Coal Fireplace with Back-boiler - Help :)

Manxcottageonthehill

Hello,

I'm just looking for abit of advice, were well into our house negotiations, and I think unless something disastrous happens, we'll be the new owners of a lovely little place. Now one of the things which attracted us to the property is the fact of how "off the grid" it is. The house is heated with a coal fireplace which has a back boiler. The shower is heated by an electricity thingamajig.

Anyhow does anyone have this type of set-up? Are there any potential problems I should know about? Is there anything special we need to do to stop damp/condensation happening?

The windows don't have trickle vents as they are sliding sash so I know I will need to open them all day to get ventilation into the house.

Thanks for any reply’s in advance.

Nessy

P.S Please don't suggest we get a combi boiler or anything like that, we’re very happy to live a simple life without modern items, and very very rarely have the central heating on at the moment, I am a true advocate of putting an extra jumper or a blanket on. Sorry to point it out but that’s all anyone seems to be suggesting to us sadly!

nuatha

I wouldn't suggest you get a combi boiler

If you don't have an immersion heater as well then your only access to hot water (other than boiling the kettle or the shower) is having a fire on. Immersion heaters are expensive to run so best not left on 24/7.
Coal is hard work and is dirty, its also the nicest way to heat a house IMO (and to cook toast - get a couple of toasting forks). You will have a lot more dust than a gas centrally heated house will generate, partly from clearing the ashes daily.
It would be worth finding free or cheap supplies of wood, partly for firelighting but also for keeping a fire going, coal is never cheap and burning wood will make it go further - wood is also cooler to burn, there's times when you want a fire but don't want as much heat from it.
Buy a mesh fireguard, the sort that sits close to the fire (not the large mesh to keep kids safe) use it whenever you aren't in the room with the fire. Fires can spit burning cinders, the fireguard saves you from having holes in your carpet or worse.
HTH

Manxcottageonthehill

@nuatha - Thank you! Some really good advice, I will be on the look out for a lovely mesh fireguard soon. Hopefully something dog and car proof! I know we have a water tank in the attic, which were hoping to either replace with something super small or get rid of completely, is this what an immersion heater is? I'm hoping I can find bits of wood on my walks around the local forests, also we have a tree were going to chop down, way to close to the house (will be putting up enough bird feeders ect to keep any birds which lived in it happy) so hopefully we will have that for a few winters. Oh and mmmmmmmmmm toast, forks are so going onto the shopping list, sounds like a lovely winter breakfast.

Patches41048

Although our fireplace has a door (old roomheater) our set up is similar.


Coal fireplaces are rare these days and one thing I would check is whether you are in an area that expects you to burn smokeless fuel, it is available and a local 'coal' merchant should be able to supply. Stock up if possible during the summer when the prices are lower!


Make sure your chimney is swept every year and I would recommend you get a sweep to check the chimney before you light the first fire if it hasn't been used for a while - make sure there are no obstructions stopping the smoke/fumes moving up!


We don't have the windows open all day, the nature of solid fuel fires is that they draw air in and up the chimney while burning and circulate the air that way (science is not my strong point! can you tell? ). I think your sash windows although lovely will probably let just enough air through to for this.


Condensation is not an issue for us, dust however can be! Coal fires can create quite a bit, especially when cleaning out and getting them going.


You may be able to burn logs as well as coal/smokeless fuel, keep these dry and try to use seasoned logs if you do, they burn better, don't spit so much and don't leave so much residue in the chimney.


A fireguard is an absolute essential, keep in place whenever you are not in the room, almost all fuel can throw sparks out.


Keep a good stock of paper and kindling for starting the fire. This gets easier with practice!


I can't think of anything else at the moment but good luck with the move and enjoy the house.


Oooo nearly forgot! before we got our open fire taken out and the room heater fitted, we used to toast bread and crumpets on the fire once it had settled down and stopped smoking! bliss. Probably frowned upon in these day of safety consciousness but as long as you are careful there is nothing like it!


We also have an electric shower fitted, absolute godsend so if we don't have a the fire lit we can still shower. We just boil the kettle to do the washing up.


Cross posted with Nuatha ... totally agree!

missbiggles1

We moved into a house with that setup, tried it for about a week and then called in the plumber to fit a combi boiler. However "off grid" you want to be, life is too short for this sort of thing. At the very least, run a multifuel heater rather than an open fire.

Manxcottageonthehill

@Patches41048 – Thank you! I never thought of the fireplace helping with the ventilation but now you say it, it does make sense! I don’t think we are in a smokeless area but I will defiantly look into it, would hate to move in and instantly be on a bad point with the neighbors!! We’re hoping to get it swept as soon as we move in, no idea how to use one (fingers crossed youtube is going to help). Thankfully we get a free paper every week so I’m hoping we’ll be able to use this, previous to sadly having to say goodbye to our kitty, the paper was wonderful for the kitty litter. Oh crumpets with proper butter, nothing seriously beats that, mmmmmmmmmmm toast and crumpets for breakfast in winter yumyum! I’ve started the boil the kettle in the house were in at the moment to wash the dishes, just to get into a routine of doing it and two kettle worth’s fill my basket quite nicely with around a pint of cold water.

Manxcottageonthehill

@missbiggles1 - Oh dear, I am sorry the system didn't work for you. We're actually really happy to of found this type of setup in today's world. My other half was brought up on a similar system (gas fireplace, no central heating, electric shower) and I love those 4-6 weeks of the year when we're at his parents house. We hardly have the heating on as it is, and only because we are living with someone else who likes a well heated house. We know the system will be perfect for us. If not there is no point buying the house, as a new system would cost a bomb and as it is we might have to tank the lounge!

suki1964

Welcome to off grid living

As soon as I can there will be a back boiler being put in this house, it's the one thing we do need after sitting through one too many power cuts and no hot water


First off, you won't be able to burn any trees you cut down till they are seasoned for at least a year.

You need to find a good reliable coal merchant. Don't be buying from garages etc. best to buy bulk delivered. We have a ton bunker as well as a normal size one.

You won't be getting condensation , your chimney will supply you with the draught you need

Coal is dirty and dusty. Make sure you have old mats in front of the fire cos when coal rolls it makes a hell of a mess

You would know if you have an immersion, it's a hot tank usually on the first floor, in a cupboard usually , most people call that the airing cupboard or hot press.

We don't have hot water during the summer after the showers have used what's there. We have a dishwasher and a boiled kettle does the rest of needs

It's not so hard to get used to. I wouldn't be without my stoves for the heating. So much cosier then oil

jrtfan

Only because we fell foul of this, ourselves(!!), I would urge you to contact your new Council's Environment department to check what types of fuel you're actually allowed to burn in your area.

Wood is lovely, and it's cheap as you've said (has a gorgeous smell too when burning, in my opinion) BUT it does give off carbon dioxide when it burns on an open fire and it's this, more than any nuisance the new neighbours might suffer, which will land you in trouble.

Our Council, for example, won't allow us to burn logs/old timbers/old doors or any type of wood (treated or non-treated) on an open fire with a chimney. However we are allowed to use a minimal amount of wood as kindling, to start a (smokeless) coal fire burning.

On the other hand, if we installed a wood-burning stove which met with the approved standards (there are different types of stoves for smokeless areas, apparently) then it would be perfectly OK for us to burn all types of woods here (something to do with the wood burning at a higher temperature and more efficiently, I was told, although I'm no scientist either so please don't quote me on this!).

There's better information on the gov.uk website ( /smoke-control-area-rules ) Also, on the environmental-protection. org.uk site ( /committees/air-quality/air-pollution-law-and-policy/using-wood-and-coal-for-home-heating/ ).

I really envy you, having this wonderful option in your new house! I agree, a fire guard and set of fire irons are a must - and chimney swept regularly too, to avoid any chimney fires.

The water tank in your loft - if there's just one tank up there then it might well be the cold-water tank (unless the water to your taps is fed straight off the mains supply?). Worth checking this out with the vendors, maybe, before you think about moving or replacing it.

Best of luck, and enjoy!

nuatha

Manxcottageonthehill wrote: »

@nuatha - Thank you! Some really good advice, I will be on the look out for a lovely mesh fireguard soon. Hopefully something dog and car proof! I know we have a water tank in the attic, which were hoping to either replace with something super small or get rid of completely, is this what an immersion heater is? I'm hoping I can find bits of wood on my walks around the local forests, also we have a tree were going to chop down, way to close to the house (will be putting up enough bird feeders ect to keep any birds which lived in it happy) so hopefully we will have that for a few winters. Oh and mmmmmmmmmm toast, forks are so going onto the shopping list, sounds like a lovely winter breakfast.

Fireguard, something like this rather than this

That large tank in the loft is probably your cold water tank. My advice would be to keep it. If your mains goes down, then you can continue to use that while the mains is restored. It also provides a constant pressure for your shower.

In immersion heater is effectively a kettle element inside your hot water tank. One place I lived in had an immersion heater in the back boiler, another had a separate hot water tank fed from the back boiler with an immersion heater in it. This is not an easy retrofit.

Collecting bits of wood while you're walking might provide you with kindling to start a fire,

you'll be amazed at how much wood a fire consumes. 1kg of wood burns for about an hour, a cubic metre of wood weighs around a third of a tonne. I used to burn around a tonne a year. That's the equivalent of having the fire on 3 hours per day, just using timber. Friends who only use wood burn four to five tonne per year. I can't remember how much coal we burned per year when we were coal only.
You may want to look into fitting a multifuel stove, it will consume far less coal/wood though you won't be toasting on it (although I've seen a couple of designs that would work).

Timber needs to be seasoned, effectively allowed to stand somewhere dry with a decent airflow in order to dry out. Typically seasoning in the UK will take 1 year per inch thickness.

I used to take one of the Sunday broadsheets for firestarting material.
The current house has gas central heating, over the winter I've reopened the fireplace and its now safe for burning coal. I'll be building a woodstore, but I don't expect to be burning my own timber for at least a year.

Probably more information than you wanted

whiteguineapig

you can sweep the chimney yourself, we bought our rods off ebay and you trim the brush bit to size, they aren't expensive , probably what it would have cost to have the sweep do it once and they will last forever