Coffee 1-26-2013

Smitty: are those really ROCKS? or are they just really hard clinkers from your hard, hot burning in this weather?? I've been t the blaschak plant, and I can't see how any rocks could possibly get into their coal..
I've had clinkers that stood up to two smaks ieth a ball-peen hammer, before they broke,, they were mostly melted glass with other crap melted in.

Put a scarf around your face/mouth/nose so you re-breath some of your own breath/moisture, my asthma is similar ot your's,, i have lots of
winter/dry climat issues.

Freddy,: yep, the ashpan is heavier this morning, but it was only 15* overnight, much better than the -10* three nights this last week.

Take care everyone.

Greg

Damn, that's what that's all about??? You & me SMITTY--Ipswitch--the Choate Bridge --hell, after 23 yrs of NOT, I'll drink just to cheer ya up my friend. Don't worry, that money'll find another outlet---trust me. I'm proud of ya John

Thanks ol' buddy! The body's been telling me it's time for quite a while now.


Greg, yeah some of them are hard clinkers, but definitely rocks in there too. I've broken a few of them up with a hammer to make sure they just weren't just unburnt coal - they appear to be rocks all the way through. Took some effort with the hammer to get them to crack! It's not the heat that's causing them, because it's been happening since the start of the season, even on the 50° days where I have it turned down so low I get over 30 hour burns. I never had an issue with their coal in the past. I don't get it. Like Scottscoaled said in another post a while back, I think this batch was mixed with Newport Aggregate - from what others have reported on that brand this seems like the same problem. Kimmel's : What's the latest skinny on their bagged coal?

Good morning all, blueberries are in the freezer, but I'll probalby put some in the oatmeal today.

Was planing to go in to work for a few hours but forgot the alarm clock, sleep schaedual is messed up because of snow storm this week. Called in on time to check the situation, they said don't worry, no weather coming our way see you Monday. Woke up four hours later.

It's -42 that gives me a 112 degree difference inside and out, no humidity, probalby do some laundry and hang it around for moisture.
weather chanel claims -42 and AccuWeather -35 whats a few degrees among friends. I usally go out to breakfast on Saturday but I'll probalby just lay around for a few more hours and check the boiler later. It is a beutiful day for a snowmobile ride, fresh trackless snow, clear sunny skies. I should have picked up some contact lenes to wear inside the helmet, or get that lazer eye surgery.

My house can't maintain 65° when the temperature differential gets to be about 60° - I couldn't even imagine what would happen in here at 112°! You've got some great insulation there, and rightly so!

I miss snowmobiling. Haven't been on one of my own in almost 30 years ...

Wow Smitty, that one stone is doing a damn good imitation of a coconut!

Well I had some green tea and honey this morning. I must be gettin old, the coffee is just not agreeing with me anymore. Sorry Freddy!
Stoves are running flat out all week, and we are happy it kept up with the crazey weather down here. Water lines under the house were kept from freezing by letting all faucets dribble for 4 days straight. Unfortunately, that did not prevent the washing machine lines from feezing, as my wife discovered this morning.
Still in the 30's today, but a warm spell has already begun to melt the snow/ice we got last week. By next wednesday, we should be up in the 70's

My only saving grace is I'm only 16' by 32'.
All over town in this weather you see houses with two stacks putting out vapor, one oil, one wood.
And up here where we are supposed to be ready for this stuff, people are not, they run out of oil and wood.
The most entertaining are the fire wood hunters on snowmobile, I just can't pencil that one out, and frozen green wood to boot.
They claim to find standing dead, make a run around the tree to pack a trail, return in a few days once the trail is hard and harvest the tree.
A big tree here is a foot across and thirty foot tall and probalby 50 years old, I call them dog hair. Talk about hard to split.
More like shrubbery with all those limbs.

I switched from Blascak to Kimmels a month ago and found the burning to be better. Like you I was finding rock, wood and a lot of clinkers in their coal. I would still be buying it as there is limited coal mines to get it from here, but decided to go up a size to Stove Coal instead of Nut Coal, and Blashack does not sell that...so Kimmels it is.

I buy from two stores, and one store has some awfully big coal. I think it is Egg Coal, but it gets billed and bagged as Stove Coal. I'll post a photo with a tape measure to show you what I mean. The stuff averages at baseball size with some chunks a lot bigger. The Kimmel Stove Coal from the other store was smaller in size.

Alright here you guys (and gals) go. Tell me if this is big for stove sized coal. (I am not upset, it burns just fine, but it seems awful big even for stove coal). I included the first photo so that you can see, while this is the largest chunk, most of the others average around 4-5 inches.

NoSmoke wrote:Alright here you guys (and gals) go. Tell me if this is big for stove sized coal. (I am not upset, it burns just fine, but it seems awful big even for stove coal). I included the first photo so that you can see, while this is the largest chunk, most of the others average around 4-5 inches.

Big Stove Coal.jpg

Hand Sized Coal.jpg

Is your stove a train? Because, that'd be the only way that wouldn't be too big.

Stove by definition is 2 7/16 by 1 5/8 inches so I'd say that looks a bit on the large side. The stove coal I've seen is about 2" by 3".

That's the size I get when I hand fire.

Hello Everyone!
I can eat muffins & drink coffee anytime of day when it is this cold! Thanks Fred.

I opened up my Harman this week for the first time in years. What I mean, I am burning 100% capacity of the firebox. Typically I have it reduced 50% for mild winter weather or reduced 20% for colder air. This past week would be considered "as cold as it gets"! I ran out of Blashak nut & picked up a load of UAE on Friday.
I can't decide if I like the UAE better than Blashak or not. The Blashak white ash seems to shake down easier but the UAE red ash definitely burns hotter and with the red comes klinkers. Take your pick.

Good luck with the new job Rob. New jobs can be stressful the first few months.
Have a great week everyone.

I missed breakfast but I’ll have a late night coffee with some Irish cream.

Cold weather has been hard on the coal supply but the Keystoker keeps up. I cant wait until next weeks warm up. Tomorrow is back to work day.

In other good news I put a brand new imported (cheap) radiator in the Olds 17 months ago and it is leaking where the tank is attached to the core. Why are Chinese parts so cheap? Because they are worth it! Advanced Auto is going to give me a one time free replacement, Yahoo; I’m good to go for another year.

Damn Short Bus that is cold up there. Even the trees don’t want to be there. Winter is nice but spring is better.

Wow, everyone is going through the coal this week. I see "Plumber" in RI burned 1,020 pounds? That's moving some coal! But, gosh, to think of the cost if we were burning oil. Ouch! I hope the weatherman is right for once. He's saying this coming week will be the end of this bitter cold.