solid fuel heating system

gr09

hi im looking into renting a property which has solid fuel heating system (whatever thats is :huh:) and also electric storage heaters which i can only see one in the open plan living/kitchen area.
any advice information for a person who has NEVER seen a solid fuel heating system in their life would be much appreciated as im only familiar with central heating and a gas boiler

also how much will i burn in a day to have boiling hot water all the time?

there is no gas to the property and also its a closed fire this heats the radiator and the water for showers baths and what not

* im awaiting to see the property once i know more ill be straight back on to pick your brains some more thank you very much for you help already and sorry its a bit vague at the moment

SurferDan

What type of solid fuel fire is it?

00ec25

My experience is based on childhood memories from many years ago and technology may be very different these days, but if its an old system then I would NEVER have solid fuel central heating again. that said I love an open fire and have always bought houses with "real" fires in the main reception room

my memories of how they ran it:

"Winter" time
Once the boiler was lit it stayed lit. We used a special type of coal called furnecite (spelling??). As a vague memory I don't think my father ever ordered more than 1 ton at a time but can't recall if we had >1 delivery per year, I do recall we always bought some in the summer because it was cheaper then for obvious reasons

Our boiler was a gravity feed system so once it was on the hot water tank was constantly replenished. The radiators worked off the usual room thermostat& timer system

refuelling the boiler and emptying the ash on a daily basis was a huge chore and is why my father went gas. Having to go out to the bunker every morning to bring in fresh supplies before going to work come rain, snow or sun just wore him out

"Summer"
the boiler was out and stayed out. All water was heated via electric immersion heater in the water tank. This was switched on and left on under the thermostatic control - I think they switched it off at night - another daily chore they were pleased to drop with gas

ognum

Again like other posters my experience is not recent but my abiding memory of the house we had with a solid fuel boiler was|

It took a lot of work to keep it going, shovelling coal
You constantly had to remember to keep it alight and buy more coal
the costs were enormous

I would never buy a house with this type of heating again, the house with the solid fuel boiler quickly got changed to gas!

Bluebonnie

gr09 wrote: »

hi im looking into renting a property which has solid fuel heating system (whatever thats is :huh:) and also electric storage heaters which i can only see one in the open plan living/kitchen area.
any advice information for a person who has NEVER seen a solid fuel heating system in their life would be much appreciated as im only familiar with central heating and a gas boiler

also how much will i burn in a day to have boiling hot water all the time?

We need a bit more detail. Have you actually viewed the property?

A full central heating system can be a boiler fuelled by solid fuel (coal or, most likely, coke) so it could heat a tank of hot water and radiators all round the house.

Alternatively, it might just be an open fire in the living room, or a "back boiler" where the open fire also heats a tank of water.

Whichever, it's harder work than just flicking a switch.

Is there any gas to the property? If not, perhaps you could investigate the possibility of making more use of Economy 7 electricity for heating.

AnnieO1234

Definitely more detail needed. How old is the system? Is it a boiler with silo feed? Was the boiler installed for free? (If so, you will NOT be entitled to government rebates on the fuel, if not they'll go to you!)

You will need to ask what supply contract is in place if any, most people just have x amount every week or whatever all the time whether needed or not. Xxx

bouicca21

As 00ec25! Memories of 40+ years ago. It was efficient and at the time was cheaper than gas, which is why my parents installed it. It was no harder than coping with the open fire it replaced (actually easier as it didn't need re-laying every morning). It tended to be my job to get the scuttle filled, which meant going out to the coal bunker whatever the weather.

I will never, ever have a coal fire again. I can't believe that 00ec25 actually wants one. I am scarred for life by the sheer awfulness of lugging coal (yes, I think it was furnacite) around, clearing ashes from the fire, clearing ashes that settled round the room, having to look at a scuttle of coal in the sitting room, getting dirty from the dust. Yuk, yuk, and more yuk.

Oh and we had a delivery once a year. Three coal bunkers in the garden. And you had to stand there during the delivery to make sure the right number of sacks were delivered and to be prepared to argue if the sacks looked short weight or had too much dust in them.

daisygirlmac

We are renting one with a multifuel stove which does a back boiler for radiators and hot water. If you're used to gas I would suggest you significantly reduce your expectations of how warm your radiators get! Also ours doesn't heat the hot water to a high enough temperature to shower so we are reliant on the immersion heater for hot water. A big builder's type sack of logs costs £55 and lasts us approximately 3 weeks but we don't ever have it lit during the day. We just use a small electric fan heater in the bedroom in the morning.

I can't say I would ever choose a property with this type of heating again as it is a pain having to light a fire every time you want to warm up and get rads on, also a pain lugging wood around and cleaning out the stove.