Burning coal in an englander 28-3500

[kieth4548]

Ok I have an englander wood stove 28-3500 furnace add on (see my avatar) and I am trying to figure out if I can burn coal. I am thinking of burning coal with maybe a mix of wood next year. Does anyone burn coal and can coal be used in this stove? If it can what do i need to know about buring coal.

Thanks
Kieth

 

[Badfish740]

Ok I have an englander wood stove 28-3500 furnace add on (see my avatar) and I am trying to figure out if I can burn coal. I am thinking of burning coal with maybe a mix of wood next year. Does anyone burn coal and can coal be used in this stove? If it can what do i need to know about buring coal.

I've got the same add-on but I bought it mid heating season so I haven't burned it yet. I was planning on experimenting with coal as well. The official word from Englander is that about 10lbs of bituminous coal can be added once the wood is completely charred. This will extend the burn cycle-however, they don't recommend burning just coal. The stove doesn't have shaker grates which is the biggest obstacle to burning a lot of coal at once. I'm going to pick up a ton of bituminous and shovel it 10lbs at a time into brown paper grocery bags. I plan to experiment with adding a 10lb bag to a full load of charred wood. We'll see...

 

[lexybird]

interesting please post your findings after youve done this ..I was planning on adding secondary burn tubes to mine in an effort to slow the burn and add more heat efficently

 

[kieth4548]

I talked to englander and they told me no coal... let me know what you find

 

[Badfish740]

That may their "official" position now, but here's what Mike Holton from ESW says:

we used to list it as a wood/coal furnace , basically meaning that some coal could be added to an existing wood fir to extend the burn time. we ended up with a lot of misunderstanding that coal could be burned alone in the unit (thinking wood OR coal, not wood AND coal) which is not the case. the unit can accept a small addition of soft coal added to an existing fire , gives a couple hours to the end of the burn cycle. but you cannot burn just coal in this unit , it does not have a shaker and with that large a firebox, filled with coal would melt a hole in the basement floor. about 10 lbs is about all you would want to go. add it once wood is through the initial char stage. then before the next charge of wood is added rake down the coal bed , add the wood, char and add the coal again if desired.

 

[kieth4548]

Thanks badfish.. I thought you could use coal with wood. How do you load the coal? What I mean is at night or when I leave I fill the box up and usually there is not room. How would I add the coal also what do I need to expect? Is it going to be a lot hotter heat or temp. I have a thermometor on the front of my stove and usually run it about 400 degrees. Will this go up? How much longer of a burn time do you get? Sorry for all the questions I just don't want some big surprise and start worring when I have a fire going. Also what about the chimney? Do I have to clean it more often and will there be more or less smoke? I hardley have any smoke now.

Thansk
kieth

 

[Badfish740]

I don't have an answers yet but hope to next year!

 

[JustWood]

Thanks badfish.. I thought you could use coal with wood. How do you load the coal? What I mean is at night or when I leave I fill the box up and usually there is not room. How would I add the coal also what do I need to expect? Is it going to be a lot hotter heat or temp. I have a thermometor on the front of my stove and usually run it about 400 degrees. Will this go up? How much longer of a burn time do you get? Sorry for all the questions I just don't want some big surprise and start worring when I have a fire going. Also what about the chimney? Do I have to clean it more often and will there be more or less smoke? I hardley have any smoke now.

Thansk
kieth

Load the coal in the middle of the load. The weight of the wood on top will keep the coal from bridging and also help keep the coal burning. Start out with small amounts of coal till you get it figured out. Once you have it figured out you'll wonder why you went without coal .

 

[kieth4548]

Ok.. not to sound tupid here so should put in a lyour of logs char the logs but in some coal and then fill the rest with wood and char the new?

Thanks
Kieth

 

[kieth4548]

thanks for the info. I have slots running left to right in bottom of the fire box. There are 4 slots about 3/4" to 1" wide. I also have a top damper which is what I usally use and a bottom daper that allows air under the firebox (usually do'n use that one much). Will I wnat to use more of the bottom damper or just continue buring like I usually.

Thanks
Kieth

 

[kieth4548]

Thaniks for the infor. I am geting my information for next year. My burning is just about over. For the next week we are to be in the high 60's mid 70's with night temps about 55 degrees. Usually I don't fire up the wood burner when its this warm because it's to dang hot. I turn the furnace back on at night. THe house holds the heat all day. I have heard that I want to use soft coal. Is that correct?

Thanks
Kieth