Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Gertie]

Hi

 

We are moving to a house which has a solid multi fuel heating system. Currently the lady burns anthracite. Does anyone know what is the most efficient/cost effective fuel for this type of burner and where is best to get it in Somerset. I have no idea where to even start looking for information! 

 

I have an idea that I would like to burn some wood as we will have woodland with the property, but in the meantime and with winter approaching and no wood stored we might go with coal or perhaps purchase wood as well.

 

Thanks!

[Space Chick]

We have a coal fire, we love it

 

We use a mixture of coal, anthracite and wood.

 

Anthracite takes longer to burn but doesn't give off as much heat... We usually start ours off with coal and then keep going with the anthracite and wood

 

Hope this helps

[Gertie]

Hi Space Chick

 

Thanks! Can I ask you, how much do you spend on fuel & how often. Is it your main heating?

 

I am excited as I'm hoping it might be more sustainable when we get the woodland sorted.

 

Bet it's really cosy in the winter too.

[Space Chick]

No, its not our main heating, we have Gas central heating too.

 

The wood we get for free from our own trees, and the woodland behind us.

 

I pay around £4-£5 a bag of coal, same for anthracite, the bag is 25kg a think. A bag of coal will generally last us about a fortnight (evening and weekend use only), the anthracite lasts much longer.

 

Sorry for the delay in answering, went offline early last night

[Gertie]

Hi

 

Dont worry, thanks for replying!

 

I think I might need to buy in bulk!

 

I shall try & find out a bit more from the vendor of the house we are buying re suppliers etc

 

thanks xx

[Redwing]

My village has no gas supply so most people have solid fuel back boilers for heating and hot water

 

Our neighbours burn just wood and are well liked so people are always stacking up s"Ooops, word censored!" wood on their driveway, I think they pretty much manage to fuel the system with free stuff but its hard wood chopping up all that wood and they are constantly busy with that!

 

Other people use wood pellets which I understand are a good bet

[Gertie]

Thanks Tasha

 

The property has a back boiler which heats water & radiators too.

 

This fuelling investigation is proving very interesting. I read about heat logs, wood pellets & chippings. I'm not sure about the smokeless fuel rules & burning wood. Something else I need to look into!! There seemed to be certain types of stove that you were permitted to burn wood in, in smokeless zones. I'm not sure what make & model so I'll need to find more out about that as well.

 

I think it will be hard work with the wood but hopefully if we can use that it might be more sustainable if we can use our own woodland to fuel it.

 

Cheers xx

[The Dogmother]

I have a multifuel stove which I use to augment the central heating and save on gas. I run it on scavenged/donated wood and a few stove nuts. Stoves and ranges tend to burn hotter, so regular house coal isn't much good in them and just disintegrates into a pile of clinker . I mostly burn wood as it is free and just use 3 or so stove nuts to keep it in and increase the heat if necessary. Stove nuts/nuggets can withstand the higher temps in a stove and burn a lot hotter too, but then they are more expensive than house coal.

 

Pallets burn very fast and are usually quite flimsy wood, I get a mix of building timber (joists and old doors etc), pallets and tree wood. Bear in mind that any tree wood needs to be aged for at least a year before you burn it, and that you will soon develop an eye for free wood in skips Do make sure that your room containing the stove/range is properly vented and that you have the flue/chimney swept and tested regularly. I have carbon dioxide/smoke alarms in every room.

 

Lastly, enjoy it

[Gertie]

Thanks very much for the info.

 

Do you know if a stove burning coal/anthracite is more efficient if burned on low all day? I'm not going to be at home so would not be inclined to light it until I get home but I don't know how long these things take to warm up and whether it's more efficient to light it in the morning...if there is any time that is!!!

[The Dogmother]

You can burn it on low to keep the fire in when you go out or over night. I don't know about how cost effective that is - I guess it would depend on your stove, some run faster on 'tick-over' than others.

[Gertie]

I will have to try it out and see. It is going to be a learning curve as I am used to just turning on the heating and lighting the fire for extra heat. I am quite looking forward to it though. I'm going to look into other forms of heating such as ground source and air etc.

Thanks again x

[Space Chick]

Just been to buy coal... It's up to £6.20 a bag gone up a lot since last year

 

Shall try and wobble some more free wood

[Gertie]

Just had a look at a couple of sites & I could get a tonne of anthracite for £320, not sure if that includes delivery. Or a tonne of ovals for £450. I'm going to keep looking to see what's available. The current owner is a retired lady so she has all day heat requirements whereas I'm at work all day and I'm inclined to stay in my coat after work & make a hot water bottle at bedtime! I'm not sure how cold it's going to be. I don't want the place to be damp though. Hopefully we won't get a winter as cold as the last 3 years. It's not so snowy where I'm moving in Somerset as it is in Surrey! I have loads of thermal tops, socks & even leggings so I think I will get by whilst I work things out!

 

Hope you can find some good wood.

 

Cheers xx