Do you burn coal?

[wampum]

I bought a new coal stove.I will still burn wood in my basement stove but my main heat will be coal.I will burn only hard coal. This coal actually is hotter and cleaner then wood and puts out about 13500 BTU;s per pound.It produces no creosote and little or no soot.It does produce CO2 so a good chimney is a must and detectors.

I am not that far from the Eastern Pennsylvania Anthracite coal fields so cost per ton is reasonable to me here.I was just wondering how many others burn coal?

To all your nay sayers please research Anthracite coal.It actually is cleaner then wood to burn and burns with little smoke and soot.Oder is not an issue and no creosote.

My stove holds 90 pounds of what they call rice coal.and burns from 7500 BTU;s to 90,000 BTU's.It is a stoker type and is controlled automatically by a coal troll.

Do any others burn coal and how do you like it?

 

[Marshy]

I burned pea coal all my life growing up in a Alaskin Stoker. My grand father has one that burnt rice coal and had a thermostat controlled combustion fan and feed drive. Can't tell you what type it was but always disliked the dust. It would be delivered "wet" and if you didn't buy it early enough it would freeze. We would bring it in with 5 gal pails and stack them 2 high behind the stove. This contributed to additional coal dust because it would dry out so we wouldn't bring too much in. We could store 3 ton in a grain gravity wagon that farmers use, we built a roof over it with a fill door. If the cost was more enonomical I would consider a outdoor coal boiler.

 

[wampum]

I burned pea coal all my life growing up in a Alaskin Stoker. My grand father has one that burnt rice coal and had a thermostat controlled combustion fan and feed drive. Can't tell you what type it was but always disliked the dust. It would be delivered "wet" and if you didn't buy it early enough it would freeze. We would bring it in with 5 gal pails and stack them 2 high behind the stove. This contributed to additional coal dust because it would dry out so we wouldn't bring too much in. We could store 3 ton in a grain gravity wagon that farmers use, we built a roof over it with a fill door. If the cost was more enonomical I would consider a outdoor coal boiler.

As a kid I grew up burning Bituminous coal and did so also in the first house my wife and I moved into.This rice anthracite will be new to me. I hear you about the dust,that seems to be the biggest problem.I picked up 5 tons of bulk the other day. The past 2 years have been really hard to keep up with wood so the coal stove looked like a great option.

 

[Marshy]

It is great heat and low labor compared to firewood. However, I consider firewood to be less maintenance. The best advice I will give you is buy a spare feeder motor. When it ***** the bed you have no heat and might not be an off the shelf part. They typically last a few years but we've had some that last less. Blower fans are easy to get and usually have two and seem to last 3-4 times as long. Inspect your stove pipe yearly too. The sulfur is tough on the metal and it get thin then all falls apart.

 

[olyman]

.It is a stoker type and is controlled automatically by a coal troll.
QUOTE]
this being what?? a auger to feed coal to the stove,,controlled by the motor marshy speaks of??? and yes, I know about coal,,because of the converted to coal old wood furnaces they used to have around here, and many of which I scrapped,,and looked like little black sambo... the old steam boiler in my basement,,was first wood,,then coal,,then oil fired..talk about a wasteful pig...................no longer have that useless monstrosity...

 

[sawjunky23]

The only problem I have with coal is that you don't need a chainsaw to cut it....

 

[sawjunky23]

The part I enjoy most about heating with wood is spending time outdoors cutting,splitting and stacking the wood. It is a good workout and gives me a sense of accomplishment. I have 3 in-laws who are farmers and I could probably heat my house for way less money by burning corn as they could get me all I would need for cheap but what fun would that be?

 

[blades]

I do not have fond memories of Coal

 

[Ironworker]

I looked at coal stoves and the first thing I noticed was the black dust it created, I noticed how much came off after only a couple of seconds of the salesman showing me the product, I could not imagine how much would accumulate after a whole season.

 

[Deleted member 83629]

I burn Kentucky stove coal but only in my shed i do burn a little in the house when it dips below 0, It is soft coal and very volatile it crackles when it burns.
It is easy to light and puts out the heat, it isn't dirty burning it inside the house but it does soot a chimney and will coat the roof in black soot.

The biggest pain in the a$$ about burning soft coal is clinkers i keep a metal rod around because it is quite often im jabbing the grates to break them up.

 

[wampum]

.It is a stoker type and is controlled automatically by a coal troll.
QUOTE]
this being what?? a auger to feed coal to the stove,,controlled by the motor marshy speaks of??? and yes, I know about coal,,because of the converted to coal old wood furnaces they used to have around here, and many of which I scrapped,,and looked like little black sambo... the old steam boiler in my basement,,was first wood,,then coal,,then oil fired..talk about a wasteful pig...................no longer have that useless monstrosity...

There is no auger.

 

[wampum]

Here is the stove I bought http://www.hitzer.com/news/608-energy-master-i-stoker

 

[Deleted member 83629]

i use a early 20th century flat top pot belly i can usually get 15 hr burns times since i sealed all the gaps and cracks with rope gasket and stove cement.
Hitzer builds a really nice stove.

 

[shamusturbo]

I am the guy certifying the weld repairs on those big coal burners just north of you, Wampum, on Route 18. To answer your question, I do burn a combo of coal and wood in my custom outdoor boiler. The coal I have used the last 3 years, we shoveled out of a steam locomotive in "the bottoms" of McKees Rocks 4 or 5 years ago because they could not get a company with an R-stamp to re-certify the pressure boiler (among other roadblocks-EPA etc etc) It is all anthracite lump coal and burns great. It will hurt to have to buy the next load.....

 

[Marshy]

There is no auger.

I'm sure there are many variations of designs for the feed method. The stoker we had could be adjusted two ways. It had 2 variable speed drive knobs. One was for the dual heater fans and the othe controlled the feeder motor. The feeder motor server as the combustion air fan and the feed "auger" but really just moved a plate back and forth that pushed the coal out into the combustion schute. The auger plate had an adjustable linkage that we normally used to adjust the stove. The VFD usually was left on high for us to ensure complete combustion of the coal. It sounds like your stove will be more efficient with the coal-trol even though they don't explain how it works it probably similar to my grand fathers that had different stages of feed and combustion air based on the thermostat demand. It'd be interesting to know how the feed mechanism works... Like I said, you become very familiar with how it operated when it quits in the middle of winter.

 

[flotek]

My neighbor jumped on the coal wagon and bought a new coal stove it's a stoker design . He burns anthracite he liked the heat but apparently not the price . I think it was 330$ a ton last I heard . He switched to wood now because bagged coal was becoming unaffordable and the supply was monopolized by just a couple shops. Unless you have a mine in your backyard I don't see it being a cost effective long term solution especially with more and more coal mines going bankrupt every month

 

[Marshy]

Bagged coal is always more expensive than bulk. You can get a better price if you can take multiple tons at the same time. My mother has been burning 3 ton a year for the last 15 or more years. The truck holds 3 ton and it's belt fed right into the gravity wagon. Delivered it's $230/ton. Plus, You never have to deal with the bags, just a couple buckets. Somewhere we came up with 6 gal pails that worked great.

 

[flotek]

Okay but If your not near a mine area sometimes the bagged anthracite is all you can get and at 6 bucks a bag or 330$ a ton your not saving any money at all and you might as well call the propane man .

 

[Wisneaky]

I burned some anthracite last winter. It was nut coal. A little pricey, but worth it in my opinion. Long burn times. Steady heat the whole time. I really like it. My next furnace will be a stoker. I'm thinking leisure line ak110 I can get rice coal for $130 a ton a couple hours drive from me.

 

[Marshy]

I did some looking on craigslist for lump or Nut coal and found some nut for sale. I'm want to get a doz or so bags of it an try some in my stove this winter during polar vortex. I'm going to call some coal places today to see if I can get lump though. I think the larger I can get the better. Plus it was over $5/40 lb bag. EEK!