Setting up an Outside Boiler to Burn Coal
Would you get that length of burn from the 8 shovelfuls? We have an OWB (Heatmore 400DCSS), heating DHW and a 3500 sq ft full log house. (With option to heat additional outside large building). We are located just south of Erie, PA, and have used approx. 20+ cord of hardwood this winter, so far, (at approximately $40 per cord). We have hot water baseboard heat which we have set up so our oil furnace will take over when the OWB isn't running. Thinking of adding coal grates to the OWB.
What do you do with the coal in the winter? Bunker? Does it have a roof to keep the snow / freezing rain off? If not, will the coal freeze into one big lump?
Thanks,
Carole
What do you do with the coal in the winter? Bunker? Does it have a roof to keep the snow / freezing rain off? If not, will the coal freeze into one big lump?
Thanks,
Carole
- artbaldoni
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- Location: Newville, PA
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Alaska Kodiak
- Other Heating: O W/C B
Carole, btw thats my wife's name - with the e at the end,
I am a noob with this coal burning thing. My setup sounds just like yours.
My owb was wood only and I made a grate, just to try, but its working so well I think it will stay until it disintegrates! I have been experimenting with coal for about a month now. I've only been getting a few hundred pounds at a time until I found the magic bullet. I went and picked up a ton of mixed and have just been shoveling off the truck directly into the stove. I finally unloaded into the basement this morning and will use a wheelbarrow to transport to load the stove. Yes it will freeze into a lump, mostly the bituminous, not so much the anthracite.
Look into this forum: http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php ... opic=744.0 There are alot of owb folks experimenting with coal.
I am a noob with this coal burning thing. My setup sounds just like yours.
My owb was wood only and I made a grate, just to try, but its working so well I think it will stay until it disintegrates! I have been experimenting with coal for about a month now. I've only been getting a few hundred pounds at a time until I found the magic bullet. I went and picked up a ton of mixed and have just been shoveling off the truck directly into the stove. I finally unloaded into the basement this morning and will use a wheelbarrow to transport to load the stove. Yes it will freeze into a lump, mostly the bituminous, not so much the anthracite.
Look into this forum: http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php ... opic=744.0 There are alot of owb folks experimenting with coal.
CarolE's a good name!! Our woodburner is an outside one so storing the coal in the basement would probably be a real pain!!
We checked into a purchased coal grate set up for our Heatmore and it would cost about $500. According to the literature that came with our OWB they suggest burning 'stove' coal. Not sure if we will be using coal, or what size coal yet. Working with our wood /coal cook range first!
Carole
We checked into a purchased coal grate set up for our Heatmore and it would cost about $500. According to the literature that came with our OWB they suggest burning 'stove' coal. Not sure if we will be using coal, or what size coal yet. Working with our wood /coal cook range first!
Carole
- CoalCracker3
- Member
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- Joined: Sat. Aug. 22, 2015 8:20 am
- Location: South East, PA
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Outdoor coal/wood stove sequoia 200000btu
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Dual comfort coal/wood
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman sf256 coal/wood, Harman magnafire insert
- Baseburners & Antiques: Buckwalter Villa potbelly, Keeley Columbia Oak
- Coal Size/Type: Nut, nutty, nuttier
- Other Heating: Very cold oil burner (never had a delivery)
Hello Members
I just read this old thread and wanted to touch on my experience with converting an OWB To coal. Hopefully the info is of use. I too have an OWB that as the manufacturer stated was "coal capable". Every time I tried using coal I ran into an overfire situation followed by ash fusing Into klinker and putting the fire out.
I modified my stove to mimic a hand fired stove set up mods included
Adding a manual pipe damper
Adding flu pipe to create better draft
Modifing the ash pan door to provide primary air to achieve an adjustable slow fire
Disabling the air blower to stop overfireing. The auto damper system still lets additional primary air in when the aquastat calls for heat
My stove had a nice shaker grate system and v style fire brick in the fire box so it was able to support a coal fire. I am able to get up to 36 hour burn times on 80lb of coal in warmer weather and 12-24 hour burn times when it is cold. It is a little extra work to keep the ash clear but I burn with no klinker. I shake it down every 12 hours and pick the grates from below. It's not a perfect set up but it works and is serviceable. Food for thought to a frustrated OWB owner.
I just read this old thread and wanted to touch on my experience with converting an OWB To coal. Hopefully the info is of use. I too have an OWB that as the manufacturer stated was "coal capable". Every time I tried using coal I ran into an overfire situation followed by ash fusing Into klinker and putting the fire out.
I modified my stove to mimic a hand fired stove set up mods included
Adding a manual pipe damper
Adding flu pipe to create better draft
Modifing the ash pan door to provide primary air to achieve an adjustable slow fire
Disabling the air blower to stop overfireing. The auto damper system still lets additional primary air in when the aquastat calls for heat
My stove had a nice shaker grate system and v style fire brick in the fire box so it was able to support a coal fire. I am able to get up to 36 hour burn times on 80lb of coal in warmer weather and 12-24 hour burn times when it is cold. It is a little extra work to keep the ash clear but I burn with no klinker. I shake it down every 12 hours and pick the grates from below. It's not a perfect set up but it works and is serviceable. Food for thought to a frustrated OWB owner.
Thank you. This helps a lot. We were wondering how much coal we might need to use if we converted it from wood. I had asked about converting our OWB before, and didn't really find anyone with our kind of OWB who replied that if given the chance that they would definitely do the conversion all over again because they really like the results. $500 would be do-able if we could save that amount by using coal instead of wood.
There was one person on this website who had made his own conversion to a Heatmore 400 dcss. His name was "Wallyp", but I don't seem to be able to contact him to ask if he still recommends doing the conversion.
Thank you again,
Carole
There was one person on this website who had made his own conversion to a Heatmore 400 dcss. His name was "Wallyp", but I don't seem to be able to contact him to ask if he still recommends doing the conversion.
Thank you again,
Carole
- Rob R.
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- Location: Chazy, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
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The last time Wallyp was on the forum he was talking about installing Keystokers...so it seems like he started installing coal boilers rather than trying to convert the wood units.
- CoalCracker3
- Member
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- Joined: Sat. Aug. 22, 2015 8:20 am
- Location: South East, PA
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Outdoor coal/wood stove sequoia 200000btu
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Dual comfort coal/wood
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Harman sf256 coal/wood, Harman magnafire insert
- Baseburners & Antiques: Buckwalter Villa potbelly, Keeley Columbia Oak
- Coal Size/Type: Nut, nutty, nuttier
- Other Heating: Very cold oil burner (never had a delivery)
It was suggested by a member to start a new thread on this subject. I have had good luck running my OWB modifications and it keeps the fire and mess outside. For the last 7 years I've burned wood in my OWB and always enjoyed the outdoor activity especially in the dead of winter. I took a fall at work a few years back and my current Health limits my ability to get around in the woods. So that's the reason/need to make the coal work. Grandma use to tell me where there's a will, there's a way. I like to prove her right! Good luck with your set up. It can be done. New thread will be converting a OWB to a hand fed coal boiler.
Thanks
Thanks
- plumberman
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i had a heatmore I converted it into cash. then bought a coal gun and couldn't be any happier
- windyhill4.2
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- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
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- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
That is the smart way to convert an OWB to a coal burnerplumberman wrote:i had a heatmore I converted it into cash. then bought a coal gun and couldn't be any happier