I don't have a complete answer to your question, but I can provide a few facts and a micro example from my area of interest and study that may be illustrative.

The short answer to your question is that coal had been used for centuries prior to the industrial revolution. The Chinese were probably the first to use it as a fuel source as it played a part in their smelting of copper. Romans also mined coal in Britain for fuel and dies. Mining in Britain has continued from the time of Roman occupation up until today, in varying degrees - though it peaked in world wide production during the industrial revolution.

To more specifically answer your question, I will go into my micro example. In Virginia during the mid 18th century, specifically around Richmond, coal mining was a staple industry. There were vast coal fields surrounding the fledgling Richmond - at least considered vast for the time (before the exploration and exploitation of western fields). The coal in the area was easily mined and easily burned, making it desirable as a fuel source for low intensity applications such as heating and cooking.

Other settled areas of the same time period also sat on coal reserves, such as around Philadelphia. However, Philadelphia's coal reserves were virtually useless at the time - so much so that coal mined around Philadelphia was used as gravel to improve the city's roads. Why the vast difference in uses? The answer lies in the type of coal.

There are several types or grades of coal (I will, however, only discuss two for simplicities sake), and the two aforementioned cities sat on fields of different coal grades. Richmond's coal fields were comprised of bituminous coal, a lower grade and lower energy content coal. Philadelphia's fields were mostly anthracite coal, a higher grade and higher energy content coal.

Prior to technological advances in smelting and metallurgy (among others) just before the industrial revolution, anthracite coal was virtually worthless; technology lacked to make use of it. Blast furnaces could not reach or maintain high enough temperatures to ignite anthracite coal. Bituminous coal on the other hand combusted easily, it could be burned in a mere fireplace. Thus, before advances in technology, bituminous coal was desired - indeed it was the only coal with a real use. Of course with such advances before and demand during the industrial revolution, bituminous coal mining became a lesser industry in preference to the higher grade anthracite which had industrial application.

I hope that example helps a little - coal mining existed prior to the industrial revolution, but demand shifted because it (or perhaps helped spark it? Pun intended!!) If you are interested in learning more about the Richmond example, I suggest Ironmaker to the Confederacy by Joseph Anderson. It spends the first half of the book outlining the ironmaking industry, including its necessary coal component.

The non-industrial use of coal is in domestic cooking. Dorothy Hartley, in Food in England pub 1954, discusses the necessary fireplace designs for cooking with coal as, unlike an open wood fireplace which could be in the centre of a room, it requires a draught, someplace for the ash to fall, and preferably a narrow firebox. She asserts that although coal was known and used it was considered a dirty fuel producing fumes and soot inside until the introduction of brick chimneys mounted on the outside wall of cottages and houses. So building design affected the fuel that could be used.