Rancher 1,000 sq. ft. Coal-Burning Stove

Yes, the chimney installation will need to include a spark arrestor at the termination.

Yes in some retail stores they sell by the bag

No. China. Pieces are cheap and loose fitting. Hard to find chimney attachment that attaches to stove. Notice OVAL shape. Not standard.

Of course -- if it can burn coal, it can burn wood. It can't be advertised to burn wood because it's not been certified by EPA for that purpose. However, you must look at the size and shape of the firebox, and remember that it has to be fed through the top. It's not designed to accept anything large or long, and wood, coal, or whatever that's bigger than about a five inch cube will be difficult, or impossible.

You're allowed to use small amounts of wood to get the coal started. This explains the large pile of cord wood you have stashed in the back yard. Lol - it's prettysmall for wood. Some people burn "Wood Bricks" in it. More efficient that way.

Unfortunately we do not know the availability of Coal. you may need to go to your local store and ask.

DUE to EPA regulations this item is not available in a wood Burning option. because it is not EPA certified for burning wood, we cannot market it as able to burn wood.

we dont recommend that size coal as it can fall thru the grate. We recommend Lump coal.

Note the manufacturer's answer--many stoves made for wood or coal can now be sold--but only as coal stoves because they do not meet EPA standards for wood stoves. The EPA regulates manufacturers, but not users, so people burn wood in them all the same. I have had both wood stove and coal stove, and would make two points. First, the best designs for wood are not good for coal, and the best designs for coal are not good for wood. For wood, there must be air input above the fuel, while for coal it must be below the fuel. That is why wood stoves burn on a flat hearth, while coal burns on a grate. There are many other issues for being good stoves--being air tight, for instance, keeps soot and smoke out of the house. More heat is also generated if the stove has passageways for the hot gases to work their way to the chimney. Because this is a traditional coal stove design with simple radiant heat, burning wood will go through wood very fast, with a lot of the heat going up the chimney. Also, wood has to be cut short and not thick like fireplace logs. I would crack a window to make sure I don't get murdered in the night by the fumes, since it is not airtight. But in a shop with some outside air it would be fine.

The best way to start a coal fire is to start a small wood kindling fire. The fire from the wood will help the coal reach temperature to burn.