Hitzer 254

I recently bought a hitzer 254 hand fed coal stove and was wondering should I use bituminous or anthracite coal. I'm somewhat familiar with bituminous coal but have never used anthracite.
just curious as to the pro's and con's.

Anthracite burns long and hot and clean, almost entirely smokeless, also is clean to handle other than managing dust. Don't know about bituminous. I take it that both are available in your area??? (And what IS your area -- fill out your profile with at least general information, we don't need Google Earth coordinates. That may help us give advice.)

Thank you for the info on anthracite coal rberq. And yes both types of coal are available here in Eastern Kentucky, although bituminous is more common. Excuse my ignorance in my profile as I am new to any forum or computers for that matter.

Also my home is 1200 square foot and air tight if this makes a difference.

You'll get a lot of smoke from bituminous and it requires more attention depending on the quality.

Yeah, that's kinda what I figured. Bituminous is more readily available here but I think I should pick up a few bags of anthracite and give it a try. What company makes a decent stove thermometer?

Rooster wrote: ↑

Mon. Nov. 05, 2018 6:11 pm

What company makes a decent stove thermometer?

Just Google "wood stove thermometer" and you will find plenty of magnetic stick-on thermometers starting at $12 or so. Most people put one on a "representative" single-wall spot on the stove, and another one on the stovepipe. There are no "right" temperatures, but it's nice to know the numbers that correspond to your comfort level. My stove pipe generally runs between 90 and 250 degrees, and the stove itself between 150 and 600 degrees. When burning anthracite there is no need to push the stovepipe temp up into the thermometer "safe" range because anthracite produces no creosote.

If you have special fire or chimney problems, or are obsessive-compulsive , you can get fancier and spend lots more money with probe thermometers. IMHO, that is usually overkill.

Thanks, I got one ordered. Was about $21 but I think it'll be worth it. Now to get more coal on the way lol.