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Housecoal and Stoves

Badger

By Badger
in General Boating

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Badger

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Hi,could I ask a simple question please.Is it OK to burn basic house coal on my mulifuel stove?.House coal is a much cheaper fuel and I was wondering if it would be suitable to burn on my boat.

Badger

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churchward Veteran II

churchward

Posted
Posted (edited)
Hi,could I ask a simple question please.Is it OK to burn basic house coal on my mulifuel stove?.House coal is a much cheaper fuel and I was wondering if it would be suitable to burn on my boat.

Badger

 

Not recommended. Too much sulphur, tar and produces too much smoke and will eventually rot your stove and chimney from the inside out.

Edited by churchward
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magnetman Veteran II

magnetman

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Hi,could I ask a simple question please.Is it OK to burn basic house coal on my mulifuel stove?.House coal is a much cheaper fuel and I was wondering if it would be suitable to burn on my boat.

Badger

you will get wicked amounts of soot in the flue. if you are happy to clean it regularly and also happy to impose chemical warfare on your neighbours then yes it does burn and its quite cheap too. One thing I really like about coal is the smoke it produces smells like coal. Not sure how the smoke control areas work on the waterways but I think they are basically not very relevant unless in a marina or something.

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Badger Collaborator

Badger

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you will get wicked amounts of soot in the flue. if you are happy to clean it regularly and also happy to impose chemical warfare on your neighbours then yes it does burn and its quite cheap too. One thing I really like about coal is the smoke it produces smells like coal. Not sure how the smoke control areas work on the waterways but I think they are basically not very relevant unless in a marina or something.

OK,thanks for replies,just trying to be a cheapskate.

Badger

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dave moore Influencer

dave moore

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Hi

I'd endorse the earlier comments about clogged flues. I've burnt both coal and smokeless on the range in the back cabin on my boat and found that the flues require much more attention than when burning smokeless stuff, tho' the smell of real coal takes me back to the 60s and working boats. If I'm feeling nostalgic, I'll throw a bag of real on board. A couple of w/ends ago I followed Roach and Starling from Weston to Stone. They had winter coal on board. Homefire, my favourite smokeless on the open fire at home, was selling for £8.40 a bag, but it burns well for a very long time. Depends how often you want to get the flue brush out!

Dave

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badgerburger Engager

badgerburger

Posted
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Hi,could I ask a simple question please.Is it OK to burn basic house coal on my mulifuel stove?.House coal is a much cheaper fuel and I was wondering if it would be suitable to burn on my boat.

Badger

 

I had to reply - just for the clash of usernames :lol:

 

For us, using housecoal instead of smokeless meant cleaning the flu once a week, instead of once a month. Depends whether the time or the money is more important to you.

 

Don't forget that you may annoy your neighbours, as well.

 

B.B.

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sociable_hermit Experienced

sociable_hermit

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You might be able to blend it (say 50/50 'real' coal and ovals) to give greater economy. However house coal is more gaseous and less ashy, so it burns away faster. Don't forget to factor this into your calculations, as you may find it isn't the bargain it appears to be!

 

I'm thinking about using ordinary coal purely for lighting my fire, as it catches more easily. So I can use it as a stepping stone between kindling and Supertherm. [Anyone have any thoughts on this?]. It might work, but I dunno if it's worth the hassle of buying two separate coals and having to clean the chimney more regularly. What I really need is a local supplier of Homefire...

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Dominic M Influencer

Dominic M

Posted
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Hi,could I ask a simple question please.Is it OK to burn basic house coal on my mulifuel stove?.House coal is a much cheaper fuel and I was wondering if it would be suitable to burn on my boat.

Badger

Hi - I don't know which stove you have but the instructions for the Morso Squirrel (probably the most common stove on narrowboats) specifically says do NOT use ordinary coal.

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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Hi - I don't know which stove you have but the instructions for the Morso Squirrel (probably the most common stove on narrowboats) specifically says do NOT use ordinary coal.

The Villager range also recommends only using manufactured smokeless fuels, and list these as the recommended types....

 

Coalite, Coalite Nuts, Blazebrite, Phurnacite, Phurnacite Nuts, Ancit, Taybright, Sunbright Doubles

 

Incidentally, I note many of the regularly used smokeless fuels are not amongst them, although some may be equivalent to those listed, of course.

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  • 3 months later...
Pav Collaborator

Pav

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Hi Everyone,

 

LimeKiln was out of coal when I called in for some on Wednesday, and the guy wasn't sure when they would have another delivery.

 

Got my coal from the garage, but If you are in the Stourport area, and in need of coal, I have just got back from walking the dogs and see that the coalboat Roach is now moored up outside the Stourport loo/shower block which is alongside Lime Kiln.

 

It maybe they are delivering to LimeKiln in the morning, I don't know, and no one from the boat was around to ask as It was past midnight.

 

Not sure how long Roach is around for, but if you want to contact them they do have a website which is coalboat.co.uk

 

Regards,

Pav

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furnessvale Influencer

furnessvale

Posted
Posted
you will get wicked amounts of soot in the flue. if you are happy to clean it regularly and also happy to impose chemical warfare on your neighbours then yes it does burn and its quite cheap too. One thing I really like about coal is the smoke it produces smells like coal. Not sure how the smoke control areas work on the waterways but I think they are basically not very relevant unless in a marina or something.

 

The only clause in the smoke control regulations that applies to canal boats is the one about producing BLACK smoke more than 30 minutes after lighting the fire.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

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