I couldn't help but see your statement of not burning coal in a multi fuel. Just curious cause we're newbies at the woodstove heating and looking at a Heco 420 or 520. Appreciate any info we get. Thanks!
The Heco stoves have shakers, so they should do well with coal, probably better with coal than wood. My stove is a Tim Sistem North, and it has a static grate which would require shaking the coals with a shovel with the door open. Coal ash is very fine and I would not want to do this in my house. Shaker grates allow you to shake down the coal bed without opening the door.
I like a shaker for wood ashes too, but it's not a necessity. My freestanding stove has a shaker that works very well. In a coal stove you have to shake down the coals/ashes so air can come up through the grate before you reload more coal or light the stove from cold. Read more about lighting and maintaining a coal fire for more details, I'm only burning wood and don't have first hand experience.
