Reading Coal Versus Blaschak Coal

ncpajohn · Post by **ncpajohn** » Sat. Mar. 14, 2015 2:02 pm

Hello Everyone. I have tried to research Blaschak coal versus reading coal on this forum. What I found starts out talking about the differences but goes to ash amounts, and starts talking about kimmel coal.

I started using reading coal. One half ton of stove coal, then one half ton of nut coal.
Since getting my stove adapted to coal it is burning ok and giving good heat.

I just called around to check prices and found that two places sell reading coal and one place sells blaschak. The owner of the place that sells the blaschak did a good sales pitch for using his instead. He said the Amish prefer it and it burns better with no clinkers and he does not water down the coal, It has less smaller pieces and the coal is more uniform in size than the reading coal, which he says is mined more for the steel mills. And the blaschak coal is mined more for home heating. It is 12.00 more per ton in bulk than the reading. The two reading suppliers said to expect to burn aprox. 3 1/2 to 4 ton per winter. the blaschak dealer said to expect to use 5 to 6 ton per winter. = more money for the same amount of heat.. ???

From what few talks about the differences between the two on this forum I see reference to the blaschak burning cooler by about 100*.
Is that because of differences in coal stoves and settings or what ??.

Any advice, please help.

ncpajohn · Post by **ncpajohn** » Sat. Mar. 14, 2015 2:11 pm

Naturally this is both Anthracite coal.

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Sat. Mar. 14, 2015 2:22 pm

It's a crap shoot NJ. Nothin is carved in stone with coal nor anything else that Mother Earth provides us with. After all is said & done, there's coal that's real good & coal that's real bad. I always go & look at mine before ordering.

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Sat. Mar. 14, 2015 2:25 pm

freetown fred wrote:It's a crap shoot NJ. Nothin is carved in stone with coal nor anything else that Mother Earth provides us with. After all is said & done, there's coal that's real good & coal that's real bad. I always go & look at mine before ordering. I would have to laugh at someone projecting my coal use for the season-- I've personally been burning Blaschak for 9 seasons with real good results. Same dealer, I don't bounce around lookin for that pot of gold.

ncpajohn · Post by **ncpajohn** » Sat. Mar. 14, 2015 2:33 pm

Thanks.
As I am just starting to use coal I am looking to find the better place to get it then stick with that supplier.
The blaschak dealer is Southern tier coal in Addison, ny.

davidmcbeth3 · Post by **davidmcbeth3** » Sat. Mar. 14, 2015 2:44 pm

The Amish prefers it ... wow, he must carry manure too. Who cares what the Amish use and how would he know anyway.

I have used both, they both burn. The reading has a greater particle size distribution than the blaschak ... the reading has lots of extras (like wood pieces lol ~ but nothing that turns me away from it).

I like the blaschak coal packaging in 40 lb bags. The packaging with the blaschak is better IMO and is something to consider.

My stove has burned them both for extended periods. Blaschak for about 4 yrs and reading for about 2. Currently using Reading this season.

Some claim that Blaschak burns "longer" than reading. I can't say that its true [although wifey disagrees], I have used equal amt of coal per season using both brands.

I get reading in 50 lb bags now and they are heavy (likely because they are wet! - not a coal issue but supplier issue).

Next season? Have not decided. I get reading about 20 dollars cheaper a ton.

They are both equal IMO.

In respect to reading burning hotter (and inversely Blaschak lasting longer) if one is running blaschak and run reading behind it w/o adj the stove, the reading will burn hotter and for a shorter time. This is likely due to the difference in particle size distribution ... reading has larger pieces; if one adjusts the stove to achieve = temp they burn the same.

??? can you get hotter temps with reading? Maybe...but I can adj my stove to get both brands to burn hot hot hot (with a corresponding lessening in burn time) ; I imagine that the highest temps could be reached with reading but who is going to over-heat their stove?

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sat. Mar. 14, 2015 2:48 pm

Reading bulk is better sized & cleaner than bulk Blashack , that has been my personal experience. That is dealing with 2 different suppliers too. So who really knows ?? If you can save money buying the Reading & it burns good,buy it.

davidmcbeth3 · Post by **davidmcbeth3** » Sat. Mar. 14, 2015 2:56 pm

ncpajohn wrote:The two reading suppliers said to expect to burn aprox. 3 1/2 to 4 ton per winter. the blaschak dealer said to expect to use 5 to 6 ton per winter. = more money for the same amount of heat.. ???
<snip>.

OK, did you ask them how much coal for so many BTUs ? Or just asked them to guess based on incomplete information that you provided them....like just asking "how much coal for a 1600 sq ft house?"....which is just asking for a guess really.

Expect guesses to vary. If you called 2 reading coal suppliers they may have given you the same 2 different answers.

Use your noodle OP ... heat = BTU = constant for coal per ton.

ncpajohn · Post by **ncpajohn** » Sun. Mar. 15, 2015 4:05 pm

Can anyone tell me what the average operating temp is on my stove with a magnetic burn indicator on the burn box just above the feed door. And is there a max operating temp to be aware of on this stove. I do not see anything in the operators manual about this.. I am averaging a stovepipe temp about half of the stove temp just below the barometric damper. I just ordered this barometric damper,; Field Controls 02724001 MG1 MG1-STD Barometric Draft Regulator. from ebay for 26.00 free s&h. As the one I have has been through 4 winters of burning wood and is slightly warped and sticks at times.
Thanks again everyone for all your help and advice..

ncpajohn · Post by **ncpajohn** » Sun. Mar. 15, 2015 5:44 pm

Well it looks like I goofed and bought the wrong baro. can anyone tell me if this one will work O.K. ??? apparently this one is for gas heaters.
I contacted the seller and they agreed to issue a refund.
I found the right one on amazon for 28.00 so not bad.
I wish everyone a good week.

davidmcbeth3 · Post by **davidmcbeth3** » Sun. Mar. 15, 2015 8:01 pm

windyhill4.2 wrote:Reading bulk is better sized & cleaner than bulk Blashack , that has been my personal experience. That is dealing with 2 different suppliers too. So who really knows ?? If you can save money buying the Reading & it burns good,buy it.

One of my production lines had a control panel that was disconnected but left in place. Operators would turn knobs and say "see, the line is running better now!"

Not kidding. I just let them continue on, it made them feel good.

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Sun. Mar. 15, 2015 8:12 pm

A rose by any other name:blah: --it will work. It's about draft not fuel types.

ncpajohn wrote:Well it looks like I goofed and bought the wrong baro. can anyone tell me if this one will work O.K. ??? apparently this one is for gas heaters.
I contacted the seller and they agreed to issue a refund.
I found the right one on amazon for 28.00 so not bad.
I wish everyone a good week.

ncpajohn · Post by **ncpajohn** » Wed. Mar. 25, 2015 10:52 pm

Hi Everyone,
Update : I just bought a half ton of Blaschak coal, Nut / Stove mix.
The reading coal has been lasting about two weeks and not burning as hot as the first load I got of reading.
The main difference I see already is that the Blaschak coal is cleaner. It does not have all the fines ?? like the reading, which has a lot of smaller chips and even powdered coal.
The Blaschak is nice and clean. looks like maybe it was cleaned and sifted to remove the small stuff, which will slow down the airflow from the bottom of the stove.
I will post on how it works out so everyone knows

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Thu. Mar. 26, 2015 6:32 am

ncpajohn wrote:Can anyone tell me what the average operating temp is on my stove with a magnetic burn indicator on the burn box just above the feed door. And is there a max operating temp to be aware of on this stove. I do not see anything in the operators manual about this.. I am averaging a stovepipe temp about half of the stove temp just below the barometric damper. I just ordered this barometric damper,; Field Controls 02724001 MG1 MG1-STD Barometric Draft Regulator. from ebay for 26.00 free s&h. As the one I have has been through 4 winters of burning wood and is slightly warped and sticks at times.
Thanks again everyone for all your help and advice..

Baro on a wood stove!!! Not a good idea at all. If you had gotten a chimney fire the baro would have fed oxygen to it and you would have had a blowtorch coming out the top of your chimney good enough to melt that liner.

Wood stove + Barometric Damper = Not a good idea

You may have said somewhere else and I missed it. Is this your first season burning coal in this chimney? Was the liner put in at the same time as the coal stove or did you add the coal stove to the liner that saw wood burning before?

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Thu. Mar. 26, 2015 7:15 am

blrman07 wrote:Baro on a wood stove!!! Not a good idea at all. If you had gotten a chimney fire the baro would have fed oxygen to it and you would have had a blowtorch coming out the top of your chimney good enough to melt that liner.

Wood stove + Barometric Damper = Not a good idea

You may have said somewhere else and I missed it. Is this your first season burning coal in this chimney? Was the liner put in at the same time as the coal stove or did you add the coal stove to the liner that saw wood burning before?

I just read the thread Rev.

good catch!