Coal stoker furnace (Wyoming, Penn: homes, to buy, living)

[Deborah Hendrick]

I have a keystoker and have used rice coal for the last 15 years, but the price for rice coal is so expensive that I was wondering if I could start using pea coal this year? Has any one use tis kind of coal in their stoker?

[Deborah Hendrick]

I have a keystoker and have used only rice coal. I would like to know if any one has ever used pea coal in their stoker furnace and if so if they have had any problems?

[Icy Tea]

On a related topic, has anybody ever seen any coal logs for the fire place? I saw them at a Wal Mart maybe 7, 8 years ago and they never sold them after that. They were the size of a standard duraflame log but made of coal. Being my dads family were from coal country I'd like to try one. Also, don't try the green eco logs, made of recycled saw dust or whatever. I bought some and they don't burn, and they smell like burnt pencil shavings.

[thecoalman]

Which manufacturer?

The only ones you can burn pea in that I'm aware of is AHS or Axeman-Anderson. Most utilize rice and few use buckwheat.

Just so it's clear a stoker is automated with moving parts and they are designed to work with a specific size coal. Pea coal would jam the moving parts if its not made for hat size as its much larger than rice. Pea coal is used in hand fired stoves mostly.

[marceb16]

Gravity Feed: Coal Bin –to- Hoper

I am looking into building a coal bin outside, attached to my house and next to my brick chimney. I plan to build it with a cement foundation that slopes to the center with a “drain” hole. The side walls will be made of cement blocks and then wrapped with brick to match my house.

The "drain" hole in the center of the foundation will open to a pipe / shoot that gravity feeds the coal through my basement wall directly into the coal sotve hopper.

The distance from the center of the coal bin drain to the stove hopper will be in the neighborhood of 6 feet.

I’m thinking that this can all be done via the force of gravity alone. Anyone ever done anything like this? Will I need an Auger? If so where do I get one that will work in this scenerio?

Any input you can provide regarding the amount of slope / angel required in the layout of the pipe/shoot would me most helpful.

Thanks!

[sapa1164]

looking for information on wagner coal stokers

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by marceb16

Any input you can provide regarding the amount of slope / angel required in the layout of the pipe/shoot would me most helpful.

There's alot of people that do that, matter of fact I just went on tour of they Keystoker factory down in Pottsville and they had just such a setup.

You can use PVC for this. You'll need about a 40 degree angle preferably one straight shot. If you cannot make it straight all angles should be pointing down.

Originally Posted by sapa1164

looking for information on wagner coal stokers

Can't say I've heard of one but someone on my forum most likely has:

Anthracite & Bituminous Coal Forum

[northwoods9]

What is the price per lb or ton of rice coal in 40lb bags???

[thecoalman]

Depends where you live but I believe bagged coal is going for about $6 or $300 a ton. Bulk delivery starts around $170 a ton, its much more economical.

[HappyRider]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

Depends where you live but I believe bagged coal is going for about $6 or $300 a ton. Bulk delivery starts around $170 a ton, its much more economical.

I am wondering what kind of a house and in what kind of setting can use coal heat? Seems like you really have to be in a rural area to burn coal. I can just imagine what the neighbors here would think when a coal truck pulls up!