What type of coal to buy - Cheap House coal, Homefire etc

[dominoman]

Not really sure this counts as DIY - but given that I am still working on getting the heating working I want to use the open fire.

So far we've been buying bags of coal from B&Q and now I am thinking of buying a large bulk order from one of the online suppliers.

I can see the cheapest coal is Colombian house coal. Then there is Welsh anthracite and all the manufactured ones like Homefire etc.

I'm tempted by the cheap house coal. Has anyone got any experience of it? What kind of coal do you use?

 

[Burnerman]

The house coal is cheap for a reason - it isn't very dense and burns away in no time.
Do consider local regulations regarding smoke emissions of course - anthracite is probably one of the best fuels along with phurnacite and so on.....but heat losses from an open fire are massive anyway.
I'd change the open fire for a multi fuel burner if you can.
John

 

[dominoman]

I've bought a bag of each type of coal and am going to compare them all.

As for smoke control, I live in outer London, in the countryside with hardly any houses around. It is a smoke control area but will it be enforced? It seems nonsensical that I can have a bonfire (and I regularly do) but am not allowed to burn wood or normal coal in my fireplace.

 

[Diyisfun]

I bought a ton of house coal, bagged up on a pallet.
I had trouble keeping it alight, & it didn't seem to burn to ash, I had coal like clinkers left.
I have used about 10 bags (in 2 years) 40 left I mix it with wood (which is supposed to be a no no when in a multifuel stove).
They say coal gives out more heat I didn't find it so. When this has gone I wont buy more, stick to logs, no ash to clear.

 

[dominoman]

That's interesting to hear. I didn't have that problem with my Homefire type of coal. It's worth paying a little extra to avoid what you had there.

For me wood just burns too quickly. With my coal I could fill the fireplace and it would still be kicking out masses of heat 4 or 5 hours later

 

[JohnD]

An open fire in a grate is an expensive ornament.

I agree that if you want heat and economy, a modern multifuel stove is what you need.


If times are hard, even an iron pot-belly or similar will be a lot better than your grate.

 

[dominoman]

I like the look of an open fire more than a log burner though.

 

[JohnD]

expensive ornament

 

[dominoman]

I have been googling. Oh yes. And I see a Jetmaster is a much more efficient type of open fireplace.

See http://www.jetmaster.co.uk/open-fires/features/

What I want to do is fit a jetmaster to an old Victorian fire surround, which should be possible?

 

[EightyTwo]

I used to live in Harrow in the '60s and '70s and this was in the smokeless zone. We always used Coalite in our open fire with a K back. It looks pretty and burns really hot for a long time. We used to chuck a few logs on top to keep the costs down - and they look pretty too (although your only allowed to burn them in the garden - yes, it's totally daft!). We'd get the coalman to deliver a ton (in 20 x 1cwt bags) into the coal shed every year. Some years we'd only need half a ton.

I don't suppose people have coal sheds anymore and I'm sure it's illegal to carry 1cwt (about 55kg) these days!

 

[scbk]

Coalmen still deliver in 50kg sacks