NO NO NO
I refuse to burn the stuff. It truly stinks - the glues used in it are dodgy - not good for you or your neighbours!
- Thread starter reb78
- Start date
I refuse to burn the stuff. It truly stinks - the glues used in it are dodgy - not good for you or your neighbours!
Gas is still 1/4 the price of leccy. About the same as oil. Free wood is the cheapest of course but if you have to buy wood or coal then gas is a far better bet!
Kayos
Gone......
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Ditto. If we had mains gas here then a wet rad system with combi is a no brainier.
We don’t so we can’t
Although my wife has found a house she likes, complete with log burner and oil boiler
I hope she is good at chopping logs
I bought a full pallet of SuperHeat smokeless fuel back in Feb this year (40 x 25kg bags). £279 back then, now they want £579 for the same thing
I believe a lot of the smokeless fuels are made from anthracite dust, with molasses or starch as a binder. How that translates into a cleaner burn (which is what everyone seems to claim) I've no idea
I believe a lot of the smokeless fuels are made from anthracite dust, with molasses or starch as a binder. How that translates into a cleaner burn (which is what everyone seems to claim) I've no idea
Manufactured fuels are supposed to be more versatile (as in what you can put them in), and allow fuel of the same average quality but containing inclusions for burning "as is" difficult to burn to be used. Some manufactured fuels occasionally contain other matter, such as petroleum coke, so check as they may be unsuitable for your Rayburn.
I have a Rayburn and am using it. I buy Welsh anthracite for it, which is far superior to imported (e.g. Polish). If it's shiny and clean, it's likely to be good; if dull and dusty, not so good (imported).
Prices have increased horrendously (our sanctions on imports), last year I paid £410/tonne, at the end of August I had to pay £530/tonne, the last time I looked it was £599. I have just looked again, and it's £648/tonne! Oh, woe! Briquettes are £655/tonne!! ARGH!
FWIW, I but anthracite laege nuts for when it's cold, because it burns a bit hotter, and small nuts for early/late winter. It's much easier to heep the fire in when running it low using small nuts.
As to where, I buy from South Wales (Supaheat Fuels), the coal comes on a pallet via the Pallex network, it's dropped off by tail-lift lorry at the end of the drive and I barrow it to where I keep it, 5 pags at a time (40 per pallet). I have not found anywhere better value, except once but they ran out of anthracite before I wanted to order.
There is (or perhaps was) a big problem with steam coal earlier this year when the washing plant at Ffos-y-Fran broke down and they did not fix it, due to the short term of the remaining extraction licence. Steam enthusiasts were complaining about "Trevithick ovoids" which they were having trouble with.
roofman
Purveyor of fine English buckets and mops
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Burning the coal in my house is like wearing sunday best shoes,it only gets burnt on special days
normal burning is logs,limbs and wood.
indy4x
Forum Supporter
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It was between Aberdare and Mountain Ash, fairly local for me when I was growing up
Drove up the valley on Saturday with my daughter, was telling her about the sights, sounds and smells that used to come from the plant and also the valley around it definitely lacking in plants and trees
Wouldn't think it now, trees and green everywhere
addjunkie
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Chopping logs is quite good therapy when youve had a bad day at the office, or in the future when your kids morph in to kevin teenage monsters. Oil boiler isn't the end of the world, and easily replaced when required later.
A log splitter or a reliable log man is the answer.
Most fuels have rocketed its all about supply and demand. I looked at an invouce the other day 240 quid for 960kgof wood pellets. Same pallet now is just under 600 at the door!I bought a full pallet of SuperHeat smokeless fuel back in Feb this year (40 x 25kg bags). £279 back then, now they want £579 for the same thing
I believe a lot of the smokeless fuels are made from anthracite dust, with molasses or starch as a binder. How that translates into a cleaner burn (which is what everyone seems to claim) I've no idea
I only have a Rayburn for heat/hot water/central heating, and a multifuel stove for "nice" and half as much heat again.Ditto. If we had mains gas here then a wet rad system with combi is a no brainier.
We don’t so we can’t
They are OK, but a PITA, with all the handling and storage of fuel and ash. They also have the major problem of "If I go out, so does it/they", and programmed heating seems to me a real boon.
So, soon, it will be external wall insulation, floor insulation, and a heat pump. Luxury, although I am not looking forward to the replacement costs...
Cobbler
Codger bodger
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We had solid fuel heating using a Parkray, the house was always warm, it was a bit of work with the coal & ash. The big thing was you could never go away in the winter because in 24 hours the fire was out & the possibility of freezing pipes.
5£ a day to heat my house currently. That's the coal cost for an overnight burn and then free wood in the day. Happy with that personally. Havent had the electric cooker on since the Rayburn was lit either so savings there too. Plus in powercuts etc I can still cook and have hot water and heat in the spaces that reach the kitchen (most of the house if the doors are left open)
I have an oil boiler to top up if needed but in the last 3-4 weeks since the Rayburn was plumbed in, its not been on as the Rayburn is coping. We are going to add solar (either PV or water or both) at some point for the summer hot water. I can get 8 hours out of a fill up with any of the anthracite replacements I have tried so far so yes it will go out but that's if I am away for a long period.
I have to manage the hedges and trees on my land and next door lets me clear fallen trees from his farm (the fallen elm I cut up in 2020 is still going) so the wood is there for free for me and a product of what I need to do anyway on my own property.
We can’t get good rough coal now just then silly duck egg things, so I got 6 bags and their only to be used on special occasions 
We burn scrap wood for the most part, fence posts and pallets ( thou not pallets by choice my father-in-law is obsessed with them and keeps bringing 50 back at a time!) and run them thru the pto saw bench and hey ho.
I hear the local log place is £100 a bag for hardwood and £80 for softwood! We will be back walking the train tracks for coal at this rate.
New coal mine on the books local thou
you can bet I will be trying to burn cokeing coal on the fire
We burn scrap wood for the most part, fence posts and pallets ( thou not pallets by choice my father-in-law is obsessed with them and keeps bringing 50 back at a time!) and run them thru the pto saw bench and hey ho.
I hear the local log place is £100 a bag for hardwood and £80 for softwood! We will be back walking the train tracks for coal at this rate.
New coal mine on the books local thou
you can bet I will be trying to burn cokeing coal on the fireThe rayburn will burn coke just have to set the secondary air slider to closed. I think it needs all of the air drawn through it.We can’t get good rough coal now just then silly duck egg things, so I got 6 bags and their only to be used on special occasions
We burn scrap wood for the most part, fence posts and pallets ( thou not pallets by choice my father-in-law is obsessed with them and keeps bringing 50 back at a time!) and run them thru the pto saw bench and hey ho.
I hear the local log place is £100 a bag for hardwood and £80 for softwood! We will be back walking the train tracks for coal at this rate.
New coal mine on the books local thou
James1979
Member
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That’s the same here for firewood. Boy does mixed bags for £75 though.We can’t get good rough coal now just then silly duck egg things, so I got 6 bags and their only to be used on special occasions
We burn scrap wood for the most part, fence posts and pallets ( thou not pallets by choice my father-in-law is obsessed with them and keeps bringing 50 back at a time!) and run them thru the pto saw bench and hey ho.
I hear the local log place is £100 a bag for hardwood and £80 for softwood! We will be back walking the train tracks for coal at this rate.
New coal mine on the books local thou
I get free green wood off a landscaper / tree surgeon but I have to process it myself so occasionally supplement it with a bag of mixed bought in.
Hope they’re not euro pallets you’re cutting up!! You get a fiver a time for them
I’ve got a small amount of pre Scapa flow German coal. I’ve not used it yet. Guy I got it from has a bit but doesn’t really part with it. It’s good stuff apparently. He uses it for special occasions on his forge like welding etc.
