Gold standard solid fuel - five stars

[LadyG]

I'm sure lots of people have had crumbly, dusty, damp and dirty smokeless fuel.

Well, I have to report the Realflame Premium Gold Standard (from Ace Energy), is just as good as it gets.

It's dry, perfectly formed, burns easily, low ash. Well worth the premium price, about £18.25.

I suspect it's sieved to remove dust and debris, and I can guess where that goes!

 

Edited Saturday at 21:18 by LadyG

[magnetman]

https://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/fuel-details.php?id=212

 

comprise 65% to 70% petroleum coke and 25% anthracite (both by weight) together with a cold setting resin binder, hardener and low temperature stabiliser as to the remaining weight

 

 

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Petcoke product. Lots of heat watch out or the grate burning away.

At least it has less binder than some of the other ones which would account for the lack of 'ash' which in most cases is actually a non combustible product rather than the product of combustion.

[LadyG]

1 minute ago, magnetman said:

https://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/fuel-details.php?id=212

 

comprise 65% to 70% petroleum coke and 25% anthracite (both by weight) together with a cold setting resin binder, hardener and low temperature stabiliser as to the remaining weight

 

 

----

 

Petcoke product. Lots of heat watch out or the grate burning away.

If I have to replace the grate every year it will be a price worth paying, no sign of any damage so far.

[rusty69]

If its good this year, keep your fingers crossed they haven't fiddled with the recipe for next year. 

 

The last batch of fuel we had wrecked the boiler and grate in one winter. The same stuff we always use. This year, and, all others they have been fine. 

[Wanderer Vagabond]

21 hours ago, LadyG said:

I'm sure lots of people have had crumbly, dusty, damp and dirty smokeless fuel.

Well, I have to report the Realflame Premium Gold Standard (from Ace Energy), is just as good as it gets.

It's dry, perfectly formed, burns easily, low ash. Well worth the premium price, about £18.25.

I suspect it's sieved to remove dust and debris, and I can guess where that goes!

 

That has to be a big selling point. Although I haven't bought much coal this winter having been off the boat, pretty much all the fuel I have bought in recent years has been soaking wet. Yes, it still burns, but it seems to me that you are paying for a load of water in your fuel, which must be a 'bargain' for the fuel companies. I originally thought it was just a consequence of buying fuel from canal-side suppliers who store their fuel outside, but then visited my sister's house which is heated by a coal fire delivered by a local company, and the fuel they were putting on was soaking wet as well, starts to look deliberate to me

[Loddon]

What people fail to appreciate is that the plastic bags fuel is stored in are permeable, so if you leave them out in the rain the contents get wet

 

[Wanderer Vagabond]

2 minutes ago, Loddon said:

What people fail to appreciate is that the plastic bags fuel is stored in are permeable, so if you leave them out in the rain the contents get wet

 

Not disputing what you say but, if they are permeable, how is it that the water never seems to drain out? (only 'drains' in, seemingly)

[Loddon]

10 minutes ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Not disputing what you say but, if they are permeable, how is it that the water never seems to drain out? (only 'drains' in, seemingly)

 I used to cover my ton of bags with a tarp and after a few weeks it was mostly dry.

The stuff in my front well deck is dry, stored in my shed from October to December and under cover in the well deck since then.

[Mike Tee]

Maybe the plastic makes it ‘sweat’ - opened up a new bag that had been in my covered well deck (which had been quite warm with the sun on it) and there were multiple drops of water on top of the coal.

[MtB]

Anyone thought of weighing a bag of wet fuel? 

 

To see if you are paying for the water of if its appropriately overweight?

[Rob-M]

I've kept several bags in the garage and when they are opened the contents are always wet.

[noddyboater]

There's also the possibility of differing quality of the same fuel from sealed bags.

Yards that sell Homefire for example can have it delivered in bulk then bag and seal it on site, in printed bags. 

So the nice dry, dust free bags you bought from Bob's Solid Fuel could be completely different to the same stuff from Charlie's Coal Boat. 

[magnetman]

Homefire Ovals contents

 

(from DEFRA website)

	comprise anthracite fines (as to approximately 50 to 75% of the total weight), petroleum coke (as to approximately 20 to 45% of the total weight), bituminous coal (as to approximately 5 to 17% of the total weight) and an organic binder (as to the remaining weight)

 

So, taking the smaller figures of 50, 20 and 5 we end up with 25% of the weight of the product being an "organic binder". Most organic materials include moisture. Some of them use molasses. 

 

This could be where the moisture is coming from.

 

I don't understand how the figures for contents can be so widely variable for a branded product. Perhaps I am misreading it. 

 

Being a bit of a cynic I think they will use the minimum legal amounts of burny burny for the products so what exactly is the binder? If one is buying a product it is slightly odd for 25% of it to be an unknown content. Surely buyers have the right to know exactly what is going in their fires. 

wood is better because it is a natural product not manufactured with unknown ingredients. 

 

For example if the binder was of animal origin would they not be obliged to tell vegans about this ?

 

 

Edited Monday at 06:16 by magnetman
minor typo and removed accidental mild sex references

[MtB]

37 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Homefire Ovals contents

 

(from DEFRA website)

	comprise anthracite fines (as to approximately 50 to 75% of the total weight), petroleum coke (as to approximately 20 to 45% of the total weight), bituminous coal (as to approximately 5 to 17% of the total weight) and an organic binder (as to the remaining weight)

 

So, taking the smaller figures of 50, 20 and 5 we end up with 25% of the weight of the product being an "organic binder". Most organic materials include moisture. Some of them use molasses. 

 

This could be where the moisture is coming from.

 

I don't understand how the figures for contents can be so widely variable for a branded product. Perhaps I am misreading it. 

 

Being a bit of a cynic I think they will use the minimum legal amounts of burny burny for the products so what exactly is the binder? If one is buying a product it is slightly odd for 25% of it to be an unknown content. Surely buyers have the right to know exactly what is going in their fires. 

wood is better because it is a natural product not manufactured with unknown ingredients. 

 

For example if the binder was of animal origin would they not be obliged to tell vegans about this ?

 

 

 

Also, taking the sum of the higher values of 75%, 45% and 17% = %137%, it looks to me as though the manu has almost carte blanche to widely vary the proportions of constituents to suit it on the day, to make a batch.

 

This looseness in specification might explain continuing reports of wide variations in characteristics of supposedly the same fuel from one purchase to the next. 

 

 

[robtheplod]

I've never seen a dry bag of coal... either self stored or just purchased it always seems to be wet when i open it...

[MtB]

Just now, robtheplod said:

I've never seen a dry bag of coal... either self stored or just purchased it always seems to be wet when i open it...

 

Its a recent thing.

 

Bagged coal for me was normally dry until a year or two ago, when it changed to always wet. 

 

 

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

Also, taking the sum of the higher values of 75%, 45% and 17% = %137%, it looks to me as though the manu has almost carte blanche to widely vary the proportions of constituents to suit it on the day, to make a batch.

Yeah. But on a good day you get more than 1 1/3 bags of fuel, but on a bad day only 3/4 of a bag.😃

[Puffling]

Am I just naturally sceptical or do the executives of Homefire have friends in DEFRA?

The specification of Homefire Brazier, undoubtedly the worst fuel I've used in two winters:

comprise anthracite fines (as to approximately 60 to 80% of the total weight), petroleum coke (as to approximately 10 to 30% of the total weight), bituminous coal (as to approximately 0 to 17% of the total weight) and molasses/acid or an organic binder (as the remaining weight);

 

So, in the lowest specification case, just 70% burnable material and up to 30% an unspecified "organic binder" (the ash of which was coarse and abrasive like fine grit).

 

Imagine buying an electric heater with such loose standards: "Consumption 0.7kW to 1.5kW". Or a packet of crisps: "Salt content 1g to 2g per serving, remaining weight made up of crystalline solids"

 

A quick scan shows Homefire products to be the most laxly specified; the OP's Realflame product seems more reasonable.

Edited Monday at 08:43 by Puffling

[magnetman]

I suppose if it is ready to burn it must be okay. 

 

Interesting to see how this goes as "smoke free" zones get widened to include people who never expected to be criminalised for burning wood in their open fires.