Coal in the OWB

[artbaldoni]

Well the 7 Ps have caught me again. I thought it would be a great idea to beat the tax credit and get an OWB. Didn't consider that I would have to cut a bunch of wood to feed it. Well I'm almost out of dry wood and have been mixing some green with the dry to stretch what I have. Then suddenly(after reading a bunch of forums) I got the great idea to add some stove coal to the mix. So I went to the coal yard and made the sale of the day for them. I bought 150# of stove coal. I have just added the first shovel full to the OWB. Anxious to see how it does. BTW Pi*s Poor Prior Planning Prevents Positive Performance in case you were wondering...:sad:

 

[chadjacobs]

Just wondering what kind of owb you have. I have a wood doctor not set up for coal.but I'm. Thinking of trying some chunk coal mixed in. Any thoughts or ideas from anybody. Let me know how the coal works.

 

[artbaldoni]

I have a Nature's Comfort NCB-175. No grates but it does have firebrick with gaps in the bottom and a forced draft blower.

 

[John R]

I think coal will ruin your stove if it's not set up to burn it.

 

[chadjacobs]

I think coal will ruin your stove if it's not set up to burn it.

That sucks thought it maybe a good helper

 

[artbaldoni]

This stove is designed to burn coal. It just does not have the optional shaker grate installed. I have read other posts about using coal in this unit and there have been no problems.

 

[WVwoodsman]

I have been mixing large chunks of anthricite (hard) coal with wood for two years now in my Mahoning which has shaker grates and also has a forced draft system. It seems to do really well, but it does require a little more tending due to the ash needing to be shaken down to burn right. I like the coal due to the fact that it burns hotter and longer. My only disadvantage is that I buy it bagged and 1 ton at a time otherwise I would buy it bulk if I could find it. I have not tried soft or bit coal as it tends to produce clinkers and also has a higher sulfer content. The hard coal is around 95% carbon and burns really clean. Good luck with the coal!

 

[chadjacobs]

My wood doctor is set up just for wood no shaker at all. Does have a blower and works great. Just wish I was set up for coal too!

 

[smus]

I have a Shaver 165 and have burned probably a little over a ton of coal. I put 3or4 shovel fulls (about 3 gallon) in on top of a medium pile of wood then fisnih filling it with wood. It is unreal hot burning and it makes my burn time much longer. No problem hoilding for 12 hrs or so on the coldest nites.
It does smoke a lot when first started but, settles down to normal after it gets going. I am just burning soft coal by the way. I bought it for back up in case I could not get wood up for any reason. Don't think I would burn it alone but with wood mix it does make a lot of heat.

 

[artbaldoni]

Wow! 12 hours so far on the coal. I did add 3 small pieces of wood last night just in case. Wood is gone. Coal was glowing nicely. I stirred up the coal and woosh, a crazy blue flame fire. I can still see individual pieces so there is still plenty of fuel. Pictures to follow. Now I guess I need to make sure it doesn't over fire...I have my aquastat set at 170.

 

[PURPLEBOWYER]

Art did u have any problems controling ur water temp,Ive never burned coal but figured that would be an issue being that its alot more of an intense fire.Ive been thinkin about burning coal,I also have a shaver 165 without the shaker grate,but have been a little leery of tryin coal,Ive been getting 12 hr burns at 0 deg and below which Im happy with but If I can throw a few shovels of coal on top and get some extra burn time Im all for it,jusst dont wanna burn a hole in my stove.

 

[100 Watt]

I have been mixing large chunks of anthricite (hard) coal with wood for two years now in my Mahoning which has shaker grates and also has a forced draft system. It seems to do really well, but it does require a little more tending due to the ash needing to be shaken down to burn right. I like the coal due to the fact that it burns hotter and longer. My only disadvantage is that I buy it bagged and 1 ton at a time otherwise I would buy it bulk if I could find it. I have not tried soft or bit coal as it tends to produce clinkers and also has a higher sulfer content. The hard coal is around 95% carbon and burns really clean. Good luck with the coal!

You can't find any bulk coal? You live in Westbygodvirginia! :msp_w00t:LOL

In Ohio you can find it @ $175 a ton. I've a couple friends with Mahonings and they each mix coal with thier wood when it gets nasty. I'm not fond of the smell, but it sure burns hot.

 

[laynes69]

Wow, my neighbor used to drive to southern ohio and get coal for 60.00 a ton a few years ago. I've also seen lump coal around 90.00 a ton, but that was also a few years ago. Sounds like its gone up a bit. The local amish sell bagged or bulk anthracite, but thats around the 300 a ton mark.

 

[artbaldoni]

@ PURPLE, I just started this experiment last night. No trouble controlling the water temp. The blower stops at 170 and the fire dies down very quickly.

More observations:
I tried to run on just the coal today with no luck. When the stove went idle the coal fire died out almost completely. I'm sure the stove was idle for quite a while as its almost 40 here today. I fired back up with wood and the coal fired back with it. I guess the wood/coal mix is the "hot setup":msp_flapper: Will toss a couple shovel fulls in tonight with a small charge of wood and see what it looks like in the AM.
I did notice some large 1 1/2" pieces of coal made their way to the ash pan before they completely burned. Maybe a homemade grate is in the cards...
More later.

 

[artbaldoni]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qVNm2Jb6rk

Hope this worked. Coal/wood fire after 12 hours.

 

[PURPLEBOWYER]

Looks good art,fire looks to have alot of life yetopcorn:

 

[micker30]

coal in my stove

I have a Crown royal Stove with grates in the bottom which is designed. I throw bucket of coal in everytime I check it. Then throw couple of logs on fire I get longer burn time and use less wood. Without the coal when it gets below zero I'm at the stove every 5 to 6 hours because it burns up all the wood. It seems that the coal gives me longer burns but the stove doesn't drop in temp. I also dropped my fan temp so the stove only drops 4 degrres instead of the normal 10 keeps fire burning.

 

[artbaldoni]

Ok, it was 60+ deg last week so no coal. Supposed to be single digits tonight so I tossed in a shovelful with my wood for overnight. Let's see what happens. Stove loaded at 1700 will check again at 2100 before bed if I make it that far. Up all night plowing snow last night.:msp_sleep: