Keeping the stove in

[Dave Payne]

Managed to keep it going now since last night, was a tad hot today though!

 

It was very low this morning so tonight I shall build it a little more, got me two alarms set up, one at head height and one about 18 inches off ground, so that makes me feel safe.

 

My dad bought me a bucket of off cuts from his woodwork shed so I'm playing with coal and wood to see how different it behaves.

 

One warm, happy boater!

Oh, and my cheapo fan is spinning like a good one!

[mrsmelly]

Your stove when you have mastered it will easily stay in for 24 plus hours. As to hot ashes you will be amazed, if you riddle the fire at night before bed and put the ashpan contents into say a half filled bucket of ash outside the boat even if the ground is frozen solid several hours later in the morning if you put your hand into the said ashes you will get burnt. Do not ask me how I know this but it is very true and still amazes me as to why they stay so hot for so long?

Someone of course will know why.

 

Tim

[Dave Payne]

On the subject of Ash, where is acceptable to dispose of it, under a bush, in the cut, make a pile on the roof?

 

 

 

Joking about the roof bit!

[bottle]

None of the above, if solid fuel.

 

Pure wood ash could be put under a hedge but not in a pile, spread it around. Never in the cut.

 

Let solid fuel ash cool in a bucket (outside of boat) then put it in the refuse sack and use the waste disposal sites provided by C&RT.

Edited November 1, 2016 by bottle

[Dave_P]

None of the above, if solid fuel.

 

Pure wood ash could be put under a hedge but not in a pile, spread it around. Never in the cut.

 

Let solid fuel ash cool in a bucket (outside of boat) then put it in the refuse sack and use the waste disposal sites provided by C&RT.

Why? thousands of boaters have been doing this for hundreds of years, along with peeing in the cut and discharging all their grey water in the cut. The canal bed around Birmingham is an evil black sludge (I have personal experience), it's also teeming with life (fish, freshwater mussels etc). What harm does dropping a bit of stove ash in do? Added to this, CRT have asked for people to drop ash in, in the past as it helps blocking leaking lock gates.

[mrsmelly]

Why? thousands of boaters have been doing this for hundreds of years, along with peeing in the cut and discharging all their grey water in the cut. The canal bed around Birmingham is an evil black sludge (I have personal experience), it's also teeming with life (fish, freshwater mussels etc). What harm does dropping a bit of stove ash in do? Added to this, CRT have asked for people to drop ash in, in the past as it helps blocking leaking lock gates.

 

Surely chucking ash in especialy if moored long term will make the shallow canal even worse? I never chuck it in or bloomin dog crap that realy does my head in. Both Dog poo and ash are easily bagged ( obviously when cold ) well maybe the poo can be warm and placed in appropriate bin.

 

Tim

[Rickent]

When our ash bucket is full and cold, we bag it and bin it.

[Dave_P]

 

Surely chucking ash in especialy if moored long term will make the shallow canal even worse? I never chuck it in or bloomin dog crap that realy does my head in. Both Dog poo and ash are easily bagged ( obviously when cold ) well maybe the poo can be warm and placed in appropriate bin.

 

Tim

I genuinely don't get why the bed of a polluted canal is a less appropriate final resting place for coal ash than anywhere else. People I know who burn coal in their houses mostly end up with a big pile of ash round behind the shed. If they bin it then it either goes to to an incinerator (yes!) before being used as a sort of construction material where it gets spread over the soil to form a base. A simple short cut here would be to spread it over the towpath although obviously if it pollutes the canal, then it pollutes the soil. The other final resting place would be land-fill which is hardly an ecological utopia either.

 

Tipping it in the cut also does away with the risk of CO poisoning from attempting to store hot ash.

 

This was posted a couple of years back on a similar thread by a long standing member. He puts it rather well:

 

"Everything we do affects wildlife but the canals are far cleaner than they used to be despite far more people using them.

I have grave concerns about the obsession with "bag it and bin it" of everything that is perceived to be unpleasant as I have had professional dealings with land-fills and their leachates in the past and seeing the localised damage that concentrating potentially hazardous substances can cause.

Nature is a pretty good self-healer as long as we don't throw vast quantities of crap at it, all in one place.

My order of preference for disposal is: Down the side of the (wooden) boat if it's leaking; in potholes in the towpath if there are any; in the hedge if available; straight in the cut.

I never send stuff to landfill if at all possible and I would rather trust my own disposal methods than trust the authorities and their pretty empty "recycling" policies." - Carlt

Final thought: A little experiment. Walk along past moored boats on the towpath in winter and note those with a chimney. If it takes at least 24 hours to cool the ash then you'd expect a good proportion of these boats to have a metal bucket or similar next to the boat with the ash cooling in it. How many times do you actually see this? My suspicion is that the overwhelming majority of boaters tip it in. They just don't admit it.

Edited November 2, 2016 by Dave_P

[Nightwatch]

We've been looking for a small metal dustbin style bin with lid, for the ashes for ages. We will be successful one day.

[mross]

We've been looking for a small metal dustbin style bin with lid, for the ashes for ages. We will be successful one day.

too big?

 

These are good

Edited November 2, 2016 by mross

[Dave Payne]

Well ill admit that I just threw mine in the cut, no bin to store it in, towpath is in good nick.

 

I will get a bin though.

[Dave Payne]

Anyone used the coal from Aldi,£3.99 for 10kg, guessing its not good?

[mrsmelly]

Anyone used the coal from Aldi,£3.99 for 10kg, guessing its not good?

 

It may well be fine but its not a saving is it? at £8 squid for 20 kgs? Our local coal boat is around a tenner for 25kgs and he sticks it on the boat for me.

 

Tim

[Dave Payne]

£3 saving for me as buying at brazier at £11, can't use the fuel boats as only one passes my stomping ground, and that's not very often, and I'm at work..

 

Might try a bag.

[mrsmelly]

£3 saving for me as buying at brazier at £11, can't use the fuel boats as only one passes my stomping ground, and that's not very often, and I'm at work..

 

Might try a bag.

 

One thing that does appeal to me is the 10kg bag size. As I get a tad older I cannot chuck the stuff around quite so well as before and the 10kg bag size makes more sense for me. I think quite a few places does the 10kg size.

 

Tim

[Dave Payne]

Wickes were doing an offer the other week for 10kg bags of something, can't remember the name but it was smokeless, 3 for 2 at £4 a bag I think..

 

Found it, brazier, 3 for 2 at £5.99/10kg.

 

Bit of a saving maybe?

[mrsmelly]

Wickes were doing an offer the other week for 10kg bags of something, can't remember the name but it was smokeless, 3 for 2 at £4 a bag I think..

 

Found it, brazier, 3 for 2 at £5.99/10kg.

 

Bit of a saving maybe?

 

Yes my mate on his barge on the Thames has been using it. He told me last week and says its good on his stove.

 

Tim

[OldPeculier]

Wickes were doing an offer the other week for 10kg bags of something, can't remember the name but it was smokeless, 3 for 2 at £4 a bag I think..

 

Found it, brazier, 3 for 2 at £5.99/10kg.

 

Bit of a saving maybe?

 

Works out the same as this.

 

http://www.bmstores.co.uk/products/blaze-smokeless-fuel-10kg-298366

[Dave Payne]

 

Works out the same as this.

 

http://www.bmstores.co.uk/products/blaze-smokeless-fuel-10kg-298366

 

 

Any noticeable difference between Blaze and Brazier ?

[Dave Payne]

So I've worked out that when people say 3/4 turns on the bottom vent, this means 3 or 4 turns, not three quarters of a turn...

 

No wonder I couldn't get the fire hot, opened it up more and now I'm loving the heat!

 

Now I need to master cooking on top of the stove.

[BlueStringPudding]

I have two settings I tend to use pretty much all the time with my stove vent (mine only has one vent):

1. half a turn or less (when keeping the fire going overnight or just ticking along low when banked up with lots of fuel).

 

And 2. all the way open (blazing hot and when lighting the fire or when burning wood).

Edited November 3, 2016 by BlueStringPudding

[Dave Payne]

Yep, worked out maybe half a turn on the bottom keeps it in all night then open about 3/4 of the way brings it up to nice heat.

 

Not been sleeping well as I keep waking up and worrying about the fire, sure that will go with time

[OldPeculier]

 

 

Any noticeable difference between Blaze and Brazier ?

 

I have not tried a great variety of different fuels, but this seems to be pretty good.

 

Also on the subject of keeping the fire in, you need to be mindful of the wind. If it is still, you will have to open the vents up a little more than when it is windy.

[BlueStringPudding]

 

I have not tried a great variety of different fuels, but this seems to be pretty good.

 

Also on the subject of keeping the fire in, you need to be mindful of the wind. If it is still, you will have to open the vents up a little more than when it is windy.

 

That's good advice. I remember the first winter gale on the boat - the fire was roaring! Great in the daytime But when it happened at night unexpectedly I woke up roastingly warm and with the smell of hot dust in my nostrils - I leaned out of bed to look towards the back cabin and could see the orange glow from the stove illuminating the cabin - the stove was super hot. Shovelled some ash from the pan on top of the coals to dampen it down and closed the vent down to nearly nothing and it calmed right down again after a few minutes.

[Dave Payne]

Popped to aldi last night and spotted smokeless coal, 10kg for £3.99 so picked a bag up to try.

 

Wish i hadn't bothered, made the stove up before going to bed and woke up freezing this morning, it had gone out and left unburnt coal, guess it needs more air from the bottom to keep it in than the brazier, also the lumps are either very big or bits of broken ones.

 

Shall use it up and try something else.