Question About Bituminous

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Wisneaky
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Posts: 3
Joined: Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 11:15 pm
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Shelter SF2631

Post by Wisneaky » Mon. Sep. 14, 2015 1:14 pm

Hello, I'll give you a little background first. I have a Shelter brand wood coal furnace it has shaker grates and over fire draft inducer with ash pan spin draft. I burnt some anthracite last winter. First time burning coal was last winter. I had a heck of a time at first, but with lots of reading on here I finally got the draft figured out and it burnt great. I found two places by me this year that have bituminous for about half the price of anthracite. One place has Kentucky coal and other place has rom from Illinois. My question is which one is better to burn? Also how much difference is there from the lighting and refilling of anthracite vs bituminous? I live in town so it bituminous really Smokey when burning, say more Smokey than wood? I've got neighbors close by which so far don't complain about the wood smoke. Thanks everyone.

 
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SWPaDon
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Posts: 9857
Joined: Sun. Nov. 24, 2013 12:05 pm
Location: Southwest Pa.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Clayton 1600M
Coal Size/Type: Bituminous
Other Heating: Oil furnace

Post by SWPaDon » Mon. Sep. 14, 2015 2:48 pm

Welcome to the forum.

The Kentucky Lump coal will be better than the Illinois ROM. The ROM will have lots of fines in it and that makes for a lot more work to keep burning. Bit coal will produce smoke, especially when first getting a new charge to light. Sometimes the smoke can be quite thick as the volatiles are burning off, and you may get complaints if you have close neighbors. Anthracite doesn't smoke (as you probably already know).

The burn characteristics are very different between Bituminous and Anthracite. I need to tend my fire every couple of hours to keep it burning well. Anthracite users on here tend the fire every 12 to 24 hours, depending on outside conditions.

Hope this helps, Don


 
Wisneaky
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Posts: 3
Joined: Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 11:15 pm
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Shelter SF2631

Post by Wisneaky » Mon. Sep. 14, 2015 3:15 pm

Thank you for your reply. I may just buy a little bit of it to give it a test run first. I bought my anthracite from an Amish guy last winter, but I see Tractor Supply has Kimmel coal this year for a lower price.

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