Why Has Coal Gone up So Much?

Coal is not only cheap, coal heats best! Warm, steady and consistent. I could never see the same level of comfort with my other heating system, electric heat pumps.

The other thing I like about the constant coal fire burning in the stove? I don't stress out over the kids letting in too much cold air when they come in/out of the house. The cold intrusion is quickly repelled by the coal burning stove. The cats like it too.

Cap wrote:The cats like it too.

There you have it folks, it's unanimous.

Gang....
Thanks for the feedback. I feel all warm and fuzzy now
I was just putting that out there to see if my local guy was becoming somewhat more expensive than other fuel sources. Apparently he isn't. And in fact, he's planning on retiring soon so I may just buy him out. In northern NY state where I live it gets plenty cold up here. Coal is the perfect fuel and several people around here are finding this out. And you're all right. It goes up proportionately to the cost of transportation and production. I talked to a mine rep from Blaschack coal recently and they said they're having a time keeping up with the demand. Another coal dealer had to hire two more guys to take care of the business he's been getting and even bought a beautiful new coal truck last year. It's a big Axx Ford with a custom paint job on it no less. A thing of beauty.
There's hope for us all yet.

Boilermaker

Hello Everybody,

This will be my 2nd season heating with coal. I live right outside of Philadelphia. I grew up in Philadelphia. Coal was as foreign to me as a martian who watches football. My wife became pregnant with twins in the summer of 05. We bought a big old house which I renovated for the new family. Katrina hit at the end of August. I was heating the house part time with natural gas and my highest bill was $490. And it was a warm month considering. I was panicing. How was I going to heat this house FULL TIME and afford formula and diapers????

To my surprise there was a coal dealer a few towns over and I bought a boiler. Installed it myself. I paid $177 a ton. I'm getting a refill tomorrow at $200 a ton. I am not a happy about an 11.5% increase in price. But its still probably 70% - 100% cheaper than heating with natural gas. And we can turn the t-stat up to enjoy our home in the winter. Try getting 2 sweaters on 21month old boys!? :surrender:

King Coal has saved me from making some very difficult choices. And I'm grateful.

Hi Folks,
Sound like another success story to me. It only takes one heating season to convince most people that coal is the way to go. Economical, warm, easy, clean, and above all, plentiful.
Let's hope other make the change and soon given the nature of our oil industry and the prices they're getting.

And right now, it only takes a season or two to pay for the equipment, depending on use. With oil at an all time high, it's a no brainer. When I bought my boiler, oil was about a dollar a gallon and we were about to invade Iraq. I thought that oil could become more expensive and maybe even hard to get as a result. I calculated my system and associated plumbing would take about 4-5 years to pay for itself. When oil started to shoot up, the pay off came much sooner. For once I wasn't at the airport when my proverbial ship came in. It turned out to be a really smart decision. I'm thankful for coal every day. And with that said, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on the forum.

Just to add my $.02, I was paying $135/ton delivered 6 years ago for bulk chestnut. I've since switched to pea and it is $210/ton bulk picked up. Even though the price went up, I would probably be paying around twice that a month using my gas furnace. I got an old pop up camper trailer for free that I use to get about a half a ton at a time. Makes a nice bin too. Open the little door on the side and scoop out what you need.