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Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Sun. Nov. 15, 2009 8:51 pm
by cookies4meq
We have a Fisher woodburning stove. Old model. Can I burn coal in that stove or does it get too hot?
I am tired of cutting wood and it's getting harder to find as my area turns more suburban every year.

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Sun. Nov. 15, 2009 9:05 pm
by lowfog01
It depends - was your stove originally designed to burn both wood and coal. Typically, you can burn wood in a coal stove but can't burn coal in a wood stove. Coal needs an under fire source of draft to burn and a set of shaker grates so you can clear the ash periodically. Does your stove have these things? A coal stove will also have fire bricks inside. The under fire air source will be a dial or a slide bar on the lower half of the stove. It may also be on the ash pan door. A Coal stove will have an exterior shaker arm of some sort for you to shake the grates. If you do not have these two things or know of a kit which you can use to add them your wood stove will not burn coal. You probably can find the answers to these questions in your stove's user manual or on line. Good Luck, Lisa

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Sun. Nov. 15, 2009 10:22 pm
by rockwood
cookies4meq wrote:Can I burn coal in that stove or does it get too hot?
About the only coal you can burn in a stove like that is lump soft coal (large bituminous pieces of coal) and it's still going to be a pain getting the ashes out if you keep the fire going constantly. You can get a fireplace cast iron grate and set it in the stove but they don't last very long because ash builds up under them and they overheat and literally burn up in the fire. Like Lisa said grates, ash pit etc. is what you need for burning coal so I would look at replacing the woodstove with one designed to burn coal. As far as the stove getting too hot...it will only get too hot if you don't properly control the air/draft through the stove.

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Mon. Nov. 16, 2009 10:12 am
by CoalHeat
Welcome to the forum.

Sorry, can't burn coal in the Fisher, it's wood only. You need a grate and a way to feed air into the stove below the grate, as coal burns from the bottom up. I understand the firewood issue, I heated with wood using 2 stoves for 16 years. I still have the Fisher insert, still use it.

The amount of modifications involved to try to make it burn coal are extensive and with no guarantee it will work. Time to consider a coal burner! :D A good used coal stove can be found for a reasonable price.
FISHER 11-03-17.JPG
.JPG | 104.2KB | FISHER 11-03-17.JPG
There's a thread here about them:
Fisher Wood Stoves

Here's a Fisher manual if you need one:
fischermanual.pdf
.PDF | 682.4KB | fischermanual.pdf

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Thu. Nov. 19, 2009 6:07 pm
by smokeyCityTeacher
cookies4meq wrote:We have a Fisher wood-burning stove. Old model. Can I burn coal in that stove or does it get too hot?
I am tired of cutting wood and it's getting harder to find as my area turns more suburban every year.
If you don't mind treating your wood stove as disposable -- and its located in an area that can't burn the house down then the answer is yes - you can burn anything you want.

Last winter I beat the crap out of my Vogelzang boxer by constantly over-firing it and tossing in big lumps of coal to sweeten the pot.

It constantly glowed cherry red as did the stack pipe. The coal was not burnt efficiently, but enough to put out probably 150K BTUs on some nights!

All the gaskets are cooked and now the stove leaks like a sieve.

Even damped all the way down is eating thru wood like cotton candy :=)

Its mind over matter. If you don't mind then it don't matter ... you can burn coal in a wood stove.

The real questions is *should you* - or should you go find a used coal stove and burn coal right.

.....I get a kick out of seeing my wood stove glowing like Rudolph's nose on Chirstmas eve.

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Wed. Jul. 27, 2016 3:35 pm
by ronzander1
I had to laugh at the Post saying you can't burn coal in a Fisher stove. We have one in our cabin and the family has been doing that for over 40 yrs without incident, and even funnier is the fact that they posted a link to a Fisher manual that clearly tells you how to burn coal in those stoves on page 15? Hilarious...!!!

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Wed. Jul. 27, 2016 3:51 pm
by coalnewbie
Hmmm, 2inch clearance and you spent 40 years doing that. You obviously like pain, do you own a horse farm.

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Wed. Jul. 27, 2016 4:14 pm
by Lightning
cookies4meq wrote:We have a Fisher woodburning stove. Old model. Can I burn coal in that stove or does it get too hot?
I am tired of cutting wood and it's getting harder to find as my area turns more suburban every year.
It depends on what type of coal. As mentioned, big chunks of bituminous on top of a wood fire will work if it doesn't have a source for under fire air.

Anthracite needs under fire air to burn efficiently and effectively.

With both types you do need a shaker grate system to clear ash. Wood is only 1-2% ash. Coal is 10-15% ash (by weight). Ash needs to be cleared from the fuel bed at least once or up to 3 times per day or it will choke out the fire.

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Wed. Jul. 27, 2016 7:17 pm
by coaledsweat
Looking at the Fisher site shows two multifuel models, I believe the Charlston and the Denniston were the names of the stoves.

Just checked the manual and it says only sub bituminous. Anthracite isn't going to work.

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Wed. Jul. 27, 2016 7:48 pm
by freetown fred
I guess I was thinkin you could of shared your experience & methods burning in the Fisher. Guess you were to busy laughin?? Wouldn't hurt to complete fillin out your profile--promise, nobodies gonna steal ya.
ronzander1 wrote:I had to laugh at the Post saying you can't burn coal in a Fisher stove. We have one in our cabin and the family has been doing that for over 40 yrs without incident, and even funnier is the fact that they posted a link to a Fisher manual that clearly tells you how to burn coal in those stoves on page 15? Hilarious...!!!

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Wed. Jul. 27, 2016 10:07 pm
by warminmn
coaledsweat wrote:Looking at the Fisher site shows two multifuel models, I believe the Charlston and the Denniston were the names of the stoves.

Just checked the manual and it says only sub bituminous. Anthracite isn't going to work.
The Fisher model Im thinking of is called "coal bear". Kind of rare. I remember looking at pics and thinking it wouldnt be a great ant coal stove but would work, and be an decent dual fuel. A nice looking stove too. Fisher kept millions of people warm with their stoves of various designs at a reasonable price.

yes Ronzander, please give us some insight into how you made it work. We are all here to learn from each other.

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Sat. Jul. 30, 2016 12:15 pm
by ronzander1
Well, for the first thing we don't load it full of coal...but rather after building a nice wood fire we simply add 5-6 nice size chunks of good old black shiny wyoming coal (bigger than your fist, smaller than your head) and I'll add that our stove is in our cabin in Wyoming (and at 8500 ft alt where it can be 45F in the morning even in August...and this stove is only heat source) and contrary to all the horror stories, the stove isn't warped, its never turned glowing red, nor has anyone died of carbon monoxide either...and that despite having burned literally tons of coal over the years. This tove then keeps the entire place warm all night long and in the morning we have nice banked coals in there buried in the ashes that take at most a piece of newspaper to get then get some added wood burning to cook our breakfast. While I'm sure someone, someplace, and at sometime, has managed to burn their house down, ruined their stove, or had some bad experience, my inclination would be they likely were not all that bright...like most of the posters here obviously. Apparently most of those who replied have way too much time on your hands, or you simply got up and had your morning cup of azzhole before responding (based on the sarcastic and who the f**k are you to comment on our posts...attitudes that were hard to miss in several of those replies) and while I don't now...I did once own a horse farm (had a thoroughbred stallion & six mares...lots new babies each year) and I'm still laughing! I should add a "thank you" for the nice welcome to the board...and hope some of you get a real life one day...it's a big world out there and you may want to explore it and unless your happy simply mirroring the majority of the people out there these days...who in general must be from IOWA (Idiots Out Wandering Around) and oblivious to the fact that they really don't know sh*t about much of anything...which is generally revealed by their typical propensity to incessantly blabber online...and usually about things they are clueless about. So, that's more words than was necessary I guess...as a simple FYI (fu*k you idiots) would have sufficedhere, but do have a nice day!

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Sat. Jul. 30, 2016 1:19 pm
by StokerDon
Since your not going to answer the real question here, I'll do it for you so in the future other people reading this thread will understand.

The Fisher wood stove is apparently very good at burning sub-bituminous coal and will put out a great amount of heat. It will not work very well if you try to burn anthracite coal.

I'm glad your Fisher works for your situation and I wish you many more years of reliable service. Some of us get a little to caught up in the details, but really we are all just trying to keep our families warm for the least amount of money.

-Don

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Sat. Jul. 30, 2016 1:26 pm
by coalnewbie
IOWA (Idiots Out Wandering Around)
I like that one :D where is IOWA?
and oblivious to the fact that they really don't know sh*t about much of anything...which is generally revealed by their typical propensity to incessantly blabber online
You leave FF out of this, he is my friend ..... hahahahahhaa, damn I broke another rib. I am a riot.

Your refreshing comments are somewhat direct for us sensitive lads on the East coast .... hahahahhahahaha but you are very entertaining. Thx for your input.

Re: Burning Coal in a Wood Stove?

Posted: Sat. Jul. 30, 2016 1:33 pm
by warminmn
There are very few people on this site that burn that type of coal. Maybe our Alaskan friends do, and some lignite burners. And thanks for the friendly comments. I can tell we will learn a lot from you :lol: