Coal prices

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  • A._Badger
    A._Badger Posts: 5,849
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    The very first thing you must do is make sure the fireplace and chimney are safe to use. This, fortunately, is easily done. Look in your Yellow Pages and find a local chimney sweep. He will make sure the chimney is clean and sound. If you're lucky and find a friendly one, he will also take you through the basics of fire lighting.

    The next thing to do is make sure you have the right equipment. As you have young children, you will need a properly secured fireguard, which you can buy from a local ironmonger or hardware shop or, if need be, a Homebase or B&Q. Children and fire are a bad combination, so always make sure the fire is properly guarded and never leave them alone in a room with a fire.

    Now you need the basic equipment - a shovel to put the coal on, a brush to sweep the hearth, a poker to stir the fire, a coal scuttle to hold the coal and something to empty the hot ashes into for disposal. Again, you need an ironmonger, though you can also get these things from the major DIY stores.

    Once you've assembled all this (it's not as bad as it seems!) and your chimney is safe, it's time to get cracking on the fire.

    Call your local council and ask environmental services whether you are in a 'smoke control area' (though the sweep will have known and been able to tell you). If you are, you can only use smokeless solid fuel. If you aren't, you can use wood or ordinary housecoal.

    Wood is an option but unless you have ready access and somewhere to store it, I'd stick with soild fuel - at least to start with.

    Coal or smokeless fuel are best bought from a local coal merchant, because garages, DIY stores etc tend to be overpriced. To start with, you can buy a sack or two and store the fuel outside (keep the rain off it). Later, if you decide you want a fire regularly, you might want to buy a coal bunker and have it delivered loose, but sacks are ok to start with.

    Lighting a fire is quite simple, but a bit of a knack. Everyone has their own method, but the basic way is to scrunch up newspaper into the grate, add a few sticks of kindling wood (you can buy this in all sorts of places) and add a few, small, pieces of coal. Light the paper and as the wood catches, then the coal, you can start adding further pieces of coal until you get the size of fire you want.

    Hey Presto! You're back in the 19th cenury - and it's a much more comforting place to be!

    Hope that helps. If you need any more advice, please ask - I'm bound to have forgotten something..
  • House Coal here gone up from £8.25 to £9.50 a month a go and just rang and now £12 for small low grade house coal and the best house coal is now £14 up from £12.50 last month and I think £10.50 last year!!!!
  • Frugaldom
    Frugaldom Posts: 6,936
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    Just paid £52.50 delivered (5 x £10.50) to fill a 5cwt coal bunker and I live in southwest Scotland. Also, if it helps, I found an offer for seasoned fire logs at http://www.logsuppliers.co.uk/ They are offering free delivery, reduced price and free bags of kindling with certain orders until Tuesday.
    I reserve the right not to spend.
    The less I spend, the more I can afford.


    Frugal living challenge - living on £4000 in 2024
  • SEE
    SEE Posts: 722 Forumite
    West Mids and quoting from bills in front of me from this year

    June 12.85
    July 12.85
    August 13.85
    September 17.00

    Its still on £17 for 50kg, but coal man has said it will go up again. CPL are charging £20:eek: At this rate it will compare to gas and electric. I'm really worried about people on low incomes this year. I think we are going to see a lot of deaths due to cold.

    How much is unemployment benefit, £55 a week? How the hell are they going to eat and stay warm, unemployment is rising. Strike action should be called, have the British lost their backbones?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Halifax, taking the Xtra since 1853:rolleyes:
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • SEE
    SEE Posts: 722 Forumite
    I've never tried these, but they work out at £12 for 50kg

    Sadly, the £48 delivery charge kills it for me.

    http://eco-logs.co.uk/buy%20now.htm
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Halifax, taking the Xtra since 1853:rolleyes:
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • Hi See, what fuel is that price for
  • SEE
    SEE Posts: 722 Forumite
    milner57 wrote: »
    Hi See, what fuel is that price for
    The prices I quoted are for cheap smokeless coal. Its cheap because its a mixture of different coals, or should I say used to be cheap. It sometimes goes by the name of 'Multi Heat'
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Halifax, taking the Xtra since 1853:rolleyes:
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • Dawni
    Dawni Posts: 21 Forumite
    The price of coal is outrageous and if it doesn't come down soon we've decided to stick with oil which at present we only use as a back-up. We pay £16 here in Coleraine (N Ireland) delivered and at present use 2 bags per week. And we still need to use our oil occasionally too.

    Our coal has been of inferior quality recently, which doesn't help. And it isn't just my husbad and myself who have to pay this. My mother is 90 years of age and lives alone; she has no other sources of heating than coal (well, she has an electric fire but doesn't want sky-high electricity bills so doesn't use it much). I know the government is giving pensioners a higher fuel payment this year, but I can't understand why the price of coal hasn't come down now that the price of oil has fallen. We were told it had to go up because of transport costs, so how come it hasn't come down now?:confused:
  • A._Badger
    A._Badger Posts: 5,849
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    Interesting comment, Dawni. I'm burning coal and also using oil-fired central heating. Mostly, I use use coal in the evening and let the CH tick over for the rest of the day, keeping the chill off.

    Just today, I realised how quickly I'm getting through coal and began to wonder if, since the latest rises, it might to be better to make more use of oil - especially since oil has come down in price.

    I've said here before that I'm quite convinced the price rise for coal was entirely opportunistic - the handful of large companies that control UK coal supplies saw an opportunity to raise the price, to match oil and gas price rises, and did so. Like you, I wonder if it will come down again, but I'm not holding my breath.
  • I tried these eco logs (compressed sawdust) this week a friend
    gave my a bag to try £3 a bag from local coal merchant

    I think they are great easy to set alight handy if you have gone out and
    the fire is low when you return bung a couple on and it revives the fire
    and coal and logs get that extra boost
    great also if your logs or coal is slighty wet
    but one word of warning don't poke them because they then resemble
    a firework with hot embers bursting everywhere
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