Do you burn coal?

My house was built in 1894, the foundation is 3 ft. of field stones. I have (had) a wood stove in the basement that I would fire up on Friday night and stoke all weekend. It was fine and by Tuesday is was warm and Wednesday it was out. Start again on Friday.

I switched to coal.

For the price of 5 cord of wood I can buy 6 tons of coal.

It was difficult up until Christmas, then I figured it out. The place is wicked warmer! The heat is even, consistant and not as harmful to the 3 X 8" beams, dryness.

Previous years I bought 420 - 440 gallons of fuel; oil fired, hot water baseboard. They just topped off the tank today at $3.79/gal. total use since Christmas?

198 gallons.

Half.

The place is warmer.

Coal comes in 40 lb. bags, not like 5 cord of wood dumped on the lawn. Easier. Cleaner. Doesn't kill the grass.

It's consistant heat

God I hate winter.

Dan

I burn pink flamingos to heat my house. They are cheap (cuz I steal them) and plentiful.

Nice comparison though, it's interesting to know that.

WTF is 'winter'?

We've thought about using coal to heat the garage. It's not fast to come by in NJ, but we make fairly frequent trips to coal country in PA. However, we already keep wood for the sunroom wood stove... Not sure where we'd store coal...

If I wanted coal, I'd either pick it on the side of the road or actively dig up the yard to heat this home. But for right now, I'll stick to the electric heat, which is coal powered anyways...

Heat? We're talking about this now?

DoctorBlade wrote: Heat? We're talking about this now?

why not? i'm already searching for a winter beater..

I just open a window for heat.

I got a pellet stove. 40lbs a day of wood pellets. The previous owner had a $500/month electric bill for heat in january. Mine was $250.

Stupid expensive CT.

The U.S. is the Saudi Arabia of coal. That's why coal is being banned. Enjoy it while you can.

We're also becoming the Saudi Arabia of natural gas and wind.

Right now I think natural gas is the cheapest heat available (aside from someone else giving you their waste heat!).

My dad called me a coalburner once... but that wasn't what he meant.

Most of us in this area have gas fired furnaces. Some older sections of Chicago still run oil or boilers.

There is a giant mountain of coal at the Midwest Power Generation stations near me. Rumor is we're going to die from the exhaust.

That could never happen as our government is watching this stuff and would never let that happen. Right?

Your post raises some interesting thoughts, but coal burning is ridiculously dirty... not only from an environmental perspective, but from a home-air-quality perspective. Just be careful how you burn it.

The house we just bought was heated with coal for a long time (up until the mid 70s if the vintage of our gas furnace is any indicator). Every single thing we do (replace windows, tear up floors, rewire electric boxes) is plastered with coal soot. Not just a little dusting, but caked layers of black stuff.

I just started re-finishing the dining room table we inherited from my great-grandparents. They lived 4 blocks from a rail yard. Every nook and cranny of that table is filled with coal soot. I remember great grandma bitching about how she had to dust every day.

chaparral wrote: We're also becoming the Saudi Arabia of natural gas and wind.

Amen, bro.

Coal is cheap, but so is a fat-laden happy meal. Cheap doesn't always equal good.

Curmudgeon wrote: WTF is 'winter'?

For SC, Winter is that cold, rainy, humid, depressive, suicidal time between Thanksgiving and Easter.

Up north, its that wonderful time where we practice our enhanced driving skills.

Really not sure that coal burning in a home is any worse than wood burning. Mostly having to do with how you do it. From your equipment to how well you maintain it to how well you run it.

My house is old, and is remarkably stained and sooted from the wood stove. Some of it I'm not at all sure what they did to get the soot the way they did.

Coal does burn long and hot. And in the bags, if you can get them, certainly is convenient.

curtis73 wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: WTF is 'winter'?

For SC, Winter is that cold, rainy, humid, depressive, suicidal time between Thanksgiving and Easter. Up north, its that wonderful time where we practice our enhanced driving skills.

Oh, you are referring to that wonderful time of year when there is no dust or bugs and the ground is all tacky, making knobbies stick like glue. Yeah, baby!

I've renovated several old homes that burned coal for years. The soot is inside the walls, in the ceilings, in the floors...everywhere!

In reply to 914Driver:

Where are you able to buy coal? I've been looking and can't find anyone in MO who sells it!

In reply to stroker:

In Michigan I can find it at some fuel oil dealers. Anthracite is always available with bituminous usually available. This autumn I am planning to fill a couple of metal barrels with it and keep it for an emergency.

We have natural gas heat and hot water. During the coldest month this year my bill was $170.

And now I've added even more insulation.

This thread makes me glad I also have Natural gas for water/heat/cooking.

Our Elks lodge here in Ouray, Colorado was built in 1905 and still uses coal to heat it in the winter, which for us, at 7700 feet is like late October to early May. The nearest source of coal is 95 miles away, and we have to go get it ourselves - no delivery anymore because so few buildings still use it. We need about 24 tons a year, which costs about $2400, counting the fuel to go get it. Luckily, two of our members have access to dump trucks.

In comparison, the natural gas company estimates that our annual bill for natural gas would be around $8000 - $9000, so we'll be putting up with the hassle for probably as long as the coal is available, or we are allowed to burn it. We have learned that good oiled anthracite is a lot cleaner than cheap coal, which will really dust the building.

Coal isn't a nice, clean fuel, but for our old, 8000 square foot building (brick with no insulation in the walls and not much in the attic), it's the only affordable option.

I use propane and wood for my well insulated house, which is at 9000 feet and does not have access to natural gas. My gas bill is around $1500/year, which includes cooking and hot water.

Wood is nearly free after the initial $2000 investment of an old pickup, some used chain saws and a really beat up log splitter.