Coal vs wood??

 
Shaun643
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Post by Shaun643 » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 10:16 am

Iam looking for help to convince my self to switch to a coal stove over my wood stove. I currently heat my house with wood it's my primary heat source. Just a wood stove in my living room. The stove does a good job of heating the house. I start burning normally the first of September and stop around end of May. I do get some time to cut wood during the winter to prepare for next season. This April I had to buy wood no time to do it my self. I spent 500 on wood and that will last me my 6 months with what I had seasoned all ready. I live in the thumb of Michigan. So coal gets shipped here. A pallet of coal is around $300 iam guessing I would need 4.5 pallets so 5 that's $1500 worth of coal. Plus I'll have to buy a new stove. What would you folks do??


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 10:35 am

Well that's up to you. Do you enjoy cutting, splitting, stacking then again moving wood? Are you home in intervals to feed the wood fire? Also, do you enjoy cleaning the chimney and/or running the risk of a chimney fire? Do you enjoy spending money on wood processing equipment?

If you answered yes to all these questions, please continue burning wood :)

 
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Post by franco b » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 10:39 am

You will also carry in about half the weight and bulk, by using coal.

 
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Post by lzaharis » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 10:49 am

It sure is nice to chat with someone from the sugar beet country of Michigan.

One thing you should consider is how versatile a wood and coal stove should be, would be for you especially in a power outage as a coal stove with a blower could not be used unless you have a power source like a generator.

US Stove has the Wonderluxe 1060 wood and coal circulator that is firebrick lined and has shaker grates and is rated at 106,000 BTU and is rated to heat 1,800 square feet.
I am not sure if the Wonderluxe has a cook top under the cover to enable you to make hot meals in the event of a power outage.

The US Stove company also has the Ashely wood and coal circulator model that is rated for 117,000 BTU and heats 2,000 square feet and it has a cook top under the cover and an optional blower.
The Ashley model "does" have a cook top under the cover.

 
Shaun643
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Post by Shaun643 » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 11:50 am

Lightning wrote:
Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 10:35 am
Well that's up to you. Do you enjoy cutting, splitting, stacking then again moving wood? Are you home in intervals to feed the wood fire? Also, do you enjoy cleaning the chimney and/or running the risk of a chimney fire? Do you enjoy spending money on wood processing equipment?

If you answered yes to all these questions, please continue burning wood :)
I do have all the stuff to do wood and I would sell my wood splitter as I would not need it I would keep all my saws tho. The whole part about being around to tend the fire is my issue iam gone from the house a minimum of 12 hours when working. I do enjoy dealing with wood just don't have the time anymore. I understand it's my choice and it comes down to is how much my time worth. Thank you for the imput

 
Shaun643
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Post by Shaun643 » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 11:51 am

lzaharis wrote:
Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 10:49 am
It sure is nice to chat with someone from the sugar beet country of Michigan.

One thing you should consider is how versatile a wood and coal stove should be, would be for you especially in a power outage as a coal stove with a blower could not be used unless you have a power source like a generator.

US Stove has the Wonderluxe 1060 wood and coal circulator that is firebrick lined and has shaker grates and is rated at 106,000 BTU and is rated to heat 1,800 square feet.
I am not sure if the Wonderluxe has a cook top under the cover to enable you to make hot meals in the event of a power outage.

The US Stove company also has the Ashely wood and coal circulator model that is rated for 117,000 BTU and heats 2,000 square feet and it has a cook top under the cover and an optional blower.
The Ashley model "does" have a cook top under the cover.
If I switch to coal it will be coal only that way I don't need to worry about wood at all. Where are you located?
Also I don't use blowers so not worried about a blower or not. Even in my broken up house I get heat around fine. We lose power alot so I don't like anything electric to worry about.
Last edited by Shaun643 on Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 11:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 11:53 am

If you are looking for long burn times, coal will do that for you. It will also eliminate any creosote in your chimney and practically eliminate the risk of a chimney fire.

I am a big fan of the Hitzer line of stoves.


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 12:10 pm

Since you work 12 hours a day I would think that time is a valuable commodity. Look at all the time you'll have extra by not processing wood. If you still love handling wood, sell it to buy coal.

If you get a coal stove that's slightly oversized for your heat demand you'll enjoy long burn times and won't have any trouble heating when it gets really cold out. In the fall and spring I occasionally skip a 24 hour tending and let it run 48 hours without any problem recovering the fire.

People who use the Hitzer 50-93 say they are a great stove for ease of use and heating ability. The hopper makes tending easy and fast.

 
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Post by archangel_cpj » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 12:12 pm

Where you are located that's a tough call... I used to live in Northern Wisconsin where wood was nearly free and everywhere save the work... I'm in NC Ohio now and I went to all coal because I get it delivered for 230 a ton and put it into a gravity wagon... Burn time was my biggest decision I work 12 hour shifts and had no chance getting my stoves to go that long and after a long EMS night a 50 degree house was no fun to come home to.. If you have a stove you can fill up and has a high capacity and if wood is free save labor coal may be a hard sell for you... If you dont want to cut wood anymore or you gotta pay for it and you're gone too long during the day coal is a good bet....

 
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Post by Sunny Boy » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 12:40 pm

Wood is cheap here, and we get occasional winter power outages, too. But, lots of people are switching over to the less work and much longer steady burn times of coal stoves.

Within the past 5 years we have gained four coal dealers within ten miles of here and they are all busy selling coal.

Paul

 
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Post by scalabro » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 1:01 pm

10,800 lbs (4.5 pallets is 270 40lb bags) is a lot of coal. I think you will find it hard to push that amount of black rocks through one hand fired per winter.

Do you really need to heat the house 270+ days a year?

 
Shaun643
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Post by Shaun643 » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 2:49 pm

scalabro wrote:
Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 1:01 pm
10,800 lbs (4.5 pallets is 270 40lb bags) is a lot of coal. I think you will find it hard to push that amount of black rocks through one hand fired per winter.

Do you really need to heat the house 270+ days a year?
. That part iam not 100% sure of how ever I do know I figured 273 days of heating at a guess of one bag a day being used that's what iam unsure of is how much will be used a day. Iam sure their will be at least 2 maybe 3 months where I will not use a whole bag. I would rather have the coal and not need it. If I were to order coal I can only do it once no ordering another pallet because iam low or out. That's how my dealer near me is.

 
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Post by CorrosionMan » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 3:23 pm

scalabro wrote:
Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 1:01 pm
10,800 lbs (4.5 pallets is 270 40lb bags) is a lot of coal. I think you will find it hard to push that amount of black rocks through one hand fired per winter.

Do you really need to heat the house 270+ days a year?
Ummm, not so true. Last year I burnt 11 TONS (yes tons) in my Hitzer 82FA.

 
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Post by Odyknuck » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 6:45 pm

I switched over to coal this season after dealing with Wood for 12 years and I have no regrets. So nice just to shake the grate and throw a bucket of coal in the hopper and walk away for 12 hours. No more back breakin labor intensive wood. No more dragging it out of the woods. No more trudges thru the snow in the middle of the winter to bring a load down to the basement. No more Bugs to deal with. No more smokin up the basement and house. No more chimney fires. No more climbing on the roof in the middle of the winter to clean out the stack. Need I go on lol.

 
Shaun643
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Post by Shaun643 » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 6:53 pm

Odyknuck wrote:
Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 6:45 pm
I switched over to coal this season after dealing with Wood for 12 years and I have no regrets. So nice just to shake the grate and throw a bucket of coal in the hopper and walk away for 12 hours. No more back breakin labor intensive wood. No more dragging it out of the woods. No more trudges thru the snow in the middle of the winter to bring a load down to the basement. No more Bugs to deal with. No more smokin up the basement and house. No more chimney fires. No more climbing on the roof in the middle of the winter to clean out the stack. Need I go on lol.
Lol I get it. I definitely can understand how nice coal would be.


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