Burning coal

[Jackman]

Anyone burn coal? I want to cut down on my oil bill by installing a coal stove in the basement , just a small basic simple coal stove with a small blower. Going shopping this weekend for a used coal burner anyone have coal knowledge to share?

[Wessty]

Check this forum out, some very knowledgeable people there to answer your questions.

And yes, if setup properly it should save you money on your heating bill.

http://nepacrossroads.com

[klinej]

I've been burning coal for 7 years now its great.I use about two tons a season [about 50 lbs a day 1 five gal bucket ]in a harmon fireplace insert with two blowers it payed for it self in two and a half years. Its not too dirty if your careful about loading it [turn off the blowers] and emptying the ash pan. My coal bins are outside so that helps also.My house is 4 bedroom cape cod on long island heats it to 72 no problem oil is over 4.25 a gal here so I would rather burn rocks.

[Jeff in Pa]

Anyone burn coal? I want to cut down on my oil bill by installing a coal stove in the basement , just a small basic simple coal stove with a small blower. Going shopping this weekend for a used coal burner anyone have coal knowledge to share?

I've been burning coal since we purchased this house in '03.

Here's last year's allotment of coal


Here's what we burn it in, a Harman wood/coal insert that we purchased at KC Stove in Alburtis,PA

With the vac u stack, it's no problem getting a 12 hour burn on one bucket of coal. If it's "throttled back" at all, 14-16 hours is doable. We have the Harman coal insert in the living room. When we added central air/oil fired hot air, we put the main air intake on the other side of the living room so we can use the fan to distribute the heat through out the house.

Here's a must have if you want complete burn and a much easier fire to tend to. It's a "vac u stack" and it's the best $100 I spent.


Here's another option, we have a Franco-Belge oil burner in the basement. It's gravity feed and requires no electric at all to operate ( think kerosene heater without the fumes/smell )


We also have two pairs of oil tanks ( 1100 gallons capacity ) so we can gwet two years on a fill using the Franco Belge running in the basement and burning coal.

[Jackman]

Thanks for the post theyre appreciated as I know little actually nothing about heating with coal, I have two used stove that I am going to check out one is a pea coal stove with blower and the other is a multi type coal burner with blower they are in the 300 dollar range so as a test stove I will probably buy the better of the two. Main concern for me is how well will I actually heat the house the house is small but tall and originally was a coal heated home I have a coal bin , a double flue chimney and a concrete pad for the stove in the basement but what is missing is floor registers so if the stove is in the basement I see the basement being warm and the 1st floor also getting some heat but I don't know if enough heat will come up through the floor to make enough of a fuel savings to warrant the expense and work of a coal burning unit, my house doe not have any fireplaces so there is no choices as to where to put the coal stove.


Jeff is the vac stats a draft inducer? don't think I could run a vac stat because I have two flues side by side the other flue is the oil burner.

What about the chimney do you need to clean it yearly ? and chimney fires with coal that's impossible correct?

[Doog M]

Jackman
I have been burning coal for about 20 years.
20 years ago coal was about 90.00 a ton delivered. Today about 225.00.
Over them 20 years I have had a couple of Harman stoves. One a wood/coal combo and the current a Harman stoker stove.
The stoker runs off a thermostat and needs tended to about every 2 days. U also have coal ash to deal with.I give mine to people for their driveways in the winter.
But I have some time tied up disposing of the ashes.
The stove pipes of the coals stoves should be cleaned a couple time during the winter. Depending on how much coal fly ash/dust you get.
Some coal stoves need a flue and others can vent through the wall.
Also another option could be a pellet stove. They are cleaner burning and the ash pan needs emptied every couple weeks. Vent through the wall and maybe could be installed upstairs.

As far as heating the house....Not unless you tie into some duct work, I think you might have a problem getting heat all the way upstairs.

Last but not least make sure you got CO detectors!!!!

Keep us posted Doog

[Jackman]

Thanks Doog I hear ya on the CO detector . Local coal is 225 picked up at the yard, I am situated nicely for burning coal I have a dump truck to pick it up in and a coal bin and even have a long abandoned coal ash pile from the original owner of my house so for me the real question is safety as I don't want to burn down the house or have a CO problem.

I checked out a nice Russo CW75 coal/wood furnace today all looked good but the blower was shot and it needs a new door seal the owner wants 300 I am going to check out the cost of parts tomorrow if there reasonable I am going to buy the furnace, cut in two floor registers and see if this makes a big dent in the oil bills..

[Jackman]

On the Russo furnace there are two grates above the fire they are currently seized up but I am reasonably sure that they can be freed up , am I correct in assuming that the grates are for draft control

[Jeff in Pa]

........snip.........


Jeff is the vac stats a draft inducer? don't think I could run a vac stat because I have two flues side by side the other flue is the oil burner.

What about the chimney do you need to clean it yearly ? and chimney fires with coal that's impossible correct?

Not sure what you'd call it but yes, it does help create a better draft for a more complete burn. We added extra insulation and then the coal stove wasn't burning as well. That made all the difference.

The Reading anthracite coal burns very clean and an easy cleaning once a year keeps things good. A CO detector is a must.

[Doog M]

Coal stoves don,t have near as hot stack temp as wood stoves. So you have less of a chance burning something down.
And no creosote build up with coal stove= no flue fires.
Door gasket material shouldn't be to costly. They sell it by the foot.

[Jackman]

What a shock I called the Russo company and everything this unit needs is available but the prices wow the 8x 10 door glass is 107 dollars and a new blower assembly is 327 dollars, the furnace also needs the shake down handle and the upper grate thing also needs a handle . I think its time to look at other units for sale...

[Jeff in Pa]

What a shock I called the Russo company and everything this unit needs is available but the prices wow the 8x 10 door glass is 107 dollars and a new blower assembly is 327 dollars, the furnace also needs the shake down handle and the upper grate thing also needs a handle . I think its time to look at other units for sale...

Jack, here's who I deal with http://www.kcstovesandfireplaces.com/

Check with them if they can get your parts. If they won't ship, I can pick it up and ship it to you. ( obviously you pay for the parts )

KC Stoves is about 12 miles from me.

[Jackman]

Thanks Jeff , the Russo company is in Mass http://www.fireplaceseast.com/06_wood_coal_stoves.htm and they seem to be very helpful willing to share the knowledge of burning coal so since they made this unit and share the knowledge I think I would be better off dealing with them... Just need to decide if I want this unit seems lik all I ever bring home is projects , things that could work but don't work it might be time to stop the madness and just spend the money

[Jeff in Pa]

I paid $500 for the Harman in 2004. The same unit new was listed at $2300 retail and priced at $1800 during their sale.

I liked the $500 price a whole lot better

[Racenitro]

Have a house that still has the original coal stoker furnace. Works great but the dust is the main problem. Coal is not clean like wood or other forms of heat. You also have to clean the flue ant that is a real messy job. The fly ash is so fine it is everywhere. The dust fromt he coal even though it is lightly oiled to reduce the dust is a problem.

Buy the coal directly from the local mine and it is no where near the $225 mentioned above. Closer to $150.

If it is $225 then I own over $250 million in coal reserves under my farm. Whish that were true.