Taybrite / smokless fuels - not hot enough?

EvilMonkey

Hi there,

With recent elongated cold snap, I've got through most of my stock of seasoned wood for the winter already. Looking to eek the remains out a little I bought a bag of taybrite to try a coal fire.

The common advice seems to be to build a small wood fire and add the cobs to that. This was simple enough and during this stage the fire gave out a lot of heat.

But after this, the cobs just don't seem to put out enough heat. I'm hoping it's a simple error (like 'add more cobs in' or 'spread them out' etc.) otherwise it could be an expensive winter! My stove is a pretty small one (a stovax stockton 4), not sure if this makes a difference

Any advice on building a roaring fire from taybrite is much appreciated!

Thanks

manda1205

Just keep adding it, obviously dont drown it and put it out, but once you get enough glowing a good red colour then really bank it up. Once you've got enough on there it'll soon give out lots of heat. My mums gets so hot she has to open windows, just got to get it going and wait really.

A._Badger

Pound for pound, solid fuel puts out a lot more heat than wood - and smokeless fuels such as Taybrite generate even more than ordinary bituminous (aka house) coal. Which suggests you are doing something wrong.

Start your fire as you normally would, then start to add solid fuel, aiming to cover the entire grate area. When it is glowing, add more, to generate the amount of heat you require.

Bear in mind that while wood burns best with air admitted from above, solid fuel is the opposite so, if your stove has them, close the top vents and open the bottom ones.

Hope that helps.

EvilMonkey

A._Badger wrote: »

Start your fire as you normally would, then start to add solid fuel, aiming to cover the entire grate area. When it is glowing, add more, to generate the amount of heat you require.

Hmmm, I start of as you've suggested and normally end up with about a brick's thickness worth off cobs covering the entire grate (although experimenting last night I tried to rake them together to generate more heat. Fire just started for today so I'll try the 'heap on more fuel' approach.

A._Badger wrote: »

Bear in mind that while wood burns best with air admitted from above, solid fuel is the opposite so, if your stove has them, close the top vents and open the bottom ones.

This might be it, I knew about coal liking air from underneath, so had left the bottom vent open, but not about closing the top vent. In fact my stove calls it an 'airflow' vent, but I understand it's basically a top vent.

Will experiment along these lines tonight.

crphillips

Do as A Badger says but never shut the top vent fully.....always leave open a notch as this is the one that keeps the glass clean by directing a curtain of clean air down the rear of the glass.

EvilMonkey

So far it's looking like this is the trick...

Extrapolating from this, opening the door for that open fire feel, is probably also not a good idea?

A._Badger

EvilMonkey wrote: »

So far it's looking like this is the trick...

Extrapolating from this, opening the door for that open fire feel, is probably also not a good idea?

Definitely not. In fact with most of the stoves I've had, opening the door will dull the fire down as cold air is drawn onto the top of the hot coals.

You need to get that fire roaring away. Resist the temptation of making too thick at first, Get a single layer of coals red hot, then add more. 'Little and often' used to be the watchword when firing steam locomotives!

Also bear in mind that solid fuel produces a great deal of ash and that as this clogs the firebars, they will get extremely hot and could actually melt!

To avoid that, riddle the grate (assuming you have a riddling device on your stove - if not, gently use a poker) each time you refuel and make sure your ashpan never gets so full that ashes touch the bottom of the firebars. For efficient combustion, you need air constantly coming up through the fire and this will also help cool the metal firebars.

You'll soon get the hang of it!

EvilMonkey

Thanks for the tips, it's just a different game from woodburning!

dooby

My stove is a multi fuel and I find that when i'm using smokeless if I have the bottom vent fully open it gives a great looking fire but all the heat just goes up the chimney breast.

I usually get the fire roaring with a full open vent and then turn the vent down to about a third of the way open. The heat then seems to come outwards into the room as the fuel gently flames away rather than instead of it sending the flames (and seemingly the heat) upwards out of the flue.

(I hope that makes some sort of sense)

Edit. I top up every few hours and each time get it going with a roar and then turn it down again.
In this cold weather when I go to bed at about 10pm I put about 15 - 20 nuggets on - roar it whilst I make a brew and then turn it down to almost closed position. The coal burns much more gently this way as teh air supply is restricted but it stays hot all night and then in the morning I can just give it a shake and add more fuel. I believe that with it being smokeless it's not too bad for your chimney to burn it slowly as it doesn't deposit rubbish like what wood and coal does when burned gently.

ladygee

I have been using Taybrite for nearly 7 years and have not experienced any difficulties with lighting or slow burning overnight and I have had the chimney swept twice a year. This winter however I have had several problems regarding the draw on the fire and had to call out the sweep 3 months after the last sweep was done. He has experienced several customers with the same problem and thro' a process of elimination I have discovered that the metel lining in my chimney has disintergrated after only 7 years and the culprit could be Taybrite as it is very high in sulphur. The Solid Fuel Advisory Service have recommended Phunacite, Ancit and Homefire. I am now looking for a local supplier in Shropshire so I can buy a bag of each and see which one works best for me.

A._Badger

That's very interesting - and also very worrying, ladygee.

Did the SFA actually confirm that Taybrite is high in sulphur, or did they just suggest alternatives?

I ask because after years of using Maxibrite, I have decided it's not what it was (possibly related to the takeover of the manufacturer a year or so ago?). It crumbles to dust far too easily and they have put the price up considerably, this year.

Having tried samples of Taybrite, Homefire and Phurnacite, I'd decided Taybrite was a better burn and better value than the other two so have just filled my bunker with the stuff!

Time to make some enquiries. Thank you for the warning!.