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Which smokeless fuel do you use?

Supertramp

By Supertramp
in Living Afloat

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gary955 Proficient

gary955

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Posted

I am a bit amazed at the number of people that seem to have problems keeping the fire going overnight. I have never had a problem with keeping the fire going over night and I only have a small Becton. Is it because I only sleep for about 7-8 hours a night? Or because maybe some do not put enough fuel on the fire before going to bed?

More fuel. is that the answer? I can keep the fire in for about seven or maybe eight hours, but am out at work for ten.

my boat gets pretty warm and I've always assumed that more fuel will equal more heat. i usually have a layer of coal between 2 and 3 layers thick when I damp it down for the evening. Morso squirrel

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bizzard Veteran II

bizzard

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Posted

I think that the main reason why some folk can't keep their stoves in overnight is because they don't clean the grate properly.A stove will go out if it can't breath.

Get a good poker,bend the end a bit so it reaches behind the front vertical bars,and poke away until grates clear of ash and any clinker,then empty the ashpan.Also don't just rely on riddlers,poke as well.As the ashpan area is far too small in most stoves in my opinion,the grates are easily bunged up from above and below,which will quickly burn out fire grate bars too.

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County4x4 Collaborator

County4x4

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Though of course if you're burning wood you shouldn't go overboard on cleaning out the grate! Haven't seen the grate in our Squirrel for about three years - we just take an inch or two of ash out of the stove every couple of weeks or so. I really couldn't be doing with having to rake out all the clinkers and ash you get from smokeless every day! We never purposely try to keep it in all night - it gets left at bedtime on whatever setting it was running at and we don't stoke it up. Probably seven times out of ten there will be enough life left in the morning to relight from the embers - we just chuck a few bits of briquette in and leave the door cracked for 20 minutes and then it will burst into life. Quite a few customers use our briquettes as they find they'll last all night.

 

Whether the stove will stay in overnight - which is something I never recommend to land based customers with proper chimneys by the way, also often depends on the stove. Many of the modern clean burning stoves have extra fixed air intakes which mean that they can't be shut right down - the idea being that the stove will burn cleaner if not completely choked. This also makes it harder to keep it in overnight of course.

 

Andy

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bizzard Veteran II

bizzard

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Posted

Though of course if you're burning wood you shouldn't go overboard on cleaning out the grate! Haven't seen the grate in our Squirrel for about three years - we just take an inch or two of ash out of the stove every couple of weeks or so. I really couldn't be doing with having to rake out all the clinkers and ash you get from smokeless every day! We never purposely try to keep it in all night - it gets left at bedtime on whatever setting it was running at and we don't stoke it up. Probably seven times out of ten there will be enough life left in the morning to relight from the embers - we just chuck a few bits of briquette in and leave the door cracked for 20 minutes and then it will burst into life. Quite a few customers use our briquettes as they find they'll last all night.

 

Whether the stove will stay in overnight - which is something I never recommend to land based customers with proper chimneys by the way, also often depends on the stove. Many of the modern clean burning stoves have extra fixed air intakes which mean that they can't be shut right down - the idea being that the stove will burn cleaner if not completely choked. This also makes it harder to keep it in overnight of course.

 

Andy

Ahoy,

Yes i meant rake the grate well when using smokeless fuel.None of the stoves we use are true woodburning stoves all though some makers seem to describe them as such.

a proper wood burner has a plate not firebars,and has front air control and not bottom.

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Ally Influencer

Ally

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Posted

I use Excel and off cuts from work...nice dry oak and Iroko mostly...iroko is the longest burning I've found as so oily.

Our stove has 4 air wheels, 2 top, 2 bottom, bottom open a 1/4 turn, top shut down, and fuel well stacked at the back of the stove keeps it in for a good 14 hours.

Our hot ashes go into a metal bucket till cold, out on the tug deck, then get thrown away with rubbish.

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bizzard Veteran II

bizzard

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I use Excel and off cuts from work...nice dry oak and Iroko mostly...iroko is the longest burning I've found as so oily.

Our stove has 4 air wheels, 2 top, 2 bottom, bottom open a 1/4 turn, top shut down, and fuel well stacked at the back of the stove keeps it in for a good 14 hours.

Our hot ashes go into a metal bucket till cold, out on the tug deck, then get thrown away with rubbish.

Hence the old title ''Dustbins''and Dustmen

I once had an aunt Gladys,a Liverpuddlian.

She came to stay one Christmas time.

Knock on the door.

She answered it,a dustman hinting for a Christmas tip.

Dustman.--=I'm the person who empties your bin.

Auntie Gladys----= Oh I, and i'm the person who fills it, and shut the door.. bizzard :rolleyes:

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FadeToScarlet Veteran

FadeToScarlet

Posted
Posted

What do you do with the ash when you're on a boat? Our old Parkray used to produce tons of the stuff which we just buried down the garden...

 

When it's icy, we spread hot ash on the towpath (technically a halingway around here) to provide some grip for passers by.

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bizzard Veteran II

bizzard

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When it's icy, we spread hot ash on the towpath (technically a halingway around here) to provide some grip for passers by.

Good idea,but sounds like a Hindhu penance,that's if they stroll past bare footed. :rolleyes:

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Supertramp Contributor

Supertramp

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  • Author
Posted (edited)

When it's icy, we spread hot ash on the towpath (technically a halingway around here) to provide some grip for passers by.

 

Ok - I've got to ask... whats a 'halingway' - even google doesnt give an explination

Edited by Supertramp
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matty40s Veteran II

matty40s

Posted
Posted (edited)

Sorry to hijack this, but where do you all buy your smokeless fuels and how much?

 

 

I have used fuel boats in the main for the last three years, not only does it help keep them going, it's usually a decent price too. I am not sure what to do this year as there doesn't appear to be any service on the Soar, and it is unlikely I can get back to the GU main line before the stoppage.

 

edited to add, I use either Taybrite or Excel mixed with coal and sometimes logs too. The longest I managed to keep my fire in for without touching it was about 36 hours!!

Edited by matty40s
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i love my narrowboat Community Regular

i love my narrowboat

Posted
Posted

We use Stoveglow in our Becton Bunny and with the ecofan we find it great for overnight burning too, we get it going then shut it all down and leave it and it heats our 60ft boat lovely, we do have rads as well which is what we would use to just heat 'a la cottage' (prounounced in a french accent:-)...in the morning when going to work during the autumnal season when a fire is not really needed to be burning all day and night. we pay £8.50 20kgs which is reasonable.

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  • 5 years later...
Cavalier Jon Gongoozler

Cavalier Jon

Posted
Posted
On 13/10/2011 at 21:20, Daiboy said:

Just catching up. Somewhere on this forum I remember reading a post that someone who used a bucket to store their ash, caught fire as ash will self combust if left, or something like that

 

Daiboy

Needs to be a proper ash bucket with a lid. The main danger with an open ash bucket is if you leave it too close to your cabin door vents and end filling your boat with CO.

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cuthound Veteran II

cuthoundDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Cavalier Jon said:

Needs to be a proper ash bucket with a lid. The main danger with an open ash bucket is if you leave it too close to your cabin door vents and end filling your boat with CO.

We used to use one of these before getting a boat with a diesel drip stove.

http://www.tippyash.co.uk/ash-carriers.php

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