Coal Burning

[bholler]

I wish I could find bit coal in my area.

What possible reason would you have for wanting bit coal. Anthracite is far superior in every way.

 

[Blowndiffuser]

There is no problem at all with burning both other than the fact that most combo units are no where near as good at either than a dedicated unit. Combining the exhaust of the two is absoluyly no worse than coal alone.

I was under the impression that because much of our (UK) coal is now imported it can have a high sulphur content, burning wood inevitably produces water vapour, so mixing these two together you could get an extremely aggressive sulphuric acid which could condense onto the nearest cold object it reaches. One way round this is to use kiln tried logs but they cost the earth. The other issue is efficiency like you've mentioned as the two fuels have different burning requirements and you'll never get the same efficiency as just burning pure wood or pure coal.

 

[bholler]

I was under the impression that because much of our (UK) coal is now imported it can have a high sulphur content, burning wood inevitably produces water vapour, so mixing these two together you could get an extremely aggressive sulphuric acid which could condense onto the nearest cold object it reaches. One way round this is to use kiln tried logs but they cost the earth. The other issue is efficiency like you've mentioned as the two fuels have different burning requirements and you'll never get the same efficiency as just burning pure wood or pure coal.

Well if you are burning wood correctly the exhaust should be above the condensation point the whole way out. So not an issue. And water vapor is also a byproduct of burning coal.

 

[Blowndiffuser]

Well if you are burning wood correctly the exhaust should be above the condensation point the whole way out. So not an issue. And water vapor is also a byproduct of burning coal.

But it can be an issue for people that don’t know and slumber a non cat stove.

 

[bholler]

But it can be an issue for people that don’t know and slumber a non cat stove.

Well it can be an issue with a cat stove to if run incorrectly. But that comes down to incorrect operation not mixing of fuels.

 

[bholler]

I was under the impression that because much of our (UK) coal is now imported it can have a high sulphur content, burning wood inevitably produces water vapour, so mixing these two together you could get an extremely aggressive sulphuric acid which could condense onto the nearest cold object it reaches. One way round this is to use kiln tried logs but they cost the earth. The other issue is efficiency like you've mentioned as the two fuels have different burning requirements and you'll never get the same efficiency as just burning pure wood or pure coal.

That is also a huge difference. In this area all that is burnt is anthracite I don't know what you are burning there but there is allot of variation in coal

 

[Destructor]

Anthracite is useless to me in my victorian coal basket. Diesel exhaust is another one of my favorite industial aromas, specifically from a four cycle diesel.

 

[bholler]

Anthracite is useless to me in my victorian coal basket. Diesel exhaust is another one of my favorite industial aromas, specifically from a four cycle diesel.

Any coal is really dangerous to burn open like that. But anthracite should burn fine if you have enough draft. And if you don't it just makes burning coal all the more dangerous.

 

[Destructor]

I have very good draft, it's something I've always wanted to try but not do on a regular basis. I normally burn hardwoods. We occasionally burned anthracite in my father's stove but being a combo stove it wasn't ideal, we always had a good supply of wood so we never invested much effort in coal.

 

[bholler]

I have very good draft, it's something I've always wanted to try but not do on a regular basis. I normally burn hardwoods. We occasionally burned anthracite in my father's stove but being a combo stove it wasn't ideal, we always had a good supply of wood so we never invested much effort in coal.

So you are trying to burn coal in a basket in a wood burning fireplace? You do realize they are designed very different than coal fireplaces right? They have an air inlet under the basket an a much smaller flue to increase velocity of the air. What you are doing carries some pretty big risks.

 

[Destructor]

I know they are designed very different. I have run across a number of posts, videos and articles, including on this forum, where people have burned soft coal successfully in a coal grate in a wood burning fireplace. I haven't tried anything yet because I can't find soft coal or cannel coal. A place nearby used to sell cannel coal but few people were buying it. I've reserched quite a bit on coal grates and burning in an open. My coal grate may end up being nothing more than a planter, such a pitty.

 

[bholler]

Just because people have done it does not mean it is safe at all. It just isn't worth the risk.

 

[Destructor]

If I find soft coal or cannel coal I'll report back the results. Even if I'm succeed I probably will still hardly ever bother again because of the hassle of changing grates over.

 

[bholler]

If I find soft coal or cannel coal I'll report back the results. Even if I'm succeed I probably will still hardly ever bother again because of the hassle of changing grates over.

Do you have a quick response co detector?

 

[SaltyWoodsman]

That is also a huge difference. In this area all that is burnt is anthracite I don't know what you are burning there but there is allot of variation in coal

The "Dancing Blue Ladies"? Nice to see another from coal-cracker country here!

I thought about throwing a couple lumps of chestnut in with the night load to be sure to have hot embers in the morning, but I adjusted my air flow, and I still have a good bed of coals in the AM. A quick scoot around with the shovel, a log on the coals, and I have a fire by the time I'm done shaving.

 

[bholler]

The "Dancing Blue Ladies"? Nice to see another from coal-cracker country here!

I thought about throwing a couple lumps of chestnut in with the night load to be sure to have hot embers in the morning, but I adjusted my air flow, and I still have a good bed of coals in the AM. A quick scoot around with the shovel, a log on the coals, and I have a fire by the time I'm done shaving.

I have plenty of coals in the morning with just wood. Enough it is still making decent heat

 

[SaltyWoodsman]

I have plenty of coals in the morning with just wood. Enough it is still making decent heat

I just started with the wood stove this year, when we moved into the house. Prior to this, I grew up with the "green monster".... an oil fueled furnace, which was later phased out to a gas furnace.

So, needless to say, there was a bit of a learning curve (a lot of info from this forum!), some nights of fires going out, smokey basement, smoke detectors singing to me (never my CO detector). It's a single door Alaska (Fisher knock-off, I'm told). But, with enough tweaking, the temp stays up, the smoke is minimal, and there's still heat in the morning, beyond the thermal mass of the metal.

We hope to upgrade to a new stove in the spring.

Wow, I got a bit off topic there....