Totally Mis-Led

While investigating a comment about coal burning at a "brand X" site, which caters to all forms of solid fuels, a member was asking about converting from wood to coal. Most replies were in the negative column, and stammered how disastrous the experience is, due to all the "dust", that just takes over the house. Are they still living in the 19th century? I've never burnt bit coal, and maybe this is true with it, but what is the ratio of popularity of bit over anthracite? Isn't anthracite a relatively clean fuel?

It's the stigma of today. When I talked to friends and family about switching to coal for home heating I got many wrinkled noses. Although, my grandparents remember when it was king. Today's generation is being taught that coal is dirty and an environmental hazard. Which if that's what people wanna think then great, more coal for us than can appreciate it....

Unlike wood stoves, coal stoves are exempt from EPA emission standards. What's that tell you ?

And the irony is that many of those people who turn up their noses at coal have been taught that burning "wood is green" and better for the environment, because it's a renewable resource. Heck, it even has green leaves !

And, they truly believe that, . . . despite facts like, . . many years ago, the EPA has put emissions restrictions on wood stove construction, but not on coal stove construction. And many municipalities, like my own, have passed laws banning outdoor wood stoves.

Paul

Bit is dirty, from the coal itself..........to the ashes. My house is dusty from it. The houses I've lived in have been dusty from fuel oil furnaces too. Any forced air system will create dust eventually.

But at least I'm warm, and the heating costs are lower.

My ears perk up when I hear people moaning and groaning about heating there home with anything "BUT" coal and as soon as I take a step towards them, (small town and they know I burn coal), they put up the hand and shake their head no at me. More coal for me! Yah. special ed from Crank Yankers!

I'm burning soft coal and it produces a lot of ash to haul, and has coated the basement furnace room with a fine layer of ash. The alternative is $500-800 a month for heating oil. I choose to keep burning coal..

This is a stigma connected to Bit coal (people do not understand the difference between anthracite and bit... all they hear is "Coal"). anyone who has actually burned anthracite in a decent coal stove made for coal burning would NEVER say wood is better in any way shape or form (its simply not possible unless they lie).

Probably the best way to burn wood the cleanest and with most control is with wood pellets.

I've played with bit in my shop. I don't know if it's any dirtier than anthracite, as far as handling goes. Now burning was a different story for me, although I didn't have the proper stove to burn it in. Until the gasses are burnt off, the smoke is thick, black, and smells. Then clears up. The smell still hangs around. The fire doesn't last as long. And the coal bridges when burning. At tending time, there will be a hollow dome of coal in the stove. I've seen industrial bit boilers, where the grates wave up, and down, in order to prevent the bridging. The dirtiness of bit is connected to coal fired power plants. That's why they have scrubbers on the smoke stacks. I've had old timers tell me stories of the old steam locomotives that use to travel through our towns. They say if the laundry was hanging out, it would get covered in soot. I use to go to old tractor / engine shows, where they have the old steam tractors. I never minded the smell of the old steamers, which were fired with bit coal. After burning bit in my shop, I don't like that smell any more. If too strong, it makes me sick.

Good info. gives me a better understanding of it.

When I mention I heat with coal some people look at me as if I suddenly sprouted a third eye in the middle of my forehead.

Anyone know what kind of cola they burn/burned in England?

Wood'nCoal wrote:When I mention I heat with coal some people look at me as if I suddenly sprouted a third eye in the middle of my forehead.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

We get that alot up here too. It's MA, after all. I sometimes wonder if we are the true founders of progressivism ...

Hell,I dunno much 'bout nuthin,but weez warm !

joeq wrote:While investigating a comment about coal burning at a "brand X" site, which caters to all forms of solid fuels, a member was asking about converting from wood to coal. Most replies were in the negative column, and stammered how disastrous the experience is, due to all the "dust", that just takes over the house. Are they still living in the 19th century? I've never burnt bit coal, and maybe this is true with it, but what is the ratio of popularity of bit over anthracite? Isn't anthracite a relatively clean fuel?

Bituminous coal is no different in handling cleanliness than anthracite. If you spill and move coal around indoors, you'll have black coal dust, if you spill and move ashes indoors you'll have pink/white ash dust - it's that simple.

Most eastern bituminous coal has slightly more btu/lb than anthracite and slightly less ash than anthracite. Many bituminous coals have FAR more heat and less ash than anthracite. A good KY stoker coal will have over 14,000btu/lb and less than 8% ash as received.

In a hand-fired stove bituminous coal will produce some smoke and soot, some coals more than others - same with the smell; of course, if your appliance is venting and operating properly - this will be at the termination of the stack, not anywhere in your home.

In an underfeed stoker, such as the furnace I use to heat my home, bituminous coal is as smoke, smell, and soot free as anthracite and it typically costs far less.

I previously heated with a hand-fired stove burning valier high vol bit in my dining room for years with NO smoke, smell, ashes, dust or mess in the house! Top loading stoves help with that - dump a bucket in and go on your way, any dust from the coal itself will be sucked into the stove. Most stoves, furnaces, and boilers made these days have a flue size that is much too small for the loading door/firebox size; most appliances come w/ 6" pipe connections because having the appropriate size to prevent smoke/fume/dust spillage (8" or larger) would be a negative in most consumers minds and cost them more for the chimney - so they stick with the inadequate 6" pipe which can't handle the exhaust gas volume from a hot fire being fueled thus spilling fumes into the space. The ashpan designs of most appliances is terrible, they are small and prone to spilling ash around the sides and when removed.

Powerplants have to remove particulates and other material from exhaust gasses to meet emission requirements because of the huge quantity of fuel burned and exhaust expelled, it has nothing to do with the types of coal. You'll find baghouses and scrubbers on anthracite, low vol bit, and bituminous coal burning plants just the same. In fact, the emissions profile (sulfur/ nox particulate etc.) of anthracite or bit burned on a large scale (industrial, powerplant etc.) is virtually identical.

An example of the quantity of coal burned at a powerplant: "The power plant will consume approximately 6.5 million tons of indigenous coal per year from the adjacent mine." http://www.prairiestateenergycampus.com/energy-so ... wer-plant/

People don't like coal because of the green propaganda machine, period.