Efel coal room heater

[EHenderson]

I have a gravity-fed Efel coal room heater and no manual. Wondering what the proper coal size should be used (came with a lot of coal, big chunks). Also wondering if wood or wood pellets could be used as well?

I can't find any info on the stove.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Lets see if we can get the local coal guru on your post.

@coaly are you around?

 

[bholler]

I have a gravity-fed Efel coal room heater and no manual. Wondering what the proper coal size should be used (came with a lot of coal, big chunks). Also wondering if wood or wood pellets could be used as well?

I can't find any info on the stove.

Try asking on coalpail.com.


And no wood or wood pellets won't work well at all

 

[coaly]

Always use the smallest size that will not fall through grate. Most European stoves use Pea size. If you use Chestnut, each piece gets more air between them and burns faster. All sizes have the same amount of btu available per pound, it just burns faster with more heat all at once with larger pieces. So you will turn air down more to slow the fire with larger pieces.

You learn for warmer days, simply use more fines from around the bottom of bin to slow the burn even more. Colder days, larger pieces allows more airflow kicking it up faster. Coal is always slow to respond, give it time to react before making more adjustments.

 

[coaly]

Are you familiar with how to clean the grate of a European stove with a slicer knife with solid grate?

How large are what you call coal chunks? Golf ball, fist size, soft ball, or football? You can always break them down with a hammer until they set on grate without falling through.

I had a Surdiac for many years that is very similar, Pea worked fine. As far as I know, all European coal stove grates have the same size slots, use a flat knife across grate top to clean, and have glass slats instead of one piece glass for secondary air to leak in between glass panels. They are very efficient, and the thermostats are finer tuned than American bimetal style controls.

 

[EHenderson]

Thanks for the info. My son found an owner's manual, on a PA State Police site of all places.

 

[EHenderson]

Thanks for the info. My son found an owner's manual, on a PA State Police site of all places.

The coal is roughly 3/4inch, gravel-size. I am unfamiliar with coal, last used at grandfather's house looooong ago. I just moved in with son and family and trying to get up to speed. Son says it puts out a lot of heat. He thinks one problem with operation is no cap on the chimney. Can't find someone to install one for some reason. He found the manual on a web site on police firearms from a PA state trooper.

 

[coaly]

Yes, that is Pea. Smaller than that is rice and wheat. They are for mechanically fed stoker stoves. Larger than Pea is Chestnut. Most American made stoves have larger grate openings for Chestnut. Stove coal is larger chunks, seldomly used.