Anyone else holding off on burning due to price?

Sylvesterd101 · Post by **Sylvesterd101** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 11:16 am

Just curious to see if im the only cheapskate here thats bearing the cold due to the massive inflation in anthracite price? usually i always start her up around the start of october or when it starts to get to the 40's regularly.. Even went back to a reduced firebox. its a shame but 540 a ton is no bueno.

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 11:35 am

S, I think fortunately, most of us have a decent stash of fire-wood or some kind of back up. I'm thinkin ya can't really do that with your boiler??? For myself, I pretty well knew this day would come & hopefully go----hopin you've got some sort of strategy!!! Nights been in the mid to low 30's & days mid to upper 40'sv here on the hill!!!

nepacoal · Post by **nepacoal** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 11:57 am

Sylvesterd101 wrote: ↑
Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 11:16 am
Just curious to see if im the only cheapskate here thats bearing the cold due to the massive inflation in anthracite price? usually i always start her up around the start of october or when it starts to get to the 40's regularly.. Even went back to a reduced firebox. its a shame but 540 a ton is no bueno.

I just got 4 tons of bulk rice delivered for $280 per ton yesterday. Stay away from the big mine operations for now and call around. The smaller operations are still between $200 to $250 picked up.

Post by **Rob R.** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 12:00 pm

I am holding off mainly to ensure that the coal I have on hand is enough to get through the winter. The house is a bit chilly in spots but nothing we can’t handle.

That Harman hand-fed boiler should do fine with some short fires with dry hardwood.

D-frost · Post by **D-frost** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 12:36 pm

Yup....'frugale' I am!!!!!! Burnin' wood 'til it gets real cold.......I'm gonna try to stretch this years coal supply to take some of the load off next year..we'll see how that works out. The Mrs. put the flannel sheets on the bed a month early...the Harman MK II doesn't reach the bedroom. "It is what it is"
Cheers

artbaldoni · Post by **artbaldoni** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 1:54 pm

I'm going back to wood in the outdoor boiler for this year. I need the exercise.

.JPG | 1.1MB | 20221012_162819_HDR.jpg

Idlorah · Post by **Idlorah** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 6:10 pm

Sylvesterd101 wrote: ↑
Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 11:16 am
Just curious to see if im the only cheapskate here thats bearing the cold due to the massive inflation in anthracite price? usually i always start her up around the start of october or when it starts to get to the 40's regularly.. Even went back to a reduced firebox. its a shame but 540 a ton is no bueno.

I see your located in Lehighton, who is your supplier thats selling for 540 a ton? I have been getting from Sherman, just picked up 2 ton today 200 per ton. I have my own dump truck, if you have room to store it in bulk I would be willing to haul a load in for you. You can private message me if you're interested.

-Isaac

tsb · Post by **tsb** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 6:14 pm

That's the spirit

BunkerdCaddis · Post by **BunkerdCaddis** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 8:37 pm

I don't normally fire up before November anyway, unless it gets particularly cold. The only room in the house getting heat right now is the bathroom so it's on the oil but it doesn't take much.

gaw · Post by **gaw** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 9:40 pm

Burning year round and glad it's not oil.

lincolnmania · Post by **lincolnmania** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 9:48 pm

I gave in and fired up the boiler on Oct 19th.
House was 68, oil furnace was running often, momma was cold.
Kicking myself for not installing a new heat pump last yr, installed an a/c only unit, price was right.

Post by **Rob R.** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 9:50 pm

lincolnmania wrote: ↑
Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 9:48 pm
I gave in and fired up the boiler on Oct 19th.
House was 68, oil furnace was running often, momma was cold.
Kicking myself for not installing a new heat pump last yr, installed an a/c only unit, price was right.

Have you noticed much of a difference from the pipe insulation?

lincolnmania · Post by **lincolnmania** » Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 11:38 pm

Rob R. wrote: ↑
Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 9:50 pm
Have you noticed much of a difference from the pipe insulation?

Yes. the basement is not so hot and the house is not over 80 degrees lol.
Right now the house is 72 and thermostat set for 70. was in the upper 50's today. currently 43. i would say it's working. No idea on coal savings yet. fired the boiler about 30 hours ago.

hank2 · Post by **hank2** » Fri. Oct. 21, 2022 12:59 am

Great set up, Scott!

I've been burning the oil and too much of it for the past month. I would have fired up my hand fired last weekend, but I wanted to get away for 2 or 3 days this week. Frost the last 2 nights and again tonight. Big warm up starting Sat. and all next week, 60's to 70's, so the coal will wait another week. I've been anywhere from Oct. 10 to Nov 10 for the past 12 years on hand fired. Last year, fire up was the end of Oct. and likely will be this year.

ASea · Post by **ASea** » Fri. Oct. 21, 2022 8:56 am

Sylvesterd101 wrote: ↑
Thu. Oct. 20, 2022 11:16 am
Just curious to see if im the only cheapskate here thats bearing the cold due to the massive inflation in anthracite price? usually i always start her up around the start of october or when it starts to get to the 40's regularly.. Even went back to a reduced firebox. its a shame but 540 a ton is no bueno.

I dont have a boiler, I did split up a bunch of wood I had cut a year or two back. I was using it in my fire pit. I saw the price of coal and know my stove does ok with wood this time of year so I dug out all the hard stuff and paid my twelve year old to split it. Most of it is Crabapple which seems to be pretty hard and burns beautifully. It was a bear to split! Nice and dry though. We had to use the diamond wedge on a bunch of it. If coal continues to go up I may buy a splitter and get a grappling load of hardwood.