How much (kg) and what type of fuel do you use in your multifuel stove?

James_Woolford

I have just bought a multifuel stove 5kw size, i have done my research given the fuel crisis and such but my research gives me many different results.

I know thre's many factors such as;

House size to heat - 2 bed semi, will mainly be using the fire to warm our open plan front room diner, nothing massive.
How often will it be used? it will be our main heat source, so nightly from November to let's say March (coldest months)
How long for? average about 4 or 5 hours - when we get in after work before bed, possibly to leave overnight so its warm on a morning on the odd time.

I have heard it's best practice to use smokeless coal mainly anthracite primarily, but use wood on top of the coals or below to mix it up.

I'm not asking how much it costs you as such as that will vary, but mainly on an average basis how many bags (example 25kg) you use in a week or a night, so i can give a good guesstimate on how much to bulk order, thanks.

skycatcher

Last winter a 25kg bag of premium blend smokeless coal lasted me 4 days keeping the stove in overnight i.e. it was lit 24/7. This was in an open plan living dining room. It kept the place around 21c and the fire just ticked over. In the morning I'd open it up full and give it a good burn before loading more coal and closing it down. As the chimney ran up through our bed room it was also kept warm.

James_Woolford

skycatcher said:

Last winter a 25kg bag of premium blend smokeless coal lasted me 4 days keeping the stove in overnight i.e. it was lit 24/7. This was in an open plan living dining room. It kept the place around 21c and the fire just ticked over. In the morning I'd open it up full and give it a good burn before loading more coal and closing it down. As the chimney ran up through our bed room it was also kept warm.

Thank you very much for this, our bedroom is above with the same chimney wall also, this is great to hear!

QrizB

Dry wood contains around 4-5kWh of energy per kg, so a 5kW stove will burn around a kilogram of wood an hour, if kept well stoked.

Smokeless fuel is more like 8kWh/kg, so your stove might get through 0.65kg per hour.

Qyburn

We use mostly wood and get through around 2-3cu.m per season using the stove most evenings during the cold season.   We keep smokeless fuel in stock and use that occasionally if we want the stove to run 24/7, which would generally be only during a multi-day power cut, or maybe days like Christmas etc when the sitting room is used all day.

Aside from cost the disadvantages of smokeless fuel are that it needs the ash emptying more often, and if it gets in a sulk it's harder to get revved up again.

Trundley27

Hi, I have always used Burnwell Blend. It is produced in the Northeast and my local coal merchants sell it. 1 coal bucket (Fire lit at ca. 19:00) with overnight slumbering will still be glowing the morning after, lounge cosy and warm the morning after, hallway. landing.  

Ainsty

I use 300kg of smokeless fuel each winter and about 1.5 cu.m of seasoned softwood. The stove is on every day I am home and is lit any time from about 8:00 am and 6:00 pm depending on the weather and what I am doing each day. Sometimes when it isn't particularly cold but if it's a grey and wet day I light the fire to cheer myself up. I don't put fuel on after about 8:30/9:00 pm and I don't have it on overnight.

A few years ago I found it easy to source free, good quality wood but I think as more people have stoves they want to keep any suitable wood for themselves or family/friends with a stove.

I don't think you need a lot of outdoor space if you are buying wood rather than seasoning your own. I have two medium sized wood stores which together easily hold 1cu.m. I also have a bunker for the solid fuel. All three take up a space of about 1m x 4m including gaps between and behind to allow air to circulate.

I hope this helps you work out how much to order.

ariarnia

QrizB said:

Dry wood contains around 4-5kWh of energy per kg, so a 5kW stove will burn around a kilogram of wood an hour, if kept well stoked.

Smokeless fuel is more like 8kWh/kg, so your stove might get through 0.65kg per hour.

ours is a 4kw stove but i find if we burn it hard for more than about an hour the lounge actually gets too hot to be comfortable other than in the depths of winter. we get a good fire going with kindling and a good size log then add a log every 45 mins to an hour to keep it going. temp tends to be kept in the 300-400f range according tot he stove thermometer. we get through maybe 6 logs in an evening. probably about 4 or 5 kilos. our lounge is about 16*12 and there's double glazing and thermal curtains. plus a door curtain as no door on the lounge to the hall (demanding animals!). 

mmmmikey

Briquettes are an alternative to consider - basically waste sawdust compressed into blocks about the size of a large paperback book and burnt like logs. They have the advantage of being very clean burning, easy to store and attractive to burn. I used to use them before I bought some woodland and started cutting my own logs and found them the cheapest option for a similar situation to yours. Best guess is that you'd use about 3/4 pallet load per year or thereabouts (but this is just an order of magnitude).  These are the best I could find both in terms of price and burining qualities.

https://www.foxtimber.co.uk/fox-blox-briquettes/

Because of the way they're packed it's easy to stack them up at the end of the garage, in a shed or whatever.

FreeBear

James_Woolford said: I have heard it's best practice to use smokeless coal mainly anthracite primarily, but use wood on top of the coals or below to mix it up.

I've tried anthracite in my stove (Arada i500), and the darned stuff just wouldn't stay alight - Ended up sending all the unopened bags back to my supplier for a full refund. Wouldn't recommend using the stuff unless you have something like a Rayburn.

Phurnacite on the other hand burned quite well, as does Stoveheat - A 25Kg bag will last me about a week. The usual advice is that you shouldn't really be mixing wood a& coal - The moisture in the wood combines with the sulphur from the coal to produce sulphuric acid. This could cause damage to your flue liner.

If you burn pure wood, the resulting ash can go on the garden or compost heap. Any coal ash should go into your waste bin (once cold) for land fill and not on the garden.

James_Woolford

Thank you everyone, i have now ordered half tonne of coal, and going to try self source as much wood to mix as possible, hopefully half tonne coal will last the winter, i guess its one of them things where you find out once you do it