Wood in a Coal Stove?

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Adamiscold
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Post by Adamiscold » Fri. Feb. 29, 2008 1:41 pm

Can you safely burn wood in a coal stove without switching parts in it? We're thinking of getting a coal stove and would like to burn some free wood from our fallen trees and wonder if this can be done in a safe manner? I read that you need a chimney pipe thats rated for coal, are they more expensive then a regular double walled wood chimney pipe? I think we would be interested in a small hand fed coal stove that could be used on those colder nights to save on oil. Is there any that you guys would recommend? We're not looking to spend a lot since we just put in a new oil heating system last fall before prices went on a rampage. Any help would be great, thanks.

 
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traderfjp
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Post by traderfjp » Fri. Feb. 29, 2008 4:10 pm

I use to have a wood burning stove and honestly I hated it. It required a lot of attention, the house always smelled like smoke, bugs and dirt would enter the house when we brought wood in and most times it was a major hassle to lite it. It was also difficult to keep a constat temp in the house. I now am a proud owner of an automatic stoker. It has a compartment (hopper) that holds about 2 days worth of coal and longer on mild days. The coal has no bugs in it, can be stored outside forever without detoriation and I can keep my house at a constant, comfortable temp. I have a 2100 sq. ft house and the stove does almost all of my heat. It's saving me a bundle. I probably burn just under 3 tons a year. At 300 a ton that is still a great saving and some of the guys buy it loose for around 140.00 a ton. To answer your question there are many stoves that burn coal and wood but they are all manual and you will need a double walled pipe that is X amount of feet above the roof line. With Anthracite you can buy a direct vent and vent the stove to an outside. It burns smokeless and you will save a bundle by not having to buy a double walled stack pipe and deal with the hassles of installation. If I was you I would get an automatic stoker and sell my wood to buy the coal. I use to average about 180 gallons a month in the cold months which is about 600.00-700.00 for oil at todays prices. I'm now keeping my house warmer too. The only hassles are loading the hopper every 2 days and emtying the ash pan.

 
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LsFarm
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Post by LsFarm » Fri. Feb. 29, 2008 4:24 pm

Hello Adam, read this thread: Wood Fires in Harman Mark*

It is about 8 topics below this one, and about burning wood in a coal stove.

Greg L


 
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Adamiscold
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Post by Adamiscold » Sat. Mar. 01, 2008 3:19 am

Thanks, I did read that. But it was only about one type. Is it safe to say that all coal stoves can do wood and that some models will handle it better then others?

 
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Devil505
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Post by Devil505 » Sat. Mar. 01, 2008 5:56 am

I also don't like to burn wood in my coal stove. I always throw scraps of 2x3's 2x4's etc in there & the stove window always turns black from creosote. Just not worth the hastle of tending the fire so much either.

 
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LsFarm
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Post by LsFarm » Sat. Mar. 01, 2008 7:44 am

Hi Adam, There are design differences between most stoves.. I would say that most hand fired stoves could be used to burn wood, but some will be better than others. Wood is nowhere near as fussy about burning as coal is... so you can have a good wood stove that is worthless with coal.. but the opposite is less likely, a good coal stove will almost always burn wood reasonably well.

The problems and safety issues are mentioned in that link I posted in my above message..

I could generalize and say that if the coal stove has room for splits of wood, then it probably would burn wood OK.

Greg L

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Post by CBT69 » Tue. Mar. 04, 2008 4:17 pm

Devil5052 wrote:I also don't like to burn wood in my coal stove. I always throw scraps of 2x3's 2x4's etc in there & the stove window always turns black from creosote. Just not worth the hastle of tending the fire so much either.
Well, you are burning pine, which is part of the problem.

If you were burning oak and maple, it would run hotter longer, with less creosote.

To answer the original question in the thread, just about _any_ stove will burn wood. It's the other way around that is impossible.

Yes, you can burn wood in your coal stove. The EPA says you are a bad, bad boy, but you can do it. Don't burn pine, or other light, pitchy wood, and pay attention to chimney temps and cleaning. Wood burns with a much hotter flue temp to stove temp than coal does, and it's _much_ more needy than coal vis-a-vis tending.

 
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endinmaine
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Post by endinmaine » Sat. Mar. 08, 2008 5:47 pm

I have the Harman Mark III , hand feed coal stove. I burn wood in it when the temps get above 45* and I have access to free wood. When temps are lower I burn coal. My costs to heat my home are less than $600 for the year. When I used oil for heat FHA I was spending just shy of $3000/year, big difference. I have no problem with cleaning the stove and chimney when burning wood.

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