Anthracite Coal

[USAJon]

we burned coal for a while in a 1849 stove. bought the coal by the bag and it got expensive. started the fire with small wood scraps and put some coal on top. it was a steady heat with a lot of time on it.

 

[PJDiesel]

Steady and even is what makes coal so much nicer than wood (for me). We can load the stove at 9pm, not have to look at it again till the next afternoon. If shook down, loaded and properly banked, my Mark III will run over 24 hours on a load. Compare that to more like 6 hours at absolute best with our woodstove. Plus, we lit the stove TWICE (two times) in over 5 months of burn, to hell with fiddling with starting fires every week, cleaning out the whole stove, black glass, creosote, etc.

 

[Seagrave1963]

For folks with coal stoves, Tractor Supply has a special (ends today though!) for coal. Most stores do not stock it, BUT you can order it on a rain check and they will honor the special. Just ordered 2 tons of nut coal over the telephone from the Dover, DE store - a bit more expensive than last years "speculation offering" but still pretty good at $274.50 a ton bagged. Here's the link for the sale: http://www.tractorsupply.com/know-h...e?cm_re=20150706-_-MID-_-Pre-Season_Fuel_Sale

After this year, we'll probably go with bulk delivery after I build a bin.

 

[Makanik]

Man it is chilly out there today with that wind from the Hurricane coming. Did those with coal stove get their coal yet for the season? I was lucky enough to pick up some very clean good looking coal this year off of one of MDShooters forum members. I thank you very much!

 

[1969sschevelle]

Any luck / good results from adding coal on top of wood fire in regular fire place?

Was going to try that this year. But ,still in the research phase.

 

[Seagrave1963]

Any luck / good results from adding coal on top of wood fire in regular fire place?

Was going to try that this year. But ,still in the research phase.

You'd probably have to use stove or egg size to keep it on top of the wood (that didn't sound right). Otherwise, the coal would pretty much drop to the floor of the fireplace before lighting.

 

[Makanik]

Any luck / good results from adding coal on top of wood fire in regular fire place?

Was going to try that this year. But ,still in the research phase.

I would for sure do some research on that because coal burns HOT! With out being able to control the air to it, it may cause what some call a run away (over heat) issue. The bigger potential issue I can think of would be when the coal starts to catch. It will pop and possibly jump out of the fire place and can travel with good velocity. I would hate to see that happen and start a fire in somebodies residence.

 

[good guy 176]

I grew up in western PA in the 40-50s and we had a large coal furnace in the basement, and it's still there today, but not connected, as my sister inherited that home and lives in it. Only issue was that we had to be real careful not to overheat the vent stack or it could melt it off and start a fire. Saw it cherry red a few times.

In winter we'd get flecks of soot on us when out and about. Forget what we paid for a ton of coal...some burned cleaner than others. I grew up amongst the mining towns that dotted the area.

Today, some power plants around Indiana, PA rely on coal to keep their turbines turning. Natural gas is aabundant and is large employer in the area, too.

But good paying jobs remain scarce, BUT everyone speaks English, Illegals and Zulus are few, homicides and crime are in check and PA will never be a SANCTUARY state, never!!!

Lew--Ranger63

 

[PJDiesel]

Bad news for my heating season, I've sold my home (settle 10/19) and am moving to a much smaller place (better location) with a...... wait for it..........


Heat Pump.

The new house has a a wood burning fireplace but I'm being told by the boss we won't be utilizing it, and, honestly it's not really something I'm interested in.


So, I sold my remaining ~1.5 tons to the guy who bought our house and I think I'm done for now.

I had a 99% positive experience with my Harman III (and II prior to that). The remaining 1%? you ask? Hearing the wife bitch about the fly ash.......

I'm replacing the existing heat pump with a 16.5 seer Goodman with variable speed compressor and fan and a 10k strip. I'm sure I'll be disappointed, but, the house is a small ranch and I'll have an R60+ attic value so I'm hoping to not have absorbadant election bills.

 

[PJDiesel]

Also would like to say (again), when done PROPERLY heating with coal can be very cheap, nice/even heat, require minimal tending and with no creosote or large amounts of ash to clean out. You don't lose the fire weekly to clean out the stove, glass stays clean, you can idle the fire WAY back to near nothing, then pump it up to 550° then within an hour or so drop it right back off if you so choose. These are all thing either very difficult or downright impossible to do with hardwoods.

 

[good guy 176]

Bad news for my heating season, I've sold my home (settle 10/19) and am moving to a much smaller place (better location) with a...... wait for it..........


Heat Pump.

The new house has a a wood burning fireplace but I'm being told by the boss we won't be utilizing it, and, honestly it's not really something I'm interested in.


So, I sold my remaining ~1.5 tons to the guy who bought our house and I think I'm done for now.

I had a 99% positive experience with my Harman III (and II prior to that). The remaining 1%? you ask? Hearing the wife bitch about the fly ash.......

I'm replacing the existing heat pump with a 16.5 seer Goodman with variable speed compressor and fan and a 10k strip. I'm sure I'll be disappointed, but, the house is a small ranch and I'll have an R60+ attic value so I'm hoping to not have absorbadant election bills.

Good luck! You might be warmer in a Tpee this winter.

Lew--Ranger63

 

[Straightshooter]

Maybe a Snuggie is in order.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[PJDiesel]

Snuggie and possibly some P.Js with footies.

Yup, major downgrade in house size and manliness of heating source.

 

[Mark75H]

Bad news for my heating season, I've sold my home (settle 10/19) and am moving to a much smaller place (better location) with a...... wait for it..........


Heat Pump.

The new house has a a wood burning fireplace but I'm being told by the boss we won't be utilizing it, and, honestly it's not really something I'm interested in.


So, I sold my remaining ~1.5 tons to the guy who bought our house and I think I'm done for now.

I had a 99% positive experience with my Harman III (and II prior to that). The remaining 1%? you ask? Hearing the wife bitch about the fly ash.......

I'm replacing the existing heat pump with a 16.5 seer Goodman with variable speed compressor and fan and a 10k strip. I'm sure I'll be disappointed, but, the house is a small ranch and I'll have an R60+ attic value so I'm hoping to not have absorbadant election bills.

Heat pumps with correct ductwork are GTG in most cases.

 

[PJDiesel]

Hopefully. It'll be absolute latest technology and we're doing crawlspace encapsulation, floor insulation plus full R60 ceiling.

Dunno, one one hand I'll be glad to be out of alternative fuels, on the other hand it was somewhat of a hobby and nice to be toasty....

 

[Makanik]

Hopefully. It'll be absolute latest technology and we're doing crawlspace encapsulation, floor insulation plus full R60 ceiling.

Dunno, one one hand I'll be glad to be out of alternative fuels, on the other hand it was somewhat of a hobby and nice to be toasty....

You are correct in saying it is sort of like a hobby. The same here too with being 99 percent happy with the heat and the 1 percent wife complaining about the fly ash lol. I get the same here from my wife. I could not even imagine what it would cost to heat this house. Every room has at least one, two or three electric base board heaters. I have never had to use any of them except for our master bedrooms bathroom. If I recall my calculations from a year ago it was roughly about 1.50 a day to heat the house with coal. This year getting the coal at a cheaper amount it will be down from that now.

 

[PJDiesel]

Thinking I'm going to do resistance radiant floor heat in the bathrooms, I hate cold tiles....

 

[Blacksmith101]

The thing I miss with a heat pump is having a warm spot to go to when you come in from the cold. With a wood stove you can get up close, with radiators each is an island of warmth, oil forced air you stand over the vent, but heat pumps seem to blow cool air with a very low temperature difference.

 

[Mark75H]

The thing I miss with a heat pump is having a warm spot to go to when you come in from the cold. With a wood stove you can get up close, with radiators each is an island of warmth, oil forced air you stand over the vent, but heat pumps seem to blow cool air with a very low temperature difference.

The ones with bad ductwork designs do have low temp difference and blow cold. Will never be as warm and comfort able as a coal stove.

 

[JB62]

We have the radiant in our bathroom, controlled to fit our schedule by programmable thermostat. Makes morning shower much more enjoyable in thick of winter.