Coal

there’s a pretty steep learning curve with using coal to heat your house.

getting it started is already quite the process. after that you gotta get it fired up pretty good to get your radiators to emit actual heat. but, not too much, don’t want it boiling the water in the pipes themselves; don’t want it so hot that the reserve boiler tank on your roof to starts hopping up and down, shaking your house with it (whoops. been there, done that.) (a couple times...)

and then when it’s time for bed, you go outside to your coal stash and find the biggest piece that will fit in your stove, big enough to stay somewhat lit and give off some sort of heat while you’re sleeping. finally, after putting it in, you adjust the amount of air that the coal uses to burn, so that it doesn’t burn too fast, or too slow. that took a few days to get just right (sounds a whole lot easier than it’s turned out to be). and still i’m learning.

but hey, it works. and in a peculiar, man-the-provider kind of way, i enjoy making a fire in the house and being directly responsible for its heating. i may smell like smoke and be sporting coal-black hands, but it’s toasty inside...