Smokeless Fuel Advice!

nippydee

Hello Forum, I have gone back to live in a property with a open fire, but am out of touch with 'smokeless zoning' and types/costs £ of fuel used.

Q. Am I able to use a mix of smokeless fuel and add the odd lump of regular housecoal or a log?(sneak on at night)? ahem...
Q. How long on average does a 50kg open sack last?
Q. What is a good price on 50kg sack smokeless - I know to buy loose coal, not rip off sealed bags from petrol station!
Q. I have a paper log maker, are they ok to use in smokeless zones?

Finally any merchants out there give me a quote, im West Lancs.

In light of the rarity of open fires I am suprised that the law is now so strict when so many empty buses chug out fumes!!

A._Badger

nippydee wrote: »

Hello Forum, I have gone back to live in a property with a open fire, but am out of touch with 'smokeless zoning' and types/costs £ of fuel used.

Q. Am I able to use a mix of smokeless fuel and add the odd lump of regular housecoal or a log?(sneak on at night)? ahem...

In theory, no. In practice, many do.

Q. How long on average does a 50kg open sack last?

Unanswerable. Too much depends on your fire, how well it burns and how much heat you want from it.

Q. What is a good price on 50kg sack smokeless - I know to buy loose coal, not rip off sealed bags from petrol station!

Depends on the type you buy and where you get it. Here in the SE, the Summer price of Homefire from my local merchant was £18.65 per 50kg (there were small discounts on offer for quantity).

Q. I have a paper log maker, are they ok to use in smokeless zones?

Again, in theory, no. But in practice...?

Finally any merchants out there give me a quote, im West Lancs.

In light of the rarity of open fires I am suprised that the law is now so strict when so many empty buses chug out fumes!!

So am I. I doubt there's much chance of the laws being relaxed, however. Far too many hippies in power.

confuseddad_2

I am up in North East. Where unbelievably we are importing coal but thats another topic all together!!!!!!!!!!!

Just paid £24.00 for 100 kilos Group 1 Burnwell.

We have the fire on during the weekend and this amount goes a long way.

Nothing like the open fire.

elektra-2007

I use a parkray fire, and i can use either smoke or smokless fuel, but i choose smokless anthricite because it burns longer, i get up in the morning and the fire is still in which means i can top it up rather than relite it all day. I pay £15 per 50kg sack from my local coal merchant who delivers. At the moment my fire is on low so a 50 kg sack would last me almost a week, but i have doors to conserve the heat. You could think about getting a metal sheet to fit over the fire at night to try keep the fire in. One thing about smoke coal, it does burn really hot so i occasionally mix a bag in to give it a boost when it gets cold, but it blackens the glass so i dont do it often. What is a paper log maker? are they any good?

rposbo

Hi!

I Have just have a fireplace put back into my flat (it had been covered over by the previous owners! Can you you believe it?!), having had the chimney swept first obviously.

Now, I've grown up around log fires and was pretty good at getting them going (these wouldn't have had a grate, but just a brick floor) - however, now that I have to use smokeless fuel I've bought a sack of homefire coal and, after many failed attempts using paper, twigs, and kindling, bought a load of Zip firelighters too.

My problem - I just can't get the damned homefire stuff to burn! The draw in the chimney is really good, so I discounted that as a cause.

Can anyone please give me any tips? It's only a small fire (a google for "coronet fireplace" will probably give you a good idea), which is another thing I'm not used to. I'm storing the coal in the bag it came in, sealed back up - is that a bad idea? should it be somewhere it can be open and possibly drying out more?

I've spent ages googling for suggestions and none of them are really working for me

It's starting to get really cold these days so I'd love to get my firelighting skillz up before we all freeze!

Any tips appreciated!

Jingojango

I don't know about how to light the stuff, but if it's an old chimney you might want to check that the chimney lining is ok before you start.

hethmar

There should be ventilation/an air brick to an outside source for an open fire - do you have that? Are you bunging on the solid fuel too quickly or stacking it up too much? Get the fire going well with kindling then put a couple of bits of the solid fuel on at a time.(Take it you own the flat? Usually a fire is blocked off for a reason - smoke into the room or other probs)

A._Badger

rposbo wrote: »

Hi!

I Have just have a fireplace put back into my flat (it had been covered over by the previous owners! Can you you believe it?!), having had the chimney swept first obviously.

Now, I've grown up around log fires and was pretty good at getting them going (these wouldn't have had a grate, but just a brick floor) - however, now that I have to use smokeless fuel I've bought a sack of homefire coal and, after many failed attempts using paper, twigs, and kindling, bought a load of Zip firelighters too.

My problem - I just can't get the damned homefire stuff to burn! The draw in the chimney is really good, so I discounted that as a cause.

Can anyone please give me any tips? It's only a small fire (a google for "coronet fireplace" will probably give you a good idea), which is another thing I'm not used to. I'm storing the coal in the bag it came in, sealed back up - is that a bad idea? should it be somewhere it can be open and possibly drying out more?

I've spent ages googling for suggestions and none of them are really working for me

It's starting to get really cold these days so I'd love to get my firelighting skillz up before we all freeze!

Any tips appreciated!

Assuming the chimney was swept by an experienced sweep, it's reasonable to assume that isn't your problem (though it's not a guarantee).

What might be the problem, however,is the fuel itself. For all its delights (!) smokeless fuel can be hard to light. Paper and kindling is better (in my experience) than firelighters, but you need to use a lot and, as has been suggested, just add the fuel a few bits at a time until the fire has got started.

A really dangerous trick that I'm sure 'elf 'n' safety types would have a fit at (though my mother did it every day of our lives when I was a child and I've done it with every open fire I've owned) is to hold a sheet of newspaper over front of the fire, forcing air up through the unlit fuel. You have to be careful how you do this, as the paper often catches fire. But if you are sensible and hold it in place, you can prevent that happening, or quickly push it into the grate if it does. The updraught of air as the fire catches will greatly enhance the speed of lighting.

Hope that's some help but do be careful.

Oh, and no - you don't need to 'air' smokeless fuel. the bag is just fine.

Chattbucks

I used to also have a problem getting homefire started (esp. homefire ovals!) - the trick is not to overload the fire too early, use a firelighter (i use the CPL firelighters), then kindling, then a small log with the coal around it. I always found that if i was in a hurry it would go out.

elektra-2007

rposbo wrote: »

Hi!

I Have just have a fireplace put back into my flat (it had been covered over by the previous owners! Can you you believe it?!), having had the chimney swept first obviously.

Now, I've grown up around log fires and was pretty good at getting them going (these wouldn't have had a grate, but just a brick floor) - however, now that I have to use smokeless fuel I've bought a sack of homefire coal and, after many failed attempts using paper, twigs, and kindling, bought a load of Zip firelighters too.

My problem - I just can't get the damned homefire stuff to burn! The draw in the chimney is really good, so I discounted that as a cause.

Can anyone please give me any tips? It's only a small fire (a google for "coronet fireplace" will probably give you a good idea), which is another thing I'm not used to. I'm storing the coal in the bag it came in, sealed back up - is that a bad idea? should it be somewhere it can be open and possibly drying out more?

I've spent ages googling for suggestions and none of them are really working for me

It's starting to get really cold these days so I'd love to get my firelighting skillz up before we all freeze!

Any tips appreciated!

I use a full newspaper each double sheet screwed up in a ball then a layer of kindling then 1 shovel of coal over the top.
try light the paper from the bottom, i put 1 fire lighter in the empty ashtray underneath to do this then leave it for 10 mins till its really going and most wood is burnt and some coal is glowing red and add a bit more dont totally smother it tho!!! good luck...

rposbo

hello, thanks for all the help! I think my problem was getting a bit too eager and overloading that homefire stuff.

I'll give it a few more goes this weekend - thanks again!