Burning Coal

I heated my 2500' home in Littleton Co for 5 years with wood and coal, I loved it. Coal lasted all night and it heated our home well. I always purchased good lump coal.
 
I heated my 2500' home in Littleton Co for 5 years with wood and coal, I loved it. Coal lasted all night and it heated our home well. I always purchased good lump coal.
Ok, thanks everyone for the input on this. It sounds like the quality of the coal is important. I've got a small stash of wood and I'm going to pick up some coal to offset any shortage of wood.
dan1953 or anyone else, how do I know what good lump coal to look for? I don't even know where to start looking for this.
 
You want hard dark black low sulphur coal. There are some lighter colored coal that is low sulphur but it is not as common as the dark black low sulphur. Lignite lowest, anthracite next lowest but it has way more heat per pound so if y can get anthracite coal that would be the first choice. .
 
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I grew up with coal. My dad was a mine foreman. We heated the house with coal in south western Pa. For over night burning. Use the largest pieces. Takes longer to burn through. The smaller pieces for doing the day, when you are home to take care of it. Dump the ashes in your garden and spread them out, and till under. It's good fertilizer. Beware of coal dust. Throw small amounts in to use it up. But DO NOT throw a shovel full in. It's bye bye furnace worst case. When I was a kid. I threw in a shovel full and watched what happens with the furnace door open. When the dust ignited. It went with a BOOM. I walked up the steps from the basement, looked at my dad in his lazyboy. He was laughing so hard, I thought he pee'ed his pants. My mom looked at me, and started cussing my dad out. I had no hair on my face. The hair on my head was gone back behind my ears. And I was black faced.
 
😂 a young camp assistant I once had went to start his stove with Coleman. The blast blew the stove pipe out the stove jack and he had no eyebrows, hair like yours, and looked like he was sunburned. Only his pride was hurt and it still makes me laugh.
 
When we go to Chama New Mexico every year, there is a train station that the Cumbres & Toltec train stops at. There are tons of coal piled up there, since the train uses it for fuel. Occasionally we are in town when the train starts up or arrives, and if you catch a whiff of the smoke from the coal burning locomotive, it is quite strong, and reminds me of burning creosote. Not sure if they are using the same coal for fuel that you would be using. I understand there are two types basically, anthracite which is hard coal, and bituminous which is soft. Might make a difference in which is better for your application, or even which one is readily available.
I think it is more of a mess to handle than firewood leaving your hands dirtier than if you had just handled a chunk of firewood instead.
How would you buy the coal, by the bag or have a pile dumped in your back yard?? Seems it would be easier to find someone to cut and deliver a pile of firewood than have a load of coal delivered and stored.
 
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What does this have to do with long range hunting?
You have to stay somewhere when u are hunting and it is a whole bunch better when it is warm at night.

As far as coal being hard to transport we loaded it into peanut sacks about 50 lbs each. 200 pounds lasts a long g time.
 
OP you want coal from Indiana, Illinois or Kentucky. My dad , grandpa and about every relative of mine is or was a coal miner. I'm a half assed blacksmith and use coal in my forge. I get my coal from a coal testing facility nearby. I get 50-100 pound bags. You can tell the difference in coal from one mine to another.
We have several coal powered plants nearby. There is a lot of coal shipped in by barge from out west.
I think the difference between eastern and western coal is ours burns hotter but has more pollutants. West coal burns colder but cleaner. They blend the coal here and have scrubbers on the smoke stacks.
 
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