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Bulletin rc454
A GUIDE TO BURNING COAL IN YOUR FURNACE
Furnaces that are capable of burning coal usually
will burn both Bituminous and Anthracite coal. An-
thracite is perhaps the best coal fuel because of its
long even burn time, high heat output, and clean-
liness which make it a good choice for the home.
However, keep in mind it is a much more difcult
fuel to use, requires more care and patience, is not
so widely available, and is usually much more ex-
pensive than Bituminous.
SIZE OF COAL:
Most sizes of Bituminous Coal will work in a coal
furnace; for best results we recommend large “nut”
coal to small “egg” coal (1-3/4” diameter to 4” diam-
eter). When burning Anthracite, use “egg” or “bro-
ken” with sizes between 2-5/16” thru 4-3/8”. Note
that it is important to the long life of your stove to
buy coal which has been sized and cleaned. Clean-
ing insures removal of rocks and other minerals.
Never use coal smaller than 1” or larger than 5” in
diameter. Small sized coal will smother the re. Too
large a size of coal will not burn well.
STOVE OPERATION:
All coal res should be started with wood which will
allow the re to get hot enough to ignite the coal.
The best ignition res utilize dry pine or other resin-
ous soft woods as kindling, with hard wood (oak,
hickory, ash) added to increase the heat prior to ad-
dition of the coal.
Before starting the re, open the stove pipe damper
(if epuipped), turn the thermostat to high, open the
ash pit door and feed door, place newspaper and
nely split kindling on the grate, light the paper, add
larger hard wood after the kindling is burning bright-
ly. CAUTION: Never use gasoline, lantern fuel, ker-
osene, charcoal lighter uid, or other ammable liq-
uids to start or freshen up a re in any heater. Place
the larger pieces of wood on the re so that they are
slightly separated and form a level for the addition
of coal. It will take 10 to 20 minutes before this wood
is thoroughly ignited. Adding coal too soon will cut
the air supply and smother the re.
BURNING BITUMINOUS:
Once your kindling and wood re has produced a
bed of well established coals, start adding coal in
layers allowing each to ignite before adding more.
Bituminous has a high volatile content and, as a re-
sult, should be red with the “conical method” - with
the highest portion of your re bed in the center of
the rebox. The rst ames will be long and gen-
erally orange or yellow and produce quite a bit of
smoke. As the gases burn off the ames become
shorter, change color and produce less smoke.
Once the re is WELL ESTABLISHED add coal to
the center of the rebox forming the cone. Burning
in this fashion allows heat to drive off the volatile
gases, and turbulence created increases the burn
efciency. There will have to be some experiment-
ing with the individual setup as no two chimney’s
or installations are going to be the same. Just re-
member to allow enough air to enter the rebox and
keep the stove pipe damper open so that volatiles
are properly burned. Before refueling, take the time
to break up the cone a little with a poker, especially
if it has caked over or formed a crust. But, be care-
ful not to mix the coal as this increases the chances
of forming clinkers. When shaking the grate(s) be
gentle. Just a few short movements - a couple of
“cranks” - is better than a lot of agitation. The objec-
tive is to remove a small amount of the ashes with-
out disturbing the re. Stop when you see a glow in
the ashes or the rst red coals fall into the ash pan.
Excessive shaking wastes fuel and can expose the
grate(s) to very high temperatures which can cause
warpage or burnout.
For overnight operation (long duration burn time)
shake the re and add coal, retaining the cen-
ter cone. Once the volatiles are burned off, close
the feed door and adjust the stove pipe damper, if
epuipped. Then adjust the thermostat to the desired
heat level.
More MAINTENANCE will be needed with bitumi-
nous coal than with anthracite coal as more soot will
collect on heating surfaces and in pipes, requiring
more frequent cleaning.
ANTHRACITE:
Add a thin layer of coal (preferably smaller chunks)
to the wood re, being careful not to disturb it too
much or cut off the draft. Then, add a second heavi-
er layer after the coal is ignited and burning well.
If necessary, add a third layer to bring the coal up
to the top of the front liner (not above!). Be sure to
close the ash door.