wildfire safe to use??

wrightk

have a charnwood multi fuel stove doing the heating and hot water. normally burn welsh blend anthracite but went to another coal merchant today as i wanted to try some different fuels as im not happy with welsh blend. he gave me a bag of wildfire to try. looked at the bag when we got home and it says not suitable for stoves, only open fires! Just wondering why? and whether it would just be ok to burn this bag only to save wasting it. We aren't in a smoke control zone

many thanks

Swipe

It probably means it contains a blend of petcoke or burns hotter than stuff designed for stoves. You'll be fine on just one bag, especially if you mix with another type if you have any left.

muckybutt

I would imagine the calorific value of the wildfire would be higher than a run of the mill coal.

Personally I wouldnt put it anywhere near a stove if it says unsuitable for stoves - especially if you have a liner in ! if it over fires then you could easily kiss goodbye to the liner - be warned it does happen

wrightk

thanks, have played it safe tonight and am using the anthracite, ill give away the wildfire. was just looking to try some different blends as i am finding the anthracite pretty unreliable. it can be brilliant. i did read somewhere that because it is mined this can cause inconsistencies. am having trouble with banking it overnight too

muckybutt

We use phurnacite for overnight burns, good stuff but not v cheap hence its only used on nights where its blinkin cold

A._Badger

The problem with Wildfire is that it contains petroleum coke. Stoves don't like that sort of fuel as the intensity of heat is said to damage firebars.

Your best bet is to try several varieties of conventional smokeless fules: Phurnacite, as suggested, but also Maxibrite, Newflame, Taybrite and one or two others, till you find the one that works best for you at the most acceptable price.

highrisklowreturn

I use bituminous doubles or singles at £4.99 and £4.73 respectively.

wrightk

A._Badger wrote: »

The problem with Wildfire is that it contains petroleum coke. Stoves don't like that sort of fuel as the intensity of heat is said to damage firebars.

Your best bet is to try several varieties of conventional smokeless fules: Phurnacite, as suggested, but also Maxibrite, Newflame, Taybrite and one or two others, till you find the one that works best for you at the most acceptable price.

cheers. have been looking at taybrite and phurnacite. i was under the impression that phurnacite was made with anthracite dust and i know that if i have a pretty dusty batch of anthracite it goes up very well so maybe worth looking at.

undecided what to do next winter, may move to logs but the only problem with this is that the council wont sweep more than once per year. have heard of a few products like stovax protector flue? perhaps the sweeps like MB and greenfires have an opinion on this product. if it can aid me to get away with having the chimney swept once a year i may very well move to logs and bank with coal overnight

A._Badger

Personally, I wouldn't sweep just once a year if I burned logs all the time and I'd definitely not do it if I burned ordinary coal (I'd do it once every three months if I used coal - though I never would burn coal as, sadly, it's too sooty for most stoves and narrow liners).

As for logs, I use them during the Spring and Autumn when I don't need maximum heat, because I like the convenience of not having to empty ashes every day (or every few hours if burning all day) and because I like the aesthetics of burning wood - the scent, the sound, the flame pattern.

However, logs aren't cheap, they are of variable quality and I don't find my multifuel stove burns them as well as it does smokeless fuel. Of course, all stoves are different and you may find yours loves them.

Again, purely personally, I would never burn anthracite because it's a devil to light and, as you have found, it varies in quality too much (though it may be possible to get a more consistent quality from a really good coal merchant) so smokeless is my only option.

I'm still trying different varieties when I find them - for example, Stoveheat this year as I have a new supplier.

I always seem to end-up back with Maxibrite, though, having tried Taybrite and Newflame for a couple of years. I tried Phurnacite but it's too expensive in my area and I found it no better than Maxibrite in use.

Using the logs/smokeless alternated route a single yearly sweep works fine for me.

Good luck with your quest!

suki1964

I find the phurnacite is brill on my stove but to keep the fire in for 6 hours or more, I layer it with anthracite

Ill be lighting the stove shortly and wont be back home again before 8 - and my house will be lovely and toasty and the fire will still be glowing great

wrightk

A._Badger wrote: »

Personally, I wouldn't sweep just once a year if I burned logs all the time and I'd definitely not do it if I burned ordinary coal (I'd do it once every three months if I used coal - though I never would burn coal as, sadly, it's too sooty for most stoves and narrow liners).

As for logs, I use them during the Spring and Autumn when I don't need maximum heat, because I like the convenience of not having to empty ashes every day (or every few hours if burning all day) and because I like the aesthetics of burning wood - the scent, the sound, the flame pattern.

However, logs aren't cheap, they are of variable quality and I don't find my multifuel stove burns them as well as it does smokeless fuel. Of course, all stoves are different and you may find yours loves them.

Again, purely personally, I would never burn anthracite because it's a devil to light and, as you have found, it varies in quality too much (though it may be possible to get a more consistent quality from a really good coal merchant) so smokeless is my only option.

I'm still trying different varieties when I find them - for example, Stoveheat this year as I have a new supplier.

I always seem to end-up back with Maxibrite, though, having tried Taybrite and Newflame for a couple of years. I tried Phurnacite but it's too expensive in my area and I found it no better than Maxibrite in use.

Using the logs/smokeless alternated route a single yearly sweep works fine for me.

Good luck with your quest!

decisions decisions! agree with the anthracite. its a beggar to get going. just bought a bag of phurnacite will give it a go tonight and report back. then i will start downgrading price wise to see what smokeless is the best/economical for the stove