Newbie in Missouri with coal fireplaces

I have an old home in Northern Missouri (3500 sq ft) with two old coal fireplaces and I'm interested in burning coal. I have been reading the forum and learning so much about the efficiency and cost savings of burning coal. The house currently heats with a gas boiler and the original cast iron radiators and it currently costs me an overwhelming amount of money and doesn't heat well at all. I have a few questions regarding changing to coal.

1) Can I efficiently heat the house the old fashioned way, with anthracite coal through the fireplaces (after a chimney sweep inspects, of course)?

2) Is it possible to get coal delivered to Missouri for an affordable price?

3) If it is possible, would I be better off buying a new coal burning stove, rather than use the fireplaces.

I truly am a newbie when it comes to knowledgeable home heating sources and could have asked another handful of questions, but this should give me something to chew on.

I would look at a boiler since you already have hot water, and then get a tractor trailer load of coal




Eric

Okay, I started looking at coal stoves but all that I see are for anthracite, not bituminous. Any recommendations on a quality bituminous burning stove?

vigilant and DS machine for burning bit coal. find the largest sizes you can. It's getting harder to find in north-central MO. I'm from NCMO. Stop by the municipal power plant in Marshall if that's near you and ask to purchase a few tons of their stoker coal (i'm not sure if they're still running the spreader stoker plant); although try a bucket first. PM me if you have trouble finding a coal source, i'll try to help. Years ago, lots of good missouri high sulfur coal was mined from trenton to brookfield and west along 36; not so anymore. A proper setup is important; 8" connecting pipe and min 8" flue. a stoker boiler/furnace would be best, but they're more $$ and harder to find. Regardless, that bit stoker from a spreader-stoke plant like the one in marshall will burn very nicely in your coal-burning fireplaces if you've still got the grates etc.

Where I was raised in Tennessee, most houses built before 1920 had at least one fireplace with a coal grate in it. Most larger houses had them in almost every room. They were used in the Fall and Spring and a stove or furnace used during the coldest months. Up North most homes had stove thimbles in several rooms instead of an open coal grate. I heated several houses that way and they put out a lot of radiant heat for just the room they are in, however; the fuel consumption is very high. You need to burn lump Bituminous in them. If it were me I would find a nice Florence Hot Blast to put in one spot and save the open fire place for the other to use during warmer weather and when you have company over. If you have Bituminous, a Florence is the best stove ever made to this day for that fuel. If I ever buy the Victorian House of my dreams, at least one of the coal fireplaces will remain and used as it should be. But that's just me.

Berlin wrote:vigilant and DS machine for burning bit coal. find the largest sizes you can. It's getting harder to find in north-central MO. I'm from NCMO. Stop by the municipal power plant in Marshall if that's near you and ask to purchase a few tons of their stoker coal (i'm not sure if they're still running the spreader stoker plant); although try a bucket first. PM me if you have trouble finding a coal source, i'll try to help. Years ago, lots of good missouri high sulfur coal was mined from trenton to brookfield and west along 36; not so anymore. A proper setup is important; 8" connecting pipe and min 8" flue. a stoker boiler/furnace would be best, but they're more $$ and harder to find. Regardless, that bit stoker from a spreader-stoke plant like the one in marshall will burn very nicely in your coal-burning fireplaces if you've still got the grates etc.

Can you still get coal from the mines in Southern Illinois? It is really good, hot coal. When I lived in Marion, Ill, that's what I burned there.

Thanks "Berlin"!! great info on the coal in NCMO, my home is in Unionville and it's good to hear that there are still some decent sources of coal in that area.

If it were me I would follow wsherrick's advice for an antique stove, or better still a stoker designed for bit coal which would be the cleanest burning.

The antique stove sounds like a great idea. I started looking at some of them online and they are really nice. One would definitely look good in our house

If you are buying an antique stove to burn Bit coal, follow 'wsherrick' s advice.. a HOT BLAST model,, these stoves have the all-important extra air ring
around the top of the firepot, to burn off the volitiles from the bit coal..
Do NOT buy a baseburner stove for Bit coal,,

Keep reading the forum.. Bit coal is a different animal from anthracite..

Greg L.