Can You Burn Coal In A Wood Fireplace

Coal cannot be burnt inside a wood burning stove.

Can you burn coal in a wood fireplace.

Because coal burns so much hotter a masonry fireplace built to burn coal could also handle a wood fire but the wood has to be cut into very small pieces and you ll need to feed those little logs to it almost constantly to keep a fire going. Overall wood smoke is not considered a healthy or environmentally safe way to burn fires especially if it is an ongoing daily occurrence in the home. This is because a wood burner is more efficient at burning wood than a multi fuel burner because wood burns best on a flat bed of ash. If you want to burn coal for a heat source you need to invest in a coal fireplace.

You could scour the railroad lines near them to pick up any cast coal. But this coal would not burn in your fireplace as. You can t burn coal in just any fireplace. However if you are primarily looking to burn wood a wood burning stove will be your best bet.

Otherwise check with an expert to ensure your fireplace is coal compatible. Coal however works differently and needs to burn on a raised grate to allow additional air flow. If you have a working rumford style coal fireplace and the right fixtures you re set. Multi fuel stoves have a grate and so allow you to burn coal.

Now it s time for the bad news. The smell of coal smoke isn t as pleasant as that of wood smoke and coal fires require much more kindling to light than wood fueled fires do. Coal needs a source of air from below the fire to burn efficiently and so there needs to be a grate at the bottom of the stove which wood burning stoves won t have. Coal burns much hotter than wood so you can really get into a lot of trouble if you try to burn coal in your fireplace.

Although coal does produce less smoke than burning wood there are some dangers to a coal fireplace. Coal when burned gives off carbon monoxide which can be poisonous. Coal dust in your home can be problematic. But can you burn coal in a wood burning stove.

Coal requires more careful handling and more exacting ventilation than wood. Power plants burn coal but in minnesota it s western low sulfur coal. Coal when burned will give off carbon monoxide which can be poisonous.