Is Burning Coal A Hobby?

I'm not sure. Wife claims it is a fettish. Something about spending more time in the basement sitting by the stove than upstairs. And what about all those spread sheets tracking coal usage, and local prices and availability and cost per day and average temperatures indoors and outdoors and constantly logging into the coal forum and ...and ...!!! Wow, maybe it is a fettish. All I know is the beer tastes better sitting by the stove watching the flames dance in the window.

I considered wood burning a hobby for 30 years, and will never be sorry for the time and effort I put into it. I will now be burning wood in the garage and coal in the house. I feel the same way about coal as I do wood. I don't have time or space to tend and store wood for two wood fires, so coal was the answer for me. I enjoy having all the new things to learn about coal. I am a low tech person so I don't have all the gismos many of you do. I love not being dependant on electricity for heat.

It is some what of a hobby for me plus it saves me a few bucks. A few years ago the wife did not accept me wanting a stove with open arms. Lets just say she was totally against it. But I went ahead and bought one anyway. Yesterday I had the stove turned off and I noticed my wife and my young son standing in front of it and complaining that it wasn't on. So I think that it is safe to say that the whole family enjoys my hobby.

It used to be somewhat of a hobby in the years when Electric heat was reasonable. I would shut my stove down two or three times a season and also run it at a much lower temperature.
"Now I'm fanatical about saving money and staying warm at the same time". This is what my wife tells me.

gambler wrote:A few years ago the wife did not accept me wanting a stove with open arms. Lets just say she was totally against it. But I went ahead and bought one anyway. Yesterday I had the stove turned off and I noticed my wife and my young son standing in front of it and complaining that it wasn't on.

Amazing, ain't it?

It's not a hobby. It's a better way of doing things and I can delight in that.

Figured I'd revive this thread as it seems more & more people are switching over to coal heat to avoid the ridiculous home heating fuel costs of oil & gas. In addition to saving allot of money, heating with coal can really bring out your creative side as well! I am constantly looking for new ways to uniformly heat my house & do so more efficiently. It has become a hobby!

For me it's not a hobby but a matter of survival. I can't afford oil at 4.50 - 5.50 a gallon. Paying for the refurbed coal boiler is a one time expense that should pay for itself quickly. Not that I wish the oil companies any ill will but next winter they can drink the 700 gallons of oil I used to buy from them for all I care. Thank God I live in Northeast Pa where anthracite is abundant and relatively inexpensive.

I consider a hobby as something that occupies my time more than it really has to. For example, I am a cigar smoker and have been on several forums about them. You get into things like storing cigars, getting the best deals on great cigars, and learning the best way to cut and light the cigar. It's pretty much endless because you want to learn everything you can about what you enjoy.

With a coal stove for me, I had no experience using one at all so at first learning as much as I can is out of necessity. There are many aspects about burning coal which are interesting and make it into a hobby of sorts, but while cigars make me happy, coal keeps me and my family warm, so it has an added benifit.

Now, the logging on to the site a couple times daily, and scrounging around the area looking at old coal stoves, and browsing the internet for the "dream stove" starts to get into the hobby mode, and borders on the obsession/fetish, but I don't see myself "loving" my stove anytime soon. OUCH!

billw wrote:For me it's not a hobby but a matter of survival. I can't afford oil at 4.50 - 5.50 a gallon. Paying for the refurbed coal boiler is a one time expense that should pay for itself quickly. Not that I wish the oil companies any ill will but next winter they can drink the 700 gallons of oil I used to buy from them for all I care. Thank God I live in Northeast Pa where anthracite is abundant and relatively inexpensive.

Funny thing is bill. Alot of guys on this board are buying it for double what we pay for it, or close to double. And its still a good deal.

I'm not sure I would have considered it a hobby to start, it was more of the same as many others - I didn't want to sepnd $4.25 a an oil contract this year. However after purchasing the stove and trying to get ideas I must says I have never spent hti smcuh time talking, reading, and discussing a heating source. I really enjoy this forum and while I am a novice I enjoy seeing what others are doing to see if I can't get some better performance out of my stove. I guess it may be a hobby now.

billlindley wrote:I guess it may be a hobby now.

I think it's a combination of satisfaction over self-sufficiency & a feeling like I'm "getting away with" something that most people cant........Winter warmth for a low price!! .........& knowing I have this winter's & next winter's heat is stacked up outside my back door.......& paid for!! (&...for us hand fired guys, knowing no matter how bad the winter storm or length of time without electricity......I'll be warm & comfortable! )

I went straight past survival when fuel oil was 4.50 - 5.00/gallon past hobby and into obsession. So far this system is running flawlessly. I spend a whopping 2-3 minutes a day tending the boiler. Take out the ashes, clean out the fines, finish my smoke and go back upstairs.

I'm already planning on modifying my plumbing to completely isolate the oil unit, add a DHW coil to the coal boiler, building a system monitor, adding plate exchangers to heat my pool and am trying to come up with a way to heat a hot tub with a plate exchanger instead of that electric coil they have mounted inline with the pump but I'm not obsessed or anything.

Devil's list:

I have :energy saving bulbs
water saving shower head
humidifier
GPS
Lanterns and oil
lots of tools-my garage doubles as my workshop

Also have: water softener
outdoor clothesline umbrella
laptop with OBD II software to diagnose modern car problems.

Although I do consider burning coal a hobby (besides saving money), I have to be truthful and say I just like fires. I have always loved campfires, fireplaces, BBQ grills, etc. I'm not a pyromaniac, I just like tending fires. I think it's the "primative" in me. Of course it could be that I'm nuttier than a fruitbat, but hey, it's been working for 47 years, so why stop now?