The Epoch of the Axeman

[Hambden Bob]

Fine Thread,Lee..!! Your "Deep Dives" into whatever "Heat Monster" You're operating have always been super informative and enjoyable..!! As usual,You've probably got no good idea just how many Fine Folks and "Background Lurkers" You've helped..!! Keep Em' Coming,Breadman..!!

[Lightning]

Thank you Bob! I'm pretty happy with how it's running. Ash looks good and the fire height looks good. She seems to be producing good heat output.

Still running with 1 click of the ashing ratchet. Ashing control set to always ON.

Later this week I'd like to get the barrel bin installed so I can measure.

[Lightning]

It's been really cold since around Jan 3rd. The past 24 hours the average OAT was 13.5 degrees. According to the hour meter, the combustion fan ran for 11.7 hours out of 24 hours which means it ran 49% of the time. It also generated 16.3 pounds of ash. It's difficult to put a number on coal consumption since I can't measure it directly at the moment.

If I use 1.8 pounds per HDD (which is on the high side of most of my measurements) I come up with 93 pounds plus DHW usage. So roughly 98 pounds of coal consumed in the past 24 hours.

[Retro_Origin]

It's been really cold since around Jan 3rd. The past 24 hours the average OAT was 13.5 degrees. ...So roughly 98 pounds of coal consumed in the past 24 hours.

That's amazing! Remind me again how well insulated and how many sq ft you're heating?

[Lightning]

That's amazing! Remind me again how well insulated and how many sq ft you're heating?

Thanks! Heating 2400 sqft home to about 72 degrees and also keeping the 512 sqft outbuilding at 45 degrees while not in use. I would say the insulation is average but I could do better to seal up cold air infiltration. The Axe is in the basement which is part of the 2400 sqft.

[Lightning]

which means it ran 49% of the time.

I just wanted to elaborate on this 49%.. In other words it's performing it's job of heating the house to 72, the outbuilding to 45 while not in use, and DHW while only running half the time, under conditions that it's colder than normal and running in handicapped mode due to fines. This sucker could do double it's current duty before maxing out. The Axeman is no joke when it comes to making heat

[Retro_Origin]

Basically if your differential is 15 degrees and the runtime is 9 minutes then the first seven minutes is warming the engines and the last two increases the boiler 15 degrees

[Lightning]

That's about right

[Bonz]

What are you currently paying for a ton of coal in your area?

[Lightning]

What are you currently paying for a ton of coal in your area?

I paid $390 per ton delivered in October of 2024. I bought 4 tons since I still had 2 tons leftover.

[Lightning]

I installed the barrel bin today so I could do some measuring. I also set the ashing control to 125 degrees and set the ashing ratchet to 2 (sometimes 3) clicks. It was previously set to ALWAYS ON (I like to call handicapped mode) at 1 click due to fines causing abnormal behavior. The fines don't seem to be throwing off the ashing temperature lately, they must have thinned out enough. Barrel bin is filled full and level, ash tubs were emptied. When I get two full ash tubs we'll crunch some data.