coal fires

scottygirl_2

have just come back from holiday in ireland where they had a lovely coalfire.we have ben thinking of replacing our gas fire latley with a living flame fire but have quite warmed to the idea of a coalfire.does any one out there use a coal fire how easy is it to get coal and how does other fuels work in the fire. also how expensive or inexpensive are they to burn, also is there any regulations on smoke from the chimmney

Sujamjen

We took out a gas fire about this time last year, swept the chimney (about £25) put in a grate, bought some logs from a tree surgeon (looked in Yellow Pages) and bought some smokeless fuel from the local garage and off we went! It is wonderful. We live in a smokeless zone so smokeless fuel is a must. We can have it delivered by the local coal merchant or we can just rock up and chuck the bags in the back, which is the cheaper way of course Have been buying coal and logs regularly through the Summer and have a good stockpile now. Also find people give us logs when they know we have a real fire. There are a lot of folk on here that have real fires, they'll give you even more info no doubt! Wish it was cold enough for a fire:T

Debt_Free_Chick

Sujamjen wrote:

We live in a smokeless zone so smokeless fuel is a must.

Have been buying coal and logs regularly through the Summer and have a good stockpile now.

How are you managing to burn logs in a smokeless zone?

pboae

We have a solid fuel stove type thing in the living room. I have used wood in it, but usually we use smokeless fuel (although we aren't in a smokeless area). We paid £140 to have a ton delivered about 18 months ago, and still have plenty left. We get the chimney swept once a year (£20-£30 or you can DIY), and we use it mainly in autumn/spring when it's a bit cold to be sitting round, but you don't want to put the central heating on in the whole house. We also use it in Winter sometimes just for the comfort effect of a real fire.

The downsides are, if you have to buy kindling and you aren't very good at building a fire, that bumps the price up. I try to use cardboard etc instead, but I usually need some kindling to get it going. It's very messy, you have to clean it out every time you use it, and it takes hours for the ashes to cool enough. I've burnt myself a couple of times thinking it was completely dead but there is a hot patch still in the middle. It also makes the house filthy, even though as a stove type one it is mostly sealed, the room gets really dusty and the curtains and walls get a fine layer of ash or dust on them. That drives me mad. Finally, you need to have a good air circulation, moderm houses with double glazing, etc can be almost hermetically sealed, and you need a draught coming through to get a good draw on the fire.