Briquettes or Coal or Wood

[Woollymishka]

We have a bubble stove (corner type) and am wondering if anyone has experience of burning briquettes and how do they fare compared to coal or wood?

Info or comments as to how easy it is to keep briquettes going all night (we can do that with coal) - what is the heat output like compared to the others etc etc

Any info would be good and do people like Gosty Hill (Braunston) sell them or is he likely to sell them (or not?)

Thanks everyone - look forward to the comments

[Deepinvet]

I have a stove in the kitchen of my house, we burn most things, but the best we have found is the briquettes followed by house coal then wood. The kitchen is fairly big 5m x 5m and my little stove will heat this very easy with briquttes.

[NB Alnwick]

The most efficient, clean burning, natural fuel is pure Anthracite. Welsh Anthracite usually contains very little ash and the burning rate (and therefore heat output) is most easily controlled by adjusting the primary and secondary air supplies.

[soldthehouse]

The most efficient, clean burning, natural fuel is pure Anthracite. Welsh Anthracite usually contains very little ash and the burning rate (and therefore heat output) is most easily controlled by adjusting the primary and secondary air supplies.

Have you tried getting welsh anthracite lately its rarer than an honest lawyer

[NB Alnwick]

Have you tried getting welsh anthracite lately its rarer than an honest lawyer

 

There are still a few stockpiles but the imported Anthracite is often as good as long as it isn't all very small stuff - often called beans. I prefer a bit of a mix of sizes - mostly stove nuts but with a few larger coals.

[soldthehouse]

There are still a few stockpiles but the imported Anthracite is often as good as long as it isn't all very small stuff - often called beans. I prefer a bit of a mix of sizes - mostly stove nuts but with a few larger coals.

My very dearest friend is a coal merchant and always leads me to believe that anthracite is next to impossible to get consistently, there used to be a local mine supplying him but that has dried up and his anthracite bay is never very full now , it seems to be the small stuff you refer to, although I think most will still be used in boilers up here in the sticks so the smaller the better.

[Byeckerslike]

We find that Supertherm, burns slow, but produces loads of heat, with the added benefit of little ash being produced.

[NB Alnwick]

My very dearest friend is a coal merchant and always leads me to believe that anthracite is next to impossible to get consistently, there used to be a local mine supplying him but that has dried up and his anthracite bay is never very full now , it seems to be the small stuff you refer to, although I think most will still be used in boilers up here in the sticks so the smaller the better.

 

Most of the deep mines in South Wales were closed between 1980 and 1994 - a few survived including Tower Colliery where the miners marched back to work having bought it themselves after British Coal closed it - but most of those that survived are now closed. There are millions of tons of coal still in the ground in South Wales - enough to supply this country's needs for years to come.

 

Some say that burning coal is bad for the environment and one of the main causes of 'Global Warming' but we still burn coal to make electricity. The only difference is that instead of digging it out locally we buy it from China and America and then haul it half way round the world! It just doesn't make any sense.

 

Some people blame the miners for the failure of the British coal industry, others blame the management while most people blame former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Perhaps there was a failure all round but I do know that we all will pay the price of that failure.

 

Small quantities of Welsh Anthracite, suitable for burning on stoves, are still available and I understand these come from a family owned drify mine that somehow escaped nationalisation and the mess that was British Coal.

[Chris Pink]

Small quantities of Welsh Anthracite, suitable for burning on stoves, are still available and I understand these come from a family owned drify mine that somehow escaped nationalisation and the mess that was British Coal.

 

Then you might be interested in this;

 

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/minewe...6&sn=Detail

[Smudge]

We have a bubble stove (corner type) and am wondering if anyone has experience of burning briquettes and how do they fare compared to coal or wood?

Info or comments as to how easy it is to keep briquettes going all night (we can do that with coal) - what is the heat output like compared to the others etc etc

Any info would be good and do people like Gosty Hill (Braunston) sell them or is he likely to sell them (or not?)

Thanks everyone - look forward to the comments

A friend of ours has just started to make Briquets for B&Q he gave me some to try.

They gave out as much heat as wood,but also burnt as quick as wood

our stove managed to stay in all night but i put all new seals in it for this winter,if i hadnt it would have most likely gone out.

Also you get through them fairly quick.

They looked the same as the ones advertised in the mags (with a hole through the middle) and at the price they are for sale MY OPPINION is that they are to pricey to be economical. But they do burn well and give out lots of heat.

 

Also after 14 yrs of being a door to door coal man can i say that we allways got loads of complaints about Welch anthracite to the extent that we only ended up selling the German stuff its a lot harder and burns longer and there is no slack in it

[NB Alnwick]

Then you might be interested in this;

 

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/minewe...6&sn=Detail

 

Chris - thanks for that link. It's nice to see something positive being reported about British industry.

All very encouraging - I just hope it continues and that there will be a continued commitment to creating employment in area that has known serious hardship for some time. Unfortunately, this won't stop the evil bankers from gambling with men's lives in the coal futures markets nor will it stop asset-stripping take-overs by companies who's only interest is lining the pockets of their fattest cats . . .

[NB Alnwick]

>snipped<

 

Also after 14 yrs of being a door to door coal man can i say that we allways got loads of complaints about Welch anthracite to the extent that we only ended up selling the German stuff its a lot harder and burns longer and there is no slack in it

 

Donna und Blitzen! Gott im Himmel!

 

That's it the games up! Admit it - you are a German spy - probably parachuted in during the last war dressed as a Nun - how else can you explain your use of the German spelling for 'Welsh'.

 

I'm sorry to say this but, for you, the war is over! Hande Hoch!

[soldthehouse]

Donna und Blitzen! Gott im Himmel!

 

That's it the games up! Admit it - you are a German spy - probably parachuted in during the last war dressed as a Nun - how else can you explain your use of the German spelling for 'Welsh'.

 

I'm sorry to say this but, for you, the war is over! Hande Hoch!

Apparently the germans are now running the welsh anthracite mine and they invited members of the coal retailers federation to an evening do. Arriving late the Germans apologised for not being able to find the venue, only to be told that their great leader didnt have any trouble finding us when they dropped bombs during the war, at which point they walked out and things have been strained ever since...