Tried coal in our coal fireplace.

[Shrimpdip]

Hello all,

I'm another old house web castaway. I thought I'd post about an experiment we tried over the weekend. I found a place close by that sells bagged coal. I bought a bag of nut sized and a bag of stoker sized coal. I started the fire with hickory and slowly added the nut sized coal. Once that was going I slowly added the stoker coal in a pile. I only filled the basket a third but it was plenty of heat for the room. I had to poke it every once and a while to clean the ash from the bottom of the basket. I'm sure it has been quite some time since the fireplace was used the way it was designed. My wood supply is dwindling so I will start using the coal if we will be staying home for the day. It burns a lot longer than wood. Once it was going it didn't smoke or smell. We aren't trying to heat the house with it, but it is nice to have a fire in the fireplace on occasion. I did make sure we had some carbon monoxide detectors in the house.



Aaron

[mattswabb]

Nice fireplace. I like the tile. My neighbor down the street burns coal and whenever he has a winter get together everyone hangs out in that room. It puts off a lot of heat.

[1880 stick (WavyGlass)]

Hey Shrimpdip...i am glad you brought this up. I have been pondering over this for the last several months... We have two coal burning fireplaces, the one if the foyer has been sealed ( for now) but the one in the parlor hasn't. The fireplace that is or will be operational is only 12 inches deep, does not have a flue and will need to have stainless liner.

I have been looking on line at the gas "coal" inserts and while they are very nice... everything is behind glass and kind of ruins the effect. This would not be used as a main source of heat but it would be nice in the winter time to have a fire every now and then... I would just like to talk to someone about it to see what my options are and if it is really as dangerous as everyone says... Anyone know of anyone who would know the pros and cons of this?
scott

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[Daniel Meyer]

Gorgeous fireplace!

[Lauren674 (WavyGlass)]

That fireplace is beautiful! What makes a fireplace a coal fireplace? Can I use coal in my regular fireplace? why is is more dangerous...

[CS in Low Hud]

That's pretty awesome... I always wondered what a coal fire would be like to sit beside. When I was a kid, I had friends who still heated with coal, but those were furnaces. Must be great in a fire place!

Chris

[Shrimpdip]

Thanks everyone for the compliments! I should first start off by saying that while this worked for me your mileage may vary. I am not an expert on burning coal or fireplaces and you should check with an expert fireplace / chimney person, you assume all risks, code requirements bla bla bla.......

What I've been told is a coal fireplace is very shallow. The coal basket is only 9" deep front to back. It is also pretty narrow. The front of the opening is 23 inches wide and it narrows to 18 inches in the back. The bottom of the coal basket also sits a good 6 inches above the floor of the fireplace. Coal needs a lot of oxygen to burn so this height allows more airflow under the coal. The coal basket is made of heavy thick iron to withstand the heat. The coal was Pennsylvania anthracite. Bituminous or Lignite I have been told is easier to start but smokes quite a bit.

From what I have read you should not burn coal in a fireplace that was designed for wood. They are not designed for the amount of heat that coal gives off and could burn through your insert. Some chimney liners are not compatible with coal. A licensed chimney sweep should be able to tell you what you can burn or what the fireplace was designed for.

We looked into gas coals. The company said that even though they were ventless, they would suggest leaving the damper on the fireplace open. Another problem is that the coal basket is so narrow most burners won't fit. I also don't like the idea of them cutting the bottom out of my coal basket. The original summer cover wouldn't fit with a new insert.

Over the last couple years I have had four reputable chimney people come out to give me estimates and all four have inspected the firebox, smoke shelf and chamber and said the fireplace is in prefect shape with no cracks or missing mortar. The chimney is a straight shot up and they have inspected that and said that it is also in perfect working shape. All said to have it inspected and cleaned annually. All four could have had my business (money) but said that everything was in good shape. They also said to have a carbon monoxide detector on every floor since coal puts off a lot of carbon monoxide.

I always make sure that I clean out the fireplace before we leave or go to bed. I have a heavy duty ash pail that I can carry what is left at the end of an evening even if it is still hot out of the house. I never leave anything burning / smoldering in the fireplace overnight.

Like I said at the start, this has worked well for us. I would have someone knowledgeable out to check your stuff out before you do this.


I probably should have gotten rid of the dead poinsettias before taking the picture.

Aaron

[Sooth (WavyGlass)]

Wow, this is just wonderful to see. I love that the fireplace is in good shape and is being used exactly as intended (similarly to an antique oil lamp that's being lit for the first time in decades). As long as you're doing things safely (with your CO2 detectors, etc), it's even safer than back in "the old days" when they didn't even have those safeguards.

[historicalwork]

shrimpdip - have you confirmed or do you suspect your mantel is original? I attached a picture of our fireplace - very similar to yours. The firebox on ours 14" deep, 27" wide in the front and 23" wide in the back. There is a damper (with the arm to open on the right side facing the fireplace). I have gotten conflicting information from a few chimney companies about whether it was coal or wood burning. One was convinced it was coal burning because of the generally shallow firebox. And just above our mantel it appears the brick is only one course thick. He said that was a sign of a coal burning fireplace. I wish I knew for sure. We need to line it because so much of the mortar has crumbled (our house is 1905). I debated a wood stove backed into the fireplace but the mantel clearances make selection of a stove difficult. Then we debated lining for a fireplace but I don't want to waste our time if it won't operate as wood burning. I would appreciate anything you learned in these areas. And does your fireplace have an ash dump at the bottom? Ours was filled with concrete at some point. Thanks!

[Shrimpdip]

Hello,

I am pretty confident that the mantle is original. We even found a wooden crate of leftover green tiles in a crawl space off the basement. Thankfully not much had been done to the house over the years. Mine also has a narrow damper that runs the width of the fireplace with a Handle on the right that is notched so you can adjust how open or closed it is. The fireplace guys have pretty much agreed that it is a coal fireplace partley because the built in basket sits up high off the fireplace floor and the shallow depth and width. There is a small door in the base of the fireplace to dump the ash down. I cleaned 4 large wheelbarrows full of ash out of the clean out in the basement. There was coal and small pieces of wood amonge the ash so they probably burned whatever they had on hand after the boiler was converted to gas.

I had a supply of very short hickory logs and those burnt fine in it.

Aaron