Who Makes a Quality Stove That Burns Both Wood and Coal?

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Mon. Dec. 09, 2013 1:00 pm

Wood burns fast because it needs to. Otherwise you get a chimney full of creosote.


 
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SMITTY
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Post by SMITTY » Mon. Dec. 09, 2013 3:15 pm

coalcracker wrote:interesting you say that, did you block the upper glass air slits then ? I tried that once with strips of aluminum tape on my Harman I. It really didn't improve coal burning, and didn't burn off the methane top gases like it used to before, so I removed the tape and returned it to stock configuration. I called Harman and talked to them about that, they said the stove should have air flow over the top of the fire.
Now here is proof that you haven't a clue as to what your talking about!

The SF -250 DOES NOT HAVE AIR OPENINGS ABOVE AND BELOW THE GLASS like the MARK SERIES DOES. It has 2 over-fire knobs on the load door.

C'mon dude ... give it up! Seriously. It's getting tiresome! :roll:

http://www.harmanstoves.com/Products/Magnafire-SF ... Stove.aspx

 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Mon. Dec. 09, 2013 4:26 pm

dcrane wrote:someone wish to explain what this knuckle head is trying to prove, suggest, show with this vid?

Oh, come on - it's so obvious !

That stoves so efficient, . . you only need one sheet of news paper to heat your house. :D

Paul

 
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CoalHeat
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Post by CoalHeat » Mon. Dec. 09, 2013 10:48 pm

I have a Harman I that burns wood superbly, but it would tend to be a bit hungry using the coal grates. It is listed for both fuels though by the mfr.
You must have a different manual for your stove then I do, I don't see anything in mine indicating the Mark I is recommended by the manufacturer as a wood burning appliance, although firewood can be successfully burned in the stove.

 
titleist1
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Post by titleist1 » Mon. Dec. 09, 2013 11:18 pm

The Harman Mark series does not list wood as a fuel because of the epa reg's and woodstove emissions that went into effect many years ago.

I burned wood in my Mark III for a lot of years, it throws out the heat but burns through it pretty fast. Junk mail burned pretty well in it too.

 
JohnB
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Post by JohnB » Tue. Dec. 10, 2013 8:51 am

That's one thing I miss about not having a woodstove in the house right now. I've avoided throwing the junk mail & small cardboard containers on the coal fire as I figured the ash on top would screw up the air feed through the coal. I still plan to set up the Jotul F500 in the livingroom next year if I can squeeze a second liner in the upper chimney section.

 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Tue. Dec. 10, 2013 9:06 am

I thought so too, early on with my stove.

Not sure about the box stoves, but all my junk mail and personal papers, that are no longer needed, go into the kitchen range. Right on top of the hot coals. I just don't dump them all in at once. Crumpled up in a ball, one piece at either end of the firebox at a time. When it's burnt to ash, in goes another.

It's clean burning heat ! ;)

Paul


 
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CoalHeat
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Post by CoalHeat » Tue. Dec. 10, 2013 9:09 am

titleist1 wrote:The Harman Mark series does not list wood as a fuel because of the epa reg's and woodstove emissions that went into effect many years ago.
I knew that!

 
coalcracker
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Post by coalcracker » Wed. Dec. 11, 2013 7:19 am

Sunny Boy wrote:I thought so too, early on with my stove.

Not sure about the box stoves, but all my junk mail and personal papers, that are no longer needed, go into the kitchen range. Right on top of the hot coals. I just don't dump them all in at once. Crumpled up in a ball, one piece at either end of the firebox at a time. When it's burnt to ash, in goes another.

It's clean burning heat ! ;)

Paul
I burn all my junk mail in the Harman Mk I on top of the coals- if you really want a treat, during early or late heating season when a coal fire is too much heat during the day, try burning a stack of old phone books. I filled the Harman with phone books one night, lit it, and dampened it off. When I woke up in the morning, they were still there but in ash. Touched the block of ashes once with a poker, and it collapsed to powder. Those Harmans will incinerate anything. The phone books heated the house for one night.

 
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SuperBeetle
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Post by SuperBeetle » Wed. Dec. 11, 2013 7:43 am

I've been burning phone books, newspapers, magazines, and other things as well in my stove for 20+ years. I roll them up, tie them with wire, and throw them in the stove. Free heat is OK with me. Just makes a lot of ash but, that's OK too.

 
JohnB
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Post by JohnB » Wed. Dec. 11, 2013 10:55 am

I'm definitely a fan of free heat. Still burning the junk paper & cardboard in my shop woodstove as well as all the old split lathe & damaged boards that come out of my old house as the renovation progresses. If I can't reuse it I burn it for heat.

 
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cheechblu
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Post by cheechblu » Sat. Mar. 15, 2014 2:27 pm

I have a Marathon Yankee tri-fuel forced air furnace(wood/coal/oil). It's almost 10 years old, and it burns wood very well. Has to be seasoned wood. Load it up and it burns all nite. And it burns a lot of wood. So yeah, it burns wood very good. But I learned 3+ weeks ago that coal burns tremendously in this furnace. Shake and load every 12 hours. I would highly recommend this furnace for someone looking to burn wood or coal. Not efficient with oil though. But so what.

 
SerenaP
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Post by SerenaP » Tue. Jul. 20, 2021 7:51 am

I have a chappee 8033. I’ve burned wood all my life and it has been quite proficient. While this has been the first time I’ve run coal I’m happy with the stoves performance. Burns steady all night and well into the morning if loaded correctly. But that’s just my experience

 
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Seagrave1963
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Post by Seagrave1963 » Tue. Jul. 20, 2021 5:33 pm

Welcome SerenaP !

Pics of your stove are always welcome.

 
charlesosborne2002
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Post by charlesosborne2002 » Thu. Jul. 22, 2021 10:32 am

Lightning wrote:
Thu. Jul. 11, 2013 10:40 pm
Welcome to the forum partner!! 8-) You will probably get mixed opinions on this. Its tough to burn two different fuels with two different burning characteristics in the same appliance with maximum efficiency of both fuels.. Its like asking if there is a car engine that will burn both gasoline and diesel fuel.. I'm sure it will be interesting to see what others have to say about this... :D
Lightning, no doubt opinions will vary. I anguished over this for years before buying. There two stoves that actually meet the bill properly, and both no longer pass the most rigid wood-burning EPA specs, though they were made for the longstanding modern high standards of low emissions and high efficiency. One is the Harmon TCL2000, and the other is the DS Stoves Comfort Max 75. They have little or no smoke with wood, and they burn the smoke for both efficiency and clean air. Note--EPA specs apply to manufacturers, not customers; we can use old stoves but they cannot keep making the ones that pollute badly. So the two models I mention are now sold as coal stoves, which have no EPA restrictions, even though they have all the design features for burning wood as well.

I first wound up buying wood, because coal is not sold around here; but eventually I wanted to change to a dual-burner such as those above. I think it adds to the value of the house to have one that is truly made for both. But I just bought a very nice coal stove because it was on clearance sale, and I am happy with that. I talked the local Tractor Supply store into ordering it for me--they already have it in their warehouses, for some areas, and now that they have customers here who are blacksmiths, I don't have to special order.

Beware that many stoves say they will burn either fuel--but usually they are only made for one. My coal stove, for instance, will burn wood (the doors come off to use it as an open fireplace, even), and it is fine for a nice fire; but it burns wood fast and inefficiently, losing a lot of heat (and smoke) up the chimney. In fact, it is normal practice to start a coal fire by first making a wood fire for a bed of hot coals before adding coal.

Many people burn wood in fall and spring, to take off the chill in the evening, and non-stop coal during the hard winter months, cracking windows on warm days.

Note: some old stoves (or new copies) burn soft coal or wood--because soft coal burns much the same way as wood (fresh air above the fire, not so much under it). Wood burns right on the brick floor of the stove, and so can soft coal. But most of us use anthracite hard coal, which must draw air only (or almost only) from below the fire, so this requires a stove with a coal grate. Hard coal does not want air tubes above the fire to ignite the fumes--no air should enter the firebox without having first passed through the burning coal. That alone will keep the anthracite burning and keep the hot fumes moving through the flamepath and chimney.


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