That boiler is owned by a friend of mine. It is an orange Solo but it is the short one with the small firebox, which makes me think it was primarily intended for coal. I can get more info if anyone is interested.
MB solo 30 and 40 had short fireboxes (15” or so) but were still wood burners - quite decent at that.
Craig - Thanks for being honest...it’s a lost art! I hear what you’re saying…
If you were going to spend no more than 5k and knowing my situation...what would you do? I’ve got a terrific chance to pay something off in record time but I need to pull the trigger soon...like before winter or I’ll miss it.
I can’t say I am 100% familiar with everything out there on the market......
But, as I said, I would buy something with a relatively large water volume. I would also look for some type of “enhanced” combustion, although for that price you cannot get a true gasifier.
or even the new Thermo-Control with full water jacket - not the coils.
You should look at your heat load and either under-size or properly size the wood boiler - oversizing will create an efficiency and creosote problem.
Another possibility is to take a “stab” and see if some makers of more expensive boilers have any used, returns or scratch+dents. Something like that smaller Seton:
http://www.rohor.com/page4.html
If you email to a few makers like Seton, Tarm, New Horizons (EKO)...who knows? You might get lucky.
Also, send a quick PM (here) to stoveguy13 - he works at Preston Trading, a dealer that has sold hot water stuff for decades....might get lucky with used or something sitting in the warehouse - he can also help with Royall, Energy King, etc. (new).
I am in the process of hooking up a wood boiler to my oil boiler system. To free up our single flue chimney for the wood boiler I installed a power vent. If you know a licensed heat tech or a plumber he can purchase one for you at a steap discount. I got mine and instlled it myself for about $550 with the durock and additional flue pipe. Was fairly easy to install and is very quite. We’ll see how long it lasts but hopefully the oil boiler wont run much so the vent wont have to either!
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/mjenphil/Sub360 Muffler/mufflerassmandparts.jpg
Time for night 2 of trying to eliminate the fuel oil crisis at the Page residence. I’m suffering from information overload at this point and hope I make it through the night!
I decided today that I may want to spend more than originally planned to do it right the first time. I’m not a gambler but based on what I see going on in the world, the high oil prices are here to stay and I want to be proactive NOW, not regretful later.
Spent some time at work talking to a friend who has done a lot of research on all types of “alternative” (to oil) heat to head off his crisis. He’s ordered a Keystoker K6 Coal-Fired boiler. Listening to him talk about coal and his Keystoker leads me to believe I should consider coal too. The benefits seem to be high...he laid them out like this…
cheap fuel, not dirty to handle/dusty any longer (he said it was coated with something so no dust...is this true?), efficient, NEVER goes bad, can be stored anywhere forever, less labor than wood, hopper fed, bolier power ventible,(which is good for me as I have a flue shortage!), “foreign” to many people (including myself) therefore less desirable and less likley to spike with oil
He’s sourced a tractor load of the stuff and will be paying 238/ton delivered. he said we could go in on deliveries together. If he doesn’t sell any to me, he’ll have fuel for 3 years, a new boiler, and will have paid it all back in about 1 year. (he has a 4000sf house)
What are the negatives? Not easily sourced in Southern Maine? Dirty? Price fluctuation?
Would appreciate some feedback on this idea from those who know...Thanks - Bill
That’s about the only knock I can think of. BUT remember, they are not “foreign” in other parts of the country. AND if oil stays up and continues to go up, do you think the oil fired power plants will continue to use oil? And if not, then what?
Hard coal is unlikely to be used for utilities - they can get soft coal for about 1/3 the price per BTU.
Coal stokers are quite reliable and efficient. It will give you an option at about 1/2 or less the current price of oil. If oil goes down, you can burn oil, if it goes up, you can burn coal.
Wood is a life style, so unless you are sitting around thinking about how cool it will be to stack wood......coal is a good option.
I would go 100% coal if I didn’t have access to endless amounts of nearly free wood. I mix coal with wood now but only about 300 lbs/year. I can buy bituminous for around $50/ton within 50 miles of here. It definetly would be my second choice.
Wood is a life style, so unless you are sitting around thinking about how cool it will be to stack wood......coal is a good option.
Sitting around doing anything is not a lifestyle I’m familar with...at all. The idea that it doesn’t go bad intrigues me...I’m likming coal
Does anyone know if anthracite is truly “clean”...in the basement I mean...or will my basement become a dust filled mess? I read somewhere the coal is wet before bagging...what happens when it dries...back to messy? My friend said it was coated and stayed clean...anyone know for sure?
Wood is a life style, so unless you are sitting around thinking about how cool it will be to stack wood......coal is a good option.
Sitting around doing anything is not a lifestyle I’m familar with...at all. The idea that it doesn’t go bad intrigues me...I’m likming coal
Does anyone know if anthracite is truly “clean”...in the basement I mean...or will my basement become a dust filled mess? I read somewhere the coal is wet before bagging...what happens when it dries...back to messy? My friend said it was coated and stayed clean...anyone know for sure?
Making Progress and still no headache!
Coal is screened and washed several times before bagging. On bulk deliveries you should have a garden hose handy so you can spray the coal down with a mist when the truck is conveying it into your basement or bin.
Coal negatives:
1) fossil fuel, adds carbon to the atmosphere
2) sulfur content (0.4 - 5%; contributes to acid rain, deterioration of lakes and streams, acidification of oceans, environmental destruction)
3) emissions: check this carefully; will home-fired coal appliances be subjected to emission standards which will put them at risk, much like OWB’s? Also, sulfur emission is a new consideration.)
4) smoke and smell: no familiarity with coal, will this be a community issue?)
5) cost - I would make a bet, subject to exceptions, that coal will track with oil and natural gas on btu content, adjusted by transportation cost. Mine owners are not stupid. Cost savings, if any, may be illusory. Based on the following, coal already is commanding a premium, depending on your local price for wood.
6) availability - lots is available, but no more is being made. Lots of wood also is available, and when other cellulose is considered, vast quantities will remain available, and more is being made all the time.
Heat value of coal typically is listed at 8,000 - 11,000 btu/lb. The high number would be quality anthracite. Heat value of red oak is listed at about 6300 btu/lb air dried, and about 3800 lbs. Using $238/ton delivered for 11000 btu coal (22 million btu’s per ton), and $170 (local price) per cord for red oak (24 million btu’s per cord), relative cost per million btu: coal - $10.83; red oak - $7.08. Coal is at a 53% price premium now, and only an oil-filled crystal ball will tell you what the premium will be tomorrow.
This is an expression of my values, but I can’t help but seeing coal as an increasing contributor to a local and world problem that each one of us has a responsibility to lessen, not increase.
Unfortunately it is very difficult to find seasoned hard wood in Southern Maine atm, and if there was any to be had it would be more like $250-300 per cord. However, I agree with your other arguments Jim.
Only Bill is able to determine what is important for him and his.
I wasn’t quite ready to pull the trigger but wanted to at least get the gun loaded today so called the Keystoker dealer my buddy ordered his KA-6 from to get some firm pricing. (I’m admittedly still struggling with coal vs wood too.)
I asked for a price on the same model friend ordered and was given a price of $7000...a full 2000-bucks more than he paid! I asked if there had been a price increase and was told, yes, a couple weeks ago. Needless to say, this was a shock to my system and my payback math doesn’t look as good now. Fact is...I can’t afford it for that, it was a long stretch for me at 5k.
There was SOME good news during the call...I WAS told that I could get it at the 5k price in January!
I will be checking with some other dealers starting tomorrow for the same bolier and other options. Hopefully they aren’t all participating in this take advantage of the increased demand and stick it to the customer program.
Similar situation in the auto biz I ran across last week...I had a couple friends buy Honda Civics...I took one to get their car at the dealer and he pointed out how the dealer was scraping off the original window stickers and adding new ones way over MSRP...yah, yah...supply and demand...I think it stinks.
I live in Southern Maine...am I going to be able to find a coal boiler for delivery before January without a silly price??
it is very difficult to find seasoned hard wood in Southern Maine atm, and if there was any to be had it would be more like $250-300 per cord.
Jack pine is 17 million btu/cord. Using same price of $170 cord (split, air dried, delivered), jack pine would be $10.00/million btu’s, still under your current quote for coal. If you have room, you may be able to get a logger to deliver a 10 cord +/- truckload of green logs, and you cut, split, stack and dry. Around were I live in northern MN that can be had at $75 per cord. Now the cost per million btu’s with jack pine is $4.41, a whopping savings over coal.
I burn pine, mostly jack, almost exclusively in my gasification boiler. Sweet heat.
