Harman SF160

 
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ASea
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Post by ASea » Tue. Jan. 23, 2018 10:13 am

I'm told the SF160 is about 90,000 btu and is rated to heat up to 2200sqft. I have an 1800sqft ranch in North Central Ma. Do you think it woulddo the job? I'm told with hand fired units it's better to be a little smaller and run hotter. The house was built in 1959 and was insulated by Mass Save with a bunch of blown in. I imagine there isn't much in the walls.


 
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Post by David... » Tue. Jan. 23, 2018 11:27 am

I suspect it would work. I have a hand fed boiler that is rated at 80K output. I can heat my house with it. My house is around 1800 sqft and 100 years old. I prefer a smaller coal boiler and let the oil pick up the slack if needed. I live in Rhode Island.

David

 
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Post by ASea » Tue. Jan. 23, 2018 11:38 am

I think the 260 may be a bit too big. Though I could add a zone in the basement.

 
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Post by David... » Tue. Jan. 23, 2018 11:50 am

What is the output of the current boiler? Does it run all the time in cold weather?

David

 
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Post by ASea » Tue. Jan. 23, 2018 12:19 pm

Current boiler is rated at 150,000btu supplies all the DHW for two bathrooms. It doesn't run all that often maybe kicks on a few times a day more at night. Cycled on and off pretty regularly during the -15 temps LOL

 
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Post by coalder » Tue. Jan. 23, 2018 12:27 pm

I have been heating a 1500 sq ft ranch built in 1954 that is modestly insulated for 5 yrs with the SF160. And it dose a real good job. When properly tended it keeps my semi insulated basement at 72*, upstairs the same and does all my domestic hot water. And it is set up on a gravity system so when I have a power outage I just open a bypass valve & hot water flows through the main loop. In past 5 winters I have used NO oil. So I think you will be just fine.
Jim

 
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Post by ASea » Wed. Jan. 24, 2018 9:11 am

coalder wrote:
Tue. Jan. 23, 2018 12:27 pm
I have been heating a 1500 sq ft ranch built in 1954 that is modestly insulated for 5 yrs with the SF160. And it dose a real good job. When properly tended it keeps my semi insulated basement at 72*, upstairs the same and does all my domestic hot water. And it is set up on a gravity system so when I have a power outage I just open a bypass valve & hot water flows through the main loop. In past 5 winters I have used NO oil. So I think you will be just fine.
Jim
Just curious is it 1500sqft upstairs? Or total including the basement?


 
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Post by David... » Wed. Jan. 24, 2018 9:30 am

Since you don't say your existing boiler runs a lot during cold weather we can assume it is oversized. 90K should be good enough. I have my oil boiler in series with my coal boiler. I can run them together to extend burn time or speed up the response.

David

 
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Post by coalder » Wed. Jan. 24, 2018 9:54 am

A, house is a ranch 1500 ft basement & 1500 ft main floor. So I guess you could say it heats 3000 sq ft. Only time it struggles is in AM on real cold day when a lot of dhw is drawn the same time circulator is running. I do have a 30 gal super store tied in with this system.
Jim

 
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Post by ASea » Wed. Jan. 24, 2018 3:55 pm

coalder wrote:
Wed. Jan. 24, 2018 9:54 am
A, house is a ranch 1500 ft basement & 1500 ft main floor. So I guess you could say it heats 3000 sq ft. Only time it struggles is in AM on real cold day when a lot of dhw is drawn the same time circulator is running. I do have a 30 gal super store tied in with this system.
Jim
Is there a separate zone for the basement? Or is that just radiant heat?

 
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Post by coalder » Wed. Jan. 24, 2018 7:39 pm

just radiant heat from boiler & pipes.

 
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Post by ASea » Wed. Jan. 24, 2018 9:42 pm

coalder wrote:
Wed. Jan. 24, 2018 7:39 pm
just radiant heat from boiler & pipes.
That's fantastic. If all goes well I plan on running this unit most likely from November to March-April. Id be happy to have the basement warmer than it is.

 
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Post by coalder » Wed. Jan. 24, 2018 10:08 pm

A, if your basement is somewhat insulated, it shouldn't be a problem. My dump zone is the main loop, so no radiators or dump zone in basement. I only have one zone with the main loop being 1 inch with half inch running off that to feed the rooms. Hope this helps.
Jim

 
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Post by lzaharis » Sat. Jan. 27, 2018 3:53 pm

ASea wrote:
Tue. Jan. 23, 2018 10:13 am
I'm told the SF160 is about 90,000 btu and is rated to heat up to 2200sqft. I have an 1800sqft ranch in North Central Ma. Do you think it woulddo the job? I'm told with hand fired units it's better to be a little smaller and run hotter. The house was built in 1959 and was insulated by Mass Save with a bunch of blown in. I imagine there isn't much in the walls.
================================================================================================

If you invest in the SF160 you should plan on buying the firebox reducer they offer so you can burn less coal more efficiently as it will give you a better burn and fewer clinkers.

I reduced the size of my firebox by half by installing a piece of 12 by 12 by 2 channel iron on the shaker grate frame and filling the firebox half full of full firebrick up to the flue breech. I wish I had done it in 1983 when I first started burning wood and coal.

Buy the fire box reducer for which ever model you decide on and you will not regret it as the burn will be better and you will have much less a chance of having to dump heat as the fuel load will be smaller and you will save on coal and wood.

 
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Post by StokerDon » Sat. Feb. 03, 2018 10:19 am

You don't need a fire box reducer on an SF160. If I remember correctly, it only has 4 grates. Even if it did need to be reduced, fire brick will do the same job for a lot less money.

-Don


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