I have a brand new house in pa. under construction (apprx 3000+ sq/ft) and i am putting in a big cast coal boiler. my question is about what back up system do i use. oil or electric boiler backup. no tanks are bought yet and i plan on heating with mostly coal/wood. i do not have an extra chimney so i would have to purchase a high efficiency oil furnace for extra $$$. any ideas would be greatly appreciated??
coal boiler & ??? Help
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I have seen some of the old augers that were used to load coal into some of the old heaters that were converted to n.g. I guess, hince the name conversion burners... Large round drum with only runoffs/ supplies going to each room & a damper on the vent pipe no duct work (as we know it today)
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When I was kid.
I had to feed the coal furnace, and rake the ashes, and clean them out.
My dad always carried a couple buckets of ashes in the trunk in the winter, when it snowed.
Worked great for getting unstuck.
You learn real quick how to stoke it, if you don't want to wak up to a cold house in the morning.
I had to feed the coal furnace, and rake the ashes, and clean them out.
My dad always carried a couple buckets of ashes in the trunk in the winter, when it snowed.
Worked great for getting unstuck.
You learn real quick how to stoke it, if you don't want to wak up to a cold house in the morning.
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God YES!
I lost the only I ever bid on to another company.
900Sq ft home all new ducts and furnace 2300 bucks I bid.
They called the next day to give me the job. Two day later they changed their minds. Another company bid 2100.
Found out the home owner dropped a dime on the other company to the EPA for not disposing the ASBESTOS according to regulation.
Fine and jail time.
I won't do one to day for any thing.
Never thought of that word We called them spiders... There are still a few here ... Hey , some were fancy with a blower....While others were gravity. For the most part they have vanished ! Had the ol bi metal adjustable pilot rod assy.with a small switch on the end.......WOW !! How furnaces come a long way in just a few yrs... I thought I would never adapt from a standing pilot with 1 limit
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Some of them old ceramic coated heat exchanger Moffats had that mechanical pilot. Sure glad I grew up with a nice modern oil furnace in the house. Turn up tstat and heat comes out. Turned 18 and Dad expected me to pay the utilities instead of rent. No fun filling the oil tank from my pocket.
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Builds character :laughing:
Hey, I've only seen 1 oil burner in my life.. Why do they still heat alot with oil in areas of the country...I mean, Why hasn't someone come in & install nat. gas in those areas Don't know what the cost of oil is compaired to n.g. Just seems like n.g. would be . Would be rasier to use & cleaner
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It depended on where you lived. Back in the fifties most homes in Mi were oil heated. Gas put out a monster campaign bashing oil. The times were an era
of scientific advancement. Everyone wanted to have the latest and the best in home comfort. So you can imagine the mind set.
The gas company stomped the hell out of the small independent oil dist with radio and TV ads.
Got to the point kids who still had oil heat were teased as being old fashioned.
Gas finally became the fuel of choice and the infra structure was laid.
This was around the Detroit Metro area.
Further north about a hundred miles oil is still strong.
That's how it was here any way. -
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Up until about two years ago oil was cheaper than gas especially for steam heat. Now as the oil price came back down it is about the same cost to heat with oil or gas. The oil burners bur very clean today and the fuel has about 40,000 more btu's than gas.
The oil customers like the idea of not being tied to one distributor as they can change oil companies anytime they like and can shop oil prices if they want.
Also very few oil customers will be left without heat overnight as parts are interchangeable between oil burners. It is not like having 20 different gas valves not to mention all the pilot assemblies and spark modules.
The oil customers like the idea of not being tied to one distributor as they can change oil companies anytime they like and can shop oil prices if they want.
Also very few oil customers will be left without heat overnight as parts are interchangeable between oil burners. It is not like having 20 different gas valves not to mention all the pilot assemblies and spark modules.
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And that's why we got(or had) the big rift between oil and gas guys.
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Because. It cost a lot to run 10 miles of pipe. For just 10 customers. When he rest of the neighborhood is using heat pumps.
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