Anyone here heat with wood/hard coal?

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Hello and my brothers new house out east; has a woodburning fireplace and a top and front loading HITZER hard coal stove for his garage. Its 3 bay garage also, and how many folks here heat with a hard coal stove/boiler? My father's HITZER will burn soft or hard coal. I dont mind coal heat as we grew up with a HITZER stove in the house(re lined it few times with new firebrick but still pumps out heat). My father used to use soft coal around time when I was couple years old; but got tired of the slag, boney and clay that was in it. Now he get his hard coal from local yard bout 20 miles from his house.


let me know who heats with wood and or coal or both. My neighbor just got a whole tri axle load of cherry, ash, red and white oak, and hard maple logs for like $300. My dad gets the same from his friends dad that owns a lumber mill.
 
My Vermont Castings Vigilant is set up for wood. I got several free bags of coal from someone who found it in their basement, I sometimes chuck a handful in.
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My in laws search high and low for tree length, and don't save much money doing it. (Maybe the "wood guys" can cut/split more efficiently than they would?) I buy mine cut split and delivered, go through about 2-3 cord per winter. My wood guy always gets a great mix of 80% oak, some maple, ash and birch. Don't start burning it until the nights are about 15-20 degrees or I roast myself out of house & home. A #2 oil boiler takes up the slack with baseboard heat.
 
I heat with a Jøtul woodstove. My wood is all found from neighbors, road side, and also Apple from a local orchard.
 
I had a pot belly stove in the house for 15 yers and then a Kodiac wood stove. So I burned wood for 25 years. As far as woods..Obviously there is Oak and then there is Oak.

My days of wood burning are over.
 
99% of my heat comes from coal, fine PA anthrecite. Our house, 2400 sq ft ranch (w/basement), is all electric and our electric bill would be un affordable (electric baseboard). It costs about $400-600 yearly to heat (3-4 tons). It is about 20 minutes of work, twice a day. I supplement with wood, at the beginning and end of season and when I'm off during the day.
 
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Yeah, thats one thing I always loved bout growing up in a coal heat house, the hard coal was reasonable and now my dad will mix some soft nut coal with his hard coal.

adam
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
My Vermont Castings Vigilant is set up for wood. I got several free bags of coal from someone who found it in their basement, I sometimes chuck a handful in.
27.gif


My in laws search high and low for tree length, and don't save much money doing it. (Maybe the "wood guys" can cut/split more efficiently than they would?) I buy mine cut split and delivered, go through about 2-3 cord per winter. My wood guy always gets a great mix of 80% oak, some maple, ash and birch. Don't start burning it until the nights are about 15-20 degrees or I roast myself out of house & home. A #2 oil boiler takes up the slack with baseboard heat.


eljefino,
I lived in Bath, Me for 10 years in the 60s and 70s and I had two wood stoves. I normally used about 6 full cords a year. My house had a oil fired boiler, but with the cost of oil then rarely used the boiler. As you know, wood burning is an art form in Maine. Now I have all electric baseboard heat, Here in the heartland it's cheap by comparison, quite, clean, no drafts, and very comfortable. I do have a place for a stove in the kitchen and have often thought a small cute stove would be fun to have on our colder days but my wife doesn't want the mess.
 
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Grew up with a wood stove. Man those summers of cutting, splitting and hauling wood sure didn't enjoy it then but miss it now. If I lived out in the country I'd get one where I'm at now in the city wouldn't be allowed. I will say the wood stove kept my parents house warmer than the electric heat pump they have now.
 
I just loaded the Defiant with 3 pieces of hand split cherry. Tig 1. I spent the winter 0r 66-67 in Bath attending the Hyde school.
 
Originally Posted By: andyd
I just loaded the Defiant with 3 pieces of hand split cherry. Tig 1. I spent the winter 0r 66-67 in Bath attending the Hyde school.

Really! I was still in the Navy then(64-67)- stationed at NAS Brunswick in VP-11. I married a girl from Bath(still married to her) and lived in an upstairs apartment just a few blocks from Hyde school. Later in about 77 My 3 kids attended a summer school dance and play program at Hyde school which was designed for local kids from the town. In the 70s I worked at BIW in Bath
 
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I have a friend who lives in Bath, ME in housing constructed for the WWI shipbuilding boom. They lit huge bonfires mid-winter so they could melt frost and put in proper foundations. Then they built sturdy duplexes from brick and slate roof! He has a "Krupp" cast iron sewer pipe he's proud of, they put quotes in because we didn't like the Germans at the time. He also has a long-abandoned gas meter from CMPco, the electric utility. They haven't piped gas in many decades!

They had another housing boom for WWII but those houses were total wood construction junkers compared to the existing brick ones.
 
Thanks for the replies and honestly I wish I could have a nice bonfire made out of railroad ties, or big logs kinda like Shermans army did in the waining days of the civil war.

adam
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
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I have a friend who lives in Bath, ME in housing constructed for the WWI shipbuilding boom. They lit huge bonfires mid-winter so they could melt frost and put in proper foundations. Then they built sturdy duplexes from brick and slate roof! He has a "Krupp" cast iron sewer pipe he's proud of, they put quotes in because we didn't like the Germans at the time. He also has a long-abandoned gas meter from CMPco, the electric utility. They haven't piped gas in many decades!

They had another housing boom for WWII but those houses were total wood construction junkers compared to the existing brick ones.


I know where those houses are in Bath. Bath is a great town to live in and to visit.
 
We do about 95% of our heating with "free" wood from our property or friends. Our first year wasn't much fun as we had much to learn, but now its ok. Takes maybe 10 minutes a day to bring in wood and load the stove 2 or 3 times.
I even split by hand still as we only need around 3 cords a year. I got a tractor this year so the plan now is to palletize the wood as soon as its split and then just move the pallets from the woods to the house, which will save the trailer loading and unloading steps.
 
ridgerunner,

Do you cook on your stoves? Also is that a modern air tight version, or an older stove?
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
ridgerunner,

Do you cook on your stoves? Also is that a modern air tight version, or an older stove?


Before I got married I cooked on it more than I do now. I still use it to heat up soup, water, etc. on it in the winter. I've used it to can venison and even cooked a thanksgiving turkey a few yrs ago. It's an Amish made Kitchen Queen stove and is pretty air tight.
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I used to burn anthracite in a Hitzer stove, then I upgraded to an EFM coal stoker. I save about 60% compared to fuel oil and propane.
 
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