How Dusty is it

How dusty is it really?

Never having burned coal before.

If I'm using a auger feed system, then the only dust I will really see is filling the coal bin right?

Other than that it won't be any dustier than wood correct?

Some guys at work have my wife worried that its going to be super dusty.

O ya they opened a quarry up on my dirt road so I get about 300 dump trucks a day running by. Any dustier than that?

About that dusty, the trucks on the road that is..
I thought you were going to put your boiler where the outdoor wood boiler is?

There is dust from the loading of the coal hopper, there is dust from the handling of the ashpans, and cleaning up around the stove/boiler/furnace.. If you are careful, there will not me that much dust.. even if the boiler/furnace is in the house.

Greg L

Still undecided where to put it. My chimney needs rebuilt. Thats the main reason for me wanting to put it outside.

First year burner here with a Keystoker 90K. I will say this...if it was "super dusty" my wife would be beating me daily. Yes there is dust but like Greg says, it depends on what you do and how you do it. Out in my shed/coal bin...lots of shoveling to fill those 5 gallon buckets to transport into the house, therefore lots of black coal dust. In the basement where the burner is, there is dust but you have to look for it. We haven't dusted the basement the whole heating season yet. Dust from ashes...I vacuum everyday. I make it part of the evening ash removal chore...takes me less than 5 minutes to add coal, remove ashes, and do a quick shop vac of the area. No extra dust upstairs in the living area.

I will say this though...I didn't know about this web site before I bought my Keystoker...If I did know about this site, I'd have a boiler outside.

The key is to disturb the coal as little as possible. I put wet coal into the bin and take out the ashes when the pan is 1/2 full, dust is basically none. When I get in OCD mode and start sifting the coal and ashes looking for irregular pieces or whatever there is a dust cloud.

Going in: If my coal is dry, I wet it - no dust (and it seems to burn better with the fines clumped up). Have a hose with a mist head on it over your bin.

Ash: this is more the question: just work out a way to handle the bucket. I don't dump my ashpan (handfired) until outdoors and we have minimal dust in the living room.

Anybody using something other than a typical shop vac to clean up? Just wondering if the fine ash ends up bypassing the filter and becoming airborne by the vacuuming process. I've looked on line and seen set-ups for collecting dry wall & spackeling dust. Some even HEPA filters on them. $$s

VigIIPeaBurner wrote:Anybody using something other than a typical shop vac to clean up? Just wondering if the fine ash ends up bypassing the filter and becoming airborne by the vacuuming process.

Yes, the ash will go right through most vac filters. A drywall bag is the ticket, it stops the ash and is cheap.

You can change the filter on your shop-vac for one that is designed for ash. No reason to buy a new vac for $200. I have an old metal container one that works great for around the stove.

VigIIPeaBurner wrote:Anybody using something other than a typical shop vac to clean up? Just wondering if the fine ash ends up bypassing the filter and becoming airborne by the vacuuming process. I've looked on line and seen set-ups for collecting dry wall & spackeling dust. Some even HEPA filters on them. $$s

I bought a dust collection bag for my shop-vac. It installs inside the canister and collects all the material you vacuum up. With that and a drywall-dust rated filter, I don't get any blow-by. I vacuumed the fly ash out my stove pipe and flue outlet tonight, no dust.

VigIIPeaBurner wrote:Anybody using something other than a typical shop vac to clean up? Just wondering if the fine ash ends up bypassing the filter and becoming airborne by the vacuuming process. I've looked on line and seen set-ups for collecting dry wall & spackeling dust. Some even HEPA filters on them. $$s

Yes. I vacuum the dust off the top of the stove, etc with our central vac. Any fine particles that arent caught in the main canister are exhausted out of the house via a port. Works great!