o.k this will sound stupid (Dallas, Dublin: for sale, how much, house) - Northeastern Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania (PA) -Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area - City-Data Forum

sausages · 01-09-2009, 04:52 PM

the last of my wood is a little damp for my wood burning stove - could I add a little coal to get it to burn - and by doing this would I be creating even more pollution and also could my house burn down - it is getting very cold and I am trying to avoid my $650 electric bill from this time last year. Any thoughts - I have never had one of these before so forgive my ignorance.

I did not thing coal was even used anymore but it seems here in Pennsylvania people still use it. We did in Ireland back in the 60's but no more.

thecoalman · 01-09-2009, 05:03 PM

You can try but you will most likely just make a mess. You might get a few pieces burning with a hot enough fire. Most people new to this have enough issues getting it lit in a stove designed for it. The problem is the stove, you can burn wood in coal stove but you can't burn coal in a wood stove. You need a deep firebox with vertical sides and air from underneath.

FYI anthracite coal is cleaner than wood in most regards. For that matter other than a high CO2 output only natural gas is cleaner. It's also the safest fuel you can burn out of anything including oil or natural gas.

If you really want to try coal you need a coal stove, you might find a used one listed here for sale cheap: Items For Sale

Try the paper shop too...

I made an extensive post here on using it and the options: http://www.city-data.com/forum/house...ers-guide.html

sausages · 01-09-2009, 05:22 PM

wonderful information - I put some coal in earlier and it is bright red boiling hot am I o.k or will it go on fire ?

ecam222 · 01-09-2009, 05:46 PM

Yikes! I sure hope you get the right answer. I think he said don't do it.

nkotb · 01-09-2009, 06:41 PM

Your lucky it lite, coal won't ignite a fire !! It will just burn hot and smolder until it goes out.

olbluesguy · 01-09-2009, 06:42 PM

In a pinch,
You might want to get some kind of metal grate to put the coal on and leave a space beneth it for the ashes to fall thru.
you will need that space for air to circulate up thru the fire,and you will have to get a small shovel to remove the ashes in order to keep the air space open.
Since you dont have movable grates to shake the ashes you will need a metal poker to poke the burning ashes thru the grate.
I don't know what you could do to dampen it off using coal in a wood burner so I wouldn't even try it because coal gas can kill!

thecoalman · 01-09-2009, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sausages

wonderful information - I put some coal in earlier and it is bright red boiling hot am I o.k or will it go on fire ?

I don't know but not really going to go anywhere with it even if you can. The other issue that is going to arise is coal burns for a very long time so unless you're on a grate it's going to work its way to the bottom and go out and not fully burn.

Having said that I should have listed this before: How to Light a Hand Fired Coal Stove - Hand Fired Coal Stoves

Here's what a firebox for coal looks like, not this will also burn wood.

Note how deep the box is, the nearly vertical sides and ALL the air comes from underneath. Once you have something like this going you'd fill it up to the top of the bricks. This particualr unit is from a hand fired coal boiler by EFM which is made to heat a very large home via hot water baseboard so the box is huge. Once you have lit you can load it up and let it go for 12 to 24 hours depending on how much heat you want to get out of it.

On a side note you might even see a lot of these outdoor woodburners labeled as wood/coal however some of them use like a drum design with a small grate in the center and this is not suitable for coal. The grate has to the entire bottom of the firebox and of similar design to this one or you are going to have trouble. The key with purchasing any coal stove is buy a coal stove... Wood can be burned in nearly any coal stove but becuse of EPA regualtions they cannot be labled dual fuel.

thecoalman · 01-10-2009, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by olbluesguy

I wouldn't even try it because coal gas can kill!

Assuming he's getting proper venting from the wood stove it's not an issue. When you burn coal you produce carbon monoxide, you also produce carbon monoxide when you burn wood, natural gas, oil or any carbon based fuel.

The particular concern with coal is that when you burn it you also produce fly ash. This fly ash will accumulate on any horizontal surface such as inside the flue pipe and the bottom of your chimney. If left unchecked it will eventually block the pipe. Generally speaking you need to clean this out once a year, most people will go the whole season and do it when they shut the stove down. However since each stove is different and even the type of coal can effect the amount of fly ash it's important to understand how fast it accumulates in your particular application. Our large stoker boiler for example can go for about 3 years but some smaller stokers may need this every 2 or 3 months because of lower tolerances.

Having said that CO will kill, it's important to have a CO detector in your home especially when utilizing any solid fuel appliance that needs to maintain a draft. It causes many deaths each year nationwide but accidents involving coal units are not that much because there isn't a large population of coal burners. Those that do burn coal are also more likely to be educated about the issue because it can occur during normal operation if the fly ash is left unchecked. The reason it kills so many people is twofold. Firstly, it's odorless and tasteless so you can't detect it. Secondly, the specific gravity is almost the same as air so it will readily follow air currents inside your home.

okaydorothy · 01-10-2009, 01:34 PM

sausages

How about turf!! Didn't know u were from Ireland too. Don't have any answers though

sausages · 01-10-2009, 02:50 PM

Yep, I left Ireland in the late 80s/early 90's went back and forth and settled in Dallas and ended up here - going home next month to Dubin for a weekend - back in the day the coal heated the hot water also - the coalman gave out some great information. I love the smell of turf in the morning !!! no joking aside I used to love going thru the samll towns on the way from Dublin to Galway at night and you would smell the turf burning in the small pubs, it was always a good reason to stop and have a hot whiskey. Boy they were the days.