Smokeless fuel prices

[Ronaldo47]

The heritage railway where I volunteer, recently got a consignment of Polish coal from a batch that was apparently imported at a Northern port in the last couple of months. Because there was a relatively large minimum order quantity,  they had to build a much larger coal storage area to put it on, and so now have a year's supply.

 

I understand that suppliers of loose and unsealed bagged coal have to take out a licence that costs the best part of £1000 and must keep records of their customers' addresses etc.  

[magnetman]

I'm not a train fusiast in the sense of being really into it but whenever I see steam operated machinery I always find that the smell of the smoke is a huge part of the pleasure. Real coal smoke.

It was quite disappointing recently when the lovely steam launch Alaska on the Thames came past and the smoke was coming from sawdust briquettes. Fair enough they managed to get it going but you can't beat real coal. Those briquettes are brilliant but they need to be kept completely dry. Good product for soaking up moisture in a damp engine room. They work as a dehumidifier.

 

I'll probably be the only person burning real coal this winter in inner east London. I managed to find someone selling some. Not going to burn it all the time as don't have enough and its a bit rude but the occasional shovel of doubles just for the historic smell is worth doing as a bye bye token. I'm sure there will be some older people who will appreciate it.

 

Another fuel I have found and really like is Lignite briquettes. From Mole Valley Farmers 20kg bags work out at about 80p a kilo delivered and it isn't smokeless but it is really nice slow burning stuff and has a generally agreeable odour. Brown coal is another name for it. Not clean in terms of the air but one little boat with one little fire burning it is probably not going to kill anyone.

 

Maybe they'll have me in the clink by christmas.

 

Most of the fuel burned in  the inner city boat will be CPL Brazier ordered at the earlier price of 60p a kilo for ten kilo bags. This is "smoke less" but not a particularly good product with too much binder in it and a lot of dust.

 

Still it does the job to be fair and will stay in on a cold night which is helpful.

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by magnetman

[Mike Tee]

18 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

 

Maybe they'll have me in the clink by christmas.

 

 

Should be OK, I'm sure the heat will be on or the inmates will be claiming their civil rights have been violated

[cuthound]

4 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

£5.99 for 22 lb bags  in Lidl half an hour ago.

 

Surely you mean £5 19s & 11d for a 22lb bag? 😂

[matty40s]

5 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Surely you mean £5 19s & 11d for a 22lb bag? 😂

He probably tried that.....🥕

Edited October 19, 2022 by matty40s

[Cheshire cat]

There were 2.4d to the p

[Alan de Enfield]

2 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

Surely you mean £5 19s & 11d for a 22lb bag? 😂

 

It is actually £5-19-10 (or more accurately £5-19-9 1/2

[GUMPY]

23 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

Incidentally they also do Ecoal50 at £11 for a 10Kg bag or £26 for 3 bags - I'd probably close that , as when we have used it it seems to burn better and longer than the non "eco" products.

If you can blag yourself a Trade Card then you get 10% off that price.

You need a business card and a business letterhead but that wasn't a problem to make!

Edited October 20, 2022 by Loddon

[alan_fincher]

2 hours ago, Loddon said:

If you can blag yourself a Trade Card then you get 10% off that price.

You need a business card and a business letterhead but that wasn't a problem to make!

A useful tip!

[LadyG]

Anyone tried the Lidl briquettes?

I'm currently burning Dual which is same price £17.50 for 25kg but too much ash, it keeps a base for my preferred hardwood logs 

Edited October 20, 2022 by LadyG

[Dav and Pen]

Prices and weights have changed since the good old days!

[alan_fincher]

1 hour ago, Dav and Pen said:

Prices and weights have changed since the good old days!

 

Indeed.

This would appear to be from a similar time - perhaps a bit later, as the prices seem slightly higher.

(Photo: Mike Fincher)

 

[LadyG]

On 20/10/2022 at 15:07, LadyG said:

Anyone tried the Lidl briquettes?

I'm currently burning Dual which is same price £17.50 for 25kg but too much ash, it keeps a base for my preferred hardwood logs 

Been to Lidl, the hardwood logs though expensive are quite small so fired up quickly, and I've added some of their smokeless fuel,

 10kg £5.99, it lights well, so both pretty satisfactory as a stopgap.

Edited October 22, 2022 by LadyG

[peterboat]

Wicks 3 x coal 26 squids

[alan_fincher]

19 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Wicks 3 x coal 26 squids

 

That's actually the price for Ecoal50.

 

Normal smokeless (Brazier) is £24 for 3 bags.

 

See my previous post.

 

Note these are 10Kg bags, so those are prices for 30Kg - OK, but not stonkingly good value.

[Slim]

On 18/10/2022 at 23:34, Alway Swilby said:

£19.50 for 25kg of Excel from NB Dusty today and their prices will be going up soon. The wholesale price of coal is rising because our coal is imported, it might be Russian and the wholesale market will be priced in US dollars. The GB Pound is very low against the US dollar at the moment so this puts our price up. 

I was told much the same by my marina last yesterday. £19 going up by an unspecified amount next week.

[Rob-M]

We bought 20kg bags of Excel last week for £14.50.

[matty40s]

1 hour ago, Slim said:

I was told much the same by my marina last yesterday. £19 going up by an unspecified amount next week.

Jules fuels has £19.50 Excel, going up soon. 

I did offer to sell some of my stock back to Ryan....

[Mike Tee]

How long does a 25kg bag last if, for example, the stove is left ticking over 24 hours a day?

[mrsmelly]

6 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

How long does a 25kg bag last if, for example, the stove is left ticking over 24 hours a day?

3 days ish.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

1 minute ago, Mike Tee said:

How long does a 25kg bag last if, for example, the stove is left ticking over 24 hours a day?

I think I get through 3 x 25kg bags a fortnight when the stove’s lit 24 hours a day.

 

[matty40s]

8 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

How long does a 25kg bag last if, for example, the stove is left ticking over 24 hours a day?

We usually go through 2 bags a week in Nov, Dec, Jan and early Feb. The most difficult time is now and Spring when daily temps are touching mid,high teens, and then overnight almost frosts and rain falling regularly.

Outside it has only dropped to 14c tonight, but humidity is 98%, so inside we have 25c and 50%

Last really cold spell probably used 3 bags a week as we also kept the Epping ticking over.

We are a 70 footer with back cabin and lump, do not use the central heating at all.

Edited October 22, 2022 by matty40s

[Mike Tee]

I just wondered how that would compare with my diesel stove. On a lowish setting, with diesel at £1.40, it would burn for almost 70 hours for £19, so compatible with using 2 bags a week. It actually raises the temp in the back cabin so quite efficient plus we have the added benefit of turning it off instantly, like tonight, don’t need it on when we go to bed. The rads down the boat are now well hot (lit it about 6:30} so will retain heat for an hour or so. Also don’t need to light the multi fuel stove at the back (until we get ice on the canal, then we might).

Don’t want to start a ‘diesel or coal/wood’ heated (!) debate, just wondered what the maths were for my own interest. I know diesel may well start going up, but on balance, not a lot in it. Although Goliath makes my stove look expensive to run.

[tree monkey]

4 hours ago, LadyG said:

Been to Lidl, the hardwood logs though expensive are quite small so fired up quickly, and I've added some of their smokeless fuel,

 10kg £5.99, it lights well, so both pretty satisfactory as a stopgap.

That must be a horrendously expensive way of buying wood, those little net bags that get sold in garage forecourts have the nickname "yuppie bags" in the trade

[mrsmelly]

6 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

I just wondered how that would compare with my diesel stove. On a lowish setting, with diesel at £1.40, it would burn for almost 70 hours for £19, so compatible with using 2 bags a week. It actually raises the temp in the back cabin so quite efficient plus we have the added benefit of turning it off instantly, like tonight, don’t need it on when we go to bed. The rads down the boat are now well hot (lit it about 6:30} so will retain heat for an hour or so. Also don’t need to light the multi fuel stove at the back (until we get ice on the canal, then we might).

Don’t want to start a ‘diesel or coal/wood’ heated (!) debate, just wondered what the maths were for my own interest. I know diesel may well start going up, but on balance, not a lot in it. Although Goliath makes my stove look expensive to run.

With goliaths useage, I think I would have been freezing my nuts off lol. I dont do cold, central heating is on now in the house, has been for three weeks. Off at night though, dont like to be too hot in bed.