any coal experts out there?

elsien

Just about to order some coal for an open fire:beer: , and have no idea what the different types are or what they do. The nice lady at the coal merchant says although it's more expensive, the smokeless stuff lasts longer and is cheaper in the long run.
Any idea if this is true? (I'd also like my fire to have proper size flames.)
My heat seeking missile of a dog is on the verge of hypothermia, so need to get organised. i missed the summer prices, so I've already failed on the money saving front!

twink

we had just an ordinary coal fire for years before getting gas and during the day we would burn mostly logs but at night we would build up the fire with big lumps of coal and when it was burning well we would put a damp shovel of dross at the back and that would keep a lovely fire going most of the night and really heat up the room, think you are best with the big lumps, that was the dearest, we had firebrite which was cheaper but much smaller lumps, anyway the quality of the coal wasnt always the same sometimes it would spit bits out so look for a good coal merchant

FirstClassMale

Unless you are in a smoke aware zone then you don't need to spend the extra on smokeless fuel. There are basically two types of coal available, Type A. That's what we use. It burns well and leaves very little ash. The cheaper grade is Type C. It frankly isn't worth the saving. It takes longer to get going and leaves partly burnt clinkers in the grate. Of course dross can be handy too as previously posted.