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Author Topic: Burning coal in outdoor boiler  (Read 9629 times)

stratton

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Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« on: February 16, 2016, 12:54:12 AM »

Is anyone burning coal in there outdoor units? there is a member on another site looking for advice.Thanks in advance. Stratton.
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CountryBoyJohn

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Re: Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2016, 07:09:10 AM »

There are several of us burning coal in our stoves.  Lost of experience as well.  What are the questions?  We're happy to help when we can!
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artbaldoni

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Re: Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2016, 08:05:06 AM »

Search is your friend... :thumbup:
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Re: Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2016, 06:41:59 PM »

Either all coal OR 25% coal to the balance in wood ...big unsplit wood for me..14 16 burns on 60% fill..... To much coalnand the wood is ....gone!

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Re: Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2016, 06:55:33 PM »

I have been for a couple months. The only way I found to burn it without a lot of smoke is put a layer of wood down on the coal bed and put the coal on top of that. If too much coal rolls off onto the hot coals it smokes like crazy and the burn time is much shorter.
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stratton

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Re: Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2016, 10:57:40 PM »

Hey, Thanks guys.Art you were the guy I remember posting burning coal in your outdoor unit. Ill pass it on. Thanks.
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artbaldoni

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Re: Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2016, 05:16:01 AM »

I've burned all anthracite and also a combination of wood and ant. Best scenario is a large piece of wood on each side of the round firebox and a short piece across the front to keep the coal from rolling forward. a nice thick coal bed in the middle, maybe 6-8" deep and I can routinely get 24 hour burn times. I will de-ash at 12 hours. Recovery time after adding 30 pounds of freezing cold is longer than plain wood, but it will come back...just don't touch it, no matter how bad you want to!

My routine every 12 hours is to shut the fan off, empty the ash pan, de-ash the coal bed and add 2-3 coal shovels full of mixed stove and nut size coal. Usually every 24 hours I will add 3 more pieces of wood to reform the coal bed.

In the last 5 months I have used about 1.5 cords of wood and 2 tons of coal. Makes my old broken body very happy!  :thumbup:
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JDfarmer

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Re: Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2016, 01:20:03 PM »

I have a NCB-250 COAL unit. I posted before about as well. Same as art; I load mine 1x every 1-2 days. Two logs on the side and a small in the middle. Than  thick layer of coal evenly spread out. You have to shake it every 12-24 hrs, but don't shake it too much. Also, set the diff to as tight as possible; 5 is the best. Mine set at 175F 5dif. Coal will over shoot and you get 182F and lower 170F with those settings.
I never turn the fan off. I don't think I've ever done it. I just empty the ash pan 2-3x per week.
I usually use 3 cords of wood and 4-5 Ton coal on a extremely cold winter for 4500sqft.
This year, it's more like 1.5 cord and 2 ton at most. We do keep the house at 74+F


Hey, Thanks guys.Art you were the guy I remember posting burning coal in your outdoor unit. Ill pass it on. Thanks.
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RSI

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Re: Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« Reply #8 on: February 18, 2016, 08:13:42 PM »

I have a NCB-250 COAL unit. I posted before about as well. Same as art; I load mine 1x every 1-2 days. Two logs on the side and a small in the middle. Than  thick layer of coal evenly spread out. You have to shake it every 12-24 hrs, but don't shake it too much. Also, set the diff to as tight as possible; 5 is the best. Mine set at 175F 5dif. Coal will over shoot and you get 182F and lower 170F with those settings.
I never turn the fan off. I don't think I've ever done it. I just empty the ash pan 2-3x per week.
I usually use 3 cords of wood and 4-5 Ton coal on a extremely cold winter for 4500sqft.
This year, it's more like 1.5 cord and 2 ton at most. We do keep the house at 74+F


Hey, Thanks guys.Art you were the guy I remember posting burning coal in your outdoor unit. Ill pass it on. Thanks.

What type of coal are you burning? Do you have any specs or test info from it? The only coal I have been able to get so far is bituminous canal coal. Tractor supply does sell anthracite but I don't want to pay $300 per ton.
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JDfarmer

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Re: Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« Reply #9 on: February 19, 2016, 08:17:10 PM »

I always burn Blaschak anthracite. You have to get it from a dealer.
They come bagged and dumped. I get the dumped nut size. I don't pay $300 per ton. I trade, and get it much cheaper. However, anthrocite is very expensive because it's very clean and very high btu. I used to use bit coal for years. Anth is about 4:1 the BTU and very little clean up. Bit coal has a lot of clinkers and impurities, and a lot of cleaning to do weekly.
Depending on what you are looking for; my set up works for me, because I can longer cut 20-30 cords a year, dry and season, and stack all that wood. Not to mention the chainsaw, the time, truck etc. I love to cut wood, but not that much anymore. Physically it's too much now. So, I spend $600 on coal a year, and cut 3 cords, but that ensures hassle free heat 6 months. If I don't have time to cut more, I just burn coal, no worries. Plus I am out of town sometimes, and with my coal set up, I can leave for 48-55 hrs, no problems. I do have an oversized coal boiler for our house. You really only want to burn coal in a coal fireplace or boiler. Otherwise, it's just not going to work very well. Wood burns with air going around it, to the top of it, etc. For coal to burn, air has to go through the coal bed, or you get an incomplete burn and you'll be throwing out a lot of your coal. So, unless you have a boiler made for coal, I would not waste my time. Also, I don't like to burn bit coal. It has too much Sulfur and smells really bed. Anth has a sweet smell. Adding logs to it, it really smells pretty good.



I have a NCB-250 COAL unit. I posted before about as well. Same as art; I load mine 1x every 1-2 days. Two logs on the side and a small in the middle. Than  thick layer of coal evenly spread out. You have to shake it every 12-24 hrs, but don't shake it too much. Also, set the diff to as tight as possible; 5 is the best. Mine set at 175F 5dif. Coal will over shoot and you get 182F and lower 170F with those settings.
I never turn the fan off. I don't think I've ever done it. I just empty the ash pan 2-3x per week.
I usually use 3 cords of wood and 4-5 Ton coal on a extremely cold winter for 4500sqft.
This year, it's more like 1.5 cord and 2 ton at most. We do keep the house at 74+F


Hey, Thanks guys.Art you were the guy I remember posting burning coal in your outdoor unit. Ill pass it on. Thanks.

What type of coal are you burning? Do you have any specs or test info from it? The only coal I have been able to get so far is bituminous canal coal. Tractor supply does sell anthracite but I don't want to pay $300 per ton.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2016, 08:22:26 PM by JDfarmer »
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JDfarmer

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Re: Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« Reply #10 on: February 19, 2016, 08:20:57 PM »

to me bit coal burns more like wood. Anth burns with a blue flame, red hot. Very very very hight heat; very little to no smoke. If I don't put logs in the boiler, you cannot tell that it's even on with a bed of anth.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdTUqISi_W0
http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-anthracite-coal-and-vs-bituminous-coal/
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stratton

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Re: Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« Reply #11 on: February 24, 2016, 01:07:50 AM »

Hi guys, Thanks for the responses. I to mix my loads in my D.S. indoor boiler , Huge grates allow for under fire air to do its magic.Its hard not to do the PEEK and SEE, when your burning anthracite. Thanks Luke.
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Re: Burning coal in outdoor boiler
« Reply #12 on: October 27, 2016, 11:36:13 PM »

Country Boy John made a video on the topic.
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