Be Excellent To Each Other

When we purchased Chez Chinny, we inherited a multi-fuel stove. Living next door to a facility with easily corruptible groundsman meant we had an infinite source of cheap seasoned logs that could be delivered using their employers equipment and time. A win/win situation for all concerned. They got to make beer money, we got wood ('fner' - Ed).

However said facility is no more so I started looking at other fuels while we source more wood. Coal seemed excellent and although it made a lot of ash, it got bloody hot. Burning a mix of coal and wood seemed to be a most excellent way to keep the house warm.....

And then I learned that mixing coal and wood together is actually a most excellent way of burning your house down. The water in the wood reacts with the coal and makes sulphuric acid that attacks the chimney. Creosote can also be a problem which can burn your house down. So have now reverted to burning wood in the evening and then putting coal onto the embers to burn overnight. This gets over the coal reacting with the water as there will be no water in embers.

I'm a big fan of Blazer Heat Logs (http://www.blazersfuels.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=28). Waste sawdust compacted into a log shape that seem to burn better and longer than standard wood. Put half of one in when you light the fire and the entire thing gets up to temperature far quicker.

However chums I have a question about burning coal and wood together. I was down at the supplier today and they had this stuff - http://www.cheap-coal.co.uk/winter-fuels/firelite-briketts-20kg.html. The blurb on the back claims it is the perfectly compliment for a wood fire and you can safely burn it with either wood or other coals.

But its coal right? So its still going to produce acid and therefore you still shouldn't be burning it together with wood. Or am I missing something? I bought a sack and its odd stuff. Clearly its manufactured and its lighter than the high quality anthracite I have been burning. It's cheaper as well. The only thing I can find online suggests its actually very poor quality coal used to fuel power stations.

Any ideas?

I'd never heard of that before - it seems to be some odd halfway house between peat and coal that's been treated a bit like coke or charcoal.

I couldn't get any sense out of the girl behind the counter either. I went home assuming the internet would be my friend, but alas there is nothing.

It appears to be some kind of softer, younger, coal.

[edit] They appear to be made of Lignite, which is "brown" coal. Curiouser and curiouser.....

Start sending Mrs Chinny out to cut peat. It smells lovely

It's possibly compressed municipal waste which is what's fed into a lot of big powerstations along with coal these days.

I'd suggest burning just dry, seasoned hardwood, plenty of kindling to get it going, and not coal.

Lignite is lower carbon than, say Bituminous. Wiki says Bituminous has sulphur and hydrogen in it, so I'm guessing that's where the sulphur comes from to burn your house down? Surely all coal produces the sulphuric acid when burnt, then? (Think about the industrial revolution and its acid rain)

BUT
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/class ... d_164.html

says they both have sulphur, though lignite doesn't have much. Maybe it's just so crap that the amount of sulfur it kicks out isn't a threat?


https://www.google.co.uk/search?&q=sulp ... +coal+wood

No matter how good the wood, even the Blazer Heat logs (which kick out heat like no tomorrow) can't keep the stove hot overnight. Pop coal on at 11pm and you'll still have a warmish stove at 8am which is about twice as long as the wood would last. So I burn wood in the evenings but use coal overnight by putting it onto the hot embers.

Am testing the new "coal" now on the embers of some wood to see how it fares.

The bag claims "Low Sulphur". Am testing now to see the heat output. Perhaps wish I hadn't gone crazy and bought 2 bags though. Still, never mind, it's all fuel and if we get snowed in it will be used!

Yes, its shit. On the upside it burns easily, on the downside it doesn't last long and looks like it will make lots of ash. Smells a tad as well when you open up the door of the stove which the posh coal doesn't.

Think I'll be mixing it with the expensive coal as a "booster".

Back to plan A!

You should probably try apple wood

You mean Gaywood?

Put some of the "coal" in the stove last night at 11pm, 8.30am this morning the stove was still warm and bits were still red hot inside. This was surprising as the normal coal would only have the stove slightly warm by that stage.

Conclusion is presumably to put some of that lignite stuff on last thing at night rather than the posh stuff. Although it does smell more acrid. Don't think I'll buy anymore after this lot is used up.