Paranoid
- CoalHeat
- Member
- Posts: 8862
- Joined: Sat. Feb. 10, 2007 9:48 pm
- Location: Stillwater, New Jersey
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1959 EFM 350
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harman Magnafire Mark I
- Baseburners & Antiques: Sears Signal Oak 15 & Andes Kitchen Range
- Coal Size/Type: Rice and Chestnut
- Other Heating: Fisher Fireplace Insert
It will take time. There are 3 separate fires burning here right now, 2 coal and 1 wood.Either stay there with the stove or keep a cheap egg timer next to it & take the egg timer with you if you leave the room with the ash door open. (set it for maybe 7-8 minutes)
I feel safer leaving with the coal burners going then the wood stove.
- tsb
- Member
- Posts: 2616
- Joined: Wed. Jul. 30, 2008 8:38 pm
- Location: Douglassville, Pa
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Binford 2000
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: LL Pioneer top vent
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Saey Hanover II
- Baseburners & Antiques: Grander Golden Oak , Glenwood # 6
- Coal Size/Type: All of them
Someone on the forum always stresses to make sure you chimney pipes are screwed good and tight and you abide by the stand off distances to a combustible surface. Even if the stove over fires, as long as nothing comes apart and there is nothing close by to ignite, you should be fine. I agree that a wood stove on the run is much worse than a coal stove. A coal stove you can open and dump a load of sand on the fire. With wood, shame on you if you open a run away stove.
If you've heated with oil before, think of all the bad stuff that can happen with vaporized oil, oil pumps, oil tanks, oil igniters, yada yada yada. After 30 years heating with coal, I never give it a thought anymore. I did get a CO detector for the first time this year. So maybe ---------
TSB
If you've heated with oil before, think of all the bad stuff that can happen with vaporized oil, oil pumps, oil tanks, oil igniters, yada yada yada. After 30 years heating with coal, I never give it a thought anymore. I did get a CO detector for the first time this year. So maybe ---------
TSB
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- Member
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Tue. Oct. 28, 2008 4:05 pm
Weird.
This is my first year heating with coal. I fired it up and, once it was finally going good ('nother boring story you've all read many times before ) I left the house without a second thought. Well, OK, I did think about it; I was pretty excited about returning and checking how the fire was doing, but I wasn't at all worried about any dangers.
I guess I'm a little too anti-paranoid, now that I think about it.
This is my first year heating with coal. I fired it up and, once it was finally going good ('nother boring story you've all read many times before ) I left the house without a second thought. Well, OK, I did think about it; I was pretty excited about returning and checking how the fire was doing, but I wasn't at all worried about any dangers.
I guess I'm a little too anti-paranoid, now that I think about it.
I'm totally over my paranoia now. I really only had an uneasy feeling the very first time after a reload. I didn't do it on a weekend cause I wasn't thinking. Up to that point in time I had been letting the fire die out. I was tweaking the boiler settings and getting it all figured out. At that time I figured if I had a camera and a few canaries, or just monitored the dogs, I'd be able to see if CO was getting in the house. Of course the dogs sleep so much all day they sometimes make the video look more like a still shot. A student saw the dog move his leg one time and that's when he realized it was video-not just a snapshot.(He was a new student and saw it for the first time that day) When all is said and done though, the ability to glance at my monitor at any time during the day-or hear the dogs bark if someone is delivering something is really comforting. Mainly just seeing the pups makes me happier-I don't feel so far away. Its more of a comfort deal than anything to do with security. Especially with my dog that's having weekly chemo-it's nice to be able to just see that she is OK. If you think about it there must be all sorts of ways they can be put to use. I mounted mine where the top and bottom window sashes meet. This allows me to look outside to the porch,driveway, and across the street toward my neighbor's house. I was just talking to my boy from San Francisco a few minutes ago. He was just checking in . When I saw the camera move I knew it was either him or my daughter. All I had to do was talk and he could hear me. He could nod yes or no by moving the camera up/down or side to side. Just an easy way to stay in touch. We do all the other stuff with video calling with Skype and windows live,too but this is justquick and informal. I have to remember to keep my clothes on though cause I usually just leave it on all the time.
I threw some wood into the boiler a few days ago and what a stinkin mess it makes with creosote inside the boiler and pipes especially when burning at idle. Messed up my nice clean boiler in no time, All I ever did was burn wood before and never gave it much thought. Wood is waaaay more dangerous as far as potential for fire than coal is. Not even close IMO I think when you're new at things its always a bit more frightening. BTW, I have a good sized digital room thermometer near the couch so I can tell what the room temp is and judge how the fire is doing from that too. It amazes me that the room temp varies no more than 1 degrees all day unless the sun hits the thermometer directly. Only time the room temp changed was when it went from about 14 to 60 degrees in about 12 hours.
I just love browsing this forum. I'm akways learning something here or hearing an interesting idea. Been mainly burning in the Hitzer in the living room cause it is so much more efficient.
I threw some wood into the boiler a few days ago and what a stinkin mess it makes with creosote inside the boiler and pipes especially when burning at idle. Messed up my nice clean boiler in no time, All I ever did was burn wood before and never gave it much thought. Wood is waaaay more dangerous as far as potential for fire than coal is. Not even close IMO I think when you're new at things its always a bit more frightening. BTW, I have a good sized digital room thermometer near the couch so I can tell what the room temp is and judge how the fire is doing from that too. It amazes me that the room temp varies no more than 1 degrees all day unless the sun hits the thermometer directly. Only time the room temp changed was when it went from about 14 to 60 degrees in about 12 hours.
I just love browsing this forum. I'm akways learning something here or hearing an interesting idea. Been mainly burning in the Hitzer in the living room cause it is so much more efficient.