Got my new stove!!!

I'm on Fire:

When I purchase my coal from my local dealer It has been made perfectly clear that I do not want any fines in my coal. I once told them I am paying for coal not fines. On my very first load from my dealer I received over two hundred pounds of fines in a one ton load. I was angry enough to bag the entire amount of fines and when I went for a second load I took the bagged fines with me. Upon explaining my extreme hatred of fines the dealer took the bags of fines from me weighed them and deducted that amount in money from the cost of my load I was there to pick up.

My dealer wanting my business takes extra caution when loading coal for me. He will take from the top of the pile where the fines are in low quantity. If he has no choice to take from the bottom of the pile or low in the middle he will screen the coal before loading. No matter how careful you are not to get fines in your coal it is the nature of the beast. Working with your supplier you can cut down on the amount of fines you receive. The fines you do have can be placed in a trash bag and sent out with your garbage. I can't remember if you get coal bulk or buy it in the bag. If you purchase it in the bag then you have less control over the amount of fines you receive.

There is a difference in the amount of fines in bagged coal from brand to brand and dealer to dealer, for example Kimmels seems to have more fines than blaschak. Through trial and error you can determine which brand has less fines per bag and purchase that brand if your happy with the heat output of the coal, amount of ash production and such. Having some fines is not a bad thing but excessive fines in my eyes is undesirable. Like I said I pay for coal not fines I will eventually throw away. I do not try to burn fines anymore. I'm sure everyone on the forum has a different way of dealing with fines and some members probably take the time to sprinkle them on the coal. This is understandable since you have payed for them and they will burn and produce some btu. I choose not to. Oh by the way this is just my two cents for what it is worth.

The snowman.

I burn Kimmel's and buy bagged by the ton. I've burned through 2 tons of Kimmel's already this season so out of 2 tons 50 pounds of fines isn't a big deal. I do burn some of it but I'm kind of a lazy person so I don't really forsee myself going through the trouble of really burning it. Although I did take a paper bag of the fines when I had the Chubby and tried to burn it but it did choke my fire when the bag burst. I also don't think I'm going to complain about it either. I understand things settle in transit.

Since I started burning stove coal, fines are less of a problem. I still have a considerable amount, but they don't restrict airflow like they do in pea or nut. In fact, I use them like a damper. I can load the stove up, top it with a layer of fines and then open the intake a little extra. I get good heat and a nice long burn.

I'm On Fire wrote: .... Generally I can fit around 150# of Nut coal in it. However, lately I can only put 100# of nut in it as there is currently 50# of fines on the bottom of it.

FIFTY POUNDS???
What the heck are you buying ??
Or.... how are you loading your shovel?
I doubt I have a more than a 1/2 cup of fines in my coal box...
if that... since starting the stove at Thanksgiving.
I should let my box run down and sweep them up just to check.
I load my shovel from the bottom of the box,
so I'd guess any fines that are
present just get tossed in a little in each recharge.
I know bulk guys can be more apt to get them,
but I can't see bagged being THAT much of an issue.
Maybe I'm just lucky?
Or you're real UN lucky..

Dan

I only have 150# of fines...
That is Rice and smaller...
From 5 tons of SSM coal...
That comes from leaving the former bin area broom clean...
Anything from Buck up goes in the stove...
Just gets mixed in, no layers...

I've dumped about 25# of fines in the stove between last night and this morning. I just keep opening the load door and putting some in a little bit at a time. I should have the tote empty by the end of the day. I took today off from work due to the snow, but I looked and I could've actually gone in. Oh well, I went in the last two storms I'm entitled for a little R&R from snow driving.

Just rain on The Cape for now...
The cold is on its way...
Wind is picking up and the temps are dropping...
The fines will burn...
Better with a hot winter fire than a cool spring fire...

I'm On Fire wrote:I've dumped about 25# of fines in the stove between last night and this morning. I just keep opening the load door and putting some in a little bit at a time.

I said I'd check how much I had yesterday...
I did actually not put any coal into my box, just to see what was in there..
My box holds about 80# of coal (2 bags of Santa coal), and as mentioned,
I take the coal from the very bottom, with a flat shovel...
So I always get "some" fines/dust etc. with each shovel..
When I took the last shovel out of the box a while ago,
I'd say there was about 1/4 of a cup of dust... that's it...
Since Thanksgiving.
I think when you take the coal from anywhere but the bottom,
you are obviously shaking the stuff up, and the fines are going to
go to the bottom eventually...

If your weather is like ours today, I think you made the correct choice
about not going in!

Dan.

The last batch of bulk coal I had delivered had quite a bit of fines in it. It also had from rice to stove coal mixed in. I ordered nut which was what most of it is. It also had quite a few wood spinters in it, telling me the dealer was literaly scraping the bottom of the bin. I just burn whatever comes poring out of the guillotine door of my bin. All of the above burns just fine as long as I don't get a very large % of fines.

Even when I have gotten consistant size coal in pea and nut sizes I can hardly tell the difference. I don't think my stove is too fussy.

Yeah, sometimes I find chunks of wood in the Kimmel's I burn. I don't bother taking it out and just toss it on the fire.

At any rate, I've pretty much thrown in all of the fines that were in my tote. I was mixing it in with the hopper and throwing it through the front door. I got pretty much all of it out and burned up.

I did open a new bag of 50# nut. Just to see how much coal I'm actually burning per day. Last night I put 15# of nut into the hopper after running the stove 550* all day and shaking down 10 times on the handle. This morning after the same amount of shakes on the handle and same stove temp I put in 20#. So, I'm burning roughly 35# to 40# a day running my stove at 550* and am still seeing 12-18 hour burn times. I try to shake down and reload every 12 but some days I just wait an extra hour or so longer. Depends on how my daughter is when I get home. She is only 11 months and usually wants daddy to hold her for a bit when he gets home. Cause she misses me.

AWESOME !~
Sounds liek you have found the RIGHT STOVE for you !!!...and YOU TAKE ALL THE TIME THAT LITTLE GAL WANTS TO SPEND WITH YOU!....before ya know it she will be wantin the keys to the car!...so enjoy these days!
Tim

Thanks Tim!! I love this stove. I may do a little more in depth research in my coal consumption by weighing the hod and stuff before during and after to see if I can get an exact number.

Yeah, my daughter is the best. I keep telling her though no boys until she is 48. That won't work though.

I'm On Fire wrote:Yeah, my daughter is the best. I keep telling her though no boys until she is 48. That won't work though.

Not to age 48? Don't you think that's a little harsh? Our daughter only has to wait until she's 30


Glad the stove is working out for you!

Adamiscold wrote:

I'm On Fire wrote:Yeah, my daughter is the best. I keep telling her though no boys until she is 48. That won't work though.

Not to age 48? Don't you think that's a little harsh? Our daughter only has to wait until she's 30


Glad the stove is working out for you!

She is my one and only little girl. I don't want her to ever grow up. She is too darn cute.

Yeah, I'm really loving this stove. Went to be last night the house was 76* woke up it was 72. The ceiling temps were 90* before bed and 88* when I woke up. I need to seriously figure out a way to pull that heat off the ceiling. I have a 36" drop on the one fan where the ceiling was 90* I'm thinking about shortening the drop, maybe that will assist in pulling the heat off?

With an open floor plan its really difficult to get the heat where you want it.