Burning peat in the stove

[Starcoaster]

I've been given a carrier bag of peat to try out in the stove... Having never seen peat before, I am a bit surprised as I was expecting it to look like rolls of turf rather than fossilized turds.

With a 30kg bag going for under £9 it seems like it could be a cheaper alternative to coal, and I am going to have a go with it later on, although I may not have enough to bank it up to stay in all night.

 

Does anyone have any experience of burning it in a multi-fuel stove, or is there any reason not to use it? Should I think of it as more like wood than coal in terms of how it acts and how hard or easy it is to keep in, or something else entirely? Any thoughts?

[oldironsides]

It should burn well, smells great and if cheap: go for it!

[canals are us?]

Turf is lovely and burns well but does create quite a bit of ash. When I lived in the Republic of Ireland we used to pay 3 euro for a fertiliser bag size. It smelled lovely but wasn't cost effective compared to coal as on our boiler stove you could burn 2 bags a day plus coal. The turf wasn't hot enough on it's own without coal or wood. Turf was readily available locally or on Donedeal.

The EU though are closing certain wildlife sensitive bogs in Ireland etc though, to the dismay of the turf cutters.

£9 is very expensive.

 

James

Edited November 15, 2012 by canals are us?

[ditchcrawler]

I've been given a carrier bag of peat to try out in the stove... Having never seen peat before, I am a bit surprised as I was expecting it to look like rolls of turf rather than fossilized turds.

With a 30kg bag going for under £9 it seems like it could be a cheaper alternative to coal, and I am going to have a go with it later on, although I may not have enough to bank it up to stay in all night.

 

Does anyone have any experience of burning it in a multi-fuel stove, or is there any reason not to use it? Should I think of it as more like wood than coal in terms of how it acts and how hard or easy it is to keep in, or something else entirely? Any thoughts?

Have a look at this BLOG

[Guest]

Any thoughts?

 

Poor Pete, what did he do to deserve that?

[Grace and Favour]

Poor Pete, what did he do to deserve that?

 

It is his brother, Doug, I feel sorry for

[Ange]

I'd be really interested to know how you get on Starry - it's not something we'd thought of. Not sure how readily available it is though - I can't say I've seen it for sale anywhere on our travels.

 

We rented a cottage in Ireland one Easter with a peat fire and it was lovely.

[HappyBunny]

Yes, I got a bag from the Mucky Duck recently, found it gave a good slow steady burn, and stayed in overnight after a bit of experimentation .... but lots of claggy ash and stinkypoo smoke .... cheaper than coal methinks

[BlueStringPudding]

There's a reclamation yard near Tattenhall that also sells solid fuel, including peat. They're moulded blocks of the stuff. I found it burned well but needed a helping hand to start. Burned best with a small layer of Taybrite underneath it. And didn't stay in overnight in my little boatman. But it smelled nicer than coal, not that I could often smell it with the stove door shut.

Edited November 15, 2012 by BlueStringPudding

[ditchcrawler]

I'd be really interested to know how you get on Starry - it's not something we'd thought of. Not sure how readily available it is though - I can't say I've seen it for sale anywhere on our travels.

 

We rented a cottage in Ireland one Easter with a peat fire and it was lovely.

Hillmorton

[Ange]

Hillmorton

 

Thanks I'll remember that - current plans indicate we'll be passing that way sometime around Autumn 2013 on our way back up from southern travels

 

Anyone know of any sources near Worcester for this winter?

[Ozy]

We get a version of peat called a peat brickette, but can only get it from Trago Mills in the west country. It works out about £3.00 a bale. Burns down to nothing.

[ditchcrawler]

We get a version of peat called a peat brickette, but can only get it from Trago Mills in the west country. It works out about £3.00 a bale. Burns down to nothing.

You can almost read the telephone number on thesesacks

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PtKRbbESSjM/UKPNjOiy1yI/AAAAAAAAPKg/4OKE5T-uvaQ/s1600/P1100231.JPG

[Woodstock]

these do peat briquettes and I think deliver

http://liverpoolwoodpellets.co.uk/ourshop/cat_166196-Briquettes-.html

 

If anyone tries them- let me know- I'm interested

[carlt]

Having spent most of my life campaigning and protesting against the use of peat in fertilisers to protect the rapidly diminishing peat bogs, and seeing the success of these campaigns with the large scale adoption of peat free composts, I am a bit concerned about the use of peat as a fuel source.

 

Apart from the huge value of them as wildlife habitats peat bogs are a massive carbon sinks and cutting the peat, for fuel or compost, releases the CO2 into the atmosphere, reversing their beneficial effect.

 

I know there are sceptics who don't believe in global warming and the like, which is fair enough, but those who do may want to bear this in mind.

[churchward]

Having spent most of my life campaigning and protesting against the use of peat in fertilisers to protect the rapidly diminishing peat bogs, and seeing the success of these campaigns with the large scale adoption of peat free composts, I am a bit concerned about the use of peat as a fuel source.

 

Apart from the huge value of them as wildlife habitats peat bogs are a massive carbon sinks and cutting the peat, for fuel or compost, releases the CO2 into the atmosphere, reversing their beneficial effect.

 

I know there are sceptics who don't believe in global warming and the like, which is fair enough, but those who do may want to bear this in mind.

Spot on Carl. I have spent some time in Ireland and seen large scale industrial Peat extraction it doesn't half change the landscape.

 

it does smell nice but since you will use more of it weight for weight than coal and no cheaper over here i can't see much of a use for it even ignoring the environmental argument.

[davidc]

Spot on Carl. I have spent some time in Ireland and seen large scale industrial Peat extraction it doesn't half change the landscape.

 

 

Just to add apart from destroying unique bogs there flora and insect life, it takes peat to re-grow 1 millimetre per year.

The Irish bogs took 11000 years to grow and are being destroyed at a fast rate, apart from the carbon and methane argument.

[Tiger 1057]

Having spent most of my life campaigning and protesting against the use of peat in fertilisers to protect the rapidly diminishing peat bogs, and seeing the success of these campaigns with the large scale adoption of peat free composts, I am a bit concerned about the use of peat as a fuel source.

 

Apart from the huge value of them as wildlife habitats peat bogs are a massive carbon sinks and cutting the peat, for fuel or compost, releases the CO2 into the atmosphere, reversing their beneficial effect.

 

I know there are sceptics who don't believe in global warming and the like, which is fair enough, but those who do may want to bear this in mind.

Spot on!

 

I used to live very close to the Bog of Allen the primary source of this Peat. You would not believe the vast area this covers and which is being destroyed.

I would suggest that the sad fact is, that in reality, compared to other fuels this is a very ineffective fuel and was primarily used in Ireland due to it's availability and cheap cost not due to its efficiency!

 

Most responsible gardeners now try and use alternatives to peat moss in their garden due to the environmental impact the digging up of the ancient bogs is having.

[luctor et emergo]

It seems that peat grows quicker than coal though

[Mac of Cygnet]

It seems that peat grows quicker than coal though

 

An extremely pertinant reply. Also add oil (including all fuel derivatives therefrom). A lot of nonsense is talked about peat resources - the peat in Northern Europe and Siberia, for example, is so extensive as to make talk of peat depletion in Ireland just miniscule.

 

The peat used in horticulture is hardly a pinprick compared to the resources. As a nurseryman, I resolutely refused to use non-peat composts, as I know the devastating effects on plant health they entail, due to alien diseases being introduced. I know a peat-free compost producer - he wouldn't let his products anywhere near his garden.

 

Go ahead and and burn your peat with a clear concience - it's only one remove from coal.

[Tiger 1057]

An extremely pertinant reply. Also add oil (including all fuel derivatives therefrom). A lot of nonsense is talked about peat resources - the peat in Northern Europe and Siberia, for example, is so extensive as to make talk of peat depletion in Ireland just miniscule.

 

The peat used in horticulture is hardly a pinprick compared to the resources. As a nurseryman, I resolutely refused to use non-peat composts, as I know the devastating effects on plant health they entail, due to alien diseases being introduced. I know a peat-free compost producer - he wouldn't let his products anywhere near his garden.

 

Go ahead and and burn your peat with a clear concience - it's only one remove from coal.

Absolute tosh!

I would rather believe the RHS who co incidentally have conducted field tests that show certain peat substitutes are just as effective as peat itself.

Whilst you are at it perhaps you should name the producer you know so that others may also avoid the poor product that he produces.

You conveniently fail to mention the bio diversity and wild life that is being destroyed by the destruction of peat bogs in Ireland!

[Mac of Cygnet]

Absolute tosh!

I would rather believe the RHS who co incidentally have conducted field tests that show certain peat substitutes are just as effective as peat itself.

Whilst you are at it perhaps you should name the producer you know so that others may also avoid the poor product that he produces.

You conveniently fail to mention the bio diversity and wild life that is being destroyed by the destruction of peat bogs in Ireland!

 

Not tosh at all. There is an anti-peat bandwagon which is frightening the gardening public into thinking that the use of peat is somehow sinful. Some peat substitutes are indeed as good as peat itself for incorporation into composts; unfortunately many peat free composts do not stick to these, but use all sorts of rubbish, including recycled municipal waste.

 

Most peat used in the UK now comes from Scandinavian and Baltic countries, where reserves are so vast that use for horticulture is a tiny fraction of that used for power production, which is in turn using reserves at a rate which is so small that regeneration is greater than use.

 

And you conveniently fail to mention the biodiversityt and wildlife that has been created by past peat workings, eg the Somerset levels and Norfolk Broads. I agree that lowland raised peat bogs in England should no longer be exploited, but just to look at the picture there is being very parochial.

 

For a good summary of peat use from the point of a major Scottish nursery : Glendoick

 

I will continue to use peat as long as I can get it (even if I have to go and dig it myself!) and not be browbeaten by hysterical environmental claims.

[Caprifool]

Oh dear! Most gardeners here make their own compost. Even though we have those "vast Scandinavian sources" Perhaps I should inform them, they have been doing in wrong for hundreds of years?

[nigel fryer]

Absolute tosh!

I would rather believe the RHS who co incidentally have conducted field tests that show certain peat substitutes are just as effective as peat itself.

Whilst you are at it perhaps you should name the producer you know so that others may also avoid the poor product that he produces.

You conveniently fail to mention the bio diversity and wild life that is being destroyed by the destruction of peat bogs in Ireland!

 

Field tests ?

[Jerra]

thinking that the use of peat is somehow sinful.

 

I am sorry but I think destroying wildlife habitat and biodiversity is (to use your words) sinful.

 

Vast deposits of peat in Scandinavia doesn't help Irish wildlife much,and digging it up doesn't do a lot for the wildlife trying to exist on it whether in Scandinavia or Ireland.