Coal prices

alleycat`

SEE wrote: »

That seems an ok price. I'm in the West Mids with some of the highest prices in the country. Put your postcode in here to check their prices.

http://www.coals2u.co.uk/

If I purchased 500kg of Anthracite large nuts it would cost me £227.80 a saving of £6 because 10 bags would be purchased.

Confused why that same order would be £198 in my neck of the woods.

I find it hard to believe that the transfer of that fuel to the west midlands costs another £30 per 500KG to them (assuming all other things, like depot running costs are equal).

YORKSHIRELASS

Greenfires wrote: »

Pressed briquettes often look like a pack of biscuits from the side. Each "biscuit" is the material compressed by one stroke of a piston. Extruded briquettes are formed by a screw forcing material through a die in one continuous length. Pressed briquettes will expand when burning, which increases the surface area open to air, so they burn quicker. They also tend to collapse into a pile of sawdust if disturbed, or when more fuel is added on top. Extruded briquettes don't expand or fall to bits - they form proper embers instead - exactly the same shape as the briquette. So they tend to give off heat for a much longer period, not just in the initial "flames stage" We generally have enough life left in the stove to relight it in the morning, and we never fill it up at bedtime, or close the air controls down - it just gets left at whatever setting it was running on.

Extruded briquettes tend to be a bit more expensive - but we've sold pressed ones in the past as an economy alternative - and none of our customers bought them more than once as they reckoned the extruded ones were better value. Something might be cheaper per tonne on paper - but if you use twice as much in the same period, then you need to double the price to get a true comparison.

You'll notice a lot of cheap pressed briquettes are sealed in bags - that's often because they're so soft and crumbly that you'll get a couple of shovelfuls of dust in the bottom of each bag. Customer of mine tried some recently "made from 100% oak". Doesn't matter what they're made of - if they're dead soft and crumbly they won't last five minutes - he told me he certainly wouldn't be buying them again!

Briquettes will make a decent fire in an open fire - but be aware of them trying to escape if you use pressed ones which expand - but they're better in a stove where the air can be more controlled and this will get the best out of them. They're all a lot drier than any logs you'll buy so there's no energy wasted in driving off moisture. Even kiln dried logs will be around 18-20% moisture - briquettes are around 5% - so there's a lot more available heat in a tonne of briquettes than a tonne of logs.

This is a really useful post - and a good example of this forum working at its best.

So the cheap Hotmax (and yes I got the name wrong) may actually not be so economical after all and it may be worth trying to find a supplier who sells extruded briquettes.

I think these briquettes are going to get more and more popular. They are far more reliable than logs and cleaner and easier to store than smokeless fuels. It seems though that as with all these fuels you get what you pay for.

And yes as for the comment about Coals2U selling wet coal this is something that really irritates me too. Its hardly fit for purpose if its soaking wet.

YORKSHIRELASS

smallblueplanet wrote: »

Interesting about these pressed briquettes. What is the difference between pressed and extruded?
We have a small open fire as a decorative secondary heat source, I like to see things burn, lol! But the cost of smokeless briquettes has rocketed they're something like New Flame = £21.50/bag (50kg?) delivered by the coalman.
What do these burn like on an open fire we currently burn some logs on a bed of smokeless coal (don't like burning 'ordinary' coal because of the smell)?
Thanks.

Oh and just to comment on this, if you are wanting a fire with a nice flame and a bit of additional heat any briquettes will do the job well. The Hotmax ones we have been buying make a nice fire in the open fireplace and you only need 3 or 4 at a time.

SEE

alleycat` wrote: »

Confused why that same order would be £198 in my neck of the woods.

I find it hard to believe that the transfer of that fuel to the west midlands costs another £30 per 500KG to them (assuming all other things, like depot running costs are equal).

I know, its disgusting and we have an operating coal mine in Coventry.

SEE

I just had some fun and Googled for a factory in Aberdare/Wales to get a postcode. I popped it into Coals2U and the same order for them would be £197 and they even get an £8 discount!

Done the same for Yorkshire £197.70 and another £8 discount

SEE

For anyone living in Surrey, even if they only last two weeks this is a bargain £25 for almost 500kg!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wood-Briquettes-heatlogs-fire-wood-eco-logs-fire-pit-440-460kg-/281028393226?_trksid=p2047675.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D555001%26algo%3DPW.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D29%26meid%3D3826909825808117356%26pid%3D100010%26prg%3D1013%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D321027965317%26

A._Badger

As someone who is still mourning the loss of my reliable, helpful and very fair coal merchant (bought out by Corralls in this case) I sympathise with comments about Coals2U.

Monopolies are always conspiracies against the consumer.

SEE

A._Badger wrote: »

As someone who is still mourning the loss of my reliable, helpful and very fair coal merchant (bought out by Corralls in this case) I sympathise with comments about Coals2U.

Monopolies are always conspiracies against the consumer.

We need a coal watchdog, or open fire users to take the issue up regarding prices.

Towser

£600 per winter is that reasonable to heat a three bed semi?

SEE

Towser wrote: »

£600 per winter is that reasonable to heat a three bed semi?

Gas, elec and solid fuels, I get mine to £5 a day on cold days.