Wood - Wood is certainly the most common fuel for stoves and fireplaces. Wood is usually the most readily available fuel and can be the least expensive. If you have access to standing wood (trees), you can stockpile your wood supply inexpensively. It is also good exercise and lots of fun to spend the day in the woods cutting firewood! There are good books available about cutting and splitting firewood for those interested. If you are going to cut down trees, make sure you have the permission of the landowner. In many areas it may be possible to have a truckload of logs delivered that you can cut and split into firewood. This eliminates the need to haul the wood from the forest to your home and still provides significant cost savings over buying "ready to burn" wood. And finally, you can order your wood, cut and split, from a wood dealer. See section on "Buying Firewood".

Let's look at some interesting figures about firewood. Bone dry, wood has approximately 8600 BTU's per pound. This figure varies little from species to species. However, firewood is never bone dry. The ideal moisture content for firewood is between 15 and 25 percent. Assuming this, firewood will actually have a BTU potential between 5500 and 6500 BTU's per pound. Since the actual heat potential of the wood is determined by weight, the more dense hardwoods contain greater heat potential when compared to an equal size piece of soft wood. In other words, a cord of oak contains more potential BTU's than a cord of pine. More moisture in wet or green wood requires more BTU's to maintain combustion. This results in less available heat since many of the BTU's will be used to disperse the moisture instead of providing heat.

Coal - Coal can be used as a fuel for stoves and fireplaces. Before attempting to burn coal, make sure your stove or fireplace is properly designed for coal burning. Use cannel coal in a grate in a fireplace. We do not recommend burning coal in a stove not designed for coal burning. Stove design is quite important as improper combustion of coal produces carbon monoxide, a highly toxic gas. Minimum design considerations for coal stoves are:

	A properly sized firebox usually lined with firebrick
	A coal grate incorporating a shaker
	Secondary air inlets in addition to the primary air inlet for the express purpose of efficiently burning the gases generated by burning coal
	An ash pan

	One cord of dry hardwood.
	Approximately 160 gallons of #2 fuel oil.
	24,000 cubic feet of natural gas.
	3,800 kilowatts of electricity.

	Compressed wood logs.
	Wood wax logs.
	Wood pellets.

Types of Coal

While many types of coal exist, the only acceptable types for stoves are anthracite and bituminous coal. Anthracite is recommended because it burns so much hotter and cleaner with fewer clinkers. Anthracite coal is available in several sizes, with the recommended size for stoves being "chestnut" or "pea". Bituminous coal is dirty to handle and produces much more soot and smoke. Bituminous coal should only be used when anthracite is not available. Some manufacturers recommend only one type of coal. Although some coal stoves can burn wood, most wood stoves will not burn coal properly or safely.

Coal is sold by weight, with the standard measure being the ton. The heating value of one ton of anthracite compares equally with the following fuels:

This will allow you to compute and compare heating costs in your area.

Coal Storage

A coal storage area should be kept dry and free of any other combustible materials. A weather tight coal bin is recommended and can be built easily. A bin four feet square and four feet high will hold nearly two tons of coal.

To anyone seriously interested in heating with coal we recommend that you read up on the subject and develop a complete understanding of coal burning. One recommended book is "Heating With Coal" by John W. Bartok, Jr.

Manufactured Fuels

There are three common types of manufactured fuels available:

Compressed wood logs are made by "compressing" or "densifying" wood chips or coarse sawdust. These logs use no binders and are held together by the pressure exerted upon them during manufacturing. They are usually 3-4 inches in diameter and 12-18 inches long. These logs have comparable heat output to cordwood but generally produce less smoke and ash. Compressed logs may be burned in stoves or fireplaces, as you can burn two or three at a time. Compressed wood logs have a very dry, wood like appearance.

Wood wax logs are made by molding sawdust into log like form and adding combustible binders such as wax or paraffin. Because of the wax content these logs have a BTU rating of approximately 15,000 BTU per pound, much higher than cordwood. These logs should only be burned one at a time and should not be used in woodstoves. Wood wax logs are commonly available at convenience and grocery stores. Recent testing has shown that when burned properly, wood wax logs produce less creosote and smoke than an average cordwood fire.

Wood pellets are made by compressing small wood chips, shells of nuts or material like the pits of cherries into pellets. The process here is the same as for compressed wood logs. The pellets will be 1/4 to 1/3 inch in diameter an 1 to 2 inches long. Like compressed wood logs, their heat potential is similar to cordwood because the pellets are made from pure wood with no binders added. These pellets are to be burned in special stoves designed to feed the pellets from a storage hopper to a special combustion chamber. Pellets are usually packaged in 40-50 pound bags and may be purchased by the bag or by the ton. The pellet fuel is clean, convenient to handle, and one bag will last 1 to 2 days. Emissions from pellet stoves are so low that pellet stoves are currently exempt from EPA certification. Because the pellets are so very dry there is more heat available for heating your home.

Fuel Gas - Gas hearth appliances may be fueled with either natural gas or propane. Natural gas, where available, is supplied through pipelines to individual homes. Natural gas is sold by the therm, a measure equal to 100,000 BTU’s. Propane (LP) is supplied in containers stored on your property. Propane is sold either by the pound or gallon depending on local custom. Propane has 21591 BTU’s per pound and 91547 BTU’s per gallon.