Sorry to dig up an old thread but being I'm a coal guy the toxicity issue mentioned should really be addressed in case someone else wanders into this thread.
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Originally Posted by geos
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First and foremost those studies are done on bituminous coal used in power plants, this is not anthracite coal which is used almost exclusively for home heating. You can't burn bituminous coal in stoker (yet, they are working on it). As one of the previous posters mentioned all coal is not created equal, this is doubly true where anthracite is concerned as its coal in its purest form. You will not find any studies like that for anthracite because there is such a small amount of it mined primarily in Northeastern Pennsylvania which has the largest and highest quality deposits of it worldwide and is the only place its mined on the North American continent. The data doesn't exist as far as i know. Relying on data from one source to say all coal is toxic is like going to a polluted river and analyzing it and saying all water is bad for you. The characteristics of coal from different parts of the country vary widely.
Anthracite is nearly 100% pure carbon, it burns with no traceable smoke or soot. There is fly ash but most of this is contained within either the unit itself or the flue pipe. There is no stink unless you get next to chimney on top of your roof in which case you'll get a sulfury smell if the wind is in the right direction. You couldn't tell a home heated with coal either from the inside or outside except for the fact they are generally warmer because of the low cost. 1 ton of anthracite is equivalent to about 180 gallons of fuel oil and presently costs about $150 delivered in coal country. A rough guesstimate is that oil will be about $4.50 a gallon this upcoming heating season if not more.... you do the math.
Getting back to the toxicity, yes the ash does contain heavy metals and other toxins but these are slightly elevated above that of
dirt. The only reason they are higher is because they have been concentrated through the burning process. The EPA has even approved fly ash as clean fill and that is for bituminous coal, you're not going to grow a third eye if you burn coal.
Fly ash is also used for other things like concrete. You might also be interested to know that one of the other primary uses of anthracite is for carbon filters for water filtration.
A "modern" stoker is not much different than any other heating unit, they are a little more work because you do have to add coal and take the ashes out. They will not completely self feed. For the larger units a typical stoker has an auger going into 55 gallon drum inside your coal bin. Others have large hoppers attached directly to the furnace. You'll have to fill these every couple of days during the coldest days of the winter. The biggest limit on the time is the amount of ash it will hold, during the coldest days 2-3 max. If you have the house to do it and plan it properly you can extend this time indefinitely. For a completely self feed stoker you need a very high basement so you can build one giant hopper. The stoker can be placed on a few course of blocks to increase the amount of ashes it can hold.
The reason I have "modern" in quotes is because most of these designs have been around for half a century. That doesn't mean they are inefficient either, a typical stoker is about 80% efficient with some of them reaching 85%+. I only mentioned this because I saw the one post above about "coal has come a long way". It's always been there.
On a side note a large stoker furnace is a once in lifetime purchase, if maintained properly it will outlast you.
Another benefit of having a stoker is the hot water jacket which will provide practically an unlimited supply of hot water which is next to nothing in the winter and less than what you will pay for other fuels during the summer. The large stokers are insulated and designed to run year round.
As to the "what do you do when you go away" question, there are two companies that make oil burner add ons. If you need to go away you turn the coal off and turn the oil on. Most are not going that route but instead just leaving their existing furnace in place and using it as a backup. They also make smaller hot air stokers that can be used as supplementary heat.
There's a all kinds of choices and ones that will fit the needs of anyone, you can even get a hand fired unit for those of you in a rural areas where the power is a concern. These require no electricity to run.
How much can you save? Our house is nearly 4000 sq. ft., total cost for this last year was less than $1500 and that includes domestic hot water. A lot of peoples domestic hot water bills are nearly 1/3 to half that alone. If you live in Northeastern Pennsylvania frankly you're foolish if you don't consider coal as a source for heat. Not only will you save a lot of dough but you'll also be supporting your local economy.
Phew..longer than i meant it to be. Anyhow if you want to learn more you can check out my anthracite coal forum here:
Anthracite Coal Forum
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