Coal Delivery Dilemma

 
LTStorm07
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Post by LTStorm07 » Thu. Aug. 29, 2013 10:07 pm

Good evening everyone,
I'm have a dilemma that I'm hoping some of you might add your $0.02 to. It's getting that time of year again and I'm preparing to order my coal delivery. I typically get 6 tons per winter, but last year I burned 7.5 almost 8 which I felt was a little excessive vs my previous years. I was burning coal out of Hazelton (it could have been Coal Contractors, Hazelton Shaft, or Jeddo, I'm not sure since I buy from Chervy's) but I seemed to have more ash and less heat than previous years. I've always used them before and never had an issue, but something seemed off last winter. I light up and shut down the same time each year for the record. I asked my coal man about it and he said last winter was colder and we had more heating days but I honestly don't know if that's true. Also, I told by a friend that I should get a breaker weight slip because I may get shorted some? I've only ever gotten the delivery man's slip, not a breaker's.

Also, would it help to see my ash? A lot of times I break pieces ash apart and see shiny black coal inside even though it looks burnt.

This leads up to my question, do I go with old coal supplier this year @ 205 a ton delivered or look elsewhere? I received multiple quotes of the following

--Hazelton Shaft/Stockton (Coal Contractors) (my choice) at $190 a ton delivered
--Gale at $225
--$220 a ton from a guy who used to solely haul from UAE says since they closed down he found another supplier almost as good as Harmony, but more east. I think he said coal is better the further east you go from Harmony (supposedly this is close to Girardville PA)
--$205 from Reading

Seems like 205 - 225 for anything towards Mt Camel, Shamokin, Gale regions...

I guess the question I really have is for example, is the difference between say Stockton/Hazelton Shaft and Gale worth the difference of the 35? I'm willing to pay a little more if it is worth the difference between great and good coal, but maybe say 190 delivered is cheap enough to make up for quality differences. Any help or advice anyone can offer I would greatly appreciate. Feel free to ask questions or I can send pics of ash, coal etc.

Thanks,
Mike


 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Thu. Aug. 29, 2013 11:54 pm

March and April were a little colder than normal.

As far as the slip goes he stock piles the coal and has his own scale, you should be getting a weight slip from him.

 
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Post by Wiz » Fri. Aug. 30, 2013 5:40 am

I guess the question I really have is for example, is the difference between say Stockton/Hazelton Shaft and Gale worth the difference of the 35? I'm willing to pay a little more if it is worth the difference between great and good coal, but maybe say 190 delivered is cheap enough to make up for quality differences. Any help or advice anyone can offer I would greatly appreciate. Feel free to ask questions or I can send pics of ash, coal etc.
How about trying several buckets from somewhere else before purchasing 6 tons? If you choose to pay the extra $35, you'll be looking at spending another $210 for 6 ton. I've heard people are happy with Gale's coal if that helps you. I've tried Jeddo, Cassey and Hudson with same end results. Will be trying Gale coal when Austin Carter is in my area. Post ash pictures.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. Aug. 30, 2013 6:25 am

I just started burning a load from Stockton and it appears to be very good coal. The coal burns slower than what I am used to and makes a lot of heat.

 
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Aug. 30, 2013 6:47 am

Two years ago we had that real mild winter I had to shut down for a couple weeks in March. Burned 4 tons. Then last year was more average winter I burned nonstop and burned 5 tons. So severity of the winters played a role. I also didn't plastic all my windows last year so that didn't help me use less either lol.

There could be a variety of other factors too, could you have changed a setting that influenced efficiency?

 
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Post by LTStorm07 » Fri. Aug. 30, 2013 7:22 am

I can post pictures tonight after work of my ashes. In regards to efficiency, I used a coaltrol and even set the temp on average 3-4 degrees lower than the previous years. I also winterized my home more. Also, for draft I use a power vent so my draft never changes. I have a mounted manometer that I glance at every time I fill the hopper.

 
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Aug. 30, 2013 7:29 am

Great sounds like you have that part covered. :D


 
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Post by stovepipemike » Fri. Aug. 30, 2013 7:35 am

Why not gather the list of the potential suppliers and give them a call to determine the ash and b.t.u. content of their product. You could also get the cost/ton,then analyse the numbers. You will have your answer. My $0.02. Mike

 
LTStorm07
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Post by LTStorm07 » Fri. Aug. 30, 2013 9:53 am

I actually was doing that.
Mallard/former Harmony: 13,400 8.2%
Hazelton Shaft: 13,390 8.58%
Stockton: awaiting call back
Gale: they haven't tested BTU lately, but ash was 10-11%

Not sure how much of a big deal ash is or how bone and shale work to help or hinder the burn.

 
LTStorm07
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Post by LTStorm07 » Sat. Aug. 31, 2013 12:53 am

I got home late but here are the pictures of my ash. This was at a a mix between idle and 50% feed rate

Image
Image

These are some of the gray ones broken up
Image
Image
Image
Image

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Aug. 31, 2013 7:07 am

The ashes look fine. Pretty good actually if the stove was idling a lot.

 
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Post by Bear038 » Sun. Oct. 13, 2013 10:25 am

I do not have experience with stokers if that is what you are running, but with that kind of looking ash in a hand fired, I have sifted it and put the big pieces back on a good HOT fire and gained some minor efficencies that way. Not really sure it was worth the trouble, but it did make me feel better. At least till I decided it was too much work. With ash looking like that, I just do not worry about it any more. Looks pretty good to me. Last year heating season went way long it seemed. I normally use 3 ton, and went through 4 as I was still using in April, and a few wood wires in May.

 
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Post by buffalo bob » Sun. Oct. 13, 2013 6:37 pm

Rob R. wrote:I just started burning a load from Stockton and it appears to be very good coal. The coal burns slower than what I am used to and makes a lot of heat.
been burnin stockton now for 2 years, no problems at all here. this year ash is not as white as last year, a little dash of pink in it, but then again I have been on idle, haven't cranked it up yet, idle keeping house at 74 75..

 
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Post by 2001Sierra » Sun. Oct. 13, 2013 8:35 pm

Some pictures look very powdery which is good, and other pictures look like granola which is typical. When I went from a hand fed to a stoker I expected powdery ashes. If that was true my stove would be a cloud with the combustion blower blowing all that powdery dust around. Granola is normal, with red ash there will be some chunks the hotter it burns with white ash it will be more like little white rocks that crush easily by hand.

 
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Post by ntp71 » Mon. Oct. 14, 2013 11:34 am

Hi,

Just my $0.02 here. I have heard alot of good things about Chervy, however being poor I was unable to buy the minimum delivery of 2 tons. So since I grew up in the Hazleton area I decided to take a ride to Jeddo and fill up my little pickup. I was thinking of going to Stockton since it is right over the mountain from Jeddo and According to their website they supposedly have a good quality control system in place and supposedly have a very low ash content, however I opted for Jeddo since their numbers were nearly identical.

My advice would be to take a ride to the breaker and fill up some pales and sample it yourself. I have been sampling from the different breakers from Hazleton to Pittston and as of right now I favor Jeddo. I have not made my way down to UAE, or Tamaqua, and I have yet to make my way over to Stockton.

Best of luck.

Neal


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