With the high cost of heating, some homeowners are turning to alternatives like wood and anthracite coal.

Nearly 130,000 homes in the U.S. still burn coal for heat. Despite decades of decline and concerns about climate change, companies in the coal home-heating business are optimistic about the future.

Some use anthracite coal as their primary heating source while some modern homeowners put in coal stoves as a supplemental heating source, he said. “I probably have about 150 customers ...

International coal dealers are buying more Pennsylvania anthracite, he said, because they are worried about potential supply problems in South Africa and Russia.

The jewel of Russell’s Smith’s antique coal and gas stove collection is an 1887 Germer coal stove, made in Erie and considered the “Cadillac” of stoves back in the day, with decorative medallions of ...

Coal makes comeback as heat source Proponents say it's easier to use than wood and it burns hot without leaving creosote deposits.

Plus, if you do have a stove, finding coal isn’t easy since few stores stock the 40-pound bags of anthracite coal in sizes known as rice, pea and nut, or deliver it to homes with furnaces.

To the anthracite operators, it would mean a strike without the prospect of losing any of their market by the public’s taking to soft coal as a substitute.

Burning inferior coal in a stove designed and certified for anthracite even once invalidates any warranty and could compromise any insurance claim involving damages caused by misuse.

Some use anthracite coal as their primary heating source while some modern homeowners put in coal stoves as a supplemental heating source, he said.

Nearly 130,000 homes in the U.S. still burn coal for heat. Despite decades of decline and concerns about climate change, companies in the coal home-heating business are optimistic about the future.