It Was a Great Seasonn for Burning Coal

 
User avatar
Smoker858
Member
Posts: 212
Joined: Tue. Nov. 03, 2009 1:29 pm
Location: Parsippany, NJ
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 50-93
Baseburners & Antiques: Reading Stove Works Penn circa 1900
Coal Size/Type: Nut
Other Heating: nat gas

Post by Smoker858 » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 1:52 pm

KIMMELS from American Coal - bagged Nut

Very few clinkers, 3/4 of a galv. trash can of mostly dust each week.

What were you burning?


 
User avatar
freetown fred
Member
Posts: 30293
Joined: Thu. Dec. 31, 2009 12:33 pm
Location: Freetown,NY 13803
Hand Fed Coal Stove: HITZER 50-93
Coal Size/Type: BLASCHAK Nut

Post by freetown fred » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 3:50 pm

BLASCHAK nut/stove mix-bulk-no clinkers & a big ass pile of ash outside to be spread on driveway & around pond sidewalls in the spring. Started in early Sept. probably go till mid to late April. Used 2 2/3 ton so far probably another 1/3 ton before it's over. Heating 2000 sq 200 yr old farm house on top of a hill.

 
coalder
Member
Posts: 1493
Joined: Mon. Dec. 16, 2013 1:48 pm
Location: somewhere high in the catskill mountains
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: harman sf 160
Coal Size/Type: Nut
Other Heating: wood parlor stove

Post by coalder » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 4:03 pm

Will have used 4 ton from Dec 1st till middle of April. This is with boiler heating the "loop" and DHW. Will switch to wood for a week or so after that. Fred, I am jealous!!! less than 3 ton for the WHOLE season!!
Says a whole lot for the Hitzers. BTW, I will NEVER buy another bag of Reading coal EVER again.
Jim

 
User avatar
oliver power
Member
Posts: 2970
Joined: Sun. Apr. 16, 2006 9:28 am
Location: Near Dansville, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: KEYSTOKER Kaa-2
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 50-93 & 30-95, Vigilant (pre-2310), D.S. 1600 Circulator, Hitzer 254

Post by oliver power » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 4:41 pm

J F Graham wrote:Will have used 4 ton from Dec 1st till middle of April. This is with boiler heating the "loop" and DHW. Will switch to wood for a week or so after that. Fred, I am jealous!!! less than 3 ton for the WHOLE season!!
Says a whole lot for the Hitzers. BTW, I will NEVER buy another bag of Reading coal EVER again.
Jim
Hi J F Graham, I burned Reading (Bagged Coal) all winter in the 30-95. It seemed to burn ok in the Hitzer, but what doesn't. I did notice lots of moisture, as well as debris in every bag. What was your experience?

 
User avatar
davidmcbeth3
Member
Posts: 8505
Joined: Sun. Jun. 14, 2009 2:31 pm
Coal Size/Type: nut/pea/anthra

Post by davidmcbeth3 » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 5:00 pm

oliver power wrote:
J F Graham wrote:Will have used 4 ton from Dec 1st till middle of April. This is with boiler heating the "loop" and DHW. Will switch to wood for a week or so after that. Fred, I am jealous!!! less than 3 ton for the WHOLE season!!
Says a whole lot for the Hitzers. BTW, I will NEVER buy another bag of Reading coal EVER again.
Jim
Hi J F Graham, I burned Reading (Bagged Coal) all winter in the 30-95. It seemed to burn ok in the Hitzer, but what doesn't. I did notice lots of moisture, as well as debris in every bag. What was your experience?
I burned 80% Reading, 20% Santa Clause coal. Got it bagged. Lots of moisture, ice & coal really. Was not happy...not Reading's fault but retailer but Reading could control this if they wanted to...

And wood extras of course with the Reading.

Wifey likes Reading, I like Santa Clause .... get which one we'll get next year?

 
coalder
Member
Posts: 1493
Joined: Mon. Dec. 16, 2013 1:48 pm
Location: somewhere high in the catskill mountains
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: harman sf 160
Coal Size/Type: Nut
Other Heating: wood parlor stove

Post by coalder » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 5:57 pm

Hey guys, Last year we run Santa Clause coal, my first year & not many problems. This past year, after doing masonry all season I was pretty well tore up, & couldn't fathom unloading 4 ton by hand. Now my Santa dealer was unable to deliver; so I found a reading dealer that would deliver 4 ton for $40.oo delivery fee. It was soo full of fines I kinda had to re-learn burning coal. Ifn I had to guess? about 10% fines in every bag. However got through just fine; but will not ever purchase Reading ever again. Here and there there was a "clean" bag & it did just great; but just too much other junk. Life is all about learning. :D
Jim

 
User avatar
freetown fred
Member
Posts: 30293
Joined: Thu. Dec. 31, 2009 12:33 pm
Location: Freetown,NY 13803
Hand Fed Coal Stove: HITZER 50-93
Coal Size/Type: BLASCHAK Nut

Post by freetown fred » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 6:11 pm

It'll come out to around 3 1/2 ton by the end of the season Jim--still real good. I hear that on the Reading!! :(
J F Graham wrote:Will have used 4 ton from Dec 1st till middle of April. This is with boiler heating the "loop" and DHW. Will switch to wood for a week or so after that. Fred, I am jealous!!! less than 3 ton for the WHOLE season!!
Says a whole lot for the Hitzers. BTW, I will NEVER buy another bag of Reading coal EVER again.
Jim


 
User avatar
harmontlc2000
Member
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat. Oct. 18, 2014 2:12 pm
Location: Southern Maine
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harman TLC2000, Jotul 507
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak nut
Other Heating: FHA Oil Burner

Post by harmontlc2000 » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 6:39 pm

We've burned around 5 tons of Santa nut so far, seems sized a bit larger this year. We've got about 1500 lbs left. If it doesn't warm up soon I'm going to have to buy more, only made it 18 here today.

 
User avatar
hotblast1357
Member
Posts: 5657
Joined: Mon. Mar. 10, 2014 10:06 pm
Location: Peasleeville NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: 1984 Eshland S260 coal gun
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh anthracite pea
Other Heating: air source heat pump, oil furnace

Post by hotblast1357 » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 6:54 pm

It was a great season! But hopefully it's done soon, I lit the furnace oct 14th and as of today have burned 6231 lbs or 3.1 tons, total count of coal used in the furnace and the garage is 8671 or 4.3 tons, will probably burn another 1,000 pounds in the house, the garage stove is shut down.

 
User avatar
BunkerdCaddis
Member
Posts: 708
Joined: Sun. Jan. 18, 2015 10:26 am
Location: SW Lancaster County
Stoker Coal Boiler: Bairmatic-Van Wert
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Van Wert VW85H
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Saey Hanover II working when I feel the desire, Waterford 105 out on vacation, Surdiac Gotha hiding somewhere
Coal Size/Type: pea/nut/rice/stove-anthracite, nut/stove bit when I feel the urge
Other Heating: oil fired hydronic

Post by BunkerdCaddis » Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 9:48 pm

I agree, it was a great season for burning coal, but all I have to compare it to is burning oil. This was my first year for heating w/ coal.

I installed the chimney and my little stove Thanksgiving weekend and started burning the next week. My first purchase of coal was 1 1/2 ton of pea size from F.H. Kreider of Lancaster and it burnt well but I lost too much thru the bar grate. I got some clinkers w/ it. My next ton was nut size also from Kreider's they told me came from South Tamaqua. It burned very well for me with nary a single clinker and mostly all fine ash if I didn't slice and prod too hard. I have about enough to last till the end of March and then I will shut down.

Last year I used 3 tanks of oil over the winter season and this year w/ similar HDD totals I used 1 tank from Oct. to March 1 heating the finished basement and DHW. The little stove kept the main floor of our 2100 sq ft rancher style house mostly in the mid to upper 70's, well above the settings (as much as 10 or 12 degrees) on the oil boiler's thermostats. Coal made the cold much more bearable for me this winter.

 
User avatar
blrman07
Member
Posts: 2383
Joined: Mon. Sep. 27, 2010 3:39 pm
Location: Tupelo Mississippi

Post by blrman07 » Mon. Mar. 23, 2015 9:10 am

I burned about 2 ton of coal from various local sources. I buy coal by the bucket, 7 buckets last a week. We have been blessed to have 5 yards within 15 miles. One is so close that the engine doesn't even warm up by the time I get there!!!

We heat or DHW with oil in the dead cold and when I get to the shoulder months I heat it with a bucket a day. I swing the vent pipe over to the bucket a day and put the oil boiler in cold storage. We usually burn about a half tank a year in oil. This winter it was colder here and when it got stupid cold the coal stove needed some help so the oil boiler kicked in.

There was a week when we took a trip and we had the oil boiler thermo set at 60. It took almost a full day of burning to get the house heat loaded and comfortable again. All in all we heated our 985 sq ft two story three bedroom and all our DHW for about
$550.

 
DENNIS BAUER
Member
Posts: 283
Joined: Tue. Jan. 13, 2015 8:49 am
Location: Springwater NY, (Western NY)
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Keystoker 105 - SOLD
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 30-95 - Garage
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: HITZER 50-93 - HOUSE
Coal Size/Type: NUT
Other Heating: PROPANE FURNACE, ELECTIC BASE BOARD, AND WOOD FIRE PLACE

Post by DENNIS BAUER » Mon. Mar. 23, 2015 10:02 am

I guess I'll post my results for the season so far. This is my first year burning coal and it's been great. Bought the house in start of September last year. I've burned just over 3 ton. Can't give an perfect number due to some coal being left by the previous owner. I burn rice and I am currently burning Reading. I like it very much. I started with Santa Claus coal and switch to Reading. It burned better and cleaner. I've tired the Santa coal a couple of times here and there and am not a fan. I'll stick with the Reading Rice. Must be a different story from the Nut and stove coal. I will say though there is a lot of water in the bags.

As for house set up.
Heating about 1600 sqft with an old Keystoker Ecno 70. Also used 150gallons of LP since December 30th heating hot water tank, kitchen oven/stove, and a 500 sqft inlaw sweet on the back of my house.
3.5 tons coal: $1,015 ($290 per ton bag. Switching to bulk next year @$215 per ton)
150 gallons LP: $283.50 ($1.89 per gallon)
All and all heated the 2000 sqft+ house and hot water and cooking stove/oven for less then $1300. I'm happy with it.

There will be much improvements over the summer. I got way better with the stove as the winter when on. I was very much a newbie when the year started coming from heating with wood before. I really enjoy this. I now have a dollar amount that I need to be for next year. We'll see how I do. Starting with running some heat ducting to the inlaw suit so I stop burning LP to heat that area.

 
User avatar
DennisH
Member
Posts: 336
Joined: Mon. Feb. 21, 2011 8:35 am
Location: Escanaba, MI
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Yukon-Eagle Klondike IV
Other Heating: Propane

Post by DennisH » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 8:49 pm

I used about 240 bags of mixed nut and stove coal. Ironically, I have 40 bags of each left. I started out with 320 bags total in the fall. 200 bags nut, 120 bags stove. Started burning 31 October. Burned continuously except for one three-day period, when my bride whisked me out of town for our 31st anniversary in November. Stopped burning mid-March when we had a really nice warm up period here in 'da U.P. eh! Been burning propane (and now wood again since it suddenly got colder in the past couple of days). I have a minimum buy of propane of 500 gal per year, so I have to burn SOME of it!! Plus we use it for hot water, cooking, dryer, etc. But both last year and this year, which were pretty brutal in terms of cold, it looks like my plan to have at least 300 bags of coal stored in the basement is the right number. Maybe next year we'll have a "warmer" winter, like we did in 2012, and will use less coal. But I will not be caught shorthanded. Even with 300+ bags to start out the heating season, I also have 360 bags on pallets outside for use, in case it is just insanely cold. Good heating season overall though! :D :D

 
hank2
Member
Posts: 846
Joined: Sat. Dec. 10, 2011 4:07 pm
Location: Berks County
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1400 WH ciculator; 1880's small cannon in reserve
Coal Size/Type: Nut
Other Heating: small New Yorker oil fired boiler; mostly used for domestic HW

Post by hank2 » Sun. Mar. 29, 2015 1:22 am

Wow, DennisH, that doesn't sound too bad for where you live! Especially if they are 40lb. bags. Even with a little propain and wood.

I've gone through about 4 tons since Oct. 9th in my fairly small hand fired. Mostly DiRenzo bulk, but also some TS Kimmels, about a half ton bagged Lehigh and my last drum of some garage mined old metallurgical coal. It was all OK, but the best stuff, overall has definitely been the Lehigh. The metallurgical coal is mostly stove to egg sized and seems as hard as steel. It's a pain to burn unless mixed with higher volatile stuff. It does burn a real long time. I'm down to about 8 bags and some of the drum coal. Should make it to the 6 month mark, as usual.

Also used about 300-350 gal. of Heating oil. That was about 98% for DHW only.

I used exactly 4.5 tons last winter. Winter of '12-'13 I only used 3 tons for 6 months. Previous Winters, I used about 3 tons in an 80 lb. Warm Morning for about 4 to 5 months. Been lovin' the coal all Winter! Tonight is going down to 16F in Eastern Pa. Probably the last real cold night. I'm always ready for Spring, but it's a little sad when the coal fire is gone.

 
User avatar
2001Sierra
Member
Posts: 2211
Joined: Wed. May. 20, 2009 8:09 am
Location: Wynantskill NY, 10 miles from Albany
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Keystoker 90 Chimney vent
Coal Size/Type: Rice
Other Heating: Buderus Oil Boiler 3115-34

Post by 2001Sierra » Sun. Mar. 29, 2015 1:43 am

Lit the Keystoker Oct 19th. Used 5800 lbs so far about 500 more than last year. No complaints house is 68/70 24 x 7 , downstairs 73/75.


Post Reply

Return to “Coal News & General Coal Discussions”