DW and I just bought our dream house and it has a coal stove in the basement family room. How the heck do you burn coal? I grew up with a fireplace and would camp in cabins as a kid with a wood burning stove, but I have never dealt with coal. The house is set up with the stove in the basement and 2 floor vents to allow the heat to rise into the living room and kitchen and then a dutch door at the top of the stairs near the bedrooms. The home inspector and my bro thought I would save a bundle of money using the stove for heat. The house has electric baseboard heat.
From what I understand coal burns hotter longer....correct?
How much does coal cost?
How long does it burn?
Is it a PIA -vs- wood?
Is there a smell?
How much coal do you need to burn all day?
Where do you get a load of coal?
Can you burn coal in a campfire?
Matt O 2006 Skyline Nomad 27' travel trailer. Previously owned 1986 Coleman Columbia / 1992 Coleman Senecca / 1989 Born Free Class C RV.
Coal is going to last longer if banked properly. You may want to consider a wood pellet stove. We switched to this after both wood and coal over the years. You can load it and forget it for at least a day and sometimes more depending. Cleans up with a shop vac with a hepa bag. Best choice i have made for heating. We have the same set up stove in basement vents in floor.
The answers to a lot of your questions are going to depend on the stove itself. Not much help, I know. You may be able to download info from the stove's manufacturer.
We burned coal for years. Ours was a hot-water boiler. It was pretty easy to start: I'd begin with a few sheets of crumpled newspaper and make sure there was a good draft. It usually started without problems but there were times when I'd add a couple of charcoal briquettes. That boiler burned anthracite -- hard coal -- vs. bituminous -- soft coal. I'd imagine that any stove sold around here (Pennsylvania) burns hard coal. There aren't many bituminous veins on the east coast and bituminous is smoky when it burns. Think blacksmith demonstrations...
Coal does burn hotter than hardwood. Depending on the design of the firebox you should easily be able to stock it, bank it off and be good for half a day, maybe more. If it's burning right there should be little or no odor. If it starts to smother itself you'll get a sulfur smell. Once you get used to the stove that shouldn't be a problem.
A lot of hardware stores stock coal in 50 lb. bags. Check the same places that sell fuel for pellet stoves. No idea on current cost. A load of coal is most likely a lot more than you need. When we were burning coal the minimum load was two tons, and that comes in a dump truck. So, you need access to the house and an opening and chute to get it in the basement, along with a bin. Two tons needed a bin that was about eight by ten feet.
Coal could be used in a campfire. The eastern Pennsylvania veins were discovered when an outcropping was ignited by a campfire. It doesn't burn well that way unless you have a grate for it. It's not well suited for that use. You'd also need larger coal than the stove requires.
Good luck with it. With the floor vents and dutch door you should get good whole (or close to it) heat. Years ago a friend heated his house with a very tiny Jotul wood stove in the basement. He was going to cut in floor vents but during the first winter found that they wouldn't be needed. You might need the supplemental electric heat just in bathrooms, depending on your floor plan.
John (close to the PA coal counties, former user, friend to a number of independent miners and brother to a coal geologist... :))
A bazillion years ago when I was young(er) and lived in Scotland my only source of heat and hot water was coal. We had a coal fueled fireplace in the front room with a back boiler and, as an added bonus, an oven off the side - it made for cooking good stews.
We bought a couple tons of the stuff just before winter set in and it'd last us well through spring.
If you have a gravel or dirt road with potholes, the burned embers make a good filler as once they get wet they harden. At least that's what I did with mine.
My last house in NC had two coal fireplaces, one downstairs and one in one of the bedrooms upstairs. Nope - never used 'em. In fact, converted the downstairs one to gaslogs.
I doubt DW would allow me to switch out the stove as soon as we bought the house so I will be burning wood and coal for at least the first year or 2. I may investigate a pellet stove if I ever have to replace it.
I am assuming the stove is original from 1987. Once I get in the house I will take some pic's of it and research it to use it properly and to its max potential. The coal box is in the garage. It is about 5x2x5. There was some coal in it but I have no idea what kind it is.
I just talked with my FIL. He has a wood burning furnace and uses some coal in it as well. He said he has a hard time keeping the coal burning. I don't know exactly what he is doing right or wrong.....he is my in-law :banghead:
2 tons does sound like it would be too much for me to use and store. My FIL also said it cost $180 per ton. I was kind of hoping I could get a load in my PU for $50 or so. I would think coal by the bag might get expensive.
I have so many new things to deal with this new house.....Coal stove, pool, hot tub, well, septic, I have a lot of reading to do on this stuff :reader:
Matt O 2006 Skyline Nomad 27' travel trailer. Previously owned 1986 Coleman Columbia / 1992 Coleman Senecca / 1989 Born Free Class C RV.
Your FIL's wood-burning furnace probably doesn't have the right grate to burn coal. If it's not set up for it, it will be a bitch to burn properly! Coal has to have a bottom draft to burn.
I'd think it safe to assume that your stove burns anthracite. Anthracite looks somewhat metallic and leaves little or no smudges on your fingers if you rub it. The size it burns is a different matter. If there is some left in the coal bin, measure it. Chestnut coal is 7/8-1 1/2 inch, pea coal is 9/16-7/8, then down through buckwheat, rice and barley. Chestnut and pea are the usual size for hand-fired stoves.
Steve: We used a lot of our ash to fill potholes in our gravel drive and always kept a barrel at the bottom of the hill. Everything I didn't want to use was hauled away by a guy who saw me spreading ash on the icy front sidewalk one winter. He was overjoyed to get them and I was glad to be rid of them. The stoker furnace filled at least one washtub a day with ash.
John
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