burning coal in a fireplace

I was in the UK, English country side last year and they comonly burn coal in their fire places. Seemed very nice, great heat and had to stoke less than wood. Is this a problem? pros and cons?

Safety wise I'm not aware of any issues but good luck getting anthracite to burn in such a set up. Besides that you'll probably melt the grates in the event you somehow get it to burn.

They burn bituminous coal in fireplaces in Britain. It would not be prudent to try to burn anthracite because it would be difficult to start because it needs an under-the-fire draft. Like the previous poster said, anthracite fires burn hotter than bituminous and it would probably warp the grates.

They also burn a lot of Peat...what ever that is. I understand it would become coal in another few million years, but I've never seen it...I wonder if they burn that in fire places also. I have a sort of coworker that lives in northern England and he uses Peat to heat his house.

Peat is a popular alternative to coal in the UK and is usually bought in pressed blocks about 6 inches in lenght, rather like a brick.

It heats up very well and burns for a considerably longer time than wood.

It is usually burn on open fireplaces as a wood or coal replacement.

Last year I tried using nut in my stone hearth fireplace. I used it as a supplement to the wood coals and it seemed to give some extra heat. Once I had the wood burning good, I would take an ash shovel (the small ones that come in a set with the poker) and put a shovel full in the fire 2 or 3 times a day. It would heat up and glow red and add some heat. It wouldn't burn completely, but when I would start the next fire, I would sort the unburned coal out and start the process over. I'm not sure how efficient it is, but I got some benefit out of it.