New rules for 2020 stoves

Not anthracite coal stoves...”clean coal”...they are exempt by nature of clean burn at all stages of the burn cycle. At least for now...

Just one reason I’m giving coal a try...that and the amount of heat it puts off.

Anthracite stoves can be idled so you can put your hand on top of your stove with even lower temperatures in the chimney...with no creosote worries, unlike wood stoves. Anthracite is gaining ground and popularity....just like it burns....slowly if you want it to.

In your neck of the country anthracite likely would cost you half of what it costs me where I am. It’s still cheap when you consider it gives close to double the btu’s of wood when figured per pound and when you figure you’re time and associated costs of buying/ cutting wood.

 

Sounds like the diesel saga, anyone want to buy a "emissions " delete kit ?...................................

 

Given the “green teams” assault on coal they’d have shut anthracite down long ago if they could...and they tried and succeeded to a large extent, but it burns clean enough that they can’t seal the deal on it. The word is getting out and it will continue thanks to the internet. When “they” started this assault on all coal the internet hadn’t yet been born and the media was controlled by the same people who rule it now. The internet has given people a voice they couldn’t get through the media and politicians.

Anthracite has long been the best fuel for heating homes considering btu/cost in comparison to other fuels. It’s not a renewable resource, like wood, but there’s a vast supply. So much so ( in reference to btu/costs), that even what most consider modern technology in modern wood stoves, because of the computer, has in fact been borrowed (catalysts excluded) from the best anthracite stoves of the days already long gone...1885-1920. The stoves of that era...for anthracite coal...were 135 years ahead of their time...all without the aid of a computer...an none of the modern anthracite stoves today can even come close to the stoves of that time. Do some research, join the Coalpail forum, and speak to the men that still use and collect/restore these stoves and those that study them and know them best. The designers/engineers from that era were superior thinkers...just like our forefathers were.

 

Not yet...but since some less than honest manufacturers are now using the coal "loophole" to continue selling their same tired old wood burning smoke dragons by calling them coal burners, I'm sure the EPA will be coming for those too soon...they're just further down the list since there aren't that many people in the country burn coal for heat still...

 

Agreed...but it’s already happened that I know of. Maybe I’ve forgotten a few manufacturers, and I probably have. That said, Hitzer no longer advertises coal stoves that burn wood. Harmon sold their coal stove lines to Legacy...the parent name is different...I’ll find it shortly and edit my post.

EDIT:
Alternate Heating Systems...AHS/ Legacy now markets Harmon’s old coal stove models.


DS Machine had to quit advertising combo stoves...wood/coal...still advertise dual fuel as in anthracite/ bituminous coals. They, DS Machine has since started building wood stoves or at least adding secondary burn systems in their stoves...which come 2020 will likely be hit by the regulations for not having burn tubes AND a catalyst to burn wood smoke...as a hybrid stove. Buck no longer advertises a coal/wood combo, but they do sell two coal only stoves. There may be others I have missed. Oh yeah...Englander dropped anything to do with coal. The rest of the anthracite burners are sold just for that, or are long gone out of business.

 

Thanks guys! I am going to check out Coalpail, might be something to consider.

 

Even anthracite is far from clean. It's emmisions are actually much more dangerous than wood emmisions. The only reason they are not regulated is the fact that it make up such a tiny market share it isn't worth the money to regulate them. And yes you can turn down a coal stove that low if you don't mind stalling your draft and the resulting co poisoning.

 

No disagreement from me. The EPA regulates it, not me. Many shouldn’t run there stoves that low for the reasons you stated. Others know what their chimney is doing...by the numbers.

 

If you are running a coal stove low enough that you can put your hand ontop of it there is no way it is making enough draft to consistently evacuate the very dangerous gasses released by coal.

 

I don’t mind if you think I’m a liar...or don’t want to believe what I wrote.


You don’t want to believe what I wrote, that’s fine. Don’t bother reading this link because it’s not for you.


Below is for people who actually care if what I wrote had any resemblance of truth in it.

I personally know some of these people...and many are retired and have no reason to lie to anyone. I respect them for there word, their character, and to write an honest answer and to give honest help when it’s needed.
Low and slow: How low have you been? | Hand Fired Coal Stoves & Furnaces Using Anthracite | Coalpail.com Forum

Not disagreeing there could be some risk involved. Just don’t ever say never. That’s why I said some know what their chimneys are doing by the numbers.

“It ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up.” -Dizzy Dean

People of good character don’t tell lies...if they said they can lay their hand on it, then it is what it is. If they have numbers, those numbers don’t lie. That’s called...backing it up.

Are their risks involved? Absolutely! Better know what you’re doing. Then again, the stove I laid my hand on was in an Amish store...no gadgets, no gizmo’s from which to gather numbers...no one laying dead on the floor....no blisters, just smiles.

Stay safe out there sweeping those chimneys!

 

I never said it couldn't be done. Just that it shouldn't be done. To do that you would be running so close to the stall point the risk of a problem is extremely high. You can do lots of things and many times you can get away with doing stupid stuff for a long time. Other times it goes wrong and people can get hurt or killed.

This stuff is no joke we are talking about people's houses and lives.

 

Agree with the concern. I said earlier, “Many shouldn’t run there stoves that low for the reasons you stated.” Meaning, if they don’t know what they’re doing. Most coal burners have a real good idea and have been burning for longer than you or I have been alive. Lots of people I’ve read posts after, talked to and met have multiple alarms in place, as well as often times having the tools to check the draft in their chimneys. I’ve not seen any of those tools in use with the Amish and still they manage...I laid my hand on one of their stoves.

Yes, things can and do happen, but you and I are nearly powerless to change any of it.

It was your “...hand on top of it...no way it is making enough draft consistently”...that I wanted to clarify. It can and is done...more than we think...and often times safely...as many of these folks give witness to.

As far as the “stupid stuff”...and “other times it goes wrong “...that’s with anything in life. People fall through roofs every year and are killed or maimed...yet everyday roofers and sweeps go about their work on top of homes. Many things in life are calculated risks.

Most roofers and sweeps are pretty intimate with their work...they know the job and risks...and what to look for in getting up their to do their work. Still,!things happen...no matter how much things are regulated.

Coal burners...are not much different that I have found. They are either new to it, have gained the knowledge and tools to do it safely, or have done it for years. The rest of us burn wood.

Brenndatomu, I think it was a few threads back made the statement on this forum...paraphrasing...that he felt wood stove manufacturers should include with each model stove they sell a set of draft parameters that the stoves can safely and efficiently be run at...some numbers as hard data to go by. I agree with his comments, and I hope I didn’t mischaracterize his comments,, but I agree with that 100%. It’s only a guideline though. What people do in their homes is up to them...as it should be.

If we’re not careful in this country we’ll sit back on our haunches, without even realizing what is going on, and we’ll let the gov’t regulate freedom right out the door. That is, people will vote it right out the door...some people.

 

I have no issue at all with people who choose to take those risks. I do take issue with people telling others they can do things that carry lots of risk without pointing out the serious potential safety risks involved.

 

And the rest of them are dead!
What's the old saying..."You don't know what you don't know"?
If someone comes on these forums and reads about all this "low n slow" coal with "safe to touch" flue pipes, then goes and puts a coal unit in, what's to keep them from stalling the draft and waking up dead?
Very well may be what happened to that young couple (and their dog) in central Ohio a couple years back...I dunno, never heard any details, other than it was a new install.

 

You’re smarter than that brenndatomu. You know it and I know it. Wood too wet clogging a chimney can present the same thing...death. Doesn’t matter how it happens, poisonous gas or a house fire....death is just that.

 

So because other things can kill you there is no reason to worry about the dangers of what you mentioned. That makes complete sense.