help: have an aga and dont know what coal to use?

jpaine

i have just moved into a house with an aga rayburn, it cooks and heats the water and raidiators.
my problem is im not sure what coal to use, ive been advised on a few differant types, aparently there is a day coal and an overnight coal, i dont know which coal ive been buying but the first lot i was putting on every hour and it was gone in a flash, the second lot took forever to heat and was rubbish i need some advice please.

spinningsheep

First of all, it an AGA or a Rayburn? The solid fuel AGA (a rare beast now) has 3 doors on the front, 2 of which are ovens and one covers the ash door. The coal on these is fed in from the top via a filling hole in the left hand hotplate that is covered by a plug, ie no direct access to fire as such, and this self feeds the fire. You can ONLY use smokeless fuels with this.

A solid fuel rayburn would have 4 doors, 2 ovens, and 2 doors for the fire, one has direct access to the firebox (front loading) and one again covers the ashpan. There is also a spinwheel air control on this door to control the rate of burn. These can burn most sold fuels, but a smokeless coal is going to give a better prolonged burn, especially overnight. You need to close the air off to a low setting for overnight burning. Ancit and Purnacite are fantastic fuels for cookers, burn very hot for long periods, so ideal for overnight, but they are premium smokeless fuels so not cheap, but you will use less, so kind of balances itslkf out.

jpaine

Its got rayburn on the front. It has 4 doors fire, ashpit with spinwheel, oven and warmer underneath. It can burn both logs and coal but i only want to burn coal. Which coal is the day coal that can get my oven and water hot enough.

spinningsheep

You will need to experiment, house coal will warm very quickly but will burn away at an equally fast rate. Try a mix. Get the fire going well with housecoal, then add smokeless, you will need to see what works for you. Have you tried asking your local coal merchant? He/she will know which fuels other Rayburn users find best, but it depends what you want it to do. If you are using it for heat,water and cooking, and you want to use it at this time of year, you will need to keep it in 24/7 and well fuelled, smokeless it the way forward.

Debt_Free_Chick

I think anthracite is generally recommended for a solid fuel cooker/heater. Speak to a local coal merchant.

What's the draw like? Is it too fierce? If so, can you adjust the damper?

jpaine

thankyou all.
i have the anthrite coal on the recomendation of the local coal merchant. and he brung these large nuts i believe there called, i set the ray off at 11.00am today and the oven temperature is on simmer still. i think these must be the overnight ones. its costing me alot in trial fuels. i just been and bought 2 bags of household coal from a garage, and thru some of that on as well, hopefully it will take hold and get these large nuts going. its driving me mad!

crphillips

I'd never use house coal in a closed applinace....and even more so in a boiler stove. The bitumen and soot from burning house coal will clog flueways in no time and the gasses are explosive if not burnt with plenty of flame.

Get a good smokeless fuel recommended by someone you know.......watch out for the ovals such as Holmfire and similar products as they create masses of ash. Also watch out for fuels containging petroleum coke......its very bad for cookers.