When starting a fire in today's homes that are so air tight with replacement windows and doors that are heavily weather stripped it always helps to crack a nearby window to aid in circulation of air to get the initial flow and more easily and quickly get the initial fire burning hot. I can't tell you how many fireplace experts that I taught this too that still thank me.

The purpose of the shallow, steep back is to allow you to stack the coal vertically and radiate heat into the room. Compare to a wood fireplace which needs depth to accommodate big logs.

I'm only 35 but takes me back to the days when my Grandparents house had a coal fire place and didn't take long to heat up the living room.

I have burned coal on several occasions, I love the smell of coal.

I watched this with the volume down- it was bliss

I have always enjoyed a coal fire. As a kid growing up, I spent a great deal of time at my Great Grandmother's home, and she used her coal fireplaces all Winter long. Just the smell of the burning coal brings back wonderful memories. We also used coal in the barn heater in the late Fall while preparing the tobacco to be sold at the tobacco auction. Thx so much.

Hey there! I have 5 coal burning fireplaces in my 1915 farm house. I absolutely love them and when I succeed in lighting them, they do burn HOT for a few hours,. I have found it impossible to find bituminous coal in my area and wasn't too keen on it anyhow, because of the mess. I know anthracite is a very clean burning fuel and it actually cleans any creosote from the chimneys because of the chemical reaction with the gas and heat that the anthracite produces, so this is a much safer solid fuel in terms of fire hazard and much cleaner for the air in and outside of our house, and it also burns apparently for 8-32 hours when periodically poked and maintained and should burn through the night with no flame, so it's ideal for heating the house or room while sleeping. I've also heard you can perpetually burn them without them ever going out if you poke and keep adding coal, while removing ash from underneath every day. My issue is that I cannot keep my coal fire going for more than about 6-8 hours on a really good day (only pulled this off twice), but my coal never burns to ash, it always turns red and/or grey, and reduces in size and loses some density, but it does not ever burn down completely to ash...this makes cleaning the fire basket out very tedious and time-consuming because I have to hand pick and shovel out pounds of half-burnt coals and then I try to re-use most of them instead of throwing them out, because there has to be tons of burn time left in those. I am getting almost no ash content from my anthracite, only the wood used to start it or get it hotter when the coals seem to be having trouble staying hot. It looks like you're using big chunks of anthracite in this video instead of bituminous coal, so I figured maybe you'd be an expert on this! I have made about 30 fires in 3 of my fireplaces since fall began, trying to get these to burn to my satisfaction and there's little to no info online about using anthracite in an open fire basket, only coal stoves (Trust me I have spent weeks and hours trying to research)... So, I was wondering if you could help me out. Thank you so much. I have watched this video at least 27 times haha. You're the best.

Always wondered how these things actually worked. Thanks!

Great video. It was very informative. I am buying a Queen Anne Victorian in South Carolina and it has 8 of these Victorian coal burning fireplaces.

I've always wondered if the Coal Victorian Fireplace can radiate more heat into the room because of the lack of depth and because Coal puts out like twice the amount of heat than wood by the pound.

This video is so helpful! 🔥

Leaving rubber or latex gloves on when lighting the fire is really dangerous. If an ember or flame catches them, thy will melt and cause serious burns. One you get used to lighting a fire, your hands toughen up to the heat and small flames, but if you prefer to wear gloves once you light the fire, leather is the only safe option.

Appreciate the video as I’ve been wanting to fix the one at my place

Very awesome! I love the old victorian coal burners. It is a shame that more people don't use them. It is really a efficient way to heat the home. It is really more efficient than natural gas.

Thank you for this video! My 1884 home has two coal-burning fireplaces, but the cast iron parts were removed to be scrapped for the WWII effort. I’ve been trying to find pieces to replace what is missing, and your video will be very helpful to me in making sure I have all that I need.

Thank you so much. My 1890's house has these and i could no figure out how to even get the covers off much less start a fire! Can you just burn wood if you dont have access to coal? I live in Ga and dont think they sell it down here!

love it u rock

Hello sir, i am renovating a victorian house, as you mentioned we have four of the coal fireplaces, I don’t inspect them yet but what happened if chimney has a problem? Would they be repairable? The other question is: would i add a damper to chimney? Or leave it without? I noticed you added fire back, previous owner added extra Bricks in the back and sides, I never figured why. I toon them off. Three fireplaces don’t have the baskets nor the metal frame. Thank you

I have one of these in my house. 🖤

They're banning this type of coal here in the UK, which really is a shame

love the music at the beginning what is it please great video thank you.💕

Awesome beautiful home. I would have gone with original style gaudy Victorian wall paper

Where do I get coal like that in Australia

Awesome! Thanks for posting this. Once the wood and coal is settled, how long will it burn for?

Can you share more about the brackets you used to keep the cast iron surround secure? Thanks !

Thanks for this video . I getting one of the coal burning fireplaces in working order. My question is how do you get the fire out if you had to left the house. I reading that coal gets off gases . Do you just let it burn itself out sorry if this a dumb question but I never had a fireplace before

Hi is the coal bituminous or anthracite coal?

please do more videos xxx

How do you extinguish one? Or do you generally just wait until the fire burns itself out?

Where can I get coal that size

What a mess to maintain though. Love the look though.

I wish that we could find someone in my area who can make it so we can use our coal burning but seems no one will

Hi, where does the smoke go?

Look at that draft!

Thanks but I rather prefer having my fire place burn wood.

As we move out of non-renewable fossil fuels could you use charcoal instead of coal

I'm going to get a fire place built in my room when I move house

God I wish I could get bituminous lump coal here in Idaho. I love a good coal fire.

i sure wish i had a victorian home i ware the clothes tho

So that's where Australia's coal goes when we export it

my man sounds kinda like peter griffen

Who sweeps the fire place