler that also is designed for bit coal should have provision for heated secondary air in excess of the needs for anthracite. It will have to be fine tuned.

Picture of the firebox will help.

 
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lsayre
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Post by lsayre » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 10:20 am

I'll say start with 5 tons.


 
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Post by lzaharis » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 10:45 am

If you expect to use this boiler for a long period you should plan on laying a piece of wide channel iron on the shaker grate frame and half as long as the firebox depth and filling the fireboxes volume half full with firebrick to the flue breech to make it burn better with less wood and coal.

you should also plan on adding a flue pipe extension and a rain cap to improve the draft.


If you do this your fire will be hotter with wood and coal and when burning wood it will not generate much smoke when shut down and idling.

I did this with my old hand fed and I saved a lot of coal and it burned much more efficiently.

 
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hotblast1357
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Post by hotblast1357 » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 1:54 pm

How about some pics of the boiler setup, and inside the grate design.

 
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lsayre
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Post by lsayre » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 2:02 pm

At 24" x 28" the firebox is huge. By a rather common commercial reckoning means it is a 252,000 BTUH boiler. That means by my reckoning it is an honest 126,000 BTUH boiler. By my reckoning, at high fire it should eat 10.3 lbs. of anthracite per hour. Or 247 lbs. per day, if needed. By commercial reckoning, you can double this potential consumption.

Does it run pressurized, or atmospheric?

As a first guess, it should be capable of heating 2 homes at 2,200 Sq-ft in southeastern PA. Do you have a neighbor who wants to go in on it with you?
Last edited by lsayre on Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 2:19 pm, edited 5 times in total.

 
btarby15
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Location: Upper Bucks County, PA
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite, Stove
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Post by btarby15 » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 2:08 pm

lzaharis wrote:
Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 10:45 am
If you expect to use this boiler for a long period you should plan on laying a piece of wide channel iron on the shaker grate frame and half as long as the firebox depth and filling the fireboxes volume half full with firebrick to the flue breech to make it burn better with less wood and coal.

you should also plan on adding a flue pipe extension and a rain cap to improve the draft.


If you do this your fire will be hotter with wood and coal and when burning wood it will not generate much smoke when shut down and idling.

I did this with my old hand fed and I saved a lot of coal and it burned much more efficiently.
This model has something called over/under forced air draft, so it automatically blows air from both under and over the bed. Under to get it hot, over for gasification.

 
btarby15
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Location: Upper Bucks County, PA
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite, Stove
Other Heating: Heatmor 100CB

Post by btarby15 » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 2:10 pm

lsayre wrote:
Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 2:02 pm
At 24" x 28" the firebox is huge. By a rather common commercial reckoning means it is a 252,000 BTUH boiler. That means by my reckoning it is an honest 126,000 BTUH boiler. By my reckoning, at high fire it should eat 10.3 lbs. of anthracite per hour. Or 247 lbs. per day, if needed. By commercial reckoning, you can double this potential consumption.

Does it run pressurized, or atmospheric?
The boiler is a 100,000 BTU boiler rated for 3,000 sq ft. It's non-pressurized. I'm using it as a supplement to my oil. my oil boiler will run if outdoor boiler isn't producing hot enough water.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 2:32 pm

btarby15 wrote:
Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 9:13 am
Is coal more efficient than wood?
I would use stove size anthracite. Run the fuel bed at least 12 inches deep and squelch the secondary air down so that it isn't carrying heat out the chimney.

 
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hotblast1357
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Post by hotblast1357 » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 2:42 pm

btarby15 wrote:
Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 2:10 pm
The boiler is a 100,000 BTU boiler rated for 3,000 sq ft. It's non-pressurized. I'm using it as a supplement to my oil. my oil boiler will run if outdoor boiler isn't producing hot enough water.
So there separated my a water to water heat exchanger?? Or is your house boiler non pressurized also?

 
btarby15
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Posts: 57
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Location: Upper Bucks County, PA
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite, Stove
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Post by btarby15 » Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 3:00 pm

hotblast1357 wrote:
Wed. Sep. 26, 2018 2:42 pm
So there separated my a water to water heat exchanger?? Or is your house boiler non pressurized also?
Yes they are separated by a heat exchanger.


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