Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I never like wood pellets because if the power goes out the pellets stoves don't work....
I would not want any stove type that must have power to work no matter what it burned.
If power runs some minor accessory that you can live with out a few weeks, that's one thing, but power goes out in New England all the time, and for hours, days, and weeks.
I never like wood pellets because if the power goes out the pellets stoves don't work....
You can buy battery back-up units for the stoves. I think they cost a few hundred dollars for most models. Many years ago when I was deciding what heat source to have at my house once I got rid of an underground oil tank, I decided on a pellet furnace instead of a stove for the larger capacity. Unfortunately, there was no battery back-up available for the furnace.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac_Muz
... power goes out in New England all the time, and for hours, days, and weeks.
Actually, power outages vary a lot in NH. I lived in Keene for 9 years (up by the high school) and we averaged MAYBE 1 power outage per year that lasted a few MINUTES. That's it. (When we had major ice storms in this area a few years ago, it seemed like all towns around us lost power, some for many days, but we didn't lose it at all.)
Now I am just outside of Keene. Utilities are buried in my neighborhood, which is supposed to make them less prone to outages. I hope that's the case!
I never like wood pellets because if the power goes out the pellets stoves don't work....
If I were considering pellets I think my biggest concern is going to be storage, if they get wet you're screwed. As I mentioned they have coal stoves for every possible configuration. We have a stoker boiler, stokers require electric but everything is automated. If you were looking for a whole house solution and you wanted to eliminate the electric for hydronics they make a hand fed wood/coal boiler. This is meant to be installed inside your house, if you want to know the price don't ask :
Be very careful with anything labeled dual fuel, if isn't from a company like the one above that makes coal units you're going to end up with issues in most cases. You need a coal unit that will burn wood, not a wood unit that "can burn" coal. There is lot of wood boilers out there labeled dual fuel that simply don't operate well with coal. The characteristics of a good coal burning unit is a deep firebox, vertical sides, and all the air from underneath like this:
Me personally I have two fireplaces in the house and I'm going to get a small hand fed coal stove for ortamantal and backup purposes that will also have a hot water jacket to produce domestic hot water. I have stoker that uses a larger size coal that can be used in a hand fired stove.
Now I am just outside of Keene. Utilities are buried in my neighborhood, which is supposed to make them less prone to outages. I hope that's the case!
Don't count on it. My sister lives in a neighborhood with buried utilities and she loses power very often. Apparently the above ground lines that feed her 'hood are susceptible.
Carroll County has had a number of ice storms that took out power in NH. The last took it out into Canada and NY state, with all of NE. I live in rural areas and have seen the power be off for more than 14 days here.
Buried isn't really better, but it is less ugly/ I lived in coastal Mass, a little places called Magnolia near Gloucester, and that area has buried wiring. That went out any time a good Nor' Easter got worked up.
None of this bothers me, as i can deal with out power very well.
Coal suits lots of folks, but i just don't happen to be one of them. I like wood for what it is and can access it by the logs loads or for free. In rural place trees just plain fall down and if you are in the right places first that wood is free for the taking.
Coal suits lots of folks, but i just don't happen to be one of them. I like wood for what it is and can access it by the logs loads or for free. In rural place trees just plain fall down and if you are in the right places first that wood is free for the taking.
To each his own but to quote one of my new customers into his second season who had burned wood for 20 years, "I wish I knew this 20 years ago." I have yet to meet someone that has used wood that switched to coal and regretted it.
The "free" wood is a valid point but it isn't really free especially if you want to consider the time and work involved. It's certainly the lowest cost solution if you're cutting your own wood and don't have to pay for the wood itself.
As I mentioned I have two fireplaces and I enjoy them..... on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have a stack of wood out back in case of outright emergency like the boiler breaks or we don't have access to fuel for the generator. Actually used them last fall at this time because Hurricane Irene set us back a few weeks on installation of the boiler. It got old pretty quick.
To each his own but to quote one of my new customers into his second season who had burned wood for 20 years, "I wish I knew this 20 years ago." I have yet to meet someone that has used wood that switched to coal and regretted it.
The "free" wood is a valid point but it isn't really free especially if you want to consider the time and work involved. It's certainly the lowest cost solution if you're cutting your own wood and don't have to pay for the wood itself.
As I mentioned I have two fireplaces and I enjoy them..... on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have a stack of wood out back in case of outright emergency like the boiler breaks or we don't have access to fuel for the generator. Actually used them last fall at this time because Hurricane Irene set us back a few weeks on installation of the boiler. It got old pretty quick.
Well its good to have options, cause personaly I would find no enjoyment out of a coal stove other then the fact its keeping my house toasty warm for cheaper then oil. With the wood stove its about the entire experience for me not just the heat and the savings. I love getting the wood for free ( or cheap) I love processing the wood (bucking, splitting, stacking) I love the smell of wood smoke in the air, and I love watchign the fire dance in the wood stove. With that said I can definitly see why wood stoves are not for everyone! Ask me again in 20 years and I may change my mind!
A lot of the wood i get just plain falls in places that bother me or other people and i go get if for free. Sometimes i even get paid to go get it.
If coal was here like it is in PA and parts south, which i saw on the road sides in Ky, Tn and related places to include rivers feeding the Cumberland, I would be so into free coal to. But as far as i know there is no coal in NH that isn't trucked here.
I used to use coal in my forge, but liked pre made hickory charcoal as well if not better for the lack of a sulfur smell. But that is little used these days too.
I hate that big government is killing or working at killing the coal industry though.
If coal was here like it is in PA and parts south, which i saw on the road sides in Ky, Tn and related places to include rivers feeding the Cumberland, I would be so into free coal to. But as far as i know there is no coal in NH that isn't trucked here.
Keep in mind the coal from NEPA is anthracite coal, it's triple the price of soft coal. It's more expensive to mine and there is additional processing for consistent sizing of 5 major sizes for different types of heating units. The sizes range from almost sand up to softball size pieces. I mentioned $170 per ton at the breaker if you pick it up yourself, if you lived in Kentucky and wanted soft coal you could get it for $60 +/-.
Anthracite is a very hard coal, some of iit from certain veins is almost glass like and even used for sculpting. It's in the 90%+ carbon range hence the reason for the pretty blue flame in the picture I posted previously. There is people from Kentucky that burn coal shipped from Northeastern Pennsylvania, it's primary use is almost exclusively for home heating. If it wasn't for home heating demand the industry probably wouldn't exist. It's very small percentage of the coal produced in this country. It's a "smokeless" fuel without much odor at all compared to soft coal. You can use this in close urban environment without any worries about complaints from your neighbors. In my old house I could literally spit from my property and hit the neighbors house. The ash has can be anything from a granola like consistency that easily crumbles up to powder depending on how and what you're burning it in.
The softer bituminous coals in the rest of the country have a lot volatiles and non carbon matter. There is some issues with that, first and foremost they produce a sooty smoke and have stronger sulfury odor. Secondly they have a tendency to "clinker" where the volatiles in the coal will fuse together into a rock like mass. If it's too big it has to picked out of the grates and the clinkers preclude it from being used in stokers almost altogether .
I know most people are going to have this preconceived thought in their head about burning coal, check this video out. This guy lives in Vermont.
That's an EFM boiler, $9K but it's the Caddilac of coal boilers. The "bio fuel" csame about becsue of the $1500 tax credit they were offering a few years back. You can burn wood pellets or corn in it but they recommend you mix it with coal.
Quote:
I used to use coal in my forge,
To the best of my knowledge anthracite is no good for forging. I actually had one customer ask me once about getting soft coal. He said the anthracite didn't work very well, I'd assume the chemical makeup plays a very large part in that process.
Last edited by thecoalman; 09-20-2012 at 01:39 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
:
