Need LOTS of help and advice on getting started

Need LOTS of help and advice on getting started

PostBy: iowaboy.17 On: Fri May 02, 2008 2:01 am

Living in Vermont it is cold and expensive to heat my single story 1000 square foot home. I have a natural gas forced hot air furnace and I keep that thermostat set at 55 degrees. Most of my heating is done with a small Garrison #1 woodstove and I have access to a fair amount of dry hardwood as fuel. I have a chance to get about 4 tons of anthracite for free if I can move it, which I can. It is 1/2" to 1-1/4" size so I guess that is "chestnut" coal. It has been sitting in a basement bin for several years but I don't think that affects the calorific value of it. Now, before I go to the work of moving this coal, I need some advice on how to burn the darn stuff. I am thinking of some sort of stove placed in my living room that can handle both wood and coal. I would hope to use the same exhaust stack which is a vertical run of three feet, a 90 degree elbow, a horizontal run of five feet and another 90 degree elbow, and then a 18 foot vertical run with a cap on top to keep out squirrels. All pipe is 6" and all except the first eight feet is Metalbestos. I know very little about burning coal; I do pretty well with wood but wood in that little stove won't hold the fire for more than two or three hours, so I am thinking coal will hold out a bit longer. I know you have to burn coal on a grate with air introduced from underneath, so I guess that means some sort of forced air inlet, right? Any advice I can get about a combination stove will be helpful!!! Thanks in advance. tom
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Re: Need LOTS of help and advice on getting started

PostBy: stokerscot On: Fri May 02, 2008 2:09 am

Tom, welcome to the forum. you came to the right place. If you move quick there is a Harmon mark 3 for sale on craigslist in the Cap Cod area. It's a little bit of a haul for you but it will solve all your problems. Bigger, better stove for a nice price. Everything else you can read about here on the forum. Good luck! :) Scott
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Re: Need LOTS of help and advice on getting started

PostBy: Devil5052 On: Fri May 02, 2008 2:10 am

Buy yourself a good coal stove & burn coal for a few days. You'll never go back to burning wood! Read a few threads on this forum & then just jump in with any questions.
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Re: Need LOTS of help and advice on getting started

PostBy: Richard S. On: Fri May 02, 2008 2:32 am

The best advice I can give you about a combination stove is get a coal stove that will burn wood. ;) Most coal stoves will burn wood but you can't burn coal in a wood only stove. A lot of the coal stoves will not be marked as being able to burn wood but that's because of EPA regulations. Besides once you start burning coal you'll not want to burn wood.


iowaboy.17 wrote:It has been sitting in a basement bin for several years but I don't think that affects the calorific value of it


It will burn, there was one post on here the guy had coal he estimated to be sitting there about 30 years if I remember correctly. It amy lose some over time but overall its negligible

iowaboy.17 wrote:that little stove won't hold the fire for more than two or three hours, so I am thinking coal will hold out a bit longer
.

You'll get a burn time a minimum of 12 hours on a moderate setting with most stoves. Most get a schedule of filling it in the morning and at night.
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Re: Need LOTS of help and advice on getting started

PostBy: coaledsweat On: Fri May 02, 2008 12:55 pm

Richard S. wrote:
iowaboy.17 wrote:It has been sitting in a basement bin for several years but I don't think that affects the calorific value of it


It will burn, there was one post on here the guy had coal he estimated to be sitting there about 30 years if I remember correctly. It amy lose some over time but overall its negligible.


I just picked up a pile of coal that was sitting about 15 years, it is with out a doubt, the best coal I have ever used. :)
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