Hey fellas this thing burns coal beautifully as is. I will not be making any changes to the grates. I couldn't be happier. However I will say I was a bit frustrated at first. The reasons why were because a lack of knowledge rather then the furnaces abilities. I had know idea on how big of a bed to build or how much coal to put on. Now that I have the hang of it... I would never buy anything else.
I do have another question for you..
If I used 342 gallons of fuel oil last year then I should be right around the 3-4 tons of coal, which is calculating for the lose since it's an outdoor furnace???
Coal Type ?
What size Anthracite did you get? Or are you burning Bit?My guess would be a tad over 2 tons of coal; then apply your heat loss adjustment...Squeaks wrote:Hey fellas this thing burns coal beautifully as is. I will not be making any changes to the grates. I couldn't be happier. However I will say I was a bit frustrated at first. The reasons why were because a lack of knowledge rather then the furnaces abilities. I had know idea on how big of a bed to build or how much coal to put on. Now that I have the hang of it... I would never buy anything else.
I do have another question for you..
If I used 342 gallons of fuel oil last year then I should be right around the 3-4 tons of coal, which is calculating for the lose since it's an outdoor furnace???
Bob
I am using anthracite coal... nut size.
I spoke to the manufacture and he said it was fine. I just needed to make sure that I cleaned the ashes out and not to let the ash pile get too high. He said he has quite a few people using anthracite as well.
I am also really happy this is outside my house... this is really messy with me at the helm
I spoke to the manufacture and he said it was fine. I just needed to make sure that I cleaned the ashes out and not to let the ash pile get too high. He said he has quite a few people using anthracite as well.
I am also really happy this is outside my house... this is really messy with me at the helm
Glad to here that its burning coal for ya. Is there any fire brick in the fire box or is the fire box walls cooled by the water jacket. If the fire box walls are not part of the water jacket you may warp and burn through in as little as one season. The grates look to be plate steel as well, you may find that they may burn out as well.
The entire firebox is surrounded by water... except for the front of course. I just put the fire out last night because we are back up into the sixties and there is no need for a fire. In doing so I inspected the grates and they look exactly as the did when I purchased them. I might however put little notches in them next year just to help the shaking and airflow a bit.