Coalpail.com Forum

My work recently purchased a building that is approximately 9,000 square feet. I've been burning anthracite for a few years now and have definitely seen the light. We are looking for a way to save on heating costs at the building. Right now there are 3 LP furnaces on the roof that can put out roughly a combined 550-600K BTUs. We're thinking that we could reasonably get away with about 350-450K BTU coal furnace for 90% of our heating needs.

Do you think it makes more sense to purchase 2-180K residential stokers or 1 large 500K stoker? I think I have an idea of the best way to go, but I want to see what the general concencus is without polluting suggestions with the influence of my ideas

Jon

Check out this link they have some huge coal furnaces 1.8 million BTU and 3 million BTU furnaces.

http://www.heatinnovations.com/homestead-1800.htm

here is a smaller one on the same website 400,000 btu

http://www.heatinnovations.com/coalheat.htm

I should add... this needs to be an indoor furnace. Although we have roof mounts now, I'd like to put the coal furnace(s) inside. It looks like that company makes outdoor coal burning but not indoor.

Jon

wooops, forget this post, I forgot you wanted a furnace sorry

Here go to ahs website and go two thirds the way down they have a 500k BTU unit its the s500

http://www.alternateheatingsystems.com/coalboilers.htm

They make very good boilers.

Check these out, they have some biomass and other kinds, I don't know if they have coal but its worth checking out.

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Are we to assume that the duct work is into the basement already.or are you going to construct a new feed and return trunkline? EFM and Keystoker make units that would work in a double-up arrangement, but you need to give more info on the size of the basement, access for coal storage, etc. 500K is not a small hot air unit. If it were hot water you would have more choices.

Harman has some smaller furnaces maybe run 3 of them together?

http://www.harmanstoves.com/compare.asp?id=28&id=29&id=30

efm has some furnaces as well

http://www.efmheating.com/regal.html

http://www.efmheating.com/efmfurnace.html

Keystoker sells furnaces as well
**Broken Link(s) Removed**woodchuck furnace

http://www.woodchuckfurnace.com/

Energy king

http://www.energyking.com/hot-water-furnace-specs.htm

give those a look

To provide more info...

There is no basement to the building. I would / could use the existing duct work to tap into and use the blower(s) of the existing furnace to circulate the hot air. I could use a boiler coal furnace and install a heat exchanger into the existing furnace(s). There are a number of options to be sure. It is just a matter of coming up with the best option.

I would do a hydronic system, maybe 2 Axeman- Andersons (A260), that would meet the BTU requirements with some to spare and the reliability is unsurpassed.

Mike

I would run 2 or 3, more efficient when demand is low and big time backup.

whistlenut wrote:Are we to assume that the duct work is into the basement already.or are you going to construct a new feed and return trunkline? EFM and Keystoker make units that would work in a double-up arrangement, but you need to give more info on the size of the basement, access for coal storage, etc. 500K is not a small hot air unit. If it were hot water you would have more choices.

Might it make sense to consider a boiler that would feed heat exchangers in the ductwork?

Mike

I would set up two or more EFM 520's with a primary/secondary loop. A 700 and a 520 would be another combo if you are worried about BTU's. Anyway, running pex up to the supply side of the roof top units is a standard commercial application. Put the coils in the duct right after the duct turns horizontal. Set each coil up as a zone on your basement side. How long do you figure it will take to get a return on your investment using coal vs. propane Scott

brckwlt wrote:
Keystoker sells furnaces as well

Just a heads up, the Keystokers are not ASME certified and may not be allowed in a commercial application. Check you local building codes,I know at least one state requires that for home installations as well. I know there was one forum member that run into difficulty after installing one and only got approval after the inspector got in contact with Keystoker.

All EFM boilers are certified, the AHS units come in certified or non certified version I believe... the difference is $2000 and the stamp. I'm pretty sure the AA's are certified too. Check with them.

All A-As and EFMs are H stamped. IIRC any commercial install would require the ASME stamp of approval.