Stove Size Coal

We switched to stove coal about 8 years ago to burn in our Colebrookdale in the living room and the Warm Morning in the outside shed. At the time of the switch both chimneys were outside mount and in really cold weather lost a lot of draft. The stove size coal solved the problem and we have had nice fires since then. We also found a lot less fines came with the delivery of stove verses nut, didn't have as many hangups in the shaker grates either, fires lasted longer.

duck wrote:We switched to stove coal about 8 years ago to burn in our Colebrookdale in the living room and the Warm Morning in the outside shed. At the time of the switch both chimneys were outside mount and in really cold weather lost a lot of draft. The stove size coal solved the problem and we have had nice fires since then. We also found a lot less fines came with the delivery of stove verses nut, didn't have as many hangups in the shaker grates either, fires lasted longer.

The more air going threw the coal bed the faster the coal will burn with Stove size coal you have alot of air going threw it
it will burn up faster the smaller the coal the less air can pass threw it making for a longer burn time but with less heat
output

Good info coalberner!

You are right of course - that the nut is slowing down the burn! I have never burned just all stove. Most of the time I burn all nut and like I mentioned on the colder days (nites) I will 'range'. Also you jogged my memory about 'damping the fire'. It brought back memories of visits to my grandparents home where they had a coal furnace and remember him using those terms when 'stoking' the furnace! I also remember running down the cellar stairs to watch the coal rumble down the chute into the coal bin. We use to spend the night sometimes and just before going to bed us kids would stand over the floor grate in the dining room (large one!) and our pajamas would billow out from the warm air flowing from the furnace!! Still fond memories of coal a furnace at the age of 66!!

Cato wrote:Good info coalberner!

You are right of course - that the nut is slowing down the burn! I have never burned just all stove. Most of the time I burn all nut and like I mentioned on the colder days (nites) I will 'range'. Also you jogged my memory about 'damping the fire'. It brought back memories of visits to my grandparents home where they had a coal furnace and remember him using those terms when 'stoking' the furnace! I also remember running down the cellar stairs to watch the coal rumble down the chute into the coal bin. We use to spend the night sometimes and just before going to bed us kids would stand over the floor grate in the dining room (large one!) and our pajamas would billow out from the warm air flowing from the furnace!! Still fond memories of coal a furnace at the age of 66!!

YES sir same memories here to. Did the same thing at my Grandparents house The Floor Grate was 4 x4 on the first floor and the second floor was 3 x 3 . That kitchen coal stove made the best food and the very best Pies . I also Remember
filling the coal hods / buckets and bringing them upstairs for the kitchen stove also taking the ash out for both the
kitchen stove and the big hand fed hot air furnace Plus the bucket a day for the hotwater. WoW The good old days. Miss them alot. Also the homemade grape juice that my Grandmother made from the grapevines growing up the trellis on the back porch. Boy the kids today don't have a clue

coal berner:

The kids nowadays have missed out on the 'iceman'; cobbler; milkman (remember the glass bottles and the cream pushing the top lid off in the cold !!) We had an icebox and the iceman came with a leather pad on his shoulder and a block on ice on top of that which he hung onto with a hook. My job was to empty the water pan under the ice-box. I also took out the 'klinker' from grandpa's furnace and dumped them in his driveway for traction in the winter! Not everything in the past was great but a large part of it was !! Thanks again for bringing back the memories!!

Cato wrote:coal berner:

The kids nowadays have missed out on the 'iceman'; cobbler; milkman (remember the glass bottles and the cream pushing the top lid off in the cold !!) We had an icebox and the iceman came with a leather pad on his shoulder and a block on ice on top of that which he hung onto with a hook. My job was to empty the water pan under the ice-box. I also took out the 'klinker' from grandpa's furnace and dumped them in his driveway for traction in the winter! Not everything in the past was great but a large part of it was !! Thanks again for bringing back the memories!!

Yep Not only do we have Anthracite coal all over the place but we had Three Big mike dairies in this area That use to
bring the glass milk bottles and put them in the metal milk box on the porch . I remember when we where kids we use to get up early and wait for the milkman . We also use to wait for him to drop of the milk at the witch that lived down the street and take her milk then split the bottles up amog are selves. Sometimes we even took the milk money from her and go by penny fish at the mom & Pop store down the street . funny now if you did that they throw yo in jail or you would be shot Icebox yep both grams had them I wish I had them today

our warm morning likes the big chunks.........i find big chunks of coal in the woods that fell off the wagons 100 yrs ago......i had some big pieces, they bust up easy with a hammer......got one next to my desk about the size of a football

Growing up in Albany , NY we still had a milkman from Freihoffers Bakery deliver milk that way, I too remember the bottles overflowing when it was really cold on the back porch! Freihoffers had red delivery trucks. Their chocolate chip cookies were really good. Now it's a factory bakery...

coal berner wrote:the witch that lived down the street

You had a witch, too? We had one that lived in a little house about a mile from us, where we rode our bikes. She would be out working in her flower gardens and she would offer us some cookies or a drink of water when it was hot, but we knew it was just a trick to get us into the oven.

We had a large family, so we bought a lot of milk. The milk man would come right into the kitchen while we were still in bed, and restock the refrigerator. The fish man would come one day a week, with his fish packed in ice. The ice would melt a bit and drip out the corner of his truck, and the neighborhood cats would follow the truck from house to house and sit under the corner to catch the drips.

I can remember the milkman driving around the neighborhood in the summer and letting us kids jump on the truck for a short ride as he went house to house. If it was a hot day he would give us hunks of ice to suck on! If they had a milkman today and he tried to do that the poor guy would be fired or (and) sued!! Oh! Well! Those were the days!

I buy my 'Nut' in bulk and most is in the range of golf ball size. I do get allot of chunks that are close to the tennis ball and usually put them aside to sprinkle on top when I go to bed.

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Gary

Gary L:

That's pretty big nut coal! What's the brand name. I use kimmel in the 50# bag's and most is of the smaller size you show. I'am curious why you put the larger pieces on top at nite when you go to bed? I usually top off with nut at nite to make the 'burn' last longer. I 'range' during the day (cold day's) with nut on the bottom and topped off with stove coal which is quite large. It gives me a hotter fire for the cold!

I don't know the name from my bulk supplier other then Anthricite Nut and he loads it in my truck and trailer with a front end loader. I did pick out the very largest pieces I get for that pic and will say that 95% is more the size of the golf ball.

I don't know if I have a good answer why I put the big chunks on the top other then they look real nice in the morning glowing solid red.

Gary