new mac multifuel furnaces

Is any one successfully burning caol in their Newmac wood/ coal combination units?If so send me some pointers.

Not sure if I can help but I went to the website and it looks very similar to my yukon multi fuel furnace that burns oil and wood/coal. I'm burning nut coal very sucessfully. What kind of problems are you having? (I assume you have the shaker grates?? - they are a must for coal)..

We are not trying to burn it ourselves. We have an S130 coal boiler and its great!!! However some people have heard we are heating our 4000 square foot home for a fraction of a price compared to fuel oil and those people have these new mac wood oil coal combination units and they too want to enjoy the savings.We have given several bags of chestnut coal away but no one has really come back for more. Is it that tricky to burn coal in a unit like theirs or are they just not putting enough coal in?One lady said they couldn't get any heat out of it. I found this unbelieveable seeing as how it should be melting the skin of her face when she peeks in.Any pointers to help convince these people that it really works?

I recall the New Mac name, I'm sure there was a thread or two about them, you might try the search function. It isn't tricky if you educate yourself about burning coal and start by forgetting everything you learned about wood. Yes, the number one mistake is not enough fuel, the deeper the bed is the less trouble you will have. Wood burns fine anywhere in its range, coal will only cooperate when it is happy, you will want to see to that.

http://www.newmacfurnaces.com/showroom/index.html

Newmac is a Canadian company (Nova Scotia I think) and here is the link to their website where manuals, specs, etc can be found. Lots of their equipment around.

I would agree with the near necessity of needing a shaker grate,although if you are an old pro you probably can get by without it.Coal really needs a source of forced draft that puts at least a portion of air over the top of the bed of coal to burn right,unlike wood that wants its draft from underneath the grate.also as stated in one of the other posts,once its going it likes a good thick bed of live coals to throw heat and don"t forget to give the grate a shake until you see a few live coals going down in the ash pan when you refuel. Regards mills4135