Anyone using coal to heat house in a wood stove?

   / Anyone using coal to heat house in a wood stove? #1  

aylesworth

New member
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Messages
5
Location
Adel Iowa near 1-80
Tractor
John Deere 4110
I have a nice air tight wood stove and am wondering what the economies are to burn coal in it. I also have a working gravel quary close that has coal salvage that they will give me. I tried some last year in combination with wood and it seemed to work well, but several people said it was not safe.

Any experiance would be welcomed.
 
   / Anyone using coal to heat house in a wood stove? #2  
It's my understanding that the grates in stoves designed to burn coal are heavier than the ones designed to burn just wood. I think the fireboxes may be different also. The coal/wood stove I used years ago to heat a garage had a firebox lined with some sort of refractory material. Keep in mind some coals burn hotter. That could be an issue too.

You could always check out the stoves sold for burning coal and compare the construction to yours. Since you're in Iowa, the cheapest heat for you might be a stove to burn corn.
 
   / Anyone using coal to heat house in a wood stove? #3  
Coal needs to have air underneath the fire. A true coal stove has movable grates that can be moved slightly to shake the coal bed and let the ash fall through while air flows up. Coal stoves can also be banked, that is stoked up and the air intake restricted so that it slow burns overnight. I'm not sure how well a modern air tight wood stove would work for coal. In any event, the fire would need a fresh air flow underneath the grate, danger would be from carbon monoxide if not vented properly. Those old farm houses that used wood and coal stoves wern't built very air tight and had plenty of natural ventilation through the walls.

Bottom line is I think you could modify a wood stove to work. If I had a nearby source of cheap coal I'd sure figure out a way to burn it.
 
   / Anyone using coal to heat house in a wood stove? #4  
I need to find a cheap one (coal stove) for my barn. I have an inside track on coal. I just need to get a decent and "cheap" setup for my barn. Heating a 60 X 80 X 16 tall barn with a regular gas fired heater is killing me! Anybody know of any deals on a good used coal stove that I can use in a barn?
 
   / Anyone using coal to heat house in a wood stove? #5  
We heated the house for years using coal when we lived in PA. Nothing like PA anthracite. We used airtight coal stoves, they were made of cast iron and lined with refractory brick. They had air supplied below, at, and above the grate.
You have to be careful not to run yours too hot if you don't have the refractory lining - you can burn thru quarter inch steel plate suprisingly fast!
Another thing to consider is that coal produces sulphuric emisions that eat into your chimney if it's not made of the correct material.
And, believe it or not, coal is a lot cleaner than wood.
 
   / Anyone using coal to heat house in a wood stove? #6  
My neighbor burns a 50/50 mix of coal and wood, at night or when they are going to be away for the day. They've done this for years and swear by it.
 
   / Anyone using coal to heat house in a wood stove? #7  
Coal burns much hotter than wood and burning coal in a wood stove will destroy the stove in short amount of time. This is VERY DANGEROUS!

Burn coal in coal stove. Grates and fireboxes are always stronger built. I think the stove pipe may have to be double wall too.
 
   / Anyone using coal to heat house in a wood stove? #8  
We have a coal stove in the kitchen. It was there when we moved in last year. I'd like to get rid of it but, Nancy won't let me. If she would, and you lived closer, it would be in your barn tomorrow.
 

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