Is coal a dirty heat source?

Rick 386 wrote:The biggest issue that most seem to not be saying is that 99% of these supplemental heating devices use a FAN to distribute the heat throughout the house. As we all know, a fan moves air. If there is any dust in the air while the fan is running, it will blow that dust with it.

Now with due diligence, if you eliminate or severely restrict the amount of dust created, you will lessen the amount of dust blowed around the house. It really is that simple. Before vacuum cleaners, everyone used brooms. How many people use a broom while having a fan blowing ??? Do you sweep off your front porch while having the front windows open and a wind blowing towards the house ?? No you wouldn't or someone would be screaming at you.

So if you shut off the fans and keep the dust created by switching ash pans to a minimum, you will not have too much dirt blowing around and settling on the knick knacks and shelves.



Rick

I couldn't agree more!!! And to that, if you are a handy type of guy you'll find things that you can engineer and put together to make things work they way you want them to...

I put together this setup for my Harman Mag Stoker...

Its a duplex box with 2 receptacles and a rocker switch, the bottom receptacle is wired independent and is switched on/off via the rocker, the switch recieves power from the coal-trol "convection blower" receptacle, so the convection blower itself plugs directly into the botton outlet in my duplex box and before I open the stove up for any reason (to fill the hopper or switch out ash pans) I just simply bump the rocker switch to the off position, that interupts power to the convection blower, I do what I gotta do and then just bump it back on when finished... The top outlet in the duplex box is constant power and I usually have a night-light plugged in there to read the dual Magnehelic gauges at night without turning on any lights... Simple stuff like this helps out just as Rick386 pointed out... You can do it on the cheap or get as crazy as you want, but there are always ways to make things work better, don't be affraid to experiment!!!

Adam

I have a Liesure Line stoker in my finished basement. The stove itself makes for a very clean heat sourse. The only time I had a dust problem was with a batch of very dry and dusty coal I bought that created dust in the house when I dumped the bucket of coal in the hopper. The stove and the burning of coal was not the problem. I solved that situation by spilling a water bottle full of water in my 5 gallon pail of coal to stop the dust. I watered it down just a bit to stop the dust. I now burn blaschak coal and do not have any dust problem because the coal in in platic bags and is damp.

WNY is right, oil your coal! Use mineral oil only, other types such as vegetable oil will develop a rancid smell in your coal bin, and coal that is too wet can cause a "clogging" problem on some stokers like my Harman. I oil my coal at the breaker when they load it in my trailer. 2 quarts/ton of coal. I have purchased the oil by the gallon at some tack shops, but some of the suppliers sell it right at the breaker, and it is much cheaper there than at a tack shop. When I get home and auger it into my bin it is all nicely coated with a very light film of oil. It does not affect the burn at all, but will keep the "black dust" at a bare minimum. My wife complained for years about the black dust everywhere, once I started oiling my coal the complaints stopped! And as we all know, "when Momma ain't happy, ain't noboby happy!" Good Luck!

Sorry, I have to revive this post. My wife and her mother were chatting the other day about how chilly the weather has been. My wife said "we are nice and warm with our coal stove". Her mother said, and here it comes..."aren't you afraid of getting black lung"!!! Boy, some people are so naive. Makes me laugh that the educated ones are so foolish. I told me wife coal is our little secret...

Ask them what they would rather clean up. A few tons of coal or 250 gallons of of home heating oil. I'd rather shovel coal anyday.....

I know, its a riot hearing the misconceptions of the coal-uneducated ones I used to always get quizzed about dust and mess and black lung among other things. When I first began talking about using coal for a heat source, I thought for sure my friends and family were gonna have me admitted to an asylum

Its only as messy as you make it, a little finesse will go a long way