-3 here doing fine

 
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Coaled Medicine
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun. Dec. 03, 2017 10:50 pm
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520 (1963)
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Kodiak Stoker II (for sale)
Coal Size/Type: Rice
Other Heating: Heat Pump

Post by Coaled Medicine » Wed. Jan. 30, 2019 10:41 pm

I just got my '63 520 from Scrapper set up this past weekend and it sure is nice having that thing click away rather than the heat pump, which was running like a fridge. I'm in new construction with spray foam on second (main) floor and 3rd floor open loft, along with 11.5' ceiling basement and garage with uninsulated block. Still getting it dialed in but I couldn't be happier.
Burned an Alaska Kodiak II all last year and this thing makes that look like a toy.

 
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CoalHeat
Member
Posts: 8862
Joined: Sat. Feb. 10, 2007 9:48 pm
Location: Stillwater, New Jersey
Stoker Coal Boiler: 1959 EFM 350
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harman Magnafire Mark I
Baseburners & Antiques: Sears Signal Oak 15 & Andes Kitchen Range
Coal Size/Type: Rice and Chestnut
Other Heating: Fisher Fireplace Insert

Post by CoalHeat » Wed. Jan. 30, 2019 10:43 pm

Currently 1 degree here, the Harman is cooking and the EFM runs every so often to take up the slack.
My EFM came from Scrapper as well. They are amazing machines.

 
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Coaled Medicine
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun. Dec. 03, 2017 10:50 pm
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520 (1963)
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Kodiak Stoker II (for sale)
Coal Size/Type: Rice
Other Heating: Heat Pump

Post by Coaled Medicine » Wed. Jan. 30, 2019 11:17 pm

Yeah I'm almost 40 and am from the same town as Scrapper. We had a huge EFM when I was a kid in Pine Grove and I can remember standing in the walk-in coal bin with my dad.
Life comes full circle as I now have my own EFM, haha.


 
lincolnmania
Member
Posts: 2684
Joined: Fri. Jan. 26, 2007 9:55 pm
Location: Birdsboro PA.
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 350
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: reading allegheny stoker
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: alaska kodiak stoker 1986. 1987 triburner, 1987 crane diamond
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by lincolnmania » Wed. Jan. 30, 2019 11:51 pm

i had to leave my efm af-150 behind in newtown when i moved home to take care of my mom two yrs ago, i miss that beast. it is still working well in my friends building. Scrapper helped me with repairs a few times. the furnace was taken apart and not stored well for 20 years before me and my friend got it for free.

i have a reading stoker in my basement for now, it's doing ok, i got it cheap and it is in real nice shape and i have it on a power vent. i have the coal trol set to 74 and the oil furnace is usually set to 69.....tonite i bumped the oil furnace up to 71 because it was only 64 upstairs. i thought i was using a lot more oil than i was but it turns out the old gauge was stuck.....about 2 weeks ago i put 40 gallons of fuel oil in the tank and i went and looked at the gauge (normally at 1/8) and it read 1/2 tank this time...i was like no way! so i took a cap off and put a stick in and yep i got over a half tank. so yes my oil burner runs, but usually only for a few minutes at a time. i am estimating i have added 80 gallons in the past year. i fired the oil man summer of 2017 after they filled our oil tank that their service man condemned.....my dad installed it in 1971, the legs are rotten. i have a new tank, have to use the oil and replace the tank in the summer. the oil dealer service dept wanted over 3000 dollars to replace the oil tank, i got a new tank for a little over 500 dollars. if my dad did it, i can do it again.

Momma said leave my oil furnace alone, so i respect her wishes. she did not want coal in the first place. she is right by wanting to keep the oil furnace intact, what if something happened to me. i do have a skin disease that causes painful flaring. i had several surgeries in 2013.....my friends insisted they tend the stove for me. Now they are 56 miles away. my cousins son has the same coal stove i have and will help me but he lives in port clinton, and my son lives in leeseport. so if i ended up having to get surgery we would be without heat.

i was planning on a boiler install, but towards the end of last winter our roof started leaking real bad and we ended up with water damage. i got the roof replaced and that ate up the boiler fund and the windows fund....still have to replace the windows and siding and the sheathing that got damaged. the roofer my parents hired in 2012 while i was laid up had no clue what he was doing. it was a steel roof and there was no flashing in many areas, he caulked around the roof vents.

 
Rufcar
Member
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed. Jan. 23, 2019 3:48 pm
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van wert
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by Rufcar » Thu. Jan. 31, 2019 12:50 pm

My Van Wert was humping last night. Estimated use of over 300 lbs in 10 hrs! All radiators were hot and no problem keeping up as its capable of 60 lbs per hr if needed! Ran about every 1/2 hr. Next week in the 50s should give us all a brake here in central PA.

 
lzaharis
Member
Posts: 2365
Joined: Sun. Mar. 25, 2007 8:41 pm
Location: Ithaca, New York
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4-1 dual fuel boiler
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: former switzer CWW100-sold
Coal Size/Type: rice
Other Heating: kerosene for dual fuel Keystoker/unused

Post by lzaharis » Thu. Jan. 31, 2019 6:57 pm

Hello StephenD,

You obviously have very high carbon coal to burn so that is a lot of it.

About your traveling fire grate ashing switch; You can always use some duck tape to hold it in the "on" position to prevent accidentally bumping it to the off position.


 
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StokerDon
Site Moderator
Posts: 7486
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 11:17 am
Location: PA, Southern York County!
Stoker Coal Boiler: Gentleman Janitor GJ-5, Van Wert VA-600, Axeman Anderson130 X3.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman SF3500 reduced down to 3 grates connected to its own plenum
Coal Size/Type: Rice, Chestnut and whatever will fit through the door on the Harman
Other Heating: Noth'in but COAL! Well, Maybe a little tiny bit of wood

Post by StokerDon » Thu. Jan. 31, 2019 7:05 pm

Coaled Medicine wrote:
Wed. Jan. 30, 2019 10:41 pm
I just got my '63 520 from Scrapper set up this past weekend and it sure is nice having that thing click away rather than the heat pump, which was running like a fridge.
Burned an Alaska Kodiak II all last year and this thing makes that look like a toy.
You got that right! The EFM is a much heavier duty machine.

-Don

 
k-2
Member
Posts: 1744
Joined: Thu. Sep. 28, 2017 10:57 am
Location: Coal Township Pa
Stoker Coal Boiler: K2- Keystoker
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Stoker Stove
Coal Size/Type: Rice

Post by k-2 » Thu. Jan. 31, 2019 7:52 pm

Rob R. wrote:
Tue. Jan. 22, 2019 8:51 pm
We burned enough Lehigh Rice to fill an ash tub on Sunday, and another on Monday.
When its this cold, i get 5 gallons of ash a day. Change ash tub daily.

 
k-2
Member
Posts: 1744
Joined: Thu. Sep. 28, 2017 10:57 am
Location: Coal Township Pa
Stoker Coal Boiler: K2- Keystoker
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Stoker Stove
Coal Size/Type: Rice

Post by k-2 » Sat. Feb. 02, 2019 1:35 pm

Polar vortex OVER for now. 30 Degrees and rising . Above avg temps for all next week. 40-50s.

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