Print

[juddspaintballs]

If you have skaker grates, go for it.  If you do not have shaker grates, Heatmor doesn't recommend it, but if the coal is small enough you could probably get away with it.

[jstange]

Have a HeatMaster 5000, have been trying to burn coal and when it does, it's wonderful.  My problem is I can't seem to get my blower/aquastat settings right to keep the coal lit.  Over time, (hours) when the fan kicks on it can't get the coal bed burning again. 

Wondering if any of you guys that are burning coal, specially the HeatMaster guys, are having this issue and if not, what percentage to you have the blower damper set at and what is the shutoff temp on your aquastat set to as well as the temp differential?

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

-Jeff

PS Love the burner by the way, have had it 3 years.  Just running low on wood and can't get any delivered for a while.  Have a ton of coal and thought I would use it to supplement the wood I do still have to try to get through this season before I order up another truck of wood.

[yoderheating]

 I change the differential depending on how often the stove cycles. During the coldest days I run it at 10 and then have dropped it as low as 3 when it starts getting into spring and the house doesn't need as much heat. With coal you need the fan to come on every hour or two.

[jstange]

yoder,

The big problem that I have been noticing is that if the shutoff temp is 180, then when the fan shuts off the coal still heats up to sometimes 195 before the coal cools enough to stop temperature rise.  If I have it set to a 10 degree differential, that would be a 25 degree swing and in turn the coal goes out before the stove cools enough to fire the fan and in turn stoke coal. 

I have been playing with it all day today, 5 so far seems to be my optimal differential number.  I also added about 6' to my chimney to help increase my up draft.  So far so good, my fan damper is set wide open for max airflow when it's on.

Thanks for the tips.....

-Jeff

[yoderheating]

 Yes, coal does build up a lot of heat. I love burning it. Sounds like you understand how to make it work.

[j845125]

I set the aquastat at 180 and the differential at 6 degrees. I haven't put a stick of wood in it all year(lit it with a bag of charcoal, hate wood smoke smell, love the sweet smell of anthracite!!) and am quite happy with the performance. With the weather like it is now (50-60) I tend it every two days. No creosote, splitting, stacking, cutting and the propane truck doesn't stop here at all.

[rick n kristi]

Bringing up an old topic to check in and share some new information. First, I haven’t seen much coal talk here lately and wondered if anyone is still burning? Also want to share a coal source for those in central Ohio: Oxford Resources in New Lexington Ohio has very good coal this year. I burned it all last year and picked up a ton a couple days ago. They have really got to a good place in the mine as the coal is very hard and shiny. Burns well and has less of a sulfur smell than last year. Still $75 a ton!

[jstange]

I still burn it when I can find it.  Being in Michigan it's tough to come across a good source.  I have burned Anthracite in the past with no luck at all.  Bit burns great and would love to get to Oxford to get a load if I had something more than a pickup to haul it in to make it worth the long long drive I would have to endure to get it.

[tbone]

Just read through this thread for the first time...good info.  I'm still burnin Anthracite with my wood when I desire longer burn cycles.  I went out of town for New Years and new I wouldn't be around to fill the stove...and didn't want the baby sitter messing with it...So I loaded it with a lot of coal and filled the rest of the box with wood.  This was at noon on New years eve when we left....I got home yesterday at about 5PM....My stove temp was just starting to drop below my low temp number, 29 hours after I loaded it.... And that's with the house at 70 throughout and my circlulator pump running 24-7....I love coal.

[jstange]

To pull that kind of burn time, what did you have the temperature differential set to?

I would load mine like that everyday if I could get even a 14 hour burn out of it..... 

[Scott7m]

To pull that kind of burn time, what did you have the temperature differential set to?

I would load mine like that everyday if I could get even a 14 hour burn out of it..... 

Jstrange, I was heating 2200 sq ft average insulated home with a 5000, with a bit of coal, 24 hour burns were easily obtainable

[tbone]

Jstange,
I run 150 and 180.  If I had unlimited free coal I wouldn't even mess with wood....plus my stove works better on wood, just use the coal for longer burns when need be, or when the weather is really cold.  Its nice to be able to sleep in on the weekend and not feel like I need to get to the stove first thing in the morning.  Typically I just throw a couple of shovels full in when I use coal.  On New years, I filled about half the fire box.  It's a nice option to have....my stove is my only heat source....so if it goes out...the house gets cold.

[jstange]

I fill Morning, Dinner and Bedtime.  I rarely get much more burn time then those three fills.  So on average, I am running on about 8 hours burn time.  Sure I could probably get close to 12, but only on warm days above 30 degrees and only if I packed every last possible space full of wood.

Bit Coal works better than Anthracite as the Anthracite is hard to keep burning. 

I have 2600-2800 square feet with 2 furnaces.  Problem is I am in a ranch so there is no upstairs that benefits from heat rise. 

I set my boiler at 180 with a 10 degree swing when I am burning coal.  Any longer the coal just goes out.  On warmer days I drop down to about a 4 or 6 degree swing.

You'd think after 5 years with the thing that I would have this down and all tweaked out, but it seems it's constant testing.

[tbone]

Jstange,
You must be loosing heat somewhere...Have you ever checked your underground lines?
 How about above your ceiling...Is it well insulated? 

I messed around with the soft coal some last year....it burned very well but gave off some yellow smoke and smell.  Also if I tried to burn too much it would run together and choke off my air.  I had to keep an eye on it more than the hard stuff....it was nice and cheap though. 

[jstange]

Insulation in my house is somewhat decent, the problem is I have 12 ft ceilings through more than half of the house and the knucklehead that designed the place put a furnace in the attic for the back half instead of the basement.  They ran the ducts through the ceilings instead of the floor and it's tough to push the heat down to the floor level even with the 72" commercial ceiling fans I have installed.

It's poor design, but nothing I can do anything about for a while.  I shouldn't complain too much I suppose.  A truck of wood lasts 2 years and costs $1700.  Before I had the OWB I was paying $950 a month to heat the house.  So it didn't take long to recoup the investment money. 

Soft coal is so much easier to keep lit, however I do have to say that there is some satisfaction to tossing a bag of hard coal in and calling it good for a burn cycle.  I just got a truck of wood delivered Tuesday so probably won't work too much on the coal the rest of this season.  The neighbor hates it when I burn coal anyway, but I always have some around just in case they upset me