I don't see a timer on your setup. Do you not have a timer? If not, does your feed and blower run consistently then? Trying to determine how much on and off time I need to set my timer at.
@@battyice thank you so much for that quick feedback! how realize that the timer depends on a couple factors such as size of house, room thermostat temperatures, number of zones, etc. Could you please let me know the approximate SF of your house, how many zones, and what you keep the room thermostats at in the dead of winter to keep the stable temperature for 2 mins on per half hour? What temperature does that keep the water in the boiler system at?
The timer just keeps the fire lively during periods of little/no demand for heat. The aquastat is what maintains the boiler temperature when it has a load on it. The timer cycle might need to be changed if you run a high feed rate. I run my stoker on 4 teeth of feed.
Always Great To See Your And Stoker Don's High Quality Videos,Rob!! Always On Point,I Always Leave Wiser Than Prior To Viewing! Thanx,And Happy Belated Thanksgiving,Mister! Keep Christmas In Your Sights!🎯🎊🎄🎅🤶🌲🎉👍😎
Sweeeeeeeeet! Mine is still blocking my basement stairs. What a project just to get my fat belly between the rafters and upstairs hydronic line to get down there. Maybe I'll have it going next season, lol. I sure hope it fits down here ...
Yes, there used to be a 6 section oil boiler sitting in the same spot. The amount of soot that came out of it when I separated the sections was unreal.
The guy that sold me the boiler gave me the option of either gearbox. The early 80's ones are different than the one they use now, and the old one he had was in very nice shape - so that is what I went with.
used to have a 1890's pot belly stove at the old shop. it was not the type of stove that you could keep lit for 24 hrs. it was good to take the chill away at the garage door. kinda going to miss the 80 degree basement after the efm 350 is running.
@@battyice i have a big radiator also for the basement. i am more worried about the crawl space. currently has zero insulation. and the scorched air that leaks out of the ducts has been enough to keep the pipes from freezing since 1992. going to waterproof the walls and then add 2" foil faced foam and at least put plastic on the dirt floor.
Looks great Rob. Happy Thanksgiving! BTW.... I never installed my EFM Highboy down here in NC, so I might just sell it, if you know anyone who needs one.
Are you gents aware the 700-900 was designed to burn soft coal cleanly? Instead of anthracite coal? Just a FYI soft coal is cheaper then hard coal and from what I saw on the 700 video all you need to add to burn soft coal is the addition of a vertical piece of steel so as the ash ring rotates any clinkers that form are broken off by the vertical piece of steel. Just a thought if you decide to get say enough soft coal to fill your feed barrel and see how clean it actually burns and costs. Hand fired soft coal is smokey not stoker fired soft coal. Might be interesting to see the price difference between hard and soft coal. Nice to see a 700 being used as most homeowners go for the 520. Thanks for the video.
It's kinda hard to get bituminous here in the anthracite region. I guess if you bought like 20 tons at a time it would make it worth it to haul it from the western part of the state
Nice setup Rob. So in purge mode the 2 boilers are acting as thermal storage tanks. The stoker will only fire if the heat call is not satisfied by purging the heat from the 2 boilers. I love your 2 big a$$ expansion tanks! Are they Extrol 90's?
Correct. This works particularly well in mild weather. Often the heat stored from timer cycles is enough to satisfy a heat call. It prevents the boiler from constantly running up to the high limit setting, and prevents over shooting the room thermostat setting. Kind of like outdoor reset, but based on heat call frequency and duration.
Rob, That ash looks a good bit lighter then the ash a was getting out of my GJ/EFM. Nice! I ran Lehigh for a week and it looked the same as the Baschak I normally run. My Van Wert Ash is starting to look lighter and less clinkered though. -Don
hey, any chance you can email me at jdgaldieri@gmail.com? I am buying a house with an EFM unit and I've never used coal before, always natural gas. Looking for some advice if you don't mind. Thank you!
Man does that sound of the worm and motor bring back memories! My parents heated their home with an EFM stoker for 54 years in NEPA in July we would get between 10-12 tons delivered into our coal room. Unlimited hot water and free traction in the winter on our road with the ashes, thanks for posting.
@@danbiss87 It will depend a lot on your local pricing, but for may people anthracite is about half the cost of heating oil. Once you know your local pricing you can enter it in a fuel comparison tool and see how the costs compare. coalpail.com/fuel-comparison-calculator-home-heating
Nice clean setup. Great work !
I was just explaining the eFM stoker I grew up with, great memories thanks for posting
I don't see a timer on your setup. Do you not have a timer? If not, does your feed and blower run consistently then? Trying to determine how much on and off time I need to set my timer at.
My timer is inside that gray enclosure. I run 2 minutes every half hour and have never lost the fire, and the boiler temps are stable.
@@battyice thank you so much for that quick feedback! how realize that the timer depends on a couple factors such as size of house, room thermostat temperatures, number of zones, etc. Could you please let me know the approximate SF of your house, how many zones, and what you keep the room thermostats at in the dead of winter to keep the stable temperature for 2 mins on per half hour? What temperature does that keep the water in the boiler system at?
The timer just keeps the fire lively during periods of little/no demand for heat. The aquastat is what maintains the boiler temperature when it has a load on it. The timer cycle might need to be changed if you run a high feed rate. I run my stoker on 4 teeth of feed.
Back off and let us see the whole thing, dummy.
Nice! Good job Rob!
Very cool! Such a pro installation.
Thanks for all the advice when I was installing my EFM 350!
Love my EFM 350! Warmest the house has ever been! and we have a dry basement!
What is the best way to get this started ?
Yet Another Bang-Up Job On This One,Rob!! Thanx!!🎯👍😎
Always Great To See Your And Stoker Don's High Quality Videos,Rob!! Always On Point,I Always Leave Wiser Than Prior To Viewing! Thanx,And Happy Belated Thanksgiving,Mister! Keep Christmas In Your Sights!🎯🎊🎄🎅🤶🌲🎉👍😎
Any suggestions for finding that pipe replacement?
Get 2" schedule 40 pipe from a local supplier. Steel works well with dry coal, but if your coal is damp I would use aluminum or stainless.
Just go mine hooked up with oil backup
Yep, all the lube points. I hear Smitty got his High-boy boiler down to his basement. Hopefully he can get it plumbed in before winter.
Grundfos pumps?
Yes, Grundfos Alpha.
Very nice, simple and bulletproof!
I got a VA-400 who did u say has the parts for these? Would definitely be interested. If you could let me know
Every time I watch this, I write something new down for when I redo my system.
Sweeeeeeeeet! Mine is still blocking my basement stairs. What a project just to get my fat belly between the rafters and upstairs hydronic line to get down there. Maybe I'll have it going next season, lol. I sure hope it fits down here ...
Very nice job on the installation👍
What's that heating? I looked at some keystokers but glad we went with the efm.
Truck repair shop. I think it is 22,000 sq ft. Radiant heat + Modines.
Классная работа
One of the best videos on UA-cam! Seriously, nice work on your setup. Did you eliminate the oil boiler?
Yes, there used to be a 6 section oil boiler sitting in the same spot. The amount of soot that came out of it when I separated the sections was unreal.
Glad to see you got the DHW hooked up. Looks Great! I didn't realize that you converted your 1981 520 to the old style gearbox. Good deal.
The guy that sold me the boiler gave me the option of either gearbox. The early 80's ones are different than the one they use now, and the old one he had was in very nice shape - so that is what I went with.
Looks nice!
used to have a 1890's pot belly stove at the old shop. it was not the type of stove that you could keep lit for 24 hrs. it was good to take the chill away at the garage door. kinda going to miss the 80 degree basement after the efm 350 is running.
I have a big radiator in the basement that I am going to hook up to my EFM. Once that is online I will only run the Chubby when I feel like it.
@@battyice i have a big radiator also for the basement. i am more worried about the crawl space. currently has zero insulation. and the scorched air that leaks out of the ducts has been enough to keep the pipes from freezing since 1992. going to waterproof the walls and then add 2" foil faced foam and at least put plastic on the dirt floor.
Looks great Rob. Happy Thanksgiving! BTW.... I never installed my EFM Highboy down here in NC, so I might just sell it, if you know anyone who needs one.
Tough time to sell one Chris - no one seems to look when fuel is cheap.
Wow, there is actually a video! Looks real good Rob. Hopefully the globe valve tweaking will get you to the right radiant temp! Happy Turkey Day!
The slab has leveled out with a surface temperature of about 75F. I think that is about perfect
@@battyice NICE!
very very nice!!!!!!!!!!
would you recomend the 520 efm
I have been very happy with them. Very efficient, and can be setup for a wide range of applications.
nice!!!!!!!!!!
very smart man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great, thanks for posting. I'm trying to find coal for a forge and this is what my local store sells. Looks like it should get hot enough!
www.vanwertboilers.com this man has everything you will need for a VA800.
Where did you get your parts? I need some parts for a VA800
Are you gents aware the 700-900 was designed to burn soft coal cleanly? Instead of anthracite coal? Just a FYI soft coal is cheaper then hard coal and from what I saw on the 700 video all you need to add to burn soft coal is the addition of a vertical piece of steel so as the ash ring rotates any clinkers that form are broken off by the vertical piece of steel. Just a thought if you decide to get say enough soft coal to fill your feed barrel and see how clean it actually burns and costs. Hand fired soft coal is smokey not stoker fired soft coal. Might be interesting to see the price difference between hard and soft coal. Nice to see a 700 being used as most homeowners go for the 520. Thanks for the video.
It's kinda hard to get bituminous here in the anthracite region. I guess if you bought like 20 tons at a time it would make it worth it to haul it from the western part of the state
Nice video Rob. Hey, is that 60 gal drum ok for you? I recently picked up a square 300 gal poly tank for $40 that may work on your setup.
Nice setup Rob. So in purge mode the 2 boilers are acting as thermal storage tanks. The stoker will only fire if the heat call is not satisfied by purging the heat from the 2 boilers. I love your 2 big a$$ expansion tanks! Are they Extrol 90's?
Correct. This works particularly well in mild weather. Often the heat stored from timer cycles is enough to satisfy a heat call. It prevents the boiler from constantly running up to the high limit setting, and prevents over shooting the room thermostat setting. Kind of like outdoor reset, but based on heat call frequency and duration.
No bin for me. I split a TT load of bagged coal with family, and store it on pallets in the garage. I just add to the drum as necessary.
Nice! It seems to be loafing along nicely there Rob. I only see the barrel in your videos. Where is the coal bin? -Don
So what did you like better? the buck of the rice?
Rob, That ash looks a good bit lighter then the ash a was getting out of my GJ/EFM. Nice! I ran Lehigh for a week and it looked the same as the Baschak I normally run. My Van Wert Ash is starting to look lighter and less clinkered though. -Don
nice unit Rob. Cole's the way to go man
I also have an EFM stoker boiler. Very good system. check it out at timtools99.
hey, any chance you can email me at jdgaldieri@gmail.com? I am buying a house with an EFM unit and I've never used coal before, always natural gas. Looking for some advice if you don't mind. Thank you!
Man does that sound of the worm and motor bring back memories! My parents heated their home with an EFM stoker for 54 years in NEPA in July we would get between 10-12 tons delivered into our coal room. Unlimited hot water and free traction in the winter on our road with the ashes, thanks for posting.
Working on getting a 700 or 900. They are nice.
4 zones of baseboard, one zone of radiant in the basement floor. Boiler itself was 5k, self install.
Whats it costs in coal to heat your home in winter? I hear its the cheapest and most efficient and would like to transition.
@@danbiss87 It will depend a lot on your local pricing, but for may people anthracite is about half the cost of heating oil. Once you know your local pricing you can enter it in a fuel comparison tool and see how the costs compare. coalpail.com/fuel-comparison-calculator-home-heating
looks good, whats your heating "forced air, baseboard.." looking to do something similiar what was cost?