Your thoughts and opinions

Hello
I'm new to this forum so I apologize if I've posted in an inappropriate location. I'm seeking your thoughts and opinions...

I have a small workshop (external building) that I currently periodically heat with a pellet stove. It's 450 sq feet and well insulated. The pellet stove has worked ok for the past few years but 1) it has many moving parts 2) it's noisy and 3) it's currently not working. It broke down yesterday.... I plan to get it repaired and sell it after the heating season.

I was considering putting in a small, hand stoked coal stove this summer. Something like the Jr Chubby or 'caboose stove'? I rarely use the shop during the week so my thoughts were that I would start a fire Friday night or perhaps Saturday morning and let it go out Sunday night. I know most coal burners tend to keep their stove hot the entire season...

I grew up burning wood (our primary heat source) but have no experience with coal...
I live fairly close to the Anthracite fields (Binghamton NY) so it's quite abundant here
I plan to install it myself after consulting the clearance requirements (and having it inspected).

I was thinking coal because... It's abundant near me, it's quiet, it requires no power and it doesn’t produce the creosote I recall dealing with when I was a kid.

Is coal over kill for this purpose?

I could burn wood but I really want to avoid the constant cleaning. When I was a kid, we cleaned the entire stove on the first of each month like clockwork and even then we had a chimney fire on one occasion (no damage). Our neighbors heated with coal and I seem to recall that, other than the dust in the house, their flue was never an issue. Is that a correct assumption? I'd also really rather deal with storing coal rather than storing a supply of wood.

I'd appreciate your thoughts, advice and opinions!

Stay warm and happy new year
-mike

There are pros and cons with short term coal burning and would be up to you.. A coal fire is a more work to get going and build up and will take longer to get the room up to temperature when its cold, but less maintenance after that since you get longer burn times.. A wood fire is easier to get burning and will get your room heated faster when its cold but requires feeding more often. Tough call.. If keeping the room warm for a few consecutive days, a coal fire would be reasonable. But if just warming the room up for the day, a wood fire would be more reasonable.
So, you might consider a coal stove that is comfortable to burn wood in, for short term heatings..
I used a wood fire in my garage for band practice since it heated up fast and was just for that day..

I would say burn coal from Friday night till Sunday night and burn wood for shorter durations.

Thats my two cents worth

Welcome to the forum partner!!

I think it's a great idea for a small hand fed for the shop, get it warmed up with a rippen' wood fire on friday nite or saturday a.m. and hit it with the coal and tend it on a.m. sunday morning and let it die. Sure beats cutting, splitting or buying wood and having to stack and restack you know the drill. Wish you were closer I have a pot belly I would let go for an easy price to a fellow coalholic. Hey alcoholic and coalholic have the same letters.

Thanks for the quick replies guys.

I may get back to you on that stove but still feel I need to do a bit more research before I plunge in. What size stove are we talking about?

I'm curious what your thoughts are on appropriate vertical venting on an installation. In my case I'm thinking I'd go up 5 or 6 feet inside, horizontal out through a block wall and then up further as required. I also need to research barometric dampers.. etc. Like I said, my background is all wood.. but I'm finding coal very intriguing.
Lots of great information on this forum (thanks to everybody)

-m

jkashoto wrote:I have a small workshop (external building) that I currently periodically heat with a pellet stove.
It's 450 sq feet and well insulated.
I was thinking coal...
Is coal over kill for this purpose?

-mike

I think it is.
I have a similar situation (560sq ft), and the wood, imo, is the way to go.
Your storage should not be that much of an issue.
You are only going to use it periodically, on weekends.
You probly won't use a cord. That isn't that much.
But it starts quicker, heats quicker.
I don't find tossing a log or two in a stove a few times while I'm
in the shop that much of an ordeal.
Plus I really like the smell a lot better.
Smells more like a "shop"..

You asked for "opinions"... that's mine.

Dan

Why can't you go straight up through the roof with the chimney. Better, cheaper, and easier.

I agree. Use wood and throw some coal on to extend the burn if needed. Maybe a Russo stove.

Hi and welcome to the forum.
I would suggest an EPA recent wood stove. Faster for short burn times and don't worry about cleanig the chimney, these stoves make very little creosote if any, no smoke...no comparaison with old wood stoves.
But for longer steady burning, nothing beat the anth steady heat...

I think it is.
I have a similar situation (560sq ft), and the wood, imo, is the way to go.
Your storage should not be that much of an issue.
You are only going to use it periodically, on weekends.
You probly won't use a cord. That isn't that much.
But it starts quicker, heats quicker.
I don't find tossing a log or two in a stove a few times while I'm
in the shop that much of an ordeal.
Plus I really like the smell a lot better.
Smells more like a "shop"..

You asked for "opinions"... that's mine.

Dan[/quote]

X2 exactly

Hey again,

Yep... options/opinions are just what I was after; I appreciate the candor on all sides.

I just had this vision in my minds eye of a small stove chugging away for a day and a half. I honestly haven't looked at the more recent wood stoves. When I grew up we were burning a Vermont Castings 'Defiant' wood stove but this was in the 1980's... I've surely dated myself now

Regardless of the direction... I do appreciate the history and aesthetics of those little coal burners. It's sort of in my blood, I guess. Family stories tell of my great grandfather working in the mines in the Scranton PA area.

-m

Mike, I think that you just said the answer to your question. Yes you can get both sides of the heating fun A wood stove for the shop and a anth stove for the house. An antique one could be the right choice

I would get one that would burn both, that way you have your choice. I am not all that old (38) but over the years have learned to appreciate having options.

For what it is worth, my cheap Vogelzang stove will burn about anything: pellets, coal, wood, and corn.

Hum, lot of stoves can ""burn"" all you can put in them but how do they do it? Cleanly or filling the stove's outlet to the chimney's cap with creosote and dirt?
To burn wood cleanly, a stove must have some special gases burning devices, not just over the fire air trap/injection...The models having air injection tubes at the top are very simple and efficient to burn gases and can be found at low cost. Better to stay away from complicate wood stoves, they are expensive and may tunrn to be a nightmare after a while. Here you can trust me on that, not just sayings.

michaelanthony wrote: Hey alcoholic and coalholic have the same letters.

I'll drink warmly to that!