Free Heat - well almost.

paul_h · 31 March 2006 at 12:32PM

FirstClassMale wrote:

We're in the North East of Scotland and I pay £4.50 per 20kg bag collected from the merchant. I'm on the look out for a bunker as our "coalshed" is full of my tools until I can get my new log cabin built. Then the local merchant can deliver and we will save a few quid.

£4.50 for a 20Kg bag? Any idea what sort of price you can get a tonne delivered? A tonne of decent coal works out at around £5.50 per 50Kg bag here...

We visit the northeast of Scotland (beautiful Caithness and Sutherland to be precise) and often wonder how much coal is up there. I expect it's a bit dearer than Aberdeen...

It would be interesting to find out how the prices vary around the country - good coal does seem to vary quite a bit...

EDIT: I've just been looking on another forum about coal prices in the north of Scotland, it seems that around £10 a bag is about the norm. I'm surprised how much difference there is from what we're paying down here...

Incidentally, there's a thread about coal bunkers here, if you haven't seen it...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=172909

FirstClassMale wrote:

Someone mentioned "best coal" this is otherwise known as grade A. I would strongly advise anyone buying coal not to try to save by buying the grade C stuff as we were left a few bags by the previous owners and it doesn't burn well and produces lots of clinkers whereas grade A almost all turns to ash.

Twas I... Funnily enough, we also inherited a few bags of cheap coal when we bought this place - I wholeheartedly agree with your comments, the cheap stuff is very poor, and a false economy.

Mikeyorks · 31 March 2006 at 2:07PM

Just left my multi-fuels behind, in the farmhouse I sold a year ago. Really miss the warmth / friendliness - but not emptying the damned things, or vaccing the dust regularly off the oak beams. No matter how carefully you emptied them - the ashpan always puffed a bit into the room. But you got a Saharan duststorm at the front door on days even where there appeared no wind. Much ingenuity went into various artefacts, both designed and bought, to overcome that - but all were basically useless.

But still loved them to bits and the heat : cost ratio was good. We found that good quality coal - with some logs on top once the coal had burnt off its smoke - was the best for around 12kw of heat output. The logs give more heat than the coal when burnt that way - but only if hardwood and dry

But you do need space! Fortunately we had an outhouse that stored 2 tons coal and around 5 tons logs - in separate piles. But the wood has to have been stored outside for over at least one winter period (to get rid of the sap) and then dried.

So you have to have at least another 5 tons space outside - before you bring them in. And trying to use them 'green' - is just courting disaster. For a start their heat output is much reduced and they will put copious quantities of tar into the chimney. If thats not lined - it can stain through both inside and outside walls. But you won't worry about that if a spark gets into it - because the resultant fire could well take the house with it.

Typical costs around £110 per ton of coal and £35 / 45 per ton of cut hardwood. Oh - and around £15 for a metal bin to put the ash in, and a £10 Xmas bonus to the bin men if you can persuade them to empty it regularly.

Not quite sure where the OP cost of '£250 per tonne' for solid fuel came from. Is that Chippendale logs?

paul_h · 31 March 2006 at 4:21PM

Mikeyorks wrote:

Typical costs around £110 per ton of coal and £35 / 45 per ton of cut hardwood. Oh - and around £15 for a metal bin to put the ash in, and a £10 Xmas bonus to the bin men if you can persuade them to empty it regularly.

Not quite sure where the OP cost of '£250 per tonne' for solid fuel came from. Is that Chippendale logs?

LOL :rotfl:

I think the OP was being robbed - We pay £110 a tonne for coal, just had a load delivered - and I don't think we live too far away from them.

Tim_2-2 · 4 May 2006 at 3:21PM

Hi
I am thinking of converting from Oil Fired to Gas Central Heating - can anyone tell me the name of a good Gas Central Heating Boiler - I live in a modest three bedroom bungalow.

Thanks

edwinac_2 · 5 May 2006 at 4:21AM

adr0ck wrote:

most domestic fires are started by:

washing machines

i read that last night

I'm not surprised. I opened our Hoover condensing washer-dryer to replace a broken power switch and noticed that its 240v mains wiring makes use of unshielded spade connectors, which run perilously close to both the water hosing (which was slightly weeping), and also close to the metal casing of the machine.

I can envisage the juddering from a fast spin causing the spade connectors to work loose touching the metal enclosure, perhaps with fatal consequences.

The EC safety requirements for domestic appliances must be !!!!!!-poor.

angelavdavis · 11 July 2006 at 3:06PM

jmsuch wrote:

Calvados,

Which are the 'exempt' wood burners?

I believe they are wood burners that comply with the clean air act.

shona_2 · 1 November 2006 at 9:00PM

Does anyon know, can a wood pellet stove simply be put in the place of a multi-fuel one to heat radiators etc? Or is it more complicated than that?

I have a house I rent out and am thinking of swapping as most tenants seem to struggle with a multi-fuel stove...

Any other ideas?

thanks

Free Heat - well almost.

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