Alternatives for Lighting Coal

I use Kingsford charcoal, soak it in lighter fluid, fire it up & close the doors & screw in the damper so the flames won't all go up the chimney. I let it burn like that until the coals are red, then open the ash door to let it roar. Throw on a layer of coal at a time until it's full.

Takes me about 30 minutes tops to have a full firebox burning.

trb157 wrote:Anybody ever tired Trioxane bars? Military surplus stores have these by the truckload and they burn hot and long sort of like a sterno can, very cheap. Are they dangerous to try in a coal stoker stove? I always wondered.

How did you make out with the trioxane bars? I used to use them in my wood stove very successfully.

Mice are nice but ratts are more fun. A buddy and I put together what we like to call coal ratts. We take the powder out of two road flares, a couple crushed up charcoal brickets and some coal fines al mixed up in a lunch bag with a pest control fuse stuck in it. We roll the bag up and tape it shut. All said and done it is about the size of a beer can. Stick it under a couple inches of coal, light the fuse and you have a fire in about two beers. By the way your stove better be air tight at the doors and have a good draft as they smoke like mad.

I have a Hot Blast wood/coal furnace. I use the little bars Walmart sells for starting fireplace fires. They are made of the same thing as a fireplace log.
I break off 1/3 of a piece of the fire starter. (About a 3" piece) light it and let it get going a bit as I hold it in my fingers carefully. I then lay it on a flat piece of hard wood. Preferably a thin piece.
(My thought here is that any residual sticky leftovers from the fire starter will be consumed by the wood fire from the wood slab under the starter.)
I have never found any trace of the starter stick using this method. I am new to Coal furnace lighting but I have been doing this in my fireplace for years with good luck.
I then lay kindling and make a little tee pee and add larger pieces as the fire builds. I then add small amounts of my Anthricite nut size coal. Add as the coal ignites. In time I have my coal burning nice.
I take a beer down in the basement with me and while I wait for things to come together I sip my beer and cut kindling for the next fire. Sometimes I go upstairs and get another beer.

Anyone see a reason to be conserned with this? Its so easy and the fire starters are plentiful and cheap.

wnyjim wrote:I take a beer down in the basement with me and while I wait for things to come together I sip my beer and cut kindling for the next fire. Sometimes I go upstairs and get another beer.

Anyone see a reason to be conserned with this? Its so easy and the fire starters are plentiful and cheap.

YES, I'm very concerned man! You obviously need a beer fridge in the basement. All that running up and down the stairs will wear you out.

Great idea! By next heating season I plan on having a beer fridge within reach of my furnace.
Safety frirst

If I dont light off of a wood fire, I do the following: (Keeps the glass window cleaner)

I put about 10 Matchlight briquettes in a coffee can (with both sides cut open & pack coal around the can. Then remove the can & light the briquettes. But I found it much faster to add a little wood (very little) on top of the briquettes & then, when the wood is burning well, carefully add a little coal on top of the wood fire. (making sure not to smother the fire)
The briquettes alone don't burn hot enough to get the coal burning quickly so adding a bit of wood kindling speeds things up allot!

I lit a fresh fire last night with a plastic wrapped package of supermarket firestarter kindling. I was too lazy to gather some twigs and get a fire going that way; besides it rained a couple days ago and the ground is pretty wet still. It was $1.50 for this package of what looked like cedar shakes. Package said it was kiln dried alder. I put it in the firebox with a few 2x4 scraps and a squirt of mineral spirits. When it got going I started tossing in handfuls of my antique basement coal. Within an hour I had it going good and it's still going.

Tried it with just wood pellets and shredded paper in a bag, Started great!!!!!


I got a bag of cowboy charcoal at lowes, 7 $, Got a bag of wood pellets, 6$ at home depotty, took paper from my shredder, Crushed the charcoal, put a handful and 1/2 of each in a small bag, stuffed some paper in it, Works Great. Can probably make a couple 100 for less than $20, When I make some I am going to seal them in space bags so no moisture gets in.

Happy Holidays, Stan

Hi guys try to get some black locust (or locust of some type) this wood is very hot and makes lighting anthracite eaiser. Try it and tell me what you think. I use locust splits (kindeling) with some ash sticks and small 1-2" tree limb sticks. When these catch it gets hot real fast.