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silverJeep | 01-19-2007 04:27 PM
To Coal or not to Coal? Anybody burn coal? I went to a steel fabricator in Bristol that had a wood burning stove that he burned coal in to keep the shop warm on cold days (said it burns much hotter than wood). Now I see piles of coal dumped in people�s front yards on the road I live on. That leads me to believe he�s not the only one that does that. Before now, I�ve never lived somewhere that coal was that accessible, so it was never an option. Anybody know much about it or have any advice? Tn_Andy, mtnman, care to chime in? SilverJeep

Tn...Andy | 01-19-2007 05:11 PM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Dirtiest fuel going, IMHO. Dang soot gets in every crack and cranny of a house eventually. Plumb nasty. Makes wood seem like natural gas by comparison. Would be my last choice personally.

volzka | 01-19-2007 05:25 PM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Hey 'jeep- Sure, I know a bit about coal but DYODJ, if, indeed, I "KNOW" anything at all. Most important, it is socked full of very toxic gasses, and will kill you dead if you screw up. when you start a fire w/coal it needs a lot of draft so the CO, carbon monoxide, can escape and since you can't smell it, CO can build up if your stove can leak. So, if you burn coal in a leaky wood stove in a tightly sealed room and fail to vent correctly, you and your family might be quite stiff in the morning, and not from the cold. The same holds true for charcoal, and even wood. Even the older gas cooking and heating stoves could do that if, for example, you tuned it on and the stove failed to light. Now that the caution flag dealy is over, in terms of BTU/#, coal is actually quite cheap, and the harder, the better. Anthracite, I think, is the best while the soft, brown, Aussie stuff not as good. There is even what I call "green" coal which is scattered all over Alaska and you can even see knots and bark in places so as to actually see that it was once a tree. Works in a pinch but reeks to high heaven. If you live in a city, best check to see if burning it is legal. If you can legally use it, then having a stash of it IMHO ranks way up there on the list of "things to have that might save your butt in a pinch". I would even go as far as to say it can be gasified and run an engine, but that is probably beyond what you had intended. But bearing that in mind, civil war era technology used coal gasification as the modern equivalent of piped-in natural gas, and might well be used that way again in the future. Hope that helps. Volzka

SAUM | 01-19-2007 06:55 PM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Do not try to burn eastern coal in a regular fireplace. My uncle tried a chunk that he found on the banks of the Ohio river and the heat cracked his rock fireplace from the fire pit to the ceiling. Being a miner I can get coal for free and many of my coworkers do burn it. I think Andy is right for the most part, but some of the guys claim that if you get a real coal stove things stay much cleaner. I will be going that route soon. It's pretty hard to beat free heat.

<SLV> | 01-19-2007 07:11 PM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Quote:
Originally Posted by SAUM (Post 480317) Do not try to burn eastern coal in a regular fireplace. My uncle tried a chunk that he found on the banks of the Ohio river and the heat cracked his rock fireplace from the fire pit to the ceiling. Being a miner I can get coal for free and many of my coworkers do burn it. I think Andy is right for the most part, but some of the guys claim that if you get a real coal stove things stay much cleaner. I will be going that route soon. It's pretty hard to beat free heat.
We just installed a wood borning stove and it came with a warning not to burn coal because the high temperatures could crack the casting. In fact, it said not even to burn pine for the same reason (as well as the extra tar).

damoc | 01-19-2007 07:59 PM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Quote:
Originally Posted by volzka (Post 480237) Hey 'jeep- Now that the caution flag dealy is over, in terms of BTU/#, coal is actually quite cheap, and the harder, the better. Anthracite, I think, is the best while the soft, brown, Aussie stuff not as good. There is even what I call "green" coal which is scattered all over Alaska and you can even see knots and bark in places so as to actually see that it was once a tree. Works in a pinch but reeks to high heaven. Volzka
Not an expert but a good friend in Australia said the Aussie stuff Is actually better because of a lower sulphur content he works for a coal mining company so that could be all propaganda?? Most towns in Australia where coal was easily available and cheap have banned its use for home heating.

silverJeep | 01-19-2007 09:35 PM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Thanks for the info guys, i knew there had to be drawbacks, and i knew it was "dirty", just made me raise an eyebrow when I saw others using it. Wanted to make sure i wasn't missing out on somrthing.

Scorpio | 01-19-2007 11:18 PM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Years ago, used Coke instead of Coal, with wood. Didn't have the dirty thing, or the excessive heat thing. We just burned it in a normal wood stove in the house. Don't know what the current cost is though. Someone else that knows of it, could give you better intel, as I didn't know much about it then or now, just that it put out good heat. I was thinking of converting the shop to wood/coke heat combo, instead of the propane.

mtnman | 01-20-2007 09:44 AM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? I don�t like coal. The smoke stinks and it make too much soot. If you burn it in a wood stove or cook stove it will warp your stove, too hot. As for a fire lasting all night, if you learn how to bank a fire, wood will last all night. I start a fire in November and it does not go out till March. And last but not least, you have to BUY coal. If you look around wood is free. Now if I had to cut wood with a hand saw I might be tempted to buy coal, but my chain saw works for now.

<SLV> | 01-20-2007 09:47 AM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Too broaden the topic... I have several friends who have gone to "pellet stoves". These stoves will also burn corn, and from what I hear, burning corn is a very efficient way to heat.

Scorpio | 01-20-2007 11:19 AM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Ideas please, How about if you had a exterior furnace, suitable to handle coal or coke, and piped the heat into the house or shop accordingly? Anyone have experience with that, or can direct me towards manufacturers and ideas accordingly? TIA! Like SLV has referenced, pellet stoves are becoming common around here with auto feeders, but with corn continuing to rise, I don't know what the break point is to become uneconomic comparatively.

SAUM | 01-20-2007 02:12 PM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? *shrug* http://www.heatinnovations.com/od-boiler.htm Sounds like you already have the radiant heat system scorp. Q. How do you heat a building with the furnace outside? A. All Homesteader and Coalman furnaces heat a water/glycol mixture. The heated liquid is pumped through insulated underground plastic pipes to all the different locations that need heat. The Heat is then transferred out of the liquid and the cooled liquid is pumped back to the Homesteader or Coalman for reheating. Fuel Yield in BTU's Required per Year Example Unit Cost Total Cost per Year Natural Gas 35,301 BTU/M³ 8,500 m³ 42¢/m³ * $3,570 Electricity 3,413 BTU/kWh 87,900 kWh 6¢/kWh $5,274 Fuel Oil 36,300 BTU/L 8,264 L 56¢/L $4,628 Propane 24,200 BTU/L 12,400 L 56.9¢/L $7,055 Coal 19,000,000 BTU/ton 16 tons $26 /ton** $416 Wood 17,000,000 BTU/cor 18 cords *** Another consideration concerning coal is spontaneous combustion. We constantly have to run around with a loader putting fires out, particularly after it rains during the summer. When a coal truck breaks down and a load has to be dumped along the road those 240 ton piles will often start to burn. Lastly if you leave the stuff in the weather it starts to flake up and go bad. This is strictly speaking for powder river basin coal, there is some difference from eastern coal, but if you are in MN I'm thinking you will have and easier time buying PRB coal. DYODD I suppose, but I don't think you would want a 16 ton pile laying out in the yard smoldering.

Tn...Andy | 01-20-2007 05:19 PM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Scorpio, You might look at the Central Boiler line of outdoor furnaces. Made up in ya'll's neck of the woods. http://www.centralboiler.com/models.php They make a couple models with REALLY big fireboxes....you can stick 5-6' logs iin them ( fireboxes 72x60 ) and one of them has a double door you can burn pallets as well.....or load up a pallet with wood and fork truck the whole thing in there if you have the equipment to do that.

bl96S5eu | 01-20-2007 08:33 PM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Quote:
Originally Posted by mtnman (Post 480686) if you learn how to bank a fire, wood will last all night. I start a fire in November and it does not go out till March.
Since I grew up a city boy and I'm slowly learning I don't mind asking a stupid question...Can you describe further what you mean when you say bank a fire?

mtnman | 01-21-2007 12:39 AM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Quote:
Originally Posted by bl96S5eu (Post 481031) Since I grew up a city boy and I'm slowly learning I don't mind asking a stupid question...Can you describe further what you mean when you say bank a fire?
Well, when I retire for the night I fill the stove with long burning logs (Green Oak and Green Hickory), close all the dampers and It�s good till morning. In the morning when I get up I�ll refill the now burnt down stove with some dry poplar and some dry oak, then open the dampers to make a good hot fire to clean the chimney (the cold wet fire will creosote the chimney) and take off the night chill. The rest of the day and night I just keep a moderate fire with a mixture of dry wood and a little Green Hickory. The term "Banking" Comes from coal fires when you had to rake the coals to the high side of the stove in a tight pile. This tight pile against the wall of the stove would burn slowly and keep all night. Burning a fire is an art form, you learn your stove and the types of wood you have. I�ve had a fire every winter for as long as I can remember.

Scorpio | 01-21-2007 07:11 AM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Saum, Thanks, I never thought of the combustion issue on the storage, something to research for sure on storage size and placement. Tn, Great site, exactly what I was speaking to. :coolbeer: Not sure I am getting my head around the propane number, as typically, propane around here is cheaper overall to heat with than is NG. Need to run some calcs on comparisons.

SAUM | 12-09-2007 10:58 AM
Re: To Coal or not to Coal? Just wanted to post a forum I found on this issue. I get coal free, so how could I go wrong? I have been backing my insert and stove up with gas, and a friend of mine is going to let me keep up with his gas bill so we can do a comparison later in the season. http://www.nepadigital.com/bb/?sid=b...517a1a11ce774e

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