Mixing wood and coal in your OWB.

[stipton]

I love to cut wood but rarely have the time. So, by the suggestion of a friend with 6 years of owb experience, I decided to include coal in my heating for the year.
I bought 5 ton of run of mine coal, straight from the mine, a mix of powder to softball + size, super black with little/no rocks. Was told to slightly dampen before putting in the owb due to dust flareups. After a couple of busted fingers and ripped fingernails, he said once you go coal you will never go back.

Anyone else use coal to supplement their owb fuel appetite?

s

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Coal burns a lot hotter than wood, I'd be worried about burning your OWB out unless it's rated for it.

Ian

 

[stipton]

Coal burns a lot hotter than wood, I'd be worried about burning your OWB out unless it's rated for it.

Ian

Thanks Ian. Yes, my owb is rated for coal. Has a nice solid shaker. Curious to see how different the smoke and ash amount will be....

s

 

[ShoerFast]

As not a deciple of OWB, as there active systems, part of the beuty of wood is that os a completely passive system. (moot point no?)

But I have burned a lot of coal in about anything that burn wood. A sack of coal will sure keep a camp full of late season elk hunters happy when the temps dip bellow zero. Wall tent stoves are as thin as you will find, and I have never seen a problem. Coal will attack anything, just as wood will, given enough time.

A trick that works is to place the coal over a good bed of wood coals and ash, your mostly going to want to burn the coal when you want the fire to last a very long time, or when the temps really dip,,,,,,, just turn the air down and let it do it's thing.

 

[ktm rider]

I burn about 90% coal 10% wood in my AHS Multi fuel boiler. I have also burned it in numerous hand fired stoves and even tried it in a OWB wood only boiler and here are some tings I have discovered.

1. if you don't have grates in your OWB forget it, it will not burn and won't be worth the effort.

2. If the combustion air doesn't come from up under the grates ( not over the fire like for wood) it will not burn very well at all. The grates also need to shake to get the ash out.

3. The shape and depth of your firebox will determine how well and how long the coal will burn.

4. coal quality varies wildly when burning Bituminous coal. But Bit coal it about a quarter the price of high quality anthracite.

if you want more info, here is a link to a great coal burning forum. All the guys over there are great and they are VERY kowledgeable on coal burning.

http://www.nepadigital.com/bb/index.php?sid=7e38ee25982d4f30c059fcf931847e1c

 

[jhellwig]

I would mix the coal with wood. The less coal you use the less smell you have. Deffinatly keep it wet. At work we are vary cautious of coal dust as it has drastic effects. It goes into our boilers wet as can be at times and it doesn't phase it.

 

[stipton]

Thanks for the great info ktmrider.

My owb has grates that are well constructed and solid built. The company said it is rated for coal. The blower blows under the fire, through the grates. I will check out the site too.
Thanks for your 2 cents too jhellwig, as I will wet it down before burning off my eyebrows.

s

 

[ktm rider]

My AHS is in my pole building so, just like your OWB the smell is not an issue. The only issue with burning coal is when the stove/boiler is inside the house. It will produce fly ash and it eventually gets on everything just like dust.

It sounds like you OWB is already set up for coal. Like I said, as long as the combustion air comes from under the grates and the grates are shaker grates you should be good to go. I will warn you though, you will most likely Be hooked on the performance you will be getting and want more coal. Build a nice coal bin right beside your OWB and you will be all set. C'mon over the the coal burning forum I mentioned earlier and you will most likely learn some tips for even better burn times...

 

[stipton]

Towards the end of the season last year, a fella from the electric company came up to the farm and we spend 1/2 hour discussing our owb's. He has had his for 6 seasons and realized on the 3rd that he was tired of busting a$$ cutting 15+cords/year and tried coal. He kind of giggled saying how easy it is using coal, just scoop and fill.
I still think I will always use some wood as I really enjoy working with a saw and having the satisfaction of a neatly stacked pile. I tell my wife, "Look how much wood we have, looks nice huh?"

That is a great coal site as I have learned about what type is around here and compared prices. I look foward to utilizing the coal on the especially cold days of Jan and Feb where I would fill the box up 2, sometimes 3 times with wood only. I think wood will be the best on days of 35 and above. We shall see.....The guy I bought the coal off of says he has another customer who uses a 50/50 ratio and used about 3 ton last year. I guess it will boil down to price vs performance.

Great thing about my setup is the location of my owb. It is right beside my older two car garage. One bay holds one of my tractors and the other bay is for coal. I didnt realize how much space 5 ton takes up...I will post a pic later this week. I'm excited for the weather to change too see how the performace will be.

See you over there ktm and thanks again.

s

 

[Al Smith]

I think it just depends on what part of the world you live in.Southern Ohio has coal everywhere,so does parts of PA and West Va,northern Va.You won't find too much in California or the middle of Kansas .

When my brother lived in Gillette Wy. just about everybody had coal stoves because they nearly gave away that rosebud coal.

I live in one of the most prolific hardwood areas of the world so good burning wood is not a problem around these parts.On the Minnisota or western Kansas prarie ,this would indeed be a problem.

I've always had the mindset that the best source of btu's is the cheapest.Geez,ya know they burn peat in parts of England,which not being around it,I can't imagine but it obviously works because they have done so since before recorded history.

Oh,lets not forget the "buffalo chips".They used to sit around the campfire at night,warm and snug passing buffalo dung,this was in the days before bull **** was invented.

 

[ktm rider]

AL,
You are right about the regional fuel. Stipton lives in the home of the best coal in the world, North Eastern Pennsylvania ( NEPA) anthracite coal. I live on the WV border and Bituminous coal is king around here. I had an OWB a few years back that burned nothing but wood. After busting my hump cutting 15+ cord a year I decided it was time to sell that joker and get a coal boiler. Now I burn 5 ton of coal a year and it only cost me about $250 a year.
I still cut about 2 cord a year just to burn in the woodstove in the basement.

 

[Al Smith]

AL,
North Eastern Pennsylvania ( NEPA) anthracite coal.
.

It also burns into the nicest coke there is,blacksmiths love it.

 

[Mike Van]

Thanks for that coal burning link - Great site!

 

[stipton]

With the helpful tips from ktm rider, I have sucessfully achieved a 24 hour burn time for the past 3 days! Temps have been in the 30's/20's.

How I do it is, usually in the evening after dinner, I work the shaker grates until the ash is gone. Using a hoe I then rake the coals to a nice even bed, exposing the red hot coals. I then put in 2 five gallon buckets of bit coal, digging 2-3 spots to the bottom of the grates and fill the rest of the box with wood. Close it up and check it the next day after dinner.

No need to roll out of bed in the mornings to check the box anymore!

 

[ktm rider]

Congrats on the burn times Stipton,

You just can't beat the burn times you can get from coal. But, like I said earier, Burn times will vary according to the quality of the coal. It varies wildly with bituminous coal but the price can't be beat compared to anthracite.

I also read where yo were curious about the smoke the coal will give off. Mine only smokes for about 5 minutes when I first load/reload it. Once it gets burning it doesn't smoke AT ALL. Just heat vapors. Another bonus is that coal doesn't produce any creosote so chimney fires with indoor stoves is a non issue.

I'm glad you found success with burning coal. I just got a 38 hour burn time this week with the temps in the low 20's at night,. I must have got a good batch of coal this time...