How Long Does Coal Burn?

If you’ve ever wondered how long does coal burn, we’re going to answer that question today.

It can be an important consideration for many homes across the country. Choosing a fuel source, and considering the differences between coal, wood, oil and gas, can impact a budget and lifestyle.

We’ll help you make an informed decision, so you can sit back, relax and enjoy the heat of a well-lit fire as soon as possible.

Table of Contents

The first thing to know is that coal burns for longer than wood, even when that wood is kiln dried and excellent burning wood.

Because of this the average burn time for a load of coal will range between 8-24 hours.

Obviously this is massively dependent on just how much coal you load into your fire, how cold it is outside, how much you add and so on.

Either way, coal will generally last longer than wood and produce a more steady source of heat during the burn.

Why does Coal Burn for Longer?

Logs and other wood sources will burn over minutes or hours, whereas coal can continue to burn throughout an entire day. The reason for this is that coal is a much denser material.

If you’ve ever held a single piece of coal, you’ll know how heavy and solid it is. That’s millions of years worth of energy condensed into a single piece, so naturally it will take any fire time to break it down and turn it into energy (heat and light).

Coal burns for longer simply due to being a much denser, more tightly packed material.

If you’re still not unsure about this, think about the difference between a rectangular sponge and a brick. Both are of a similar size and shape, but one (the brick) will take much longer to destroy.

How Long will a Bag of Coal Last?

Every coal supplier/distributor will produce bags of different sizes and quantities so this isn’t the easiest question to answer.

In our experience, a common bag of coal will be approximately 40-45lbs or 20kg in size and weight.

Again this will depend on the size of your home, and whether or not your fire is connected to the water system within your house, but a bag that size should last between 1 or 2 days for an average household.

Obviously this would change during the summer, or hotter months of the year in your state or area.

Can you Burn Coal in Stoves?

For the majority of people, the short answer will be no you cannot burn coal in stoves.

This is because the large majority of stoves you see across the country will be wood burning stoves. As you can hopefully guess by the name, that type of stove is designed specifically to burn wood, kindling, paper and very little else.

A wood burning stove is definitely not designed to burn another major fuel source.

If you happen to have a multi-fuel stove (the name is a big clue again!) then you should be able to burn coal in your stove, but remember to always check with the manufacturer before doing something that could be dangerous to you, or damaging to your stove.

Pros and Cons of Coal Burning

If you’ve got to this point then we would guess that you’ve decided to use coal, but if you happen to still be in research mode and are deciding between a wood burning stove, a multi-fuel stove or even an open fire then let’s look at the pros and cons of coal burning.

Pros of coal:

Cheap
Plentiful
Easy to store (doesn’t have to be dried out like firewood)
Longer-lasting burn

Cons of coal:

Not a green option
Not sustainable (when compared to wood)
Heavy to lift/load fire
Dirty

As you can see, there are plenty of pros and cons to coal burning (and we’re specifically focusing on the home heating aspect of coal).

In the majority of cases, it will come down to your specific living arrangements and storage facilities. Burning coal will not be an option for many, such as those living in dense urban cities or apartment blocks.

If you live in a space where coal storage and burning is possible, then you could make use of this cheap and handy fuel source.

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We hope this helps. Every home is different and coal won’t work for everyone, but we have been burning coal for hundreds of years now and it still represents a useful and viable alternative to wood.

For everything else home heating, stick with CosyWarmer.com