Coal heat?

[papawfalcon]

Years ago people could heat with coal. I think the coal was hunks as to say. I have access to coal but it small like the size of a marble or smaller. I thought maybe a pellet stove would burn this . Cheep heat for my garage. Does anyone know if this could be burnt for heat? Thanks Ken.

 

[Sureshot]

I believe that is the best way with the proper equiptment. Many here use it but usually to run a boiler. It is usually also a stand alone setup seperate from the other buildings for fire and housekeeping.

 

[burleymike]

You can buy stoker coal stoves that are designed to burn what you got. I sure wish coal was available around here because I would have bought a coal stove to heat the house.

 

[Alchymist]

Coal comes in many varieties - anthracite being popular for heating. (Hard coal). Sized according to rice, pea, chestnut, lump. Some of the older houses (people) still heat with a coal stove in one of the first floor room, quite often the kitchen. Stove is loaded up and "banked off" at night, and refueled and drafted in the morning. Heating with coal in the kitchen stove also allows cooking and baking - kind of a "twofer". Takes a cook that knows what they're doing to cook successfully on a coal stove.

 

[trbomax]

Ive been burning coal for about 10 yrs now.Burned wood for 25 yrs before that. I switched to coal because my health just would not allow me to cut,haul,split,and carry the 10 full cords (not face cords) per yr I was burning to heat the shop and house. After I did I found out how much longer and hotter you can burn with coal. The only downside is that if you burn soft coal and live in town your neighbors will hate you. You must be selective when buying your coal as well because a lot of dealers will send the crumbly **** because its cheaper for them to buy.I use washed lump so as to avoid this.

 

[tcsalvage]

sounds like you have pea coal which is good, now all you have to do is find a stove and auto-tender and your set. larger size coal clogs auto-tenders up so you want smaller sized coal for them. my relatives are from west virgina, and my grandfather, father, uncle and cousins all work or have worked in the mines. don't know if a pellet stove would take the heat that coal puts out, you would have to ask the manufacturer if any modifications should be made before using it.

 

[trbomax]

sounds like you have pea coal which is good, now all you have to do is find a stove and auto-tender and your set. larger size coal clogs auto-tenders up so you want smaller sized coal for them. my relatives are from west virgina, and my grandfather, father, uncle and cousins all work or have worked in the mines. don't know if a pellet stove would take the heat that coal puts out, you would have to ask the manufacturer if any modifications should be made before using it.

He needs a stove/furnace thats made to burn anthracite.You cant just shovel anthracite in like you do bit coal,It needs to be burned in a "cone" in the firebox,which is why a stoker is used. Burning any kind of coal in a wood burner will destroy it in short order.The fire box needs to be bricked and the grates for coal are different.

 

[geologist]

Origin is important when buying coal as well. Coal coming out of the Appalachian Basin runs roughly 12,500 btu/lb whereas coal coming out of the Powder River Basin is about 8,500 btu/lb.

 

[tcsalvage]

He needs a stove/furnace thats made to burn anthracite.You cant just shovel anthracite in like you do bit coal,It needs to be burned in a "cone" in the firebox,which is why a stoker is used. Burning any kind of coal in a wood burner will destroy it in short order.The fire box needs to be bricked and the grates for coal are different.

i know this that is why i said he should check with the stove manufacturer BEFORE using it. i also burn coal and it is significantly hotter than wood, that said my stove is about 35 years old so i don't know if the newer stoves are built better/worse than the one i have since i haven't looked at any for a very long time.

 

[papawfalcon]

Thanks so much everyone! I don't know how much coal it will burn to heat my garage but I can get a fifty gallon barrel free every week.So looks like I need to find the right stove.Thanks again!

 

[trbomax]

Thats a ballpark number. I run 2 - 5 gal buckets a day in mine,plus 4 -5 splits of wood. The wood keeps the clinkers from forming,all that is left after a burn is fine fly ash.

 

[trbomax]

Origin is important when buying coal as well. Coal coming out of the Appalachian Basin runs roughly 12,500 btu/lb whereas coal coming out of the Powder River Basin is about 8,500 btu/lb.

Thats good info,I didnt know that.Now Ive got another question to ask my supplier!

 

[trbomax]

i know this that is why i said he should check with the stove manufacturer BEFORE using it. i also burn coal and it is significantly hotter than wood, that said my stove is about 35 years old so i don't know if the newer stoves are built better/worse than the one i have since i haven't looked at any for a very long time.

If its run 35 yrs its a winner! I doubt that my new one will run that long w/o some major work,but at my age I'm not too concerned !

 

[papawfalcon]

So if you have a really thick(metal) wood burner it wiil burn some coal? Wow I have a wood burner that I got from my neighbor when he died.This thing was awsum He was a bodyman worked everyday.Thanks Ken.

 

[trbomax]

Why your neighbors will hate you for burning coal!

edit) if you look closely you can see the chunks of soot laying on the roof. The lighter ones will blow around and land on the neighbors deck and pool cover!

 

[jdjm]

I burn anthracite coal in an efm automatic stoker. I live in the anthracite region of norteast Pa. Problem we have nowadays is the big coal companies closed when coal was not considered GREEN. At some point people changed to heating oil because it was cheap. Now oil prices are in the $3.50 a gal. range and the coal companies that are in business are selling to China and its a hard time getting coal for my house and it got very expensive. Considering switching to natural gas.

 

[trbomax]

Thanks so much everyone! I don't know how much coal it will burn to heat my garage but I can get a fifty gallon barrel free every week.So looks like I need to find the right stove.Thanks again!

Just curious,how do you do this?

 

[IGOTWUD]

A 50 gallon barrel of anthracite rice coal would probably heat my house and garage when the outside temp is 0 degrees F, keeping it a nice comfy70 degrees F inside, for more than a week!
I got wood but I heat with coal.

 

[Kevin54]

A little note of advice. Don't let any coal soot lay on a car for very long. It will damage a finish. Also, like everyone else has stated, make sure the stove is rated so you can burn coal.

Back when I had an airtight, the weather was well down in the minus figures for a week or so and our house was old and rather drafty. My dad burnt coal so he gave me some. Once it started going, I throttled everything down. I shut the lights off to go to bed and the stove doors were practically glowing red. I didn't go to bed as I was kind of worried about it. The few days later I looked at the stove as it seemed to be smoking a little. I split the back of the stove top to bottom. Never in my mind would I think that getting steel that hot would do it, but it did. IIRC the stove was a Black Bart airtight. And back then I was young and dumb. Unlike today of being OLD and dumb

 

[trbomax]

A little note of advice. Don't let any coal soot lay on a car for very long. It will damage a finish. Also, like everyone else has stated, make sure the stove is rated so you can burn coal.

Back when I had an airtight, the weather was well down in the minus figures for a week or so and our house was old and rather drafty. My dad burnt coal so he gave me some. Once it started going, I throttled everything down. I shut the lights off to go to bed and the stove doors were practically glowing red. I didn't go to bed as I was kind of worried about it. The few days later I looked at the stove as it seemed to be smoking a little. I split the back of the stove top to bottom. Never in my mind would I think that getting steel that hot would do it, but it did. IIRC the stove was a Black Bart airtight. And back then I was young and dumb. Unlike today of being OLD and dumb

This is why a coal stove must be "bricked" of firebrick lined. The grates are built differently and the combustion air is directed inside the stove differently as to prevent the glowing door syndrome.The doors in mine are "air jacketed",that is they are double wall,the combustion air is pulled thru the space inside the doorstructure to cool it before it goes inside.

 

[papawfalcon]

Thanks for all the help. Maybe I will need to find a stove with (bricks).I know coal stinks ,but part of my job is smelling it because I work in a coal lab. Thats why it could be free.

 

[trbomax]

This is why a coal stove must be "bricked" of firebrick lined. The grates are built differently and the combustion air is directed inside the stove differently as to prevent the glowing door syndrome.The doors in mine are "air jacketed",that is they are double wall,the combustion air is pulled thru the space inside the doorstructure to cool it before it goes inside.

I said this wrong. After I looked closely at it today,the door itself is not jacketed. It IS heavy cast iron,about 3/4" thick and ribbed on the inside. The frame under the door and across the front of the firebox IS jacketed.

 

[kbs2244]

As mentioned, you can't use coal in a wood or pellet stove.
It burns too hot.
You have to give it enough air to avoid the sooty smoke.
And that makes it even hotter.
Coal stoves are heavier than wood stoves due to the extra iron ro stand up to the heat.

 

[BadgerBoilerMN]

All furnaces and boilers are fuel specific. Some burn dual fuel, but good ones are rare. This is more true of coal than any other fuel.

Residential coal boilers and space heaters are mostly European but we are using more all the time in our combi-fuel designs.