Large Hot Water System Efficiency

I was running 5 click and about 5.5 air

Do you use the tankless coil for hot water?

Yes it heats my domestic.

The "Mayor's Formula" would estimate 5 tons for every 2000 sf. That would be 13 tons. If the basement/garage area isn't included in the 5200 sf, you might need extra for the heat being put into those spaces. If you're also making DHW, that takes a lot of btu's. Better that it's coal BTU's than BTU's from more expensive fuels, but DHW still uses coal beyond that needed for space heating. Overall, 20 tons still seems like a lot, but probably is not over what it should be by as much as you might think.

Definitely make sure the draft is not excessive, and check the ash ring to make sure you have a good fuel-air mixture. After a long run there should be 1-2" of ash around the outside - no burning coals going over the side, but no wide swath of ash, either. Make sure the gaskets and fit are good on the ash and fire doors, and that the surfaces of the combustion chamber and heat exchange areas don't have excessive fly ash buildup.

Mike

Are you using too much ????

It depends

YOU would know if you did a complete heat loss calculation on the dwelling

Only with that bench mark will you stop guessing if you need corrections or not!

Kind Regards
Sting

Yep I agree that I need to run a heat loss calculation on it... so I guess my next question. Who does them, or where can I get information to do one myself.
Thanks

With or without a heat loss calculation, it can't hurt to do the simple things within your control to have the system run efficiently. The numbers provide a benchmark, but I wouldn't panic if they differ materially from your fuel consumption, and I wouldn't stop doing the simple things if they don't.

Mike

If the heat loss comes back and says you have a cold & leaky house, then will you feel better about burning 20 tons? I bet you will still want to burn less...

Heat loss calculations on old houses involve a lot of estimates and guesses. Are you going to open the walls to see if there is insulation? Blower-door test to see what the infiltration rate is? I guess what I'm saying is, focus on tried-and-true "tuning" of your heating appliance first...since that will save you $$ no matter what the heat-loss comes out to be. Go ahead and run the numbers when you get a chance & feel like it...and then re-evaluate the load vs. what you've burned.

Tighten up the house where you can, it will pay you back handsomely.

Yeah I agree with what your saying. I feel as though the house is pretty tight (other than the basement garage doors).

I know there is insulation throughout the house as I remodeled it from head to toe. That's why i'm so concerned with why i'm burning so much coal.

Coal usage in the past
-last year I used very little because of the temp and the fact that i had a lot of oil I needed to use up.
-2 years ago. I used roughly 13 tons and some of the oil that was left over when I bought the house.

How much oil?

Any obvious signs of heat loss into the attic? Melted snow and icicles off the roof?

How many people live in the house?

3 people live in the house. No sign of heat loss through ceiling/roof (I had to go check because that never crossed my mind).

Amount of oil can not be determined because when I bought the house there was a 2,000 gal drum of oil underground. So last year I decided to use it all up so I could fill it in and be done with it. I just didn't want the headache of worrying about a leak since the drum was put in roughly35 years ago.

I don't want to even guess on amount of oil that is used as I coiuld not guess that at all.

I would really start checking the draft issue/barometric setting ASAP. With a 35' chimney you don't have a problem with minimal draft, you have a problem with way to much draft. It will pull too much air thru the boiler at rest and when the boiler is running, the draft pulls the heat out of the boiler too quickly. not letting the unit transfer the heat. It will chew the coal up in a hurry.

i was going to say call the oil co from the previous homeowner to get an yearly average of what they used. but you said you did extensive renovations so that number wouldnt mean much. any big doors that could be caulked shut? that was my biggest culprit.

Must be that 35 yr old heat loss calculation prompted them to put in a 2000 gallon tank.

Cb5

Another good way to go at it might be to check around and find out the heating oil co.(or prev. owners) that has been servicing your house and find out a yearly consumption number then extrapolate and interpolate based on heating degree days # of occupants ect. just a quick calc. of BTU's used should tell you if there is anything amiss. Regardless , you will need hours behind the wheel to learn your system just do as these guys are offering and tune the thing in. they're all giving you sound advice and it worked for me

Waldo