Coal fireplace

[JacquieJet]

A friend of mine has recently moved into a fabulous 1880’s Italiante house, and she has a few cast iron fireplaces that were meant for coal.
She doesn’t want to get rid of the ornate inserts (which are original), so what are her options going forward? She really wants to have at least one “working” fireplace.
Apparently a previous owner was burning wood in one of the fireplaces... not sure how that was accomplished, as the fireplaces are so shallow!

Does anyone here have a coal fireplace? What did you do with it?

[Shrimpdip]

Depending on the size of the fireplace, there are gas burners with fake coals. You cut the bottom of your coal grate so the burner sits beneath and the fake coal looks to be sitting on the old grate. The ash cover should hide most of the guts. I plan on doing that with mine. It is either that or find a place that still sells lump brown coal.

[Manalto]

I have coal fireplaces, three of which were converted to gas space heaters many years ago. Fortunately, they're old enough so they're aesthetically pleasing. Another fireplace has gas "logs."

A neighbor told me that, before he installed central heating, he used the coal in his coal shed to heat the house and it worked very well. He didn't mention, nor did I think to ask at the time, if burning coal was dirty. I suspect it was.

[Shrimpdip]

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Here is a coal fire in ours. We still had some brown coal in the basement coal bins. I had just had the chimney repointed and swept so I had to try it out at least once. Started it with kindling and slowly put coal on top. Burned all day and heated the downstairs. I don’t remember it being any dirtier than the wood my parents used.

[Gothichome]

JJet, it sounds like your friend has rumford style fire places. Shallow firebacks but rather tall to the flew. I believe they were designed with the intent of burning coal, but just as well could burn wood.
As James and Shrimpdip mentions, inserts are available.
Good to see your post Shrimpdip. And a very nice fire place indeed.

[mjt]

We have 4 fireplaces in the main house that were originally coal burners. All 4 chimneys needed to be re-lined. Instead, we put gas inserts into three of them for the same cost as re-lining one chimney. The fourth was too small/shallow for an insert, so its chimney was blocked off. It is purely decorative now.

Relevant posts on my blog:

• Using the Right Tools
• Inserts - Part 1
• Inserts - Part 2
• Dining Room Fireplace - the one that's too small for an insert

[1918ColonialRevival]

Most coal fireplaces are too shallow to accommodate wood, but as others have said, many of them can be converted to gas without too much re-work.

As for burning coal, it's really no dirtier than burning wood. However, make sure the mortar in your firebox is in good shape and your flue is clear before attempting this.

[Manalto]

As for burning coal, it's really no dirtier than burning wood.

I mentioned this because the walls and ceiling of my house were covered in soot. When I got the place, the main heating source, located in the dining room, had been removed so I don't know what it was, but it was dirty.

[1918ColonialRevival]

As for burning coal, it's really no dirtier than burning wood.

I mentioned this because the walls and ceiling of my house were covered in soot. When I got the place, the main heating source, located in the dining room, had been removed so I don't know what it was, but it was dirty.

Where I grew up, everyone burned coal. The ones that had soot everywhere were the people who didn't clean their fireplaces/stoves/chimneys regularly. It seemed like we heard of at least a half dozen flue fires in the area every winter.

My favorite memory of coal heat was when I was in grade school and they fired up the coal furnace for the first time around one Halloween, not realizing that a large bird had built a nest right at the top of the chimney. The whole school filled with smoke and the kids who had asthma had a really rough time. Of course they didn't let us go home - they just opened all the windows and told us to drag our desks over close to a window.

Another cause of soot was all of the industry in the area burned coal as well for power, heat, etc. If there was any industry (particularly railroad) or mining anywhere near your house, that could be another explanation for the soot. My grandparents lived next to the railroad tracks and everything in their house had a layer of coal dust on it, courtesy of the open top hopper cars coming down from the mines.

[Manalto]

That's probably it; there's ample evidence that in that house maintenance was dismissed as another one of those fancy French words. The previous owner was an elderly lady who, I'm told, was in no condition anyway to take care of upkeep and apparently there was no one to do it for her. Whatever her source of heat, it was so filthy that I can't help but wonder if it contributed in some way to her demise.