This is my first time posting on this website and I wanted to take an opportunity to thank everyone in advance for the onslaught of information that I know will be forthcoming. I've got a Newmac multifuel furnace. I can burn wood/oil/coal. The model number is a CL86-96G; it's a hot air furnace. I just had a house built the other year so it's very new, an 1800 square foot ranch. It's a Maple Leaf modular home with R-50 in the roof and R-25 in the walls. I'm in Northern Maine so it does get cold up here. Today is 20 below.
I tried burning coal last year and had one heck of a time trying to get it going and almost gave up. Come to find out, I was using the wrong kind of coal for my furnace. I was using stove coal when I finally figured out that the stove standard was nut coal. I've finally been able to get the nut coal burning for the last couple of weeks fairly well to the point where I've been running the furnace on coal around the clock without having to relight it with wood. I got a couple of tons of Reading, which as I've seen on many forums can be problematic and really has been. I can probably get close to 12hrs on a full load which is about a bag and a half to 2 bags which would be 75-100lbs. Although, I don't think that the bitter cold is helping. Right now I've got about a little less than a ton of Reading Nut coal and and less than a ton of Reading Stove coal. I'm actually able to get the stove coal to light when I've got a nice bed of the nut coal burning. I'm able to mix it a little. Within the next week or so, I'll be getting a ton of Blashack Nut Coal which I'm anxious to try as I've heard that it burns much better and has a higher btu output. I've got a local store that also sells it, but it's expensive and I'm thinking that I may go and purchase a couple 40lb bags today just to give it a try and get a feel for it.
I've got a couple of questions concerning draft control which I've got very little understanding of. I've got a barometric damper set at .5 right now which is what the furnace manual requires. This seems to be working fine and seems to be an industry standard.
A couple of issues that I'm trying to work out is longevity of the burn, and trying to get the house to warm up faster when the coal fire burns down.
Temperature: One of the big issues is if I bank the coal or even just fill the box up to the level or lip as the manual indicates at night, let's say around 10pm, by 6am or 7am the temperature of the house has gone from between 71-73 to anywhere from 61-64. I still have a decent bed of coals, but a bit less than what I obviously had the night before once I've shaken out the ash and poked some holes from the bottom of the bed via the ashpan area. I've also cleaned out the ashpan as well. This process I will do at night and in the morning. If I'm home throughout the day, I may go and shake the grates a little every few hours (3-5hrs), in order to maintain the red glow and a sufficient amount of airflow to the coals.
If the temperature is down to 61-64, then after preparing and loading the furnace, I'll leave the ash pan door wide open for however long it takes to bring the temperature up to and above 70. This can take a few hours 3-5hrs. I've got the top draft control
that has the round knob set in the middle which says minimum. Normally, when I've got the temp that I want in the house, I just leave the upper draft knob control to minimum and the bottom ashpan little single lever draft switch to wide open with the ash pan door closed. This can keep the temperature constant for some time. I can provide pictures of this if needed.
I've got the fan set at 69 which blows air on the top of the fire, but shuts off when the temp hits 70. I've got two digital controls upstairs and only one zone for the house. I've got one control for the oil, and one for the wood/coal. I've tried playing with the draft control a bit, but feel that if I over clock it and maximize the upper draft control knob, I'll be losing a lot of heat out the double insulated metal chimney. I pretty much leave the top round draft knob at minimum all the time which sets in the center of the draft range. If I were to move it far to the left, it would be closed which is where it's supposed to be If I'm burning oil along with the ashpan draft lever being at the closed position as well.
If anyone has any tips or needs more infomation, please let me know and I'll be happy to provide them.
Thanks again, David B.
I tried burning coal last year and had one heck of a time trying to get it going and almost gave up. Come to find out, I was using the wrong kind of coal for my furnace. I was using stove coal when I finally figured out that the stove standard was nut coal. I've finally been able to get the nut coal burning for the last couple of weeks fairly well to the point where I've been running the furnace on coal around the clock without having to relight it with wood. I got a couple of tons of Reading, which as I've seen on many forums can be problematic and really has been. I can probably get close to 12hrs on a full load which is about a bag and a half to 2 bags which would be 75-100lbs. Although, I don't think that the bitter cold is helping. Right now I've got about a little less than a ton of Reading Nut coal and and less than a ton of Reading Stove coal. I'm actually able to get the stove coal to light when I've got a nice bed of the nut coal burning. I'm able to mix it a little. Within the next week or so, I'll be getting a ton of Blashack Nut Coal which I'm anxious to try as I've heard that it burns much better and has a higher btu output. I've got a local store that also sells it, but it's expensive and I'm thinking that I may go and purchase a couple 40lb bags today just to give it a try and get a feel for it.
I've got a couple of questions concerning draft control which I've got very little understanding of. I've got a barometric damper set at .5 right now which is what the furnace manual requires. This seems to be working fine and seems to be an industry standard.
A couple of issues that I'm trying to work out is longevity of the burn, and trying to get the house to warm up faster when the coal fire burns down.
Temperature: One of the big issues is if I bank the coal or even just fill the box up to the level or lip as the manual indicates at night, let's say around 10pm, by 6am or 7am the temperature of the house has gone from between 71-73 to anywhere from 61-64. I still have a decent bed of coals, but a bit less than what I obviously had the night before once I've shaken out the ash and poked some holes from the bottom of the bed via the ashpan area. I've also cleaned out the ashpan as well. This process I will do at night and in the morning. If I'm home throughout the day, I may go and shake the grates a little every few hours (3-5hrs), in order to maintain the red glow and a sufficient amount of airflow to the coals.
If the temperature is down to 61-64, then after preparing and loading the furnace, I'll leave the ash pan door wide open for however long it takes to bring the temperature up to and above 70. This can take a few hours 3-5hrs. I've got the top draft control
that has the round knob set in the middle which says minimum. Normally, when I've got the temp that I want in the house, I just leave the upper draft knob control to minimum and the bottom ashpan little single lever draft switch to wide open with the ash pan door closed. This can keep the temperature constant for some time. I can provide pictures of this if needed.
I've got the fan set at 69 which blows air on the top of the fire, but shuts off when the temp hits 70. I've got two digital controls upstairs and only one zone for the house. I've got one control for the oil, and one for the wood/coal. I've tried playing with the draft control a bit, but feel that if I over clock it and maximize the upper draft control knob, I'll be losing a lot of heat out the double insulated metal chimney. I pretty much leave the top round draft knob at minimum all the time which sets in the center of the draft range. If I were to move it far to the left, it would be closed which is where it's supposed to be If I'm burning oil along with the ashpan draft lever being at the closed position as well.
If anyone has any tips or needs more infomation, please let me know and I'll be happy to provide them.
Thanks again, David B.