Garage Forecourt Coal

[Sea Dog]

It's a last resort for most of us, isn't it, but last night I thought I'd grab a "just in case" bag off the forecourt on the way to t'boat cos I knew I was a bit low.  £12.99 for 10kg of Cosilite (never heard of it) or £24.99 for 20kg of Blaze. Streuth! Last I bought was off Jason on coal boat Bargus, and he apologised for 20kg of Excel being 14.50! Imagine the local garage being your normal source - hardly bears thinking about. 

[frangar]

Just now, Sea Dog said:

It's a last resort for most of us, isn't it, but last night I thought I'd grab a "just in case" bag off the forecourt on the way to t'boat cos I knew I was a bit low.  £12.99 for 10kg of Cosilite (never heard of it) or £24.99 for 20kg of Blaze. Streuth! Last I bought was off Jason on coal boat Bargus, and he apologised for 20kg of Excel being 14.50! Imagine the local garage being your normal source - hardly bears thinking about. 

I once had to buy a bottle of gas from a garage for the heater we had on a show…the security guard was complaining of feeling chilly….shafted didn’t come close…I seem to recall it was at least double what my boatyard was charging at the time. 

[George and Dragon]

In desperate need it's worth seeking out a B&M or Home Bargains. They only have 10kg bags but the prices are a bit more reasonable (£5.79 for Blaze in October).

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

It's a last resort for most of us, isn't it, but last night I thought I'd grab a "just in case" bag off the forecourt on the way to t'boat cos I knew I was a bit low.  £12.99 for 10kg of Cosilite (never heard of it) or £24.99 for 20kg of Blaze. Streuth! Last I bought was off Jason on coal boat Bargus, and he apologised for 20kg of Excel being 14.50! Imagine the local garage being your normal source - hardly bears thinking about. 

 

Wood is similarly stupidly expensive from garages (apart from the little garage we stayed near in Teesdale just before xmas).

 

The current source of our smokeless is MKM building supplies which is cheaper than our coal merchant.

 

Our wood is from our local home bargains which have large bags of kiln dried birch for six quid.

[alan_fincher]

Wickes remains an alternative emergency supply.

 

I note there is mow no premium for the 2slightly greener" ECoal50, being priced the same as Blaze.

 

£10 for a 10Kg bag, but a rather better deal for 3 bags at £24, so down to £8 for 10Kg.

[Guest]

Just now, alan_fincher said:

Wickes remains an alternative emergency supply.

 

I note there is mow no premium for the 2slightly greener" ECoal50, being priced the same as Blaze.

 

£10 for a 10Kg bag, but a rather better deal for 3 bags at £24, so down to £8 for 10Kg.

 

We tried that last year and were quite impressed.

[dmr]

53 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Wickes remains an alternative emergency supply.

 

I note there is mow no premium for the 2slightly greener" ECoal50, being priced the same as Blaze.

 

£10 for a 10Kg bag, but a rather better deal for 3 bags at £24, so down to £8 for 10Kg.

 

I checked a couple of days ago and the Wickes 3 for £24 puts them marginally cheaper than most of the "big" deliver to your door coal suppliers. If you can get a trade account then I think its another 10% off.

[booke23]

Yes the 3 for £24 at Wickes for Ecoal is probably the best on the ‘high street’ if you’re stuck. Slightly more expensive than Home Bargains brazier but Ecoal is a much better and longer lasting coal.  

[MtB]

I had 6 x 20kg bags of NuHeat delivered the other day for £96. £16 a bag. 

 

2 minutes ago, booke23 said:

Slightly more expensive than Home Bargains brazier but Ecoal is a much better and longer lasting coal.  

 

 

I'm just finished off my last bag of Ecoal and while I find it burns well and lasts well as you say, the sheer volume of ash from it is astounding!

 

 

[booke23]

4 minutes ago, MtB said:

I'm just finished off my last bag of Ecoal and while I find it burns well and lasts well as you say, the sheer volume of ash from it is astounding!

Yes it does produce a lot of Ash.

I should also mention that Wickes seem to market Ecoal and Ecoal 50 as the same product…they are not, the ingredients are quite different. Often when you go to the store you find both Ecoal and Ecoal 50 in the same pallet. If you have a choice always get Ecoal…..Ecoal 50 is almost as good but produces even more ash than Ecoal!!

 

I’ve been doing a lot of experimentation on coal types this winter…..if you can get it Oxbow glow is a very good budget coal. 

[MtB]

1 minute ago, booke23 said:

I’ve been doing a lot of experimentation on coal types this winter…..if you can get it Oxbow glow is a very good budget coal. 

 

As is Oxbow "Red".

 

I really like it, as sold by Ozzy fuel boat on the K&A as the only option! 

 

 

[alan_fincher]

10 minutes ago, MtB said:

I'm just finished off my last bag of Ecoal and while I find it burns well and lasts well as you say, the sheer volume of ash from it is astounding!

 

Agreed - it does produce a lot of ash.

 

Otherwise we like it.

[booke23]

2 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

As is Oxbow "Red".

 

I really like it, as sold by Ozzy fuel boat on the K&A as the only option! 

 

 

 

Just looked up the ingredients of “Red”. Slightly more anthricite than “Glow” so potentially a bit better. I’ll keep a lookout for it!!

[Naughty Cal]

How environmentally friendly is any of this stuff?

[dmr]

4 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

How environmentally friendly is any of this stuff?

Burning any fossil fuel is not good, but most boaters have little option.

 

The Ecoal is by far the best of a bad lot as its part renewable.

It claims to be 50% olive stones though if you get the data sheet its usually a lot less than 50% Olive stones but does use a lot of Molasses.

I suspect its energy intensive to make it which is not mentioned, but I hope mine is made on windy days 😀

[MtB]

14 minutes ago, booke23 said:

If you have a choice always get Ecoal…..Ecoal 50 is almost as good but produces even more ash than Ecoal!!

 

Astounding! I've just checked the bag and I've been burning vanilla Ecoal, not Ecoal 50! 

[booke23]

17 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

How environmentally friendly is any of this stuff?

 

Like Petrol, Diesel, Natural gas and any fossil fuel, not very. But that’s the world we live in. Each and every one of us burns large quantities of these fuels every year….someday renewables will largely take over but not for a while, and probably not on a boat.

Edited December 31, 2022 by booke23

[dmr]

Just now, MtB said:

 

Astounding! I've just checked the bag and I've been burning vanilla Ecoal, not Ecoal 50! 

 

I can find no mention of Ecoal on the www, I had assumed that Ecoal50 was just a rebranding of Ecoal????

[booke23]

3 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

I can find no mention of Ecoal on the www, I had assumed that Ecoal50 was just a rebranding of Ecoal????

 

They are listed as 2 different products on the DEFRA website:

 

Ecoal 50 - comprise anthracite fines (as to approximately 30 to 55% of the total weight), biomass (as to approximately 25 to 35% of the total weight), petroleum coke (as to approximately 10 to 40% of the total weight), bituminous coal (as to approximately 0 to 5% of the total weight) and natural organic binder (as to the remaining weight)

 

Ecoal - comprise anthracite fines (as to approximately 40 to 65% of the total weight), petroleum coke (as to approximately 20 to 40% of the total weight), bituminous coal (as to approximately 0 to 20% of the total weight), biomass (as to approximately 5 to 20% of the total weight), biomass char (as to approximately 0 to 10% of the total weight) and an organic binder or, molasses and acid binder (as to a maximum of 20% of the total weight)

 

 

 

 

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

I can find no mention of Ecoal on the www, I had assumed that Ecoal50 was just a rebranding of Ecoal????

 

Me too, but Books says otherwise.

 

 

5 minutes ago, booke23 said:

 

Like Petrol, Diesel, Natural gas and any fossil fuel, not very.

 

 A few years back a new poster here passed comment on how ultra-eco her new narrow boat lifestyle was. I passed comment that it was nothing of the sort being so reliant on burning coal and diesel for heat and propulsion and how living in a modern build, well insulated house was far better for the environment. The most massive bunfight ensued. 

[Mike Hurley]

17 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

How environmentally friendly is any of this stuff?

About the same as the millions of tons burnt worldwide everywhere. How many coal fired power stations does China build every year? Loads.

[dmr]

3 minutes ago, booke23 said:

 

They are listed as 2 different products on the DEFRA website:

 

Ecoal 50 - comprise anthracite fines (as to approximately 30 to 55% of the total weight), biomass (as to approximately 25 to 35% of the total weight), petroleum coke (as to approximately 10 to 40% of the total weight), bituminous coal (as to approximately 0 to 5% of the total weight) and natural organic binder (as to the remaining weight)

 

Ecoal - comprise anthracite fines (as to approximately 40 to 65% of the total weight), petroleum coke (as to approximately 20 to 40% of the total weight), bituminous coal (as to approximately 0 to 20% of the total weight), biomass (as to approximately 5 to 20% of the total weight), biomass char (as to approximately 0 to 10% of the total weight) and an organic binder or, molasses and acid binder (as to a maximum of 20% of the total weight)

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, Ive just looked at that, Interesting. Ecoal50 is the more renewable but still less than 50%, so the Ecoal50 name is a bit naughty.

Its still a very good coal and any renewable is better than none (probably)

[booke23]

6 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Yes, Ive just looked at that, Interesting. Ecoal50 is the more renewable but still less than 50%, so the Ecoal50 name is a bit naughty.

Its still a very good coal and any renewable is better than none (probably)

 

Yes it should probably be called Ecoal 40 at a push! The other factor is while Ecoal 50 may be more green due to the greater biomass content, it may have greater potential to reduce local air quality due to the lower anthricite content compared to Ecoal.  

[booke23]

14 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Me too, but Books says otherwise.

 

 A few years back a new poster here passed comment on how ultra-eco her new narrow boat lifestyle was. I passed comment that it was nothing of the sort being so reliant on burning coal and diesel for heat and propulsion and how living in a modern build, well insulated house was far better for the environment. The most massive bunfight ensued. 

 

Maybe they are rebranding it…but if you ever want to know exactly what’s in the coal there is usually a DEFRA id number on the back of the bag that you can lookup on the DEFRA website to see the ingredients.

And of course you were right…..I might try and find that thread later 😅 

[rogeriko]

Right now 3% of our UK Electricity production is coming from coal fired generators.