How much coal do you really need?

[Gamalot]

I use my stove to supplement my oil fired boiler that also must stay on line to make domestic hot water.

Our living space is 1463 Sq/Ft. My stove is a tiny little Russo #2 Econo model.

My stove is in the living room and covers over a rediculous fireplace sitting on the ledge out in front. Rediculous unless you are a young guy trying to impress she who does not pay the bills!

I buy 2.5- 3.0 Tons of good anthricite per year. I keep my home heated for about 150 days per season with between one 5 gallon to 1.5 5 gallon buckets of caol per day.

The living room remains at between 70 - 80 degrees and the back rooms stay quite nice, 62-65.

I do have good insullation and great windows.

I have never run out of coal and never had to run cold in the house. My oil fired boiler has to stay on line to make hot water and uses about 1 gallon per day. When the O/S temps go below the minus zero mark the furnace does kick on to supplement the basement circulator and add some heat to the floor above where we live. I have never heard a main floor circulator kick on since I installed the coal stove.

I basically heat my home with $650 of coal and another 365 gallons of fuel oil that also gives me hot water year round.

I would love to hear some other real assessments of actuall heat/hot water costs.

How much coal do most of you buy to get you through a season?

I do know that many here use wood as a fuel. I loved the entire adventure of cutting, loading, hauling and stacking & seasoning of wood but after 2 arthroscopic knee surgical proceedures I had to make a few changes. I live fairly close to a great coal supply and this was the best alternative for me and one I don't regret at all. Actually, I'd have left many trees standing had I only known!

Gary

 

[Peter B.]

Gamalot:

You may get more comment here:

http://nepacrossroads.com/forum-55.html

... and then again, you may not... since the pace of posts here is a little more brisk.

I have thought about the switch to coal too. Though I have a few acres of hardwood, my ambition to harvest it has been flagging the last few years. From what I've read, anthracite coal - properly burned - probably introduces less harmful gunk to the atmospehere than wood, improperly burned... the principal difference being the CO2 release...

But then, are all these fine folk burning wood planting (at least) one tree for every one they cut... or every one that is cut on their behalf?

"Not I", said the little red hen.

Peter B.

-----

 

[Gamalot]

I am a member at http://nepacrossroads.com/forum-55.html

Not too sure it has anything to do with how many of the natural resources we use as opposed to the ones we need!

I don't much care if the one you or anyone else uses is wood or coal but the key is in using them propperly and getting the most out of them for the least environmental adverse effects as possible.

If what I do from below me does not produce an adverse effect to those above me then I guess I am doing OK.

The fact here is in learning to burn your available fuel in the best possible way to get the most bang for your buck with the least adverse effect to our environment!

I hate spitting $hit into this world but also understand that it is my duty to do it propperly to allow us all to live comfortably.

Gary

 

[wellbuilt home]

I liked burning coal We had a vc vigilant at my friends house We would burn about the same 1to 11/2 buckets a day or about 1 35gal garbage can a week or around 4'x4'x3' box a month or 150 cubic feet or around 3 tons . I think . He would use wood in the spring and fall . The coal would burn for 3 months and we would have some left .

 

[Gamalot]

Excellent point Wellbuilt! I can't use the coal until the O/S temps get in to the steady 30s and below. Coal prefers to have a good supply of underside air and also likes a a good bed of hot coals at all times. It is very hard to find a happy medium between throtteling down and maintaining a good fire that won't go out.

I have 2 larger stoves out in my garage but find that it is better to have a smaller stove that is working at between 75-100% then it is to have a larger one that I need to keep throtteled down. With the wood stove it was simple to regulate the ammount of heat output but thats not the case with coal.

I do miss the days in the woods with my buddies cutting our wood but I am very happy now that I have learned the tricks with burning coal and the reduced stress on my knees.

Gary

 

[mtarbert]

I would buy our coal when I could afford it and stock pile it. It is not like wood......It dosen't go bad or rot. A ton of coal a thousand years from now will still be a ton of coal. It is usually cheaper in the spring and early summer.

 

[wellbuilt home]

I don't know what coal costs now, but it was cheep when i was burning it. I would just pick it up at the quarry in PA in garbage cans 10 at a time . I would dump from the can in the truck to a empty can on the ground and cover it with the lid . The dump truck worked good but we made a mess trying to get it in the bins.

 

[SteveT]

The oil use of 1 gallon/day strikes me as high. It may make sense if you have a large family but here it is just my wife and me and we use slightly under 1/2 gallon of oil per day for DHW.