Mixing coal with pellets in pellet stove?

[94ZA4]

Hey alll, I am new to this whole pellet stove thing, I have an Englander stove, I forget the model, but it is the small one. Anyway I have been using pellets and corn/Pellet mix. I realy don't see a diffrence, once adjusted the corn just seems to burn faster and hotter, but a hopper does not last as long. I was wondering if a small mix of pea coal midxed in with the pellets would work. I know coal is a much higer BTU and I will melt the thing down if I use too much, but I was thinking like a 10-15%. Would it work, and at that mix would it still be OK for the stove? These cold NY nights tend to use up 40lb of pellets, just trying to extend the burn time and heat output a little.

Andrew

 

[94ZA4]

Someone out there must have tried it in the past. Anyone? Would it hurt to burn 1 40lb bag of pellets mixed with 10lb of coal through? I would imagine at that % any damage would be over time, not immediate, correct?

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

No, not unless it is designed to burn coal. It could destroy the guts of your pellet stove. Coal burns to hot, and it releases corosive gasses. Burn wood based products in your pellet stove. Also the clinker would be HUGE.

 

[94ZA4]

Even at a low % you think it could cause damage? I did not know that coal produced clinkers, I thought that was a corn sugar thing.

Oops, I meant 4 lbs of coal, not 10, for a 10% mixture coal to 90% pellet.

Thanks for the tip, last thing I want to do is damage it.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

yes, even at a very low percentage. It will also void your warrenty, and it could poision your home if some of the exaust gasses escaped into the room. Stay away from coal in a pellet stove.
i did a little experement last year, i threw some coal in my quad 1200, it was a stupid move i know, but i like to experement, and it was a free display so i figured what the hay. It scared me to death when that stove got white hot.
if you want to burn coal by a stoker stove. and yes, coal makes huge clinkers in anything you burn them in.

 

[Michael6268]

I wouldn't worry about poisoning your home, but it will not work. The odds of poisoning your home would be slime, as Englander stoves have a negative draft and "pull the exhaust" out of the stove. So unless you have a blockage/fault in your chimney, that really wouldnt be an issue. The issue would be two things. One is the amount of ash, even from a small amount of coal is so much that your stove would be full in no time. The Englander you mentioned doesn't have an ashpan/drop off to rid the stove of ash, so in a matter of hours the thing would be clogged beyond belief. Second Pea coal would never fit through the auger. You would have to use "rice" coal. And third, it would void warranty etc.

 

[berlin]

"and it could poision your home if some of the exaust gasses escaped into the room"

how many times do i have to point out that anthricite coal produces far less carcinogenic and toxic emissions that wood, yes, even pellets! but you do not want to burn coal in a pellet stove, for other reasons given here.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

"and it could poision your home if some of the exaust gasses escaped into the room"

how many times do i have to point out that anthricite coal produces far less carcinogenic and toxic emissions that wood, yes, even pellets! but you do not want to burn coal in a pellet stove, for other reasons given here.

i suppose as many times as you like.

 

[webbie]

Coal gas from stoves and furnaces is not dangerous because of the "poisons", but because of the CO. For a number of reasons, I would suggest not using coal unless the stove was designed and tested for it. While wood or corn smoke or backup might aggravate you, coal fumes will kill you.

This is not a guess. Talk to folks who are in the PA anthracite regions where lots of people burn coal stoves. Years ago one of my dealer friends there told me that there were usually quite a few deaths and MANY hospital visits each year from CO related to coal stoves and furnaces.

Coal smoke many not give you cancer - but you might wish you could have lived long enough to get it!

Since hard coal burns so clean, the CO (actually the sum total of gases since CO is odorless) is often undetectable by our sense of smell. That is another problem as compared to biomass...most of which would give you lots of notice!

 

[begreen]

There's no free lunch with wood or coal. For the record, burning anthracite coal also emits sulphur oxides, nitrous oxides, organic compounds, particuate (soot) and heavy metals in the emissions. Organic compounds include biphenyl, naphtalene, penanthrene, Of the later, most notable are mercury (3-7 lbs/ton) and cadmium ( 1-4 lb. / ton), nickel, beryllium, chromium, manganese and selenium.

In addition, residential space heaters, being unscrubbed emit Acenaphthene, Acenaphthylene, Fluorene, Anthracene, Fluoranthrene, Pyrene, Benzo(a)anthracene, Chrysene, Benzo(k)fluoranthrene, Benzo(e)pyrene, Benzo(a)pyrene, Perylene, Indeno(123-cd)perylene, Benzo(g,h,i)perylene, Anthanthrene & Coronene.