Coal stoves

[adkhunter]

Hey all. I'm looking for some insight on coal burning stoves. A little background...I'm currently a over the road truck driver with a pregnant fiancé and 5 yr old at home. We are currently about 80% done with construction on a new house that is about 2000 sq ft. Wide open first floor with 3 bedrooms and a full bathroom upstairs. We originally planned on taking custody of a beautiful Jotul firelight model 12 wood stove to heat the house. But I have been having alot of second thoughts about using wood due to me being gone alot and leaving my pregnant fiancé to deal with tending a wood stove all day and night. It was recently brought to my attention from a family friend that coal burning stoves offer less work and burn very hot and efficiently. So I've began researching and my brain is overwhelmed lol.

I was wondering what some of your thoughts were on coal stoves and if anyone has dealt with a Harman Mark 2 stove. I think I will prefer to go with hand fed rather than a automatic stoker due to not wanting to worry about losing heat when the power goes out. I know my fiancé can handle reloading a stove every day with a little bucket and shovel rather than carrying around heavy chunks of wood. I also like that coal is easily stored and I won't have to worry about it getting wet.

I'm sure there's some pros and cons I'm missing to this so any advice or insight would be much appreciated!

 

[sebring]

nepacrossroads.com has about everything you need to know about coal.

I tried it for 1 year and decided against ordering more coal. I have a harman mark 3. In my area coal costs about $220 per ton delivered, anthracite. And wood is $110 per cord, cut and split delivered, oak.

There were things I didnt like about coal. The ashes are way more than wood. The dust when reloading is pretty bad also. And they say you need to bag up the ashes for your garbage hauler to take. With wood, all you need to do is toss it in the lawn, no worries.

Also, when reloading, if not done correctly, you can get a puffback, sending ash dust out the air supply, on everything near the stove. Plus coal is slow to respond when you need more heat. It takes a while to get the stove hotter, or cool down.

The benefits are that once started, a coal fire can last 12 hrs before needing the ashes shook, and more coal added. And the heat is constant.

A coal stoker is another story. And might be way better. Probably is from what I have heard.

For me, wood is easier, cheaper. And I live in PA.


Some other things to consider are, coal supposedly destroys stainless steel chimneys, and carbon monoxide can leak from them, so numerous detectors are good to have nearby . I don't like the idea of dying unknowingly since coal doesn't produce smoke like wood does.

 

[tsmith]

I agree with sebring. I had a Franco-Belge coal stove for years and loved it. It provided great heat, however, I took a job with a municipality that meant plowing snow. On nights when I couldn't be there, my wife had trouble shaking the coals properly to remove ashes and start a new bed of coals, this meant she lost fire and therefore heat. They are alot dirtier, I remember her complaining about all the dust in the house. Harman makes a coal stove that operates just like a pellet stove, however you then have the same problems when you lose power. Auto stoker is less work than hand stoked. Good luck with your decision, they are great heaters but there is work involved as well.

 

[bugize]

I bought my current house in the fall of 05,in 06 i was searching for an altenative heating source as all i had was a oil boiler.
Back then 2500 lbs of coal was alot cheaper than 2000 lbs of pellets,plus i heard alot of horror stories about folks not being able to get pellets or getting bad pellets,then the power outage issue...so i settled on a mark3 in the basement.
I have a 24x40 ranch and that stove can drive you out...even if the temps fall to 0,plus on a warmer day you can throttle it back and let it chug....no creosote issues with coal...alot cleaner/better than wood in my opinion..
But...it takes a knack to burn coal...you cant just throw some in like wood....as far as lighting,re-filling...it takes more time than wood...but you only have to mess with the stove twice a day.
I work 12 hr shifts an hour from home...i would fill it and close it up at 4 am....when i got home at 7,it was still throwing good heat,i will never,ever do wood again...did it most of my life,and thats the problem with wood...it takes up most of your life....LOL.
Like it was stated...the amount of ash....holy chit...alot...i have a 25 gallon metal trash can in the basement for ashes....i had to empty once a week....and it was heavy.
As pellets got more popular,more pellet manufacturers popped up...so pellets are alot cheaper than coal now....also the price of fuel has made the price of coal go up....so,now i heat with pellets,if it gets down towards 0 or below,i will fire up the coal stove for a couple days....but mostly to heat the basement and my floors.
Not sure what you have for a house or where you live,but if I was in your shoes...myself,i think i would go with a big pellet stove in the basement or maybe one upstairs...with a generator in case of power outages....i dont have a generator as i already have the coal stove.
I should also tell you this...i am also a member of the nepa forum...and they are all pro coal,no if's and's or buts....lol.
I told the guys in that forum i was going to pellets and why....cost,ease of use....they still thought i was nuts....LOL.
Another thing with coal...you cant just build a small fire to take the chill off,once you start it....you pretty much go until its to warm to run it...so...i started mine usually after thanksgiving and let it go out sometime in march...as if it is warmer than 45 out...your house gets to warm,plus it doesnt burn as well,so you have to make sure your daytime temps are below 50 during the day.
Also...whats available in your area?
If you do decide to go with coal....i am moving next year,and will sell mine at that time...LOL.
One more thing...i had an uncle that burned coal,so my learning curve wasnt as long as normal as i had a head start.

 

[katman]

I have a coal stoker in my barn and also bought a rebuilt EFM coal boiler with the intention of installing the boiler in the barn and running a underground insulated line to the house, hooking in to my oi-fired boiler. Ended up putting a harman pb-105 boiler in the barn. Coal is cheaper than pellets but harder to get where I live so by the time I figured in transportation costs and my time pickingup the coal there wasn't a whole lot of savings. I do like a nice coal fire and I would suggest that if you go that way you consider a stoker stove--it is about the same to keep it loaded with scoops rice coal from a bin as would be the case with pellets or larger nut coal. A coal fire is nice, but coal is a bit harder to light and there is a learning curve to keeping a hand fired coal stove going. It's not difficult, just more work than getting a wood fire running. Wood, pellets or coal all have the potential for adding dust, dirt and smoke to the house so it is matter of how good you are at minimizing the challenge. My friends on the NEPA forum thought I was crazt for putting in a pellet boiler when I already had an excellent EFM sitting in place. I am pleased with the pellet boiler and still have the coal stoker hooked up in the barn for cold days when I need to work out there. Some of the issues noted above regarding correct chimney and ash disposal are no more difficult to deal with than you will have to deal with if you go with wood heat. And coal is not easier to store than wood--it is dusty so most bagged coal is packed wet. It is messy if you do not have a good system for managing storage to burner.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I have a coal stoker,automatic. It can go unattended for about 3-4 days in shoulder season but needs attention almost everyday during hi-load times. WHen i installed it coal was $80 a ton and pellets were $200 ton. Being you need 1,5 tons of pellets to = 1 ton of coal it was a no brainer. these days at $200 a ton for coal i would probably go with the pellets. coal is still going up and pellets are staying the same + are a renewable resource.

 

[tjnamtiw]

I also had a Franco Belge when I lived in Reading, Pa and loved it. It was hand fed. One bucket a day is all it took... I kept my house at 80 all winter on 3 ton of coal or less. My brother in law has a stoker and heats his house no problem. You're right about the power loss, though. Since you are only talking a small motor to run the crank feeder, you could run it off of a couple of golf cart batteries and an inverter. A couple of solar panels would keep the batteries up too. (Found out there IS a combustion motor on the keystokers, so it would take more power than I originally thought) The hand fed model is completely radiant and needs no power. You can use an optional blower on some of them.
As far as costs go, coal right now delivered in Reading is about $220 a ton. Last year it was $175. Let's hope the right guy gets elected so we can reopen and unregulate the mines! This energy cost comparison is the best I can find > http://www.buildinggreen.com/calc/fuel_cost.cfm

If you are in the eastern part of Pa, then you need to check out http://www.readingstove.com/ , http://www.leisurelinestoves.com/ , http://www.keystoker.com/

One other thing about the dust and mess. Many people make the mistake of pulling out the ash pan right after they shake down the coals. All the heat coming off the coals carries the dust up into the air. Shake down, wait, wait, wait, then remove. I find that pellets can be just as dirty as coal. Just ask my wife.....