House coal

[junior]

Any loopholes for getting hold of some house coal? Anyone got a secret stash? I'm down to my last bucketful in the back of the coal shed.

 

Been searching online and it seems impossible to find any 😒

[Tonka]

Do you know anyone who lives in Wales as it is still legally available there

[magnetman]

Can buy online from Wales or Ireland no problem I've had columbian doubles delivered to my central London address. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255135402555

 

 

https://coalhut.com/colombian-group-2-coal

 

Not cheap !

 

These people https://thecoalshop.co.uk/house-coal-fuel/ say this 

 

"

House Coal Fuel

Starting May 1^st 2023, the UK government has now prohibited the domestic sale of ‘house coal’ (also known as Bituminous coal) in England.

You can still purchase house coal in England if you are a working farm or business; you’ll sign a declaration form via email to process the order.

 

 

So if you have a business name... 

 

 

Steam coal 

 

https://www.supaheatfuels.co.uk/steam-raising-coal-13-c.asp

 

 

(The only one I have tried is via eBay from Ireland so I don't know if the other ones actually deliver). 

[junior]

6 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Can buy online from Wales or Ireland no problem I've had columbian doubles delivered to my central London address. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255135402555

 

 

https://coalhut.com/colombian-group-2-coal

 

Not cheap !

 

These people https://thecoalshop.co.uk/house-coal-fuel/ say this 

 

"

House Coal Fuel

Starting May 1^st 2023, the UK government has now prohibited the domestic sale of ‘house coal’ (also known as Bituminous coal) in England.

You can still purchase house coal in England if you are a working farm or business; you’ll sign a declaration form via email to process the order.

 

 

So if you have a business name... 

 

 

Steam coal 

 

https://www.supaheatfuels.co.uk/steam-raising-coal-13-c.asp

 

 

(The only one I have tried is via eBay from Ireland so I don't know if the other ones actually deliver). 

Wonder if the mrs could justify buying house coal for her recruitment consultancy 🤣

[magnetman]

Go for it ! Is the office on the boat ? Its going to need heating. 

 

It does make me wonder what businesses might need house coal rather than the briquetted things. 

 

Even some of the heritage railways are using briquettes..

 

Interesting to see the price drop on the eBay link I added. This is now less than £1 per kilo which while still being expensive is coming down so I wonder if everyone thinks it is illegal and nobody is buying it. 

 

Columbian doubles, while sounding a bit like contraband, also have brilliant heat output and smells like it is supposed to. 

[junior]

Only 40mins from here to Wrexham, so I might be able to get a boot full in the car!

[magnetman]

I wonder if local crack dealers might spot a market opportunity and fill their BMW X5s up with the stuff. Cash only. 

Just now, junior said:

Only 40mins from here to Wrexham, so I might be able to get a boot full in the car!

You might get coal sniffer dogs on the way back across the border. 

 

I'd definitely take the risk. 

[Rusty Rivet]

1 hour ago, junior said:

Only 40mins from here to Wrexham, so I might be able to get a boot full in the car!

Could you borrow a coal boat and take a trip up the Welsh. 20 ton would last a few years. 😉

[BilgePump]

5 minutes ago, Rusty Rivet said:

Could you borrow a coal boat and take a trip up the Welsh. 20 ton would last a few years. 😉

I can see the headline now "Coal baron gets 15 years in the big house for cross border contraband smuggling operation"

[jonathanA]

2 hours ago, magnetman said:

House Coal Fuel

Starting May 1^st 2023, the UK government has now prohibited the domestic sale of ‘house coal’ (also known as Bituminous coal) in England.

You can still purchase house coal in England if you are a working farm or business; you’ll sign a declaration form via email to process the order.

 

 

 

odd that 250Kg I had delivered a few weeks ago, as normal by my local coal merchant must be 'contraband' ..... (£36/50Kg  delivered BTW)

 

i'll await the local plod to drag me away in irons...  

 

https://paulrogersandsons.co.uk/contact-us/

[magnetman]

Is it ordinary house coal or might it be low volatile?

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/selling-coal-for-domestic-use-in-england

"

Enforcement checks

Enforcement officers will check that suppliers and retailers are not selling traditional house coal.

They may check:

• traditional house coal is not being displayed for sale in retail outlets and online
• records at registered coal merchants to confirm that traditional house coal is not being sold
• records of the types of coal sold (for example, traditional house coal, anthracite, lignite)

Fines

Coal merchants and retailers could be fined by local authority enforcement officers if unauthorised coal is sold to domestic household customers.

Depending on how severe the offence is this could be:

• a £300 fixed penalty fine (FPN) issued by the local authority
• a more substantial fine issued by the courts"

 

 

I think the Columbian and Polish coals may possibly be low volatile semi bituminous rather than bituminous coal which is what house coal is. 

 

 

A quick google suggests that 

 

What type of coal is Colombian coal?

 

 

Colombia's coal exports are a low ash, low sulphur thermal coal, the benchmark calorific value (CV) from Puerto Bolívar being 11,300 Btu/lb.

 

So maybe that does not fall into the house coal category. 

[jonathanA]

I think that must be it, they are still doing regular deliveries, i'll have to ask next time I order.   They also supply briquettes for the same price - sometimes I get a couple of bags of those for use on the boat.   

 

be interesting to see some figures for how much difference this ban will actually make a bit like ULEZ zones  - more about being seen to do something i suspect... (and stealth taxes)

[Machpoint005]

3 minutes ago, jonathanA said:

...be interesting to see some figures for how much difference this ban will actually make a bit like ULEZ zones  - more about being seen to do something i suspect... (and stealth taxes)

 

Starfish on the beach.

 

We can either blanket-ban something, or take it one step at a time. The trouble with the latter approach is that many people think the early stages should involve everybody else, provided that it's not them.

 

 

 

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, magnetman said:

I wonder if local crack dealers might spot a market opportunity and fill their BMW X5s up with the stuff. Cash only. 

You might get coal sniffer dogs on the way back across the border. 

 

I'd definitely take the risk. 

He knows all the loop holes in boarder control so he should be OK

[magnetman]

@ditchcrawler posted a picture of a proposed clean air zone which was in Cannock chase. I can't recall the area well as have not been since the late 90s but is this a densely populated urban area? 

 

I think not and I also think there is a fair chance smoke control areas will cover the whole country within a few yars. 

 

Obviously look after people with a bit of extra money by allowing defra stoves but it is plausible that open fires in houses will gradually be outlawed and not only in towns and cities. 

 

I can see it happening. 

 

What is the true environmental cost of manufacturing briquetted fuels? 

 

[ditchcrawler]

2 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

What is the true environmental cost of manufacturing briquetted fuels? 

 

I would rather have some welsh steam coal smoke blowing my way that this stinky smokeless fuel stuff

[magnetman]

Definitely agree with that. Excel is horrible and sadly it seems to be the most common fuel on the coal boats. 

 

Number one for me is wood and number 2 is low volatile coal number 3 is lignite. 

 

I have never tried peat but apparently that is alright. 

 

The Lignite Union briquettes are interesting because some suppliers sell them as smokeless authorised and some say they are not authorised. They do burn well and have no oil products so the smell is quite natural. 

 

 

 

 

[NB Alnwick]

I am not sure why anyone would want to burn 'house coal' except perhaps for nostalgia.

OK, it can burn with a bright flame and is generally easier than Anthracite to light but it produces the nastiest of by-products that will eat your chimney and leave tar stains on your boat. And, the smoke can kill you!

There are many good reasons why I think mining coal is still necessary but it isn't the best thing to burn on a boat. There are better solid fuel alternatives.

[magnetman]

Nostalgia. 

 

Or maybe it should be nosetalgia. 

 

 

[Tonka]

2 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

He knows all the loop holes in boarder control so he should be OK

That statement could be interpeted as "aiding and abetting in the importation of unlicensed fire ovals"

[Mike Tee]

Ah, so that’s what a UFO is