BONE Warming....... COAL!
 

I had to switch to nat gas for my 95% eff. Condensate furnaces. I was on Propane, but my Son in law went to another company and the price went way up. ( my propane was 180-210/gal) The nat gas is WEAK, NO hot air, only warm..Only one supplier, who charges MORE, the more you use, Propane is opposite, Use more?, Pay Less/gallon. THis old house needs REAL heat. I hooked up a fairly small Coal stove ( hand fed). I get it started with some WV. Bituminous coal. ( same stuff they use at a power plant in the State) and then dump in the hard Pa. Anthracite. Nothing like 30 Million BTU/ton!! I use my furnace Blower only to circulate a couple times a day. My house is warm at 75 and Im lovin it!! Next is to hook one up in the garage with a coil and get the "pex" in the floor warmed up
Home heating oil hasnt gone down like gasoline has here.
Temp was MINUS 10 a few times already..
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...9&d=1421465620
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...0&d=1421465633

I've been heating with hard coal for the last 7 years. I pick up 2 tons at the breaker for $170.00 a ton. That's all I need for the winter. I have a 2700' rancher I keep nice and toasty with my stoker stove.:D

I've got Propane & Propane accessories.

Former next door neighbor installed Coal and it paid itself after the 1st Winter.

We heat exclusively with wood that I am able to obtain for free every year. Nothing like heating with a stove. You have to WANT to do it, but it saves lots of $$, and keeps us nice and warm.

So, the only reason I never used coal when heating with wood for 30 years was the smell. Nasty. I can only imagine what it was like when the entire country burned it. It is toasty though.

Anthracite does not smell and smoke like soft Bit coal does. Dealing with the ash is a pain though. everything ya wanted to know plus some is right here.
http://nepacrossroads.com/

King of the Hill ?
 

Well you must be Hank Strickland then .... :usa2:




Jim

You need to have your furnace converted back over for natural gas. Different orifice sizes, different gas pressures.

We have natural gas here. Granted it's not the greatest for heat but it's better than the alternatives. At least we're not paying thru the nose for fuel oil.

That would be Hank Hill, from Strickland Propane.

We moved to Texas.

I just want a place to warm myself after enjoying a day in the great out of doors, I don't want to live in the oven!!:D

you need to change orifices on your furnace when going from LP to NG

If that is what you like - I'm happy for you.

I have my thermostat set a 68 because I like it there. I'd be uncomfortable at 75.

In summer time, I set my thermostat at 75 for energy conservation purposes (I'd prefer 68, but don't want to pay the electric bill).

When I grew up, we had a coal fired boiler until about 1960. The whole family was glad to see it go away. I have no desire to go backwards for my heating system.

Paid 2.09 for Propane this week, 95% efficient, no maintenance, have a 7 day clock thermostat that controls the heat in the house all week long. Temp bumps to 68 before I get home in the afternoon and sets back at 10pm to 60 - stays there until the next afternoon all week long. On the weekends it's 68 during the day too unless we are going to be out & I set it back. Upstairs in the bedrooms I leave it at 63 all the time. I don't want to have to work on my heat when I get home - although wood & coal are toasty, they sound like a lot of work.

I have a wood stove and rarely have to use it. I burn old pallets that I get for free. Cutting up the pallets is a pain but sometimes a wood fire is nice. :-)

WE Burn Hard Anthracite coal, It is some work, but not that bad. Propane here is $3.00 a gallon, and I have a 95% efficient condensate furnace to run it. WE switched back to Nat gas, which actually sucks, the same furnace runs way longer cycles and its barely warm air. Propane Rocks..
We live in a river valley and its often damp, so the dry heat is nice. I use the furnace fan only to circulate the home air.
I wouldnt want a coal boiler, but the new ones, run automatic on hard coal, and the cheapest way to heat..
I have no smoke from my chimney, and no smell either..
Natural gas Prices Go UP when you use more
Propane prices Go DOWN when you use more
Stupid market with a monopoly ( Nat gas)

yeap

I paid less than $1.50 per gallon for my propane this year (I buy all my propane in September). But if they'd run natural gas to my development (I'm a little over a mile out of town), I'd switch to NG in a heartbeat. The cost per BTU delivered is much lower here.

I spent my money on a hi-eff boiler and ALL the insulation and draft improvements. Did those cellular blinds too. House is so comfortable and easy on the wallet

Meh, two months in the hundreds is nothing compared to two months at ZERO WITH SNOW ! :eek:

I disagree.

When it's cold out, you can still go outside and be active - you just need to dress appropriately.

When it's hot outside, you can take off all your clothes - but it's still too hot to be active.

Back when I used to compete in cross country skiing, I loved zero degree days. The perfect weather for a race.

Can you put a few pieces of coal in a wood stove?

Anthracite coal burns with a great deal of heat. It is known for burning the grates out of fireplaces, stoves which are not made for burning anthracite.

If you line a wood stove efficiently with firebrick it will save the stove from the higher heat of coal. My dad told me that years ago when everyone heated with wood and coal, they definitely used to throw some coal in with the wood fire to sustain a fire overnight.

I've seen some old cast iron stoves that were were designed to burn wood used to burn coal and they have sagged down the cast parts due to overheating/overfiring and lack of firebrick where it was needed.

In the early days of steel making anthracite blast furnaces were used to melt, pour and forge steel with so the capacity to melt steel is definitely there with coal.