However if you are primarily looking to burn wood a wood burning stove will be your best bet.
Can you burn coal in a wood fireplace.
But this coal would not burn in your fireplace as.
You can t burn coal in just any fireplace.
Now it s time for the bad news.
Coal when burned gives off carbon monoxide which can be poisonous.
Power plants burn coal but in minnesota it s western low sulfur coal.
Coal requires more careful handling and more exacting ventilation than wood.
Coal burning fireplaces and stoves are also subject to government regulations as is the disposal of coal byproducts.
Otherwise check with an expert to ensure your fireplace is coal compatible.
You could scour the railroad lines near them to pick up any cast coal.
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.
Coal dust in your home can be problematic.
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.
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.
Although coal does produce less smoke than burning wood there are some dangers to a coal fireplace.
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 have a working rumford style coal fireplace and the right fixtures you re set.
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.
It is still possible to avoid the poisoning though when taking the right precautions to burn coal in a coal fireplace.
Coal however works differently and needs to burn on a raised grate to allow additional air flow.
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.
Multi fuel stoves have a grate and so allow you to burn coal.
Coal cannot be burnt inside a wood burning stove.
But can you burn coal in a wood burning stove.