Smith Louisiana

Buckley Rumford Fireplaces
Louisiana Rumfordization

The mantle decorations are for Mardi Gras

About 30-35 years ago we had a gentleman come from Ohio (not sure of state), and convert our existing fireplace to a Rumford with a gas lighter. The attached photo shows ...
Archie
Archie,
I remember you. I was the guy from Ohio who came down to "Rumfordize" your fireplace. My company at that time was Flue Works and, of course, I don't have any reliable records. But anyway, great to hear from you.....
So send me a picture of your Rumford and let me know how you like it now after 35 years. That was my first trip to Louisiana and to New Orleans. I remember you and the trip fondly.
Warm regards,
Jim Buckley

Burning Coal in Louisiana
More about burning with coal

Jim

Since we started using the tipi with no grate our smoke problems have disappeared.
As far as more ventilation we have a good updraft even with the central heater running.

In reference to the use of bituminous coal the following seems to be the best procedure. We do not use a grate as this seems to create smoking issues.

Lay a small log with a flat top horizontally at the back of the firebox
2- 3 pieces of baseball to softball size coal on top of this log.
Then build a tipi style fire with 3-4 logs.
After the logs catch the coal will ignite with some open flame and then burn down to a red glow.
Add a small amount of coal at a time and wait till that ignites and continue to add until desired size fire is reached.
On the pictures below we have a small fire because it was not real cold, but we still received plenty of heat from the small fire.