Coal......... Which one to choose.

[BarnBrian]

Do you know the origin of the peat? Peat is one of the most environmentally unfriendly forms of fuel there is.

 

Not only does the burning of it release CO2, the cutting process releases large amounts of greenhouse gases too.

 

Perhaps most importantly, peat bogs are a very important, and rapidly dwindling wildlife habitat.

 

People are, finally, starting to use alternatives to peat for their compost. It would be a shame to encourage its use as a fuel.

I should have known this would have touched a nerve. Better get the oars and sails out again, althought rowing will probably produce too much CO2 if we all do it.

I'm afraid that working all over the world in the offshore oil industry I tend to see where a lot more things are ruining our planet.

[carlt]

I should have known this would have touched a nerve. Better get the oars and sails out again, althought rowing will probably produce too much CO2 if we all do it.

I'm afraid that working all over the world in the offshore oil industry I tend to see where a lot more things are ruining our planet.

True. I guess two wrongs make a right after all. Bravo!

[wrigglefingers]

Most pagans round 'ere seem to stay in all night and burning one or two should keep you reasonably warm .......

Edited November 6, 2007 by wrigglefingers

[DHutch]

We burn anything we can get really, if the price is right when we need some.

- If if comes from the coal yard near my granddad it comes in big orange sacks, but i cant recall the name.

- Otherwise just we had pure heat which is all right, but didnt stay in as well last weekend. We also had some 'cosyflame' was tollerable.

 

House coal works too.

- We can keep our open fire at home in over night with it as with the stove on the boat.

 

We also burn the odd bit of steamcoal when we dont have anything specially for the stove, which is also fine as long as you dig around for the small bits. (big can be litterally foot ball size, and average is about four inch round)

 

 

Daniel

[Jo]

Many, Many thanks for all your postings, they have all been most helpful and have certainly given us a few ideas on what to burn. We will certainly be looking into the housecoal option (sorry neighbours if your moored with us ) and the Taybrite.

We have found that with our classic stove, even if we have everything shut down tight it is burning into overdrive with Excel Blaze and with the Homefire. At 2am this morning we were up damping the stove down with ash as we could not sleep for the heat.

Mind you it was not that cold outside

I will get hubby to read all the posts and we decide which way to go.

Once again Many thanks.

[anthony]

A bit off topic but what about wood?

At £2 for 55kg sack of round log cutoffs.

How long does wood burn for?

Obviously im not in the know.

[Big John]

Many, Many thanks for all your postings,

 

I will get hubby to read all the posts and we decide which way to go.

Let us know how you get on. We've just started using Anthracite Stovesse - recommended by the coal merchant for our Morse Squirrel "if we want to keep it in" - have used more firelighters than ever

[Keeping Up]

So often the ones that stay in best are the ones most difficult to light. We once bought some bags of an anonymous anthracite that could only be lit by a roaring fire, but would then happily stay in for 24 hours at a time.

 

We keep a small bucket of easy-to-light fuel (I like Coalite for this but I'm currently using broken-up Homefire nuts) and then once that's going we use something that will stay in better.

[tomandsophie]

Let us know how you get on. We've just started using Anthracite Stovesse - recommended by the coal merchant for our Morse Squirrel "if we want to keep it in" - have used more firelighters than ever

 

That's the one that we use in our Morso Squirrel - either that or Anthracite Boiler nuts. They both are easy enough to light if you get a decent fire going with kindling first, and then they stay in all night very well.

[JohnO]

A bit off topic but what about wood?

At £2 for 55kg sack of round log cutoffs.

How long does wood burn for?

Obviously im not in the know.

 

Anthony wood burns hotter than most "coal" but does not "stay in" alot of people burn wood during the day and add "coal" to keep the fire in overnight.

[Maverick]

There is one thing for cetain judging by this thread. There is no clear cut winner. I have to admit I thought there wud be. I'll just stick with my Taybright until someone invents a magic fuel everyone can agree is the best.

[Chris J W]

In my Morrso Squirell I'm now an utter convert to Taybrite.

 

Had a big afair with "Homefire" but found it burnt far too hot for too short a time.

 

And then I discovered Taybrite which manages to keep a proper "room temp" heat with little babysitting. So far my record is keeping the "same" fire going for a fortnight until it finally choked in its own ash. (I really MUST get round to cleaning the flue)

[Machpoint005]

We use the same ordinary smokeless stuff we use in the open grate at home. When we get the multi-fuel stove in at home, we'll use the same stuff. We also use it in the Squirrel on board - quite successfully - it will stay in all night, and is reasonably economical.

 

I've a feeling the performance of a fuel has more to do with the way the appliance is used than anything else: surely the calorific values of different smokeless coals can't vary so very much from one another? The moisture content of different samples of the 'same' fuel will vary a great deal, though.

 

Ian

[NB Alnwick]

Anthracite cobbles every time - the cleanest, hottest and most efficient fuel we have ever used. During the last 30 years we have tried many alternatives in our house and now on the boat and Anthracite always wins - it is slightly dearer to buy but works out more economical if used properly and is much much cleaner.