New guy wanting to switch to coal questions

Hi:

New guy here ( Joe), I have and old Shenandoah fp-1 wood/coal insert that was in the house when i purchased it from my grand pop. It's old but excellent condition and works great, My house was built in the 50's so there isn't much for insulation in the walls. Right now i burn 5 to 6 cords of wood a winter depending on the weather, This is my main source of heat as i refuse to pay 3.89 a gallon for heating oil. I want to switch from wood to coal as my back doesn't agree with all the splitting and stacking of wood. What kind of coal should i use and how many tons roughly would equal what i burn in wood?. I called a place close to me called Lutz's coal yard and they want $255 for a ton of coal with $25 delivery fee. I figure i sell my splitter that will buy some of the coal for next year, I was peaking around the site lots of great info here.

Thx. Joe

Hi Joe and welcome.I was at Lutz's last week,they have Blashak coal and is a fair price for good coal.Do you know if your grandpop ever burned coal.Post a pic. of your insert along with close up of the grate system,Save the spiltter it's payed for and you might need to burn wood on the cooler fall or spring evenings to take the chill off.I havn't bought oil in 4 yrs,who needs it with coal.You will need either nut or stove size for your insert,so post the pics that will help to determine the coal size also,and Lutz's has both sizes in bulk or bags.

Howdy Joe,

Welcome to the greatest coal forum on the 'net.

We must be relatively close to each other. I only live 4 miles from Lutz.

Several questions need to be asked. Do you wish to replace the wood burner in the fireplace with the coal unit ? Do you have fairly reliable electric service ?? Would you like a stoker or hand fed ??

What is your current heating system ?? If it is an oil burner with hot water radiators in each room, would you like to heat that water with coal and and also possibly your domestic hot water ??


Tell us a little about the layout of the house and then we can offer suggestions.



Rick

Thx. Guys, I don't have any pictures of the grate. It's a shakers grate and the holes measure 2"x 3-3/4" , I'm pretty sure my Grand pop only burned coal back in the day. I have a good handle on burning wood and can get 7 hours burn on a load of wood on a good day, The insert is just put in the fireplace with no liner pipe but they did do the inside of the fire place with steel plate around the whole inside and i have never had a problem since i have been burning it and get an excellent draft. Every spring when i clean the flue it barely has any creosote build up. I assume you do not get creosote with coal? The main house heat is oil but i do not use it anymore, I only run it once in a while in the winter just to run it some. The house is 1 story with a finished attic , But i do not use the attic for anything but storage. So basically i heat 1 floor, the house is about 1750 sq. feet.

Hi Joe and welcome. Those grate holes seam to be very large for coal, you didn't happen to come across another set of grates laying someplace? The spacing I beleive needs to be much finer for coal, Nut coal would fall right through. As for the amount of coal vs wood, 1 full cord of wood (4'x4'x8') = 1 ton of coal. Is shanendoa still in business? If so check with them to see if there are differant grates for coal or maybe someone here will chime in that knows about your stove.

I might be measuring a hair bigger. Here's what the top and bottom grates look like.

Jammin416 wrote:Hi:

New guy here ( Joe), I have and old Shenandoah fp-1 wood/coal insert that was in the house when i purchased it from my grand pop. It's old but excellent condition and works great, My house was built in the 50's so there isn't much for insulation in the walls. Right now i burn 5 to 6 cords of wood a winter depending on the weather, This is my main source of heat as i refuse to pay 3.89 a gallon for heating oil. I want to switch from wood to coal as my back doesn't agree with all the splitting and stacking of wood. What kind of coal should i use and how many tons roughly would equal what i burn in wood?. I called a place close to me called Lutz's coal yard and they want $255 for a ton of coal with $25 delivery fee. I figure i sell my splitter that will buy some of the coal for next year, I was peaking around the site lots of great info here.

Thx. Joe

It sounds like you are in coal country. You can't pay $255 per ton plus $25 delevery charge! Thats 280 per ton! I'm in Maryland but go to PA for coal and paid 170 per ton. If you don't have a pickup, borrow one.

coalkirk wrote:

Jammin416 wrote:Hi:

New guy here ( Joe), I have and old Shenandoah fp-1 wood/coal insert that was in the house when i purchased it from my grand pop. It's old but excellent condition and works great, My house was built in the 50's so there isn't much for insulation in the walls. Right now i burn 5 to 6 cords of wood a winter depending on the weather, This is my main source of heat as i refuse to pay 3.89 a gallon for heating oil. I want to switch from wood to coal as my back doesn't agree with all the splitting and stacking of wood. What kind of coal should i use and how many tons roughly would equal what i burn in wood?. I called a place close to me called Lutz's coal yard and they want $255 for a ton of coal with $25 delivery fee. I figure i sell my splitter that will buy some of the coal for next year, I was peaking around the site lots of great info here.

Thx. Joe

It sounds like you are in coal country. You can't pay $255 per ton plus $25 delevery charge! Thats 280 per ton! I'm in Maryland but go to PA for coal and paid 170 per ton. If you don't have a pickup, borrow one.

I have a pickup and a trailer, Where did you get your coal and what kind?

Joe

OK, now we're talking! I've been getting it from Superior and Summit. This year I got it at UAE. 170 is the most I ever paid. Look at the coal quality section of the forum. There is lots of info on various sources of coal.

coalkirk wrote:OK, now we're talking! I've been getting it from Superior and Summit. This year I got it at UAE. 170 is the most I ever paid. Look at the coal quality section of the forum. There is lots of info on various sources of coal.

Thx. for the info. Just need to figure out what to burn.

I can't picture how those grates shake, but the holes look too big for nut coal. No creosote when burning anthracite coal.

Jammin416 wrote:

coalkirk wrote:OK, now we're talking! I've been getting it from Superior and Summit. This year I got it at UAE. 170 is the most I ever paid. Look at the coal quality section of the forum. There is lots of info on various sources of coal.

Thx. for the info. Just need to figure out what to burn.

Go to Lutz's and pick up 300 lb of nut and 300 lb of stove bagged,that's what I done last friday it cost $87.00. They sell in bulk at half ton minium witch is cheaper. Start with a small load to test what your stove likes the best,I've been mixing the sizes and like the 50%/50% mix.
Hers a thread to read on starting a fire How to Light a Hand Fired Coal Stove
Pea Coal Vs. Chestnut Coal Vs. Stove Coal

Thx. Dennis, Going out there next weekend to get 2 bags and see how it works out. From reading so far it looks like the stove coal might be best for me. I will report back after i test it out, Once i determine what works i will be building a coal Bin for next winter.

Jammin416 wrote:From reading so far it looks like the stove coal might be best for me.

Get both sizes for comparsion. 600 lbs. lasted me 10 days.The only reason i'm triyng stove size is the nut falls thru my grates and,but burns fine and hot.I tried 100% stove,it burned good but took longer to get ignited and was a real bitch for shaking down and bridging and burned hot also.

Dennis wrote:

Jammin416 wrote:From reading so far it looks like the stove coal might be best for me.

Get both sizes for comparsion. 600 lbs. lasted me 10 days.The only reason i'm triyng stove size is the nut falls thru my grates and,but burns fine and hot.I tried 100% stove,it burned good but took longer to get ignited and was a real bitch for shaking down and bridging and burned hot also.

Would you happen to have pictures of the 2 coals for size comparison? I was looking for pictures and didn't see any. Just curious.