Montgomery Ward coal fired Water Heater

Wyeknot

Would anyone know what year this WH was made? Can't find any online to match. Second, I am thinking I could use this as a heat source in my shop after figuring out how to pressure test. It would be used more like a fire burning boiler with an electric pump connect to four six foot water baseboard units. Is this feasible or should I just use it as a wood stove with valves removed for safety? Unit has sentimental value and really like to make work and know some history of the. Thanks for any relevant feedback. stephen

Steamhead

@Larry Weingarten ?

hot_rod

Certainly add a CO detector if you fire it up while you are in the shop. It will need a source of combustion air also.

Larry Weingarten

Hi, That's a coal fired side-arm water heater. It would have been hooked up to a tank, and water would flow by convection from the bottom of the tank into the back side of your heater...then out the top and back into a connection high on the side of the tank. I'm thinking you would adjust the burn rate by sliding the knob up on the side of the heater to give it more or less air. Just guessing it was made in the 20s or 30s.

I would not use it as a wood stove as dry firing will likely damage it. You could use a pump controlled by a thermal snap switch to move hot water from it. You'll also want a relief valve and expansion tank in the system. The heater has a cast iron water heating chamber on top, so like any boiler, you need to prevent dry firing and thermal shock. It looks like a fun project 😎

Yours, Larry

Sylvain

Don't we light the coal fire with a wood fire?
Primary combustion air coming from the lower flapper , secondary air for the combustion of gases (from coal distillation) coming from the sliding opening of the upper door.

There is an axle/spindle sticking out at the bottom. Is it to activate an articulated grid to “poke ashes”?
middle door for manual poking.

leonz

This water heater/heating boiler is almost a 100 years old if not older, please just use it as a conversation piece. It is what is referred to as a base burner for coal heating.

A hand fed coal fire needs its combustion air from the bottom utilizing the shaker grates or rotating grates to break up the layer of dead ash and allow combustion air to rise through the grates to burn the coal.

As Larry said do not use as a wood stove. It has either a rotating fire grate that is spun by the gear attached to the square spindle shaft above the ash pit door or a fire grate that is rocked back and forth
to remove the dead ash keep the coal fire burning from the bottom.

The main riser pipe in the center would feed a hot water riser pipe that would be connected to an open to air expansion tank and feed all the radiators in the home by gravity hot water heating with the 2 smaller returns in the top of the boiler for the cooler water coming from the radiators on the floors above to be reheated.

I would rather see you buy a book good book about coal heating to learn more about the use of coal for home heating.

hot_rod

AKA a closet bomb:)