Thanks for the kind words and all of your support through this project...it was very fun and I am very well pleased with the results.
This is truely the heating system that you guys built though. Many of you contributed ideas that became part of this install, even many who were not a part of this specific thread. I have read everything that has come down the line on this forum the last few years and many of those ideas I filed away in my mind waiting to put them to use. There were several of you that I was in direct contact with over the Summer about boiler controls and other various items and I thank you all.
The low overnight here was 17 degrees and it was a good test for the 520 to actually put a load on it. I left it set at 4 teeth, 4.5 air, and it just laughed at it like it was some sort of game. When I came down this morning the stoker was not even running and it did not do so for another 20 minutes after I sat down for coffee. Although there was no wind going to speak of, I am convinced that this thing will march right through our worst conditions here (negative single digits and wind) with reserve capacity for more.
I have been using a home built coal vac that I used where I lived previously, but I am not very happy with it at all. I have a whole different situation here for the piping and it is painfully slow, I really don’t think that is the answer. If I ever get my act together I would like to just build a bulk bin and get it over with. It would not even need to be a hopper bottom but I just want to get 3-4 tons in the basement at a time. I’m tired of trying to re-invent the wheel and I think I am making this more complicated than it needs to be. Thoughts and ideas are always welcome on that matter.
One observation worth noting is that I had a lot of unburnt coal in the ash when the chimney liner was still hooked up. Now with the liner on the scrap pile and 10 times better draft it is really getting a good burn and the unburnt coal is now at a minimum. Not to go on about it...but I just cannot believe the difference. Here are photos of the tub I pulled out this evening.