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BURNING COAL
Your furnace is capable of burning both Bituminous
and Anthracite coal. Anthracite is perhaps the best
coal fuel because its long even burn time, high heat
output, and cleanliness make it a good choice for
the home. However, keep in mind it is a much more
difficult fuel to use, requires more care and patience,
is not so widely available, and is usually much more
expensive than bituminous.
SIZE OF COAL:
Most sizes of Bituminous Coal will
work in your New Furnace, for best results we recom-
mend large nut coal to small egg coal (1-3/4" dia. to
4" dia.). When burning Anthracite, use egg or bro-
ken with sizes between 2-5/16" thru 4-3/8". Note that it
is important to the long life of your furnace to buy
coal which has been sized and cleaned. Cleaning
insures removal of rocks and other materials. Never
use coal smaller than 1" or larger than 5" in diameter.
Small sized coal will smother the fire. Too large a size
of coal will not burn well.
STOVE OPERATION:
All coal fires should be started
with wood which will allow the fire to get hot enough
to ignite the coal. The best ignition fires utilize dry
pine or other resinous soft woods as kindling, with
hard wood (oak, hickory, ash) added to increase
the heat prior to addition of the coal.
BURNING BITUMINOUS:
Once your kindling and
wood fire has produced a bed of well established
coals, start adding coal in layers allowing each to
ignite before adding more. Bituminous has a high
volatile content and, as a result, should be fired with
the "conical method" - with the highest portion of your
firebed in the center of the firebox. The first flames
will be long and generally orange or yellow and pro-
duce quite a bit of smoke. As the gases burn off the
flames become shorter, change colorand produce
less smoke. Once the fire is WELL ESTABLISHED add
coal to the center of the firebox forming the cone.
Burning in this fashion allows heat to drive off the vola-
tile gases, and turbulence created increases the burn
efficiency. You will have to experiment with your par-
ticular setup as no two chimney's or installations are
going to be the same. Just remember to allow
enough secondary air to enter the firebox and keep
your stove pipe damper open so that volatiles are
properly burned. Before refueling, take the time to
break up the cone a little with a poker, especially if it
has caked over or formed a crust. But, be careful not
to mix the coal as this increases the chances of form-
ing clinkers. When shaking the grate(s) be gentle.
Just a few short movements is better than a lot of
agitation. The objective is to remove a small amount
of the ashes without disturbing the fire. Stop when
you see a glow in the ashes or the first red coals fall
into the ash pan. Excessive shaking wastes fuel and
can expose the grate(s) to very high temperatures
which can cause warpage or burnout.
For overnight operation (long duration burn time)
shake the fire and add coal, retaining your center
cone. Once the volatiles are burned off, close the
feed door and adjust your stove pipe damper. Then
adjust your thermostat to the desired heat level.
You will have more MAINTENANCE with bituminous
than with anthracite coal as more soot will collect on
heating surfaces and in pipes, requiring more frequent
cleaning.
ANTHRACITE:
Before starting the fire open - the stove
pipe damper, open the ash pit door and feed door,
place newspaper, finely split kindling on the grate,
and light the paper. Add larger hard wood after
kindling is burning brightly.
CAUTION: Never use
gasoline, lantern fuel, kerosene, charcoal lighter fluid,
or other flammable liquids to start or freshen up a fire
in this heater.
Place the larger pieces of wood on
the fire so that they are slightly separated and form a
level for the addition of coal. It will take 10 to 20
minutes before this wood is thoroughly ignited. Add-
ing coal too soon will cut the air supply and smother
the fire.
Add a thin layer of coal (preferably smaller chunks)
to the wood fire, being careful not to disturb it too
much or cut off the draft. Then, add a second heavier
layer after the coal is ignited and burning well. If
necessary, add a third layer to bring the coal up to
the top of the front liner (not above!). Be sure you
have closed your ash door.
Before adding further fuel, be sure you leave a red
spot of glowing coals in the center of the firebox to
insure that you have not smothered the fire and to
help ignite thegases given off by the new charge. A
deep charge will give a more even heat and a longer
fire, but it may take one to two hours before the whole
bed is fully ignited.
When the fire is well established and the room is be-
coming warm, partially close the dampers. You will
have to experiment with your particular setting of the
damper and controls as your chimney provides the
draft necessary to not only exhaust the smoke, but to
pull combustion air into the heater as well - and no
two chimney's perform the same. Leave the ash pit
damper at least partially open to prevent the fire from
going out. Adjust the stove pipe damper to reduce
the draft on the fire. With anthracite you will see short
blue flames above the coal, except when the fire is
started or a new charge is added. If, however, there
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