Belleville Stove Co. Coal/Gas Range
Posted: Mon. Feb. 05, 2024 10:50 am
Hi--I am new here-- but I have been reading many posts on coal stoves and burning anthracite coal. I have this old cook stove that was made by the Belleville Stove Co. (St. Clair Stoves and Ranges) and it has been in my garage for about twenty years storing tools. I have decided to see if I can use it as a radiant heat source in the garage, although the fire box is a bit small. It seems in pretty good shape and complete, as far as I can tell, without any kind of history or operating manual. The right side with the oven is strictly a gas appliance with no ability to route wood or coal burning flue gas through for heating. The shaker grates are a triangular slotted type in a small firebox on the left. There is one air vent directly below the grates. No fire brick but heavy cast iron liners which are removable.
I put a five-foot long 6" stove pipe on it with a damper and set it up in the driveway to do a few test fires and learn how to light and control an anthracite coal fire. I have much to learn. Out of four attempts to light a fire only two resulted in a sustained burn. I know the flue is way too short to get a good enough draft to really work at controlling the temperature of the fire, but the air was cold enough on Saturday morning to get the draft going a bit and the fire did get pretty hot. It easily boiled water in a small coffee pot on the surface plates. The coal seems to burn well directly over the grates where the air can get up through, but each end of the fire box is about three inches longer than the grates and coal in there areas did not burn well or at all. I pulled out a lot of unburned/partially burned nut coal. Can these partially burned chunks be burned in a another fire? some pieces were hard and others broke apart fairly easily. Is there an online source for information on the St. Clair product line from Belleville Stove Co.?
I put a five-foot long 6" stove pipe on it with a damper and set it up in the driveway to do a few test fires and learn how to light and control an anthracite coal fire. I have much to learn. Out of four attempts to light a fire only two resulted in a sustained burn. I know the flue is way too short to get a good enough draft to really work at controlling the temperature of the fire, but the air was cold enough on Saturday morning to get the draft going a bit and the fire did get pretty hot. It easily boiled water in a small coffee pot on the surface plates. The coal seems to burn well directly over the grates where the air can get up through, but each end of the fire box is about three inches longer than the grates and coal in there areas did not burn well or at all. I pulled out a lot of unburned/partially burned nut coal. Can these partially burned chunks be burned in a another fire? some pieces were hard and others broke apart fairly easily. Is there an online source for information on the St. Clair product line from Belleville Stove Co.?