Using coal in a woodstove

[greatwhite]

Yes they have 5 bags left. Leave me one I forgot to grab one.

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[rf2]

I passed by there on Friday and got 6 bags. They have a skid of it out front. Can't wait to try it out in the woodstove. Thanks for your help on this btw.

[greatwhite]

Great, let me know if you get it burning maybe a few pics

I passed by there on Friday and got 6 bags. They have a skid of it out front. Can't wait to try it out in the woodstove. Thanks for your help on this btw.

[rf2]

So I stayed at the cottage Saturday night. It was -12 °C. I arrived later than I wanted, so it was a mad rush to get the place heated enough for me to go to bed. I started a wood fire and let it burn down to hot coals, then started adding the actual coal. It was a bit of a process, but after about an hour, I had a good coal bed going.

I found that once I added coal, the heat output would drop for a while, I guess while the new coal would get lit up. I think I put the last load on at around midnight, and it burned until about 5:30 a.m. I think this was my fault as I left the flue and air inlets wide open to make sure it stayed burning, and I wanted as much heat output as possible, since it was still pretty cold in parts of the cottage. At 5:30 I had to throw some kindling on and then add more coal. I also threw a couple of pieces of hardwood on top because I wanted to make sure the coal bed got going. This seemed to work well, as it was pretty warm by 7:30 when I actually got up. Overall, I don't find the heat output as intense with coal compared to wood, but it definitely burns longer and more evenly, despite my error in leaving the air wide open. One thing I did notice was a complete lack of smoke or smell once the coal bed is going well, so it does seem to burn much more cleanly than wood.

I'll have to keep experimenting to try to optimize how I operate the cookstove with coal, but overall, I'd say using coal was a success. I've never stayed in the cottage overnight with the temperature so low, so the fact that I was able to do it and remain comfortable, and not have to get up every couple of hours to put wood on the fire was encouraging.

[js4fn]

Remember how to put coal out in a emergency. Keep lots of ash. Or sand kill the air.

[rf2]

Remember how to put coal out in a emergency. Keep lots of ash. Or sand kill the air.

Thanks for the tip. I have a big fire extinguisher that I assumed would do the job, but I guess I should keep a pail of sand handy. To be honest, it seems like it would be easier to extinguish a coal fire than a wood fire in my stove, and the coal fire doesn't seem to present a danger of getting out of control like a wood fire could.