wood or coal ?

artydave

I have recently bought a multifuel stove and am looking at sources of fuel (some of it free !!).

Its probably not an easy question to answer, but assuming I had to pay the going rates for a suitable coal and seasoned hardwood, which would be the cheapest way of heating a room/house ? I just have no idea how much of eaither i am going to need this winter (assuming it is just an average winter).

justjohn

Coal has a standard price....

Wood - can be had cheap. Soft needs only be seasoned for aprox year. We often buy wood as soon as weather gets warmer and it sits in our outbuildings until winter. Some wood is not seasoned properly anyway. We do burn anything made of wood pallets, chip board, laminate flooring etc(ill wait on the experts too shoot me down). You do have to be carefull something output a massive amount off heat.

We have a multifuel fire and oil central heating, the house was originaly totaly heated with the multifuel burner.

We never use coal its too expensive and do not need the high heat output it provides.

When we used the multifuel fire to heat whole house we found we got a good heat output by using coal and logs at same time.

3 ton of soft wood heats our house over the worst winter months(using just the multifuel fire only). Large house 5 bedroom.

Swipe

I use 6 x 50kg bags of smokeless coal per year (mix of anthracite and petcoke which costs about £90). This is used to build a base for the stove to which I will add logs (which I collect and season for free) while I'm home and a shovel full of smokeless for keeping the stove in overnight when it's really cold.

A._Badger

Please note there's a significant difference between coal (cheaper) and smokeless fuel (quite a lot more expensive). Coal (ordinary 'housecoal' or bituminous coal) produces a lot of soot which can and will clog many stoves and lined chimneys. Several stove makers advise users not to burn housecoal for this reason.

If you do decide to use it, please get the advice of a reliable sweep, You'll almost certainly need the chimney sweeping at least twice a year, which adds to the cost.

As to which is cheaper, not all smokeless fuels are born equal - some work better than others but almost all, in my experience, put out more heat than wood, which makes a direct comparison quite difficult.

The experience is different, too. Wood looks nicer but burns much more quickly, so a stove running on wood needs pretty regular attention.

It's only one person's experience, but even with a new stove and a lot of trial and error, I haven't yet been ale to work out which is the more expensive to use (not least because of the way fuel prices keep risingt!) but my gut feeling is that, for me, there's not a lot of difference in cost between the two.

artydave

Thanks everyone for the input.

I'm testing the fire at the moment ... I KNOW its hot outside !! lol

I'll probably be getting wood and some coal.

A few suppliers have recommended taybrite and homefire ovals.

However, someone else has suggested that taybrite has a lot of sulphur and that can corrode the metal liner in the chimney.

Does that make any sense ?

A._Badger

artydave wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the input.

I'm testing the fire at the moment ... I KNOW its hot outside !! lol

I'll probably be getting wood and some coal.

A few suppliers have recommended taybrite and homefire ovals.

However, someone else has suggested that taybrite has a lot of sulphur and that can corrode the metal liner in the chimney.

Does that make any sense ?

This came up last winter and I posted about it then ( a search should find it).

A brief synopsis is that when I read this rumour, I contacted the Solid Fuel Association, who confirmed that all smokeless fuel sold here by authorised coal merchants must meet fixed standards, of which sulphur content is one. Taybrite meets that standard.

Reading between the lines, there does appear to be an issue regarding the quality of the stainless steel used in some liners not handling the sulphuric acid sometimes produced and it is worth making sure you get a good one.

There are also some pundits who claim you should never burn coal and wood together (or smokeless, one assumes) due to 'chemical reactions' but I have never been able to find any reliable evidence to support this and countless people do it without apparent issue.

The main thing apears to be to run a hot fire so as to burn off water vapour and not to let a fire smoke or slumber for long periods.

In the end, despite the rumours, having had that assurance, I've switched to Taybrite (from Maxibrite) and would take some convincing to change fuels again.

Hope that's some help.

artydave

Hi Badger

Thanks for the reply.

After posting my message, I did indeed find and read your previous posting on the issue.

I have just contacted the installer and he says he used 316 grade liner.

So, i guess I got one of the cheapest liners ... though i guess there are potentially different grades of 316 liner.

I tried homefire ovals in the stove tonight. It lit easily and burnt steadily, but once going, i found it impossible to control the burning using the primary air control or the air flow system ( I have a riva 55 inset fire). It just burnt well, and that was it. i couldn't make it burn hard or slumber. Perhaps i was doing something wrong ?

I also have bought a 25kg sack of taybrite and will be trying/testing that tomorrow !

A._Badger

artydave wrote: »

Hi Badger

Thanks for the reply.

After posting my message, I did indeed find and read your previous posting on the issue.

I have just contacted the installer and he says he used 316 grade liner.

So, i guess I got one of the cheapest liners ... though i guess there are potentially different grades of 316 liner.

I tried homefire ovals in the stove tonight. It lit easily and burnt steadily, but once going, i found it impossible to control the burning using the primary air control or the air flow system ( I have a riva 55 inset fire). It just burnt well, and that was it. i couldn't make it burn hard or slumber. Perhaps i was doing something wrong ?

I also have bought a 25kg sack of taybrite and will be trying/testing that tomorrow !

I'm afraid I know nothing about inset fires as I use a multifuel stove that has primary, secondary and tertiary (though I've never used that one) air controls. Having said that, I wouldn't worry so long as it burns well enough.

Generally speaking, as I understand it, solid fuel (as opposed to wood) is best burned with air coming from beneath. It's the other way with wood. If your fire has controls to adjust the flow of air from under the firebed, they are the ones that should be adjusted to control the rate of burn with smokeless.

With wood, (assuming it's the same as a stove) you close-off air from beanth and control the rate of burn from a top feed of air.

Was there a handbook? Maybe the installer can help?

crphillips

The Riva range of stoves are very good. We fit plenty. When burning smokeless close your top vent nearly all the way and then play with the bottom vent to regulate the heat.

The Riva stoves are a little different to other stoves around as the riddling grate is also the primary air control. I have heard of fuel occasionally getting stuck in the grooves in the grate which stops you from closing it fully. If your finding it hard to turn the fire down insert the supplied tool into the primary air control and give it a good shake back and forth to dislodge anything that may be stuck in there.

I personally think the Stovax Riva is the most responsive stove i've come across when it comes to controlling the fire.

redlady_1

At night when I put mine into "sleep"mode, I bank it hard with coal (well the correct stuff but I cant remember its name right now!) and then virtually close all the vents. In the morning I just throw some kindling at it and open everything right up and away you go! Overnight is the only time I use coal