where would you buy coal?

[sdowney717]

I was thinking of burning some coal in the fireplace, but wonder how would you get coal. Never have bought any before.

I would need to buy a cast iron coal grate to burn the coal.

 

[Vettman]

I think I bought a bag from Home Depot, but it was many moons ago.

 

[ptschram]

Don't do it! It burns much hotter than you'd expect and will fill your chimney with nasty deposits and smoke out your neighbors.

 

[camarotoolman]

Probably can get a deal in west Virginia

 

[64dragnwagon]

Unless you are in "coal country" and the fact that you are asking the question suggests you are not then it will not be readily available at a good price. Plus it is VERY dirty and leaves coal soot all over INSIDE the heated space. It can be cheap heat in coal country because it is available and cheap.

 

[Kev442]

I just got rid of 30 gallons or so of ancient coal from an old coal storage area in a basement. It wants about triple the air that wood does to burn correctly and it is still sooty. Even burning it by adding it directly to very hot wood embers it still smoked and sooted. Never again.

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

I was thinking of burning some coal in the fireplace, but wonder how would you get coal. Never have bought any before.

I would need to buy a cast iron coal grate to burn the coal.

I think you'd be just as well off burning old tires.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I can find where to buy coal in my town easily enough, but we don't know where you live so it's pretty hard to help.

 

[sdowney717]

We live in Newport News, VA.
you all make it sound like awful stuff to burn.
the wood I burn now creates plenty of soot on the glass doors.

I know it burns hotter. I always wanted to try it. I have a fairly standard largish brick fireplace. It has the normal rectangular damper.

The fireplace door seals very well and has a large sliding air inlet at the base.

We have a coal shipping terminal in the city. I see huge piles of coal always waiting to be loaded on ships. This comes in on freight trains.

They water it constantly. We dont live downtown. We live very close to Fort Eustus.
http://articles.dailypress.com/2011...-20110801_1_weathersolve-coal-dust-wind-fence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Base_Langley–Eustis

Mulberry Island is right across the Warwick river from our house.

 

[Big Bad Dad]

I haven't heard of anyone burning coal in a fireplace. It is usually burned in a coal stove or furnace designed strictly for that purpose. There is a company in Roanoke that supplies a lot of the older homes that still use it. I think it's Hatcher Coal Co. Might look around and see if you have a similar local supplier and get their advice before getting in trouble.....

 

[Cougar67]

My 1903 house had coal grates in the fireplace. I'm in VA so I live near coal country. I see boxcars full of it passing on the RR tracks often. I bought a 5lb bag once from a store in a poor part of town just to try it out. As someone alluded above, it smells like tires burning. It takes a while to get the smell out of your house. Remember coal smoke used to be the #1 polluter in cities back in the old days.

 

[c/o say]

Grew up in a house that had a coal furnace. I love the smell of coal burning. But hey I'm just a little strange. But it makes a dirty mess. Would not try it in the fireplace in a house. Now woodburner in a shop done that before.

 

[ndnchf]

Check with a blacksmith supply business.

I have fond memories of visiting my grandmother in the mountains of North Carolina when I was a boy. She would buy lump coal, 1/2 ton at a time and have it put in a coal bin. She would burn it in the fireplace and I loved it. She would put 3 lumps (each about the size of a cantalope) in the fireplace, douse them with kerosene and light them. They would burn for hours on end. Every time I smell coal smoke, I think of grandma's fireplace.

 

[chickenhauler]

Grew up in a house that had a coal furnace. I love the smell of coal burning. But hey I'm just a little strange. But it makes a dirty mess. Would not try it in the fireplace in a house. Now woodburner in a shop done that before.

It takes some practice to get how to burn it down, but I'm sure that my ancestors used it to heat the old farmhouse in the fireplaces. Not for me in the house, but I do use it in the old garage.

 

[Brett K]

I heat my home with a coal stove. It is absolutely nothing like what many of the comments on here suggest. With that said, I would not burn it in a fireplace on a grate. I run a Harman coal/wood stove and heat 2000sq ft from October to April on about 3 tons ($550). If you buy good coal and it is treated with oil and you learn to burn it properly, ti si great. The only dust I get is from emptying the ashes if I forget to turn the fan off first or raking the stove with the draft open. You will also find much less deposits in your chimney than from burning wood. There is no smell in my house either. I imagine there might be if you are burning it in a fireplace though.

My only gripe is that it is a dry heat and you need a really good humidifier.

 

[5001craig]

What about pellets? I have been heating my home with a pellet burner since 2007. The stove is a Quadrafire (least expensive one they make). I use on an average three tons a year and the pellets are around $185 per ton. My alternative was electric baseboard heat and I am not connected to gas. Circulation with the pellet burner is not as good as with "normal" heat but with that said, we leave the doors open at night while sleeping and all is good. I will say that I do not mind it being cool when I sleep. Our home is fairly small (1450 sq. ft.), one story and the heat does not have that much problem getting to the different areas of the home.

The place I purchased my stove from had a deal in 2007 that had the stove around $1600 and included two three of pellets. I ran a 24" double wall pipe through the wall and just needed minor misc. other pieces. Not including the Ubatuba granite piece I just had to put underneath it...

As a side not, the place that I purchased my stove from (Topeka Seed and Stove in Topeka, IN) also sells coal. My Pops has had two pellet stoves and used corn the first year and says pellets are the only way to go as corn is an attractant to vermin and it's hard to get (and keep) at a low enough water content among other things.

Craig

 

[Frank The Plumber]

Piss Santa Off!!

 

[jamesemery728]

I had a coal stove in my basement when I lived up north years ago. I did not experience any of the horror that everyone is describing. No nasty smell, not as sooty as wood and no creosote in the chimney. I had a small glass window in the door of the coal stove and I could burn it for days and the window stayed as clear as glass, but I had to start the fire with small chunks of hardwood to get a good ash bed to start the coal and the wood made the glass window so black you could not tell it was a window. It is tricky to learn how to start a coal fire and how to keep it burning but once you get it going I think it is much cleaner than wood. The main reason I had it in the basement instead of a wood stove was the fact that was no creosote created in the chimney.

 

[Unearthed]

As Brett K, and jamesemery728 said above, some of the comment on here about coal are baseless. People who don't have a clue about how to burn coal, usually have a bad experience. I grew up around a coal funace, and have one in my home now, and if I ever build a house, I will heat it with coal too. That being said, I would not try to burn coal in a fireplace without an insert in it. You will probably have a bad experience.

 

[Buckgnarly]

As Brett K, and jamesemery728 said above, some of the comment on here about coal are baseless. People who don't have a clue about how to burn coal, usually have a bad experience. I grew up around a coal funace, and have one in my home now, and if I ever build a house, I will heat it with coal too. That being said, I would not try to burn coal in a fireplace without an insert in it. You will probably have a bad experience.

I'll agree. My parents had coal from the time I was born until I moved out. I was quite surprised when my old man went to oil actually. I don't ever remember cleaning the chimney in the 18yrs I lived there, and there was no smell unless you went in the basement, opened the furnace, and smelled!
We did live in PA, so that helped! Two tons of coal at about 75-150 a ton IIRC for a whole winter. Can't beat that!

 

[Unearthed]

I'll agree. My parents had coal from the time I was born until I moved out. I was quite surprised when my old man went to oil actually. I don't ever remember cleaning the chimney in the 18yrs I lived there, and there was no smell unless you went in the basement, opened the furnace, and smelled!
We did live in PA, so that helped! Two tons of coal at about 75-150 a ton IIRC for a whole winter. Can't beat that!

I've lived in my house for 11 years, and have never cleaned my chimney. I clean my upper flues in the furnace once a year at the begining of the heating season. Get a hot fire, open the top door, brush it good and done.
I can understand switching to oil when you get older though. Its nice to just turn up the dial, instead of running the stairs and poking and feeding, and ashes. I have an oil furnace also, but only use it pre and post heating season, when it gets a little cold at night, but warm during the day. I,ve probably only burned 50 gal in the last 4-5 years.

 

[WVBrady]

It takes some practice to get how to burn it down, but I'm sure that my ancestors used it to heat the old farmhouse in the fireplaces. Not for me in the house, but I do use it in the old garage.

You're definitely in coal country. There is even a seam of coal called the Kittanning seam that runs down into WVa.

 

[Kev442]

My response was based on the OP's exact question, ie burning coal in a device not designed for it. I used a giant ancient woodburner.
I did not have coal the size of a cantaloupe, it was the size of a quarter.
I ended up running the flue and air feed basically wide open for decent combustion and even then when I looked outside, it was sooty.

 

[Buckgnarly]

I've lived in my house for 11 years, and have never cleaned my chimney. I clean my upper flues in the furnace once a year at the begining of the heating season. Get a hot fire, open the top door, brush it good and done.
I can understand switching to oil when you get older though. Its nice to just turn up the dial, instead of running the stairs and poking and feeding, and ashes. I have an oil furnace also, but only use it pre and post heating season, when it gets a little cold at night, but warm during the day. I,ve probably only burned 50 gal in the last 4-5 years.

We had an auger fed furnace, but I do remember keeping the hopper full and taking out ashes! I also learned that there is nothing better for an icy driveway than ashes! Best traction enhancer that was free!

 

[1948]

my father told me a lot of storys about my grandparents house, and growing up with it. he told me about the trucks coming and throwing the coal down a shoot into the basement storage area, the big iron furnace, having to shovel it in which could be sooty if you werent careful, he also said there was cables that came upstairs you could adjust the flute with. i always thought it would be really neat to have that experience, just out of pure curiosity, but i dont think i would want to put coal in a fireplace, that just seems sketchy.

 

[uhohjim]

I built a garage heater for one of my buddies years ago out of a 55 Gal can...Right after we installed it he came up with a piece of coal about fist sized so we tossed it in..........That sucker got so hot and burned so well it was shootin flames out the top of the Stack and turned the barrel and the stack BRIGHT red............I'm thinking maybe it's not something you would want to burn in an open flame environment.......but then we only tried it once so you never know LOL Jim

 

[Gando]

I built a garage heater for one of my buddies years ago out of a 55 Gal can...Right after we installed it he came up with a piece of coal about fist sized so we tossed it in..........That sucker got so hot and burned so well it was shootin flames out the top of the Stack and turned the barrel and the stack BRIGHT red............I'm thinking maybe it's not something you would want to burn in an open flame environment.......but then we only tried it once so you never know LOL Jim

Nice one. There is a Storage facility in Hampton, VA to load ocean barges. They have all the coal you will ever want. Very close by for you.

 

[CreteCoater]

First order of business for my building is replacing the roof, second is installing a new Fire Chief coal furnace. There are probably 10 different places to buy coal within 15 miles of here. And I agree that most of the people bitching about coal probably have no idea what they are talking about, let alone the difference between hard or soft coal.

 

[carbons4]

Yea but you cant get as hot of a fire for your forge with wood or charcoal.

 

[SGKent]

you don't burn coal in a wood fireplace. Use a coal stove or fireplace designed for coal. There are multiple kinds of coal too so you want the harder style if possible as it burns cleaner. Be aware that coal offgases when hot so you can have a gas explosion in the stove if you don't use best practices. We had coal as a child as my mother's family was from eastern Kentucky. Probably part of the reason she died of lung cancer at 36 and one of her brothers at age 70 same type lung cancer. Her mother died of it too years before.

here is a great article on how to burn coal at home:

http://hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/coaltips

 

[sledzz]

I lived in Scotland for several years and coal was as common as propane or natural gas.... We had it delivered weekly in huge burlap bags by Scots that were as burley as they come. We used coal to heat the house and it also heated the water. They were in chunks the size of baseballs or better. The stuff we see in coal trains is usually ground in small pieces which the power plants specifie.
It burned HOT and lasted for quite awile... I kind of miss those days and if I had a coal stove and access to coal I'd use it.

 

[2CRUZ]

I read some of the posts about using coal and I had to laugh. I live in Southern Illinois and grew up in a coal mining family and I hated it. Her in our region they spray the coal with oil to keep the coal dust down. We had an old Florance Pot bellied stove that sat in the corner and I can remember getting up in the morning and running around behind that stove to put my pance on. I remember my grand father had a Wheat light on his hard hat. I also remember he would take tin cans from the trash and put a lump of coal in them and throw them in the stove and it would get so hot that the cans would burn up. I just can't imagian someone wanting to burn coal in the house. But I guess to each his own.

 

[Lippyp]

I spent the last 15 years burning coal in an open fireplace in my house with no issues, this was in a proper cast iron coal grate with a brick chimney. We burnt a mix of logs and coal, we were supposed to use "smokeless" fuel as the UK has what the call "smokeless zones" which date back to the 1950's when they were brought in to deal with the nasty smogs that would kill people with lung problems. This is basically coal dust mixed with cement and formed into lumps of assorted shapes depending on the brand. It burns a lot cleaner than pure coal but theres nothing like the odd shovelful of anthracite on there to get a nice fire as the smokeless stuff doesn't make muchflame just a hot red glow. We had the chimney swept once a year by a man who looked like **** Van **** and as long as everything is in good condition and the chimney draws well there are no issues tbh. It does make for a fair draught although originally our house was fitted with a fireplace calkled a "Baxi" These actually had an external air feed that came up under the firebox fed by an asbestos pipe under the floor that went out of the wall, it had a flap in it to regulate the airflow but sadly these had been ripped out by the time we bought the house with just the pipework left. They do make a bit of dust but then most old houses are dusty anyway. They are pretty inefficient compared to a closed in wood or coal stove though.

 

[KiYota]

Are you looking to actually produce heat for the house or just burn it for ambiance, etc...? If heat is the goal you should check out a coal stove or boiler. Keystoker is one company I know of offhand. I briefly considered a coal furnace because I live about two hours from the anthracite region of PA. Anthracite is hard coal-it burns the hottest and the cleanest, but would probably be pricey for you since it only comes from Northeast Pennsylvania. Soft, or bituminous coal, is what you see being loaded onto barges-bituminous coal is found in many regions of the US including most of Appalachia. This coal is mostly destined for electric power plants as it is cheap and available in mass quantity. Many people in the Northeast still use anthracite for home heating, but anthracite reserves are extremely small compared to bituminous, so there is no longer any real commercial or industrial use unless you count a handful of coal fired pizza ovens in NY and NJ, blacksmith shops, and the occasional historic railroad.

Anthracite is very finicky-you need some kind of grate to burn it because it needs air from underneath. Bituminous burns more like wood-either could be done in a fireplace, but the main issue with bituminous is the smell-it tends to have a very high sulfur content and will burn with a yellow orange flame. It smells like rotten eggs-fine if you're burning it in a furnace in the basement with a chimney that goes above the roofline, not so much in an open fireplace. You can learn all you ever wanted about burning coal for home heating here:

http://nepacrossroads.com/