Might Get Out...

mmcoal wrote:I had a propane delivery a couple of months ago and it was $4.06/gal. I only use it for the kitchen stove and hot water. I couldn't even imagine what it would cost to heat my house with propane.

WOW.. I quit pro pain when it reached $3.29 a gallon..
Now I heat for a third of the cost with coal
AND I'm warmer than I ever was

We don't have propane tank rental charges here but the price is over $4.00 a gallon once the heating season started. It's cheaper during summer.

I got hit that way last winter. I only use propane for my gas kitchen stove and cloths dryer, for the three or four warmest months the kitchen range is not running. That way, my smaller tank lasts over two years on a refill. Last winter the truck showed up and topped off the tank at their winter rate.

As soon as I saw the price per gallon I called and asked them to take me off "automatic delivery" and put me on the "I'll call list".

Paul

Lightning wrote:

mmcoal wrote:I had a propane delivery a couple of months ago and it was $4.06/gal. I only use it for the kitchen stove and hot water. I couldn't even imagine what it would cost to heat my house with propane.

WOW.. I quit pro pain when it reached $3.29 a gallon..
Now I heat for a third of the cost with coal
AND I'm warmer than I ever was

Plugging recent numbers into a couple of on-line fuel cost calculators, our "pro-pain" (I'm gonna steal that one ) is now slightly more expensive to use than even fuel oil.

Paul

Even more than electric at $.125 per KW which blows my mind

JohnB wrote:. As for ash & dust the coal stove is MUCH worse then my woodstove ever was. A shop vac near the stove is mandatory to keep it under control.

Hmm that does bode well for me as I was hoping for less mess. Well at least there is less time involved.

Once you get a routine down it's not too bad but having a shop vac nearby isn't a bad idea. The biggest difference is the disposal as you can't just dump the ash pan in the garden or a flower bed as you can with wood ash. Still I have to say that I'm loving the coal stove & will stick with coal as long as the price doesn't go much higher.

ddahlgren wrote:

JohnB wrote:. As for ash & dust the coal stove is MUCH worse then my woodstove ever was. A shop vac near the stove is mandatory to keep it under control.

Hmm that does bode well for me as I was hoping for less mess. Well at least there is less time involved.

Handling ash is a matter of finesse. If yer a clumsy ox and trip on the cat while carrying ash, there's gonna be a mess. But if you can carefully carry the ash pan outside to dump it into a galvanized can on the porch yer golden.

Lightning wrote:Handling ash is a matter of finesse. If yer a clumsy ox and trip on the cat while carrying ash, there's gonna be a mess.

Hey, is there video of me somewhere that I am unaware of??!!

I keep a shop vac next to the stove, but now it is mostly used for sucking in the coal to the barrel above the hopper from the outside bin! No black dust down there anymore!

I do swap the hose on it and suck up the little bit of ash that drops off the ash door onto the ledge when I swap out ash pans. It also gets used to suck up any dust bunnies that migrate down the basement steps as the air circulation distributes the heat. And a couple times through the season I'll thread the wand through the baro and clean out the fly ash in the horizontal pipe headed to the thimble. It is handy to have there by the stove making me more likely to use it, but with mine in the basement I don't have any objections from the head of the decorating committee either.

I piped my shop vac thru a wall. The vac itself sits outside under a small tin shelter I improvised for it. Don't matter if it throws dust outside lol.

Sounds like you guys have been doing this a while. Quite the system you've perfected. Lee, have you patented your ash can lid yet?

Lightning wrote:Handling ash is a matter of finesse. If yer a clumsy ox and trip on the cat while carrying ash, there's gonna be a mess. But if you can carefully carry the ash pan outside to dump it into a galvanized can on the porch yer golden.

I can't even imagine the mess that cloud of fly ash would make inside the house if you were to drop the pan. Getting to the ash pan without a spill is half the battle. You also need to be aware of which way the wind is blowing when you dump the pan if you don't want a face full of ash dust.

If you're a gearhead, the smell of burning rubber is like roses. If your a "coal enthusiast", wouldn't the smell of ashes also be considered...um, er," intoxicating"(?) Alright, so maybe I'm pushing the envelope.
(But I "do" like the smell of burning fresh coal). You'll probably dis-own me for this, but I'll have to admit, I like the smell of burning wood better. (Like a campfire). Hey, I didn't say "I" burn it. Just passing by other houses with it burning. Sorry.

joeq wrote:Sounds like you guys have been doing this a while. Quite the system you've perfected. Lee, have you patented your ash can lid yet?

No sir, but it has cut down ash dust significantly!!

For anyone reading this that hasn't seen it

Ash Can Modification

joeq wrote: (But I "do" like the smell of burning fresh coal). You'll probably dis-own me for this, but I'll have to admit, I like the smell of burning wood better. (Like a campfire). Hey, I didn't say "I" burn it. Just passing by other houses with it burning. Sorry.

It's OK to admit your failings here - you are among friends...

dj

Thanx DJ. Remember, no-ones perfect.