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Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Mon. Jan. 10, 2022 7:05 pm
by hurrakahny
A little experiment that worked out better than i could ever imagine using an old Weil-McLain oil boiler
Re: Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Tue. Jan. 11, 2022 5:05 pm
by Lightning
hurrakahny wrote: ↑Mon. Jan. 10, 2022 7:05 pm
A little experiment that worked out better than i could ever imagine using an old Weil-McLain oil boiler
Wow that's really cool! Could you post a few pics of the boiler and the mods you did to it?
Welcome to the coal board
Re: Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Wed. Jan. 12, 2022 1:47 pm
by hurrakahny
I got this boiler for free on Craigslist i decided to use this model because it has a big door and combustion chamber
plus it has a domestic hot water coil that i ran to my 40 gal electric hot water tank using pex tubing when im burning coal
i get unlimited hot water Also i made this work in emergency's by gravity feeding to my radiators had this happen a few years back when electric was out for ten days from a wicked storm
We still had heat and hot water to shower and bathe If anyone wants more info let me know
Re: Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Wed. Jan. 12, 2022 5:47 pm
by Lightning
Nice work! So you've been running it a long time then? How many tons per year are you burning?
Re: Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Wed. Jan. 12, 2022 7:52 pm
by StokerDon
Welcome to the forum.
That is pretty friggin cool!
I have often though about how you could use an old oil boiler to burn coal. You can always find them for cheap or even noth'in like you did!
-Don
Re: Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Wed. Jan. 12, 2022 9:32 pm
by BunkerdCaddis
How is the draft controlled, manually?
Thanks Lightning
Posted: Thu. Jan. 13, 2022 10:46 am
by hurrakahny
Hard to say Lightning I use it as a supplemental heat as it pumps it's hot water usually set at 160 directly into and thru my primary oil fired boiler with check valves placed on the shared piping so when the coal fire gets lazy the oil boiler automatically takes over and vice versa
Most of the time I don't run a fire unless it's under 20 deg and when Trump was President fuel oil was cheaper to use 1.40 gal then bagged coal 4.65 @ 40 lbs
Right now coal is 6.99 at TSC if they even have it and I got oil yesterday at 3.20 gal
Let's go Brandon
Re: Thanks Lightning
Posted: Mon. Jan. 31, 2022 11:46 am
by hurrakahny
hurrakahny wrote: ↑Thu. Jan. 13, 2022 10:46 am
Hard to say Lightning I use it as a supplemental heat as it pumps it's hot water usually set at 160 directly into and thru my primary oil fired boiler with check valves placed on the shared piping so when the coal fire gets lazy the oil boiler automatically takes over and vice versa
Most of the time I don't run a fire unless it's under 20 deg and when Trump was President fuel oil was cheaper to use 1.40 gal then bagged coal 4.65 @ 40 lbs
Right now coal is 6.99 at TSC if they even have it and I got oil yesterday at 3.20 gal
Re: Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Mon. Jan. 31, 2022 3:18 pm
by Lightning
hurrakahny wrote: ↑Mon. Jan. 31, 2022 11:46 am
fuel oil was cheaper to use 1.40 gal then bagged coal 4.65 @ 40 lbs
Right now coal is 6.99 at TSC if they even have it and I got oil yesterday at 3.20 gal
Even with the higher cost of coal, yer still ahead to use it at $3.20 per gallon for fuel oil.
Re: Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Thu. Feb. 03, 2022 9:30 am
by hurrakahny
I'm having a hard time finding coal in stock here in South Jersey I don't know why
So the coal I have stored up I save for when the SHTF I only like to use the coal when it's in the teen's and below it makes the whole house much warmer then my Viliant oil fired Boiler
Re: Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 11:09 am
by Sylvesterd101
that is freaking sweet! right on with that project!
Re: Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Sat. Oct. 29, 2022 3:34 pm
by hurrakahny
Looks like the *censored* is starting to hit the fan I was waiting for this for quite some time
Stock up now before they ban coal sales
Re: Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Sat. Oct. 29, 2022 8:07 pm
by waytomany?s
hurrakahny wrote: ↑Sat. Oct. 29, 2022 3:34 pm
Looks like the *censored* is starting to hit the fan I was waiting for this for quite some time
Stock up now before they ban coal sales
If you can afford it, stock up on everything. things are not looking good out there.
Re: Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Sun. Oct. 30, 2022 8:03 pm
by Sylvesterd101
waytomany?s wrote: ↑Sat. Oct. 29, 2022 8:07 pm
If you can afford it, stock up on everything. things are not looking good out there.
ive already heard of no heating oil in new york and new jersey, and rations of available oil. that true?
Re: Homemade coal fired boiler
Posted: Mon. Oct. 31, 2022 12:23 am
by hank2
Diesel supplies are said to be at red alert low availability in a half dozen southern states. Probably be in the news, soon.
This winter will see heating oil at some level of crisis by Jan. or sooner. Some are lobbying Biden to tap the Northeast heating oil reserve already, which is only a paltry one million gal. Not sure if Pa. would even benefit by that.
