Anyone burning coal ?

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Cycledude

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For many years I have been curious about possibly burning coal in my wood stove but never found a place where I could buy some coal.
Until yesterday when I noticed someone selling coal on Facebook but it’s located over 100 miles from where I live, depending on what I learn from you folks I just might take a ride over there to buy some coal to see how well it does or doesn’t work.
 
For many years I have been curious about possibly burning coal in my wood stove but never found a place where I could buy some coal.
Until yesterday when I noticed someone selling coal on Facebook but it’s located over 100 miles from where I live, depending on what I learn from you folks I just might take a ride over there to buy some coal to see how well it does or doesn’t work.
What kind of wood stove do you have? I burned coal in my Big Jack. I had to do modifications to make it work well.
 
Long term if your chimney isn't 316 the coal will eat your chimney. Most dedicated wood set ups are 304.
What the heck is 316 or 304 ? I believe my chimney liner is made of clay, when I moved here over 30 years ago it was just brick so I bought the clay liner and installed it myself. Before installing the liner there was a problem with creosote sometimes building up inside chimney but there hasn’t been any trouble with creosote building up since I put the liner in.
 
What the heck is 316 or 304 ? I believe my chimney liner is made of clay, when I moved here over 30 years ago it was just brick so I bought the clay liner and installed it myself. Before installing the liner there was a problem with creosote sometimes building up inside chimney but there hasn’t been any trouble with creosote building up since I put the liner in.
The person is referring to the design of metal flue liners and weather they are double skinned or single skinned. Good for you, there is nothing wrong with a clay liner if they don't leak into an upstairs room. I use several that have worked fine for 170 years. I hate it when stove installers refer to these open fires as "unlined" and try to pressure you into buying a stove and liner.

Coal is better burned on a multi-fuel stove, but even then real coal burns very hot and many will suggest using smokeless coal. When I didn't know better I warped the metal of a stove and damaged the vermiculite panels by burning coal.
 
Long term if your chimney isn't 316 the coal will eat your chimney. Most dedicated wood set ups are 304.
What the heck is 316 or 304 ?
The person is referring to the design of metal flue liners and weather they are double skinned or single skinned.
316 and 304 refer to grades of stainless steel. It may be single, double, or triple wall - I don't know which types/designs are rated for coal in which specific applications. It doesn't apply to your clay liner, though I would want to verify that it is rated for coal burning as well. It seems to me that burning coal in a stove that is not intended for it involves some risk as mentioned.
 
When I was a kid my folks burned some coal mixed with wood one winter, Mom didn’t like it because of the coal dust, Dad was always saying not to put in to much coal because it could get to hot and ruin the furnace.
 
Was always told not to burn coal and wood together . It’s ok to use wood to start the fire and add coal to the wood coals . But burning together could cause damage from the sulfuric acid and moisture in the wood . Even well seasoned wood still has moisture .

I burned coal for about 5 years in the 90s . Had a duel fuel stove heat was very even and it was nice loading the stove twice a day with no fiddling in between . Had a King Coal stove really liked the unit . IMG_9625.jpeg
 
My stove is that exact stove.I have been using it since 1979.Burned a lot of coal and wood in it.I have a fire in it right now. I would love to be able to buy some coal.If your stove is not rated for coal be careful it will warp the grates and do other damage.Coal gets a lot hotter than wood 13000 btu compared to wood 75000 to 85000 per pound.
 
My stove is that exact stove.I have been using it since 1979.Burned a lot of coal and wood in it.I have a fire in it right now. I would love to be able to buy some coal.If your stove is not rated for coal be careful it will warp the grates and do other damage.Coal gets a lot hotter than wood 13000 btu compared to wood 75000 to 85000 per pound.
I miss that stove . Burned both fuels very well but I couldn’t find parts for it anymore grates were always a problem to get . US Stove makes a unit very similar .
 
When I was a kid my folks burned some coal mixed with wood one winter, Mom didn’t like it because of the coal dust, Dad was always saying not to put in to much coal because it could get to hot and ruin the furnace.

When I was a kid in the 50's in this hillbilly town my grandma's house was a large Victorian style home built in 1890. There was a coal burning fireplace in each room, including the bedrooms. When the iron fireman brand electrically controlled coal furnace was installed in the basement my grandparents stopped burning coal in the fireplaces and used only wood in them and only for special days like Christmas and Thanksgiving - more for effect than for making usable heat. They now had central heat controlled by a thermostat. There was an entire room in the basement converted into a coal bin, and each morning somebody had to go to the basement to remove the sometimes red hot clinkers out of the cast iron firebox and shovel coal into a hopper that automatically fed coal as needed into the furnace. There was coal dust around and as small children visiting grandma's house we'd have fun trying to walk in the coal in the bin - we'd sink into the stuff almost up to our knees and get coal dust all over ourselves. The coal was delivered by dump truck from the coal company. It's a wonder the big old house never did burn down with all the fire and coal in the basement. Coal dust thrown on a fire will provide for some neat pyrotechnics and even singed hair. A few times a malfunction occurred that resulted in panic when black sooty smoke started pouring out of the registers - just like it happened in the movie "A Christmas Story". The less affluent folks in town burned the coal in their heaters that came in big chunks, and in winter you could smell the coal smoke in the air, it was very noticeable. After a snow that stayed on the ground for days on end (yes - we had a lot more snow in TN in the 50's) - the soot settling down out of the air from all the coal burning going on was visible in places on the snow surface. It was probably not healthy air to be breathing back then. The clinker piles in the woods behind the house are still there.
 
If I remember correctly coal has twice the btu per pound than wood.

I have a Riteway Model 37 that burns wood or coal, shaker grates and all, in storage and used it for 15 years. Never burnt coal though.

They'll have to wrench burning wood from my cold, dead hands.

......and they will be cold hands!
 
Thanks for all your help.
The brand name on my small wood furnace is Kingwood , it’s over 30 years old, lined with firebrick, removable steel grates, one blower. I bought it used about 25 years ago.
The blower motor burned out so I replaced it with a Chinese motor that came with a one year warranty. Blower didn't last a year so I got a free replacement that didn’t last a year , that one also didn’t last a year so I bought a much more expensive motor and it’s been working fine for a lot of years.
No ductwork My house is very small so all I do is heat the basement and leave the basement door open to heat the first floor, works plenty good enough for me.
If I do manage to get some coal somewhere I’m just going to get like a 5 gallon pail of coal to experiment with, if I think it works decent I will look into getting more.
 
The brand name on my small wood furnace is Kingwood , it’s over 30 years old, lined with firebrick, removable steel grates, one blower. I bought it used about 25 years ago. The blower motor burned out so I replaced it with a Chinese motor that came with a one year warranty. The blower didn't last a year so I got a free replacement that didn’t last a year , that one also didn’t last a year so I bought a much more expensive motor and it’s been working fine for a lot of years. No ductwork My house is very small so all I do is heat the basement and leave the basement door open to heat the first floor, works plenty good enough for me.
If I do manage to get some coal somewhere I’m just going to get like a 5 gallon pail of coal to experiment with, if I think it works decent I will look into getting more.
Tractor supply sells coal by the bag
 

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