Map gas torch to light coal?

Hi Folks

I'm brand new to coal! I just bought a hand fired "Wonder Coal Stove" from Tractor Supply, around $477.

I was wondering if you can bypass the wood and kinda cheat by using a map gas torch to get the coal started? I do this for charcoal when using the bar-b-que.

Also... My stove has an outer jacket with enough space to slip in a roll of 3/4' copper tubing that I am going to tie into the baseboard system next to it, then shut down the oil burner & just run the circulator pumps. Anyone else tried this?

George wrote:
I was wondering if you can bypass the wood and kinda cheat by using a map gas torch to get the coal started?

Probably not, coal needs quite a bit of constant heat to get it going. No harm trying though.

Also... My stove has an outer jacket with enough space to slip in a roll of 3/4' copper tubing that I am going to tie into the baseboard system next to it, then shut down the oil burner & just run the circulator pumps. Anyone else tried this?

Most likely you won't find any benefit from doing that, by the price tag I'm assumming the unit is quite small. It won't produce enough BTU's to heat the water fast enough. Again, No harm in trying but instead I would suggest you use it to pre-heat water before it goes into the hot water heater. Our gas hot water heater barely ever runs. We wouldn't even have one except the water coming out of the furnace comes out too damn hot and doesn't last very long.

Well... I tried the map gas torch idea, it didn't work.

The coals around the torch glowed red hot, then petered out.

Coal is very easy to light, it's simply a matter of providing a good base of wood coals to get it going. The key is patience, don't rush it. Make sure the wood is burning good before adding any coal. Once you have it going don't do anything to it, no poking , no prodding.... just let it burn. You should get at least twelve hours burn time out of it before you need to add more. If you don't adjust the draft so it's not burning as fast, the slower you burn it the more efficient it will be. If adjusting the draft doesn't help use a smaller size like pea or range which is pea and chestnut mixed.

NEPAForum Admin wrote:Coal is very easy to light, it's simply a matter of providing a good base of wood coals to get it going. The key is patience, don't rush it. Make sure the wood is burning good before adding any coal. Once you have it going don't do anything to it, no poking , no prodding.... just let it burn. You should get at least twelve hours burn time out of it before you need to add more. If you don't adjust the draft so it's not burning as fast, the slower you burn it the more efficient it will be. If adjusting the draft doesn't help use a smaller size like pea or range which is pea and chestnut mixed.

That's great advice, How much coal should you shovel in on top of a real good base of hot coals? 2 -3 inches

freezorburn wrote:
That's great advice, How much coal should you shovel in on top of a real good base of hot coals? 2 -3 inches

Approximately, then once lit fill the firebox to capacity and set the draft so you get a good 12 hour burn out of it. This may vary by stove of course but that is how most do it.