Local authorities in west Northern Ireland warn of fines for burning coal domestically as Winter bites. 
People burning coal have been threatened with penalty charges for failing to comply with regulations leading to a emissions spike in air quality. airqualitynews.com/2022/12/14/l ⌠ter-bites/
Didn`t âDiesel_Dog_999â(?) always call N.I. âthe land that time forgotâ?
Seems they are now enforcing the 1956 Clean Air Act then.
Franglais:
Didn`t âDiesel_Dog_999â(?) always call N.I. âthe land that time forgotâ? ISeems they are now enforcing the 1956 Clean Air Act then.
I think DD was mainly referring to peoples (well, mainly his ownâŚ) attitude to foreign people, especially those with a different hue⌠
To be on subject though, burning rubbish house coal is a false economy, but sometimes necessary. Burning coal, you have three main options.
House coal. Dirty, full of bituminous and sulphur crap, doesnât burn very well, and gives only moderate heat.
Smokeless Fuel. A manufactured fuel, where most of the pollutants have been removed, and the ground up coal is mixed with a binding agent and an accelerant, to make the round briquettes. Heat output is medium to hot, will burn in small quantities (such as a room stove or open fire), but leaves a large amount of ash.
Anthracite. The best coal. Almost pure carbon, it burns clean, and very hot. Needs a fairly large fire to self sustain, and its heat may be to much for smaller home stoves.
Logs are pretty useless for serious heating purposes. Most commercially available logs are not properly seasoned hard wood, and will at best give a shortlived burst of flame and heat.
I wonât burn house coal on my narrowboat though I could, even if I was in a smoke control area as boats are exempt. Itâs a filthy fuel, it clags up the flue, deposits sulphurous debris over the boat and anything near it, if it blows back in through the windows the smell is sickly.
Manufactured coal briquettes are far cleaner burning but the same brand (I mostly use Excel) will vary in quality from year to year, some years resulting in far more ash than others.
Anthracite isnât really a lot of use although I do occasionally add it to a fire. Itâs more designed for steam locomotives and boilers which require a constantly roaring fire, it doesnât slumber well and is very difficult to light from cold.
Wood is fine for a short-lasting fire which is sometimes all I need but a wood fire needs regular refuelling whereas a coal briquette fire will stay in for up to 24 hours.
T o say that wood is not a good source of energy is rubbish,perhaps in the UK and mainland Europe where the wood stoves are perhaps less efficient due to coal being the main source of energy.But here in Scandinavia 95% of homes which have a stove are wood burning.Even homes which have a central heating system run by a boiler are wood\oil,the oil being used to supplement the wood.Due to the high quality of stoves with thick tiles they can be left overnight and retain good heat qualities.Also wood is a good,cost effective heating source,which,as we have 6 months of winter is important.
Just got a few logs in.
@ Hutpik.
What wood do you burn? I always think of Scandinavia as resinous forests, rather than harder woods, but daresay that is as much Christmas card pictures as truth!
hutpik:
0T o say that wood is not a good source of energy is rubbish,perhaps in the UK and mainland Europe where the wood stoves are perhaps less efficient due to coal being the main source of energy.But here in Scandinavia 95% of homes which have a stove are wood burning.Even homes which have a central heating system run by a boiler are wood\oil,the oil being used to supplement the wood.
I imagine thatâs largely due to Scandinavia being heavily afforested and wood therefore being either free or very cheap, and also being sparsely populated meaning that people are more likely to have space to season a large amount of wood.
Hi all,Franglais,we burn silver birch as the wood of preference but also people buy 'mixedâsacks which contains birch and fir\pine logs and is cheaper but smokes more so chimney sweeping is more.
As Harry said Scandinavia is rich in forests and with the 'âreplantingâ system under the 'âenvironmentâ'rules is in a reasonably healthy state.As to prices for a jumbo sack [1½ cubic meter]its between 80-1100ÂŁ and mixed is 70% cost of that if you buy normally. I dont buy wood as I work for 5 days and get paid 20cu mtrs in wages delivered,which is much cheaper for meâŚAs to the environmental impact scandinavia is considered one of the leading areas in 'âenvironmentalâ'projects and legislation but nothing is ever said about restrictions of wood burning appliances,so they cant have been so wrong for 1000 years.
hutpik:
Hi all,Franglais,we burn silver birch as the wood of preference but also people buy 'mixedâsacks which contains birch and fir\pine logs and is cheaper but smokes more so chimney sweeping is more.
As Harry said Scandinavia is rich in forests and with the 'âreplantingâ system under the 'âenvironmentâ'rules is in a reasonably healthy state.As to prices for a jumbo sack [1½ cubic meter]its between 80-1100ÂŁ and mixed is 70% cost of that if you buy normally. I dont buy wood as I work for 5 days and get paid 20cu mtrs in wages delivered,which is much cheaper for meâŚAs to the environmental impact scandinavia is considered one of the leading areas in 'âenvironmentalâ'projects and legislation but nothing is ever said about restrictions of wood burning appliances,so they cant have been so wrong for 1000 years.
Cheers, that makes sense.
I use some birch, and it is a clean burn. It burns quicker that harder woods, but is useful, particularly to get harder woods going.
Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnutâs only good they say,
If for logs âtis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold.
Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
It is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
Eâen the very flames are cold
But Ash green or Ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown.
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winterâs cold
But Ash wet or Ash dry
A king shall warm his slippers by.
Harry Monk:
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
Apparently (I havent tried it) elderberry contains cyanide and is present in its wood smoke.
I wouldnt burn that on an indoor fire, no matter how good the chimney was. Nor use it for BBQ wood! You should also ask the elder trees permission, and apologise before cutting or felling oneâŚ
At various times Ive tried different woods. Cant say that poplar is particularly smelly, it seems quick, cool burning, so not great, but I won`t avoid using it.
Fruitwood, to me anyway, smells like most other woods, but pines etc do smell a bit different. Pleasant, but gums up the chimney.
When I buy, I go for a mix with dry oak.
As you say birch burns quite quick but the more modern type of stoves are built with that in mind.Mine is an older type but we have re-lined the inside with thicker tiles,if I bank it at night its still warm in the morning and when the temp is round -30c[as it has been this week]then its round +25c inside.Its also a question of availability\price for heating,hardwood is not so prevelant up here.I have forest but dont want to cut it down,its easier to work and fix wood like that,also at 72 cutting trees is not so much fun anymore.Most of the people who sell wood professionally have all the forest equipment.Look on Google at Tuulikievi kamins.they are Finnish and are the Rolls Royce of Stoves,they are stone and weigh about 1 ton but are very popular here,but are expensive.If you load them up they will burn for 2 days or more.
hutpik:
As you say birch burns quite quick but the more modern type of stoves are built with that in mind.Mine is an older type but we have re-lined the inside with thicker tiles,if I bank it at night its still warm in the morning and when the temp is round -30c[as it has been this week]then its round +25c inside.Its also a question of availability\price for heating,hardwood is not so prevelant up here.I have forest but dont want to cut it down,its easier to work and fix wood like that,also at 72 cutting trees is not so much fun anymore.Most of the people who sell wood professionally have all the forest equipment.Look on Google at Tuulikievi kamins.they are Finnish and are the Rolls Royce of Stoves,they are stone and weigh about 1 ton but are very popular here,but are expensive.If you load them up they will burn for 2 days or more.
For my own use, âsledgehammerâ and ânutâ spring to mind. But as you say very impressive, looks good quality well thought out stuff.
Ive a more conventional system, and dont rely solely on the wood burner. Spring and autumn it is a toss-up which gets used, in winter its radiators, but the wood as a top-up at week-ends. The stove top is good for slow cooking, or Ill open the door and quick cook as I would on a hot BBQ.
And I`ll never get bored with a real flame fire.
I`m sure you know that wood is 300% efficient?
- It heats you when you cut the tree
- It heats when the chop and split logs
- Then when you burn it.
Mine is the same for extra cooking,slow cooking and warming up,save a lot of electric throughout the winter.
Not sure about the 300%,you have to discount some % after all the workincluding stacking in the woodshed when you[at least me]just sit like a zombie from all the aches & pains in the old body
Not sure about the 300%,you have to discount some % after all the workincluding stacking in the woodshed when you[at least me]just sit like a zombie from all the aches & pains in the old body
Harry Monk:
I wonât burn house coal on my narrowboat though I could, even if I was in a smoke control area as boats are exempt. Itâs a filthy fuel, it clags up the flue, deposits sulphurous debris over the boat and anything near it, if it blows back in through the windows the smell is sickly.Manufactured coal briquettes are far cleaner burning but the same brand (I mostly use Excel) will vary in quality from year to year, some years resulting in far more ash than others.
Anthracite isnât really a lot of use although I do occasionally add it to a fire. Itâs more designed for steam locomotives and boilers which require a constantly roaring fire, it doesnât slumber well and is very difficult to light from cold.
Wood is fine for a short-lasting fire which is sometimes all I need but a wood fire needs regular refuelling whereas a coal briquette fire will stay in for up to 24 hours.
We mainly burnt anthracite on the old Parkray solid fuel central heating system all through the 1960s and 70âs and early 80âs.
Whatever it is they are flogging you Harry it ainât anthracite.
It burns and lights up more like a gas fire with a deep blue flame because the stuff is full of natural gas.It literally blew the heavy grate cover off and opened the door latch when it ignited with rolled up newspaper and some fire wood lighters not usually even any need for the parrafin soaked type.
It burnt down to a fine powdery ash.
As for wood burners they couldnât make it up when biomass forms a massive amount of our power generation fuelling including the biomass converted Drax.
Carryfast:
We mainly burnt anthracite on the old Parkray solid fuel central heating system all through the 1960s and 70âs and early 80âs.
Whatever it is they are flogging you Harry it ainât anthracite.
It burns and lights up more like a gas fire with a deep blue flame because the stuff is full of natural gas.It literally blew the heavy grate cover off and opened the door latch when it ignited with rolled up newspaper and some fire wood lighters not usually even any need for the parrafin soaked type.
Your experience with anthracite seems to be at variance with mine and everybody elseâs on the internet, including the people who sell it.
Harry Monk:
Carryfast:
We mainly burnt anthracite on the old Parkray solid fuel central heating system all through the 1960s and 70âs and early 80âs.
Whatever it is they are flogging you Harry it ainât anthracite.
It burns and lights up more like a gas fire with a deep blue flame because the stuff is full of natural gas.It literally blew the heavy grate cover off and opened the door latch when it ignited with rolled up newspaper and some fire wood lighters not usually even any need for the parrafin soaked type.Your experience with anthracite seems to be at variance with mine and everybody elseâs on the internet, including the people who sell it.
I`m with Harry.
Did the âwooden firelightersâ come out of a box from the Acme company, meant for a Mr Wile E Coyote?
Should know really as my old man lives over there but are they still allowed to burn peat in N.I?
Think it was banned in the Republic this year.
Could be wrongâŚ