What is best to use on a coal fire? apart from coal obviously!

sydneybean

Hi,
am hoping someone will be able to give me some advice. My dad has recently moved into a flat which has a coal fire. So yesterday he put it on for the first time having bought a bag of coal from the local garage and a bag of around 10 logs.

he came round this morning and said he had used all of the logs!:eek:
so we went up to B&Q and have bought more logs and some heat fuel things. (thankfully i get discount so was a little bit cheaper) but i cant believe he will go through 10 logs a day and half a bag of coal?

its been a long time since we had a coal fire and my dad is talking about things like slack, and coke amongst other things?!

can anyone give me any ideas for him to have his coal fire and not spend a fortune on it? he is 69 and on a pension and can obviously not afford this every day.

many thanks
S

A._Badger

sydneybean wrote: »

Hi,
am hoping someone will be able to give me some advice. My dad has recently moved into a flat which has a coal fire. So yesterday he put it on for the first time having bought a bag of coal from the local garage and a bag of around 10 logs.

he came round this morning and said he had used all of the logs!:eek:
so we went up to B&Q and have bought more logs and some heat fuel things. (thankfully i get discount so was a little bit cheaper) but i cant believe he will go through 10 logs a day and half a bag of coal?

its been a long time since we had a coal fire and my dad is talking about things like slack, and coke amongst other things?!

can anyone give me any ideas for him to have his coal fire and not spend a fortune on it? he is 69 and on a pension and can obviously not afford this every day.

many thanks
S

First, get the chimney swept and the fire looked at by a qualified sweep. There may be draughting problems causing the fuel to burn too quickly.

Second, stop buying logs from overpriced goons like B&Q!

Coal is cheaper bought in sensible quantities from coal merchants (check your Yellow Pages) though you will need somewhere to store it.

Logs are better bought from log suppliers, but they may be scarce in urban areas. In any case, not all open fires are suited to logs and your father may well be better sticking to coal or smokeless fuel. Articfical 'log substitutes' are about the least cost effective fuel he could burn and should be ignored completely.

sydneybean

A. Badger - many thanks for your advice, did make me laugh as i work for B&Q :rotfl: however, i wont take offence

i will text his landlord and ask when the chimney was last swept also need to speak to them about the fact that he has night storage heaters that appear not to work at all!

so coke etc is not a viable option then due to the cost? i have been reading some of the other posts on here and am now a bit confused about what "green timber" is although i presume its that it hasnt dried out properly. we live near an old disused railway line and often walk down there and there are loads of fallen branches etc (not sleepers lol!) but i take it they wouldnt be a good idea?

many thanks
S

Fishingtime

I think you have to be careful when you burn wood in a fire meant for coal.
I am sure that wood burns alot hotter than coal and so your flu and chimney need to be able to cope with the extra heat

A._Badger

yoxford2008 wrote: »

I think you have to be careful when you burn wood in a fire meant for coal.
I am sure that wood burns alot hotter than coal and so your flu and chimney need to be able to cope with the extra heat

Wood burns cooler than coal. A chimney that will handle the heat from coal will easily handle the heat from wood. It may not like the tar and other condensates, however.

savemoney

Wood is cleaner to use but coal burns much hotter. I agree dont buy over priced logs you can often get them delivered from sawmills much cheaper if you buy in bulk doesn't have to be a huge load but you do need some where or store them from rain. It can be outside just need a cover for the top to keep rain off you can buy wood stores

HappyMJ

A bag of coal is fine for the occasional BBQ but is far too expensive to be used for heating on a daily basis. You need to get a delivery of a tonne of coal. It'll last much longer and cost much less than buying 25kg bags.

Russ123_2

I suggest he does what i do. I buy 250kilo of premium house coal which is 500 CWT (hundredweight) (or 5 bags of best, whichever you prefer ) Costs me around £80. Depending on what he buys you can give or take £10 from this figure.

Also i would also suggest if you want to get the best out of your fire have it swept and burn quality coal. I'd personally stay away from Wood but each to their own.

Slack is basically coal dust\small pieces which can be used to slow the burn rate of your fire, effectively dampening it down.

Coke? i have no real experience of it. I know if you don't have a bed full of ash coke is likely to burn straight through your grate.

If you are allowed to burn it, House coal is your best bet. Low ash content, Long flame and burns slowly.

muckybutt

savemoney wrote: »

Wood is cleaner to use but coal burns much hotter.

Wood is in fact dirtier than coal ! burning wood you will need to get chimney swept more often, common misconception that coal is dirtier than wood.

savemoney

Depends on how seasoned the wood is and how hot your burn tar ca be caused by unseasoned wood or slow burn

I meant when clean you dont have clean up much just ash maybe slight bit of tar on the door.

I have my chimney done once a year and I ask each time how bad it is to chimney sweep and each time they told me it inst too bad, maybe I get wells seasoned wood

Coke is cleaner fuel

muckybutt wrote: »

Wood is in fact dirtier than coal ! burning wood you will need to get chimney swept more often, common misconception that coal is dirtier than wood.

Greenfires

I wouldn't ever buy logs from B&Q - they tend to sell the stuff that no self respecting firewood man would dream of selling to his own customers - and that's because they only want to pay about a quid a net for them - and then flog them for about £5.99! Heard from several guys in the trade who looked at dealing with them - briefly!

We burn firewood briquettes in both our stove and an open fire - pallet full lasts us all winter easily. There are big differences between briquettes though - poor ones will go in no time, and though they may be cheaper on paper - if you use three times as many then they are dearer in real terms. Very clean burning though - virtually smokeless once alight - and a lot more energy than the same weight of logs as they have about a quarter of the moisture content.

Andy