What is your preferred solid fuel?

[Jim Batty]

Found a new favourite last year after years of taybrite until it became too dusty and then excel. Ecoal50 burns longer and stays in better than anything else I have used on the squirrel and although it costs slightly more initially, lasts long enough to cost the same in the end.

 

I discovered e-coal at the tail end of last year, caught out in the cold spring and bought from a petrol station. It consist of 50% coal and 50% bio products (like olive pits and such).

 

 

One site I looked at says that Ecoal50 burns 38% hotter than house coal which is getting near the heat output of petrocoke I would have thought. ...

 

'House coal' gives a nice black coat to your cabin roof. Yeech. The e-coal didn't seem to burn quite as hot as Supertherm and similar, but did seem to burn longer. So it was ideal for early spring. Will definitely give it a go again this winter.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Jim Batty

[PiRSqwared]

Start with wood and excel, then anthracite over night. Stays in lovely.

[Hairyloon]

I'm about to start experimenting with briquettes made from rapeseed residue... I'll let you know.

[Woodstock]

A local garden centre had some broken up oak whiskey barrels last year. The planks were really dense and heavy for the thickness and they burnt lovely with some excel

[adam1uk]

Homefire.

 

Tim

 

I like Homefire, too. Gets going well, and stays in overnight easily.

 

Had some Ecoal50 last winter too, and quite liked it.

[mrsmelly]

 

I like Homefire, too. Gets going well, and stays in overnight easily.

 

Had some Ecoal50 last winter too, and quite liked it.

Over the last umpteen years I have used them all. The best is anthracite but it needs a lot of air so is harder to regulate and on my stove the boat would melt if we used anthracite. I have had some crap in al lguises for the last few years so asked Luc what he recommended. He was right its spot on and not too much dust, its a tad dearer than most but well worth the extra.

 

Tim

[Alanji]

I hate Taybrite - started with that as it was all I could get - lots of ash, lots of clinker blocking the grate and difficult to keep in overnight. I bought another bag last week as it was all that was available - same result. The only other I have tried is Excel which performs very well. Will have to look out for the new one Matty mentioned. Obviously depends on stove, as well - mine is a small, cheap 4kw

 

ETA and Taybrite gives off horrible fumes.

Edited October 2, 2013 by Alanji

[Daiboy]

I find Pureheat is a good option; good heat and burns for ages (fire in 24/7 over winter). I pay around £10.50 for 25kg.

 

rgreg,

 

Roughly how long does a 25kg bag last you?

[notaminga]

I swear by dilithium crystals, the warp drive really loves them! Most canalside fuel suppliers find them hard to get though.

[mattlad]

I swear by dilithium crystals, the warp drive really loves them! Most canalside fuel suppliers find them hard to get though.

Don't use the Kington dilithium crystals though, they canna tek it cap'n! ;-)

[FidoDido]

I tend to use Phurnacite - I often need to heat the boat up from cold, as I'll have been away for a few days, and you just cant beat it for producing a ton of heat and keeping in for days once banked up.

 

When I'm on the boat more continuously, I totally agree with Matty - Ecoal50 lasts and lasts and lasts. Great fuel. Doesnt burn as hot as Phurnacite tho. Both similar price.

[Orca]

Hotmax

[OptedOut]

Anthracite beans (15 to 20 mm).

 

Easily controllable with high calorific value per unit mass and does not dirty stove glass.

.

[mattlad]

I'm about to start experimenting with briquettes made from rapeseed residue... I'll let you know.

How's the experiment going Hairyloon?

[Doodlebug]

We spent all of last year burning ecoal - we had no access to coal boats or marinas and bought it from b and q, 5 for 25 pounds (10kg bags)

 

It was good and did last a long time in the stove, but I find the pieces are a bit on the big side. Any thoughts? We were going to change this year but people seem to think its pretty good.

 

Why don't marinas stock all these coals. They only ever have the manufactured stuff. I want to try anthracite, and none of them sell ecoal. Are they missing a trick?

 

If I buy smaller pieces of coal, is there a disadvantage to this? Does it burn hotter or faster?

[mrsmelly]

We spent all of last year burning ecoal - we had no access to coal boats or marinas and bought it from b and q, 5 for 25 pounds (10kg bags)

 

It was good and did last a long time in the stove, but I find the pieces are a bit on the big side. Any thoughts? We were going to change this year but people seem to think its pretty good.

 

Why don't marinas stock all these coals. They only ever have the manufactured stuff. I want to try anthracite, and none of them sell ecoal. Are they missing a trick?

 

If I buy smaller pieces of coal, is there a disadvantage to this? Does it burn hotter or faster?

Hi

 

Anthracite is the best stuff by miles IF your stove and lifestyle suit it. There is very little ash as its real coal and not a mixture of other rubbish. The heat is exellent. The major drawbacks are that it needs plenty of air to keep it going and is very hard to dampen down and keep going whilst away from the boat without it going out.

Most other ovals etc are mixed with something to various extents which is why the price differs. I have used everything over the last twenty odd years living aboard with various outcomes. After recently asking an x narrowboater who has recently bought a proper boat in Devon his views and experience I have gone back to Homefire which I had not used for some years. It is very good with less ash than most, it is easy to keep in and gives of good heat. I pay £12.20 per 25kg bag delivered to the boat which is probably not the cheapest but good quality in most things has to be paid for and it suits me.

[Richard10002]

Excel for me in a Boatman Stove. Tried a few others, including Coke, and am back on Excel. £8 for 20kg delivered to the boat.

[Stilllearning]

We have been using Excel on the villager "c" stove with backboiler and 2 rads, but at the moment are experimenting with Anthracite for the days and Taybrite for the nights. Excel was very good for when I was single, and away from 5 in the morning till 5 in the evening - just filled the stove the night before and didnt touch it till the next evening, at least 18 hours later. The coal we get now from a merchant a few miles away, at a wonderful address, Bog Lane, The Common, Melbourne.

[MyLady]

Found a new favourite last year after years of taybrite until it became too dusty and then excel. Ecoal50 burns longer and stays in better than anything else I have used on the squirrel and although it costs slightly more initially, lasts long enough to cost the same in the end.

 

 

We spent all of last year burning ecoal - we had no access to coal boats or marinas and bought it from b and q, 5 for 25 pounds (10kg bags)

 

It was good and did last a long time in the stove, but I find the pieces are a bit on the big side. Any thoughts? We were going to change this year but people seem to think its pretty good.

 

Why don't marinas stock all these coals. They only ever have the manufactured stuff. I want to try anthracite, and none of them sell ecoal. Are they missing a trick?

 

If I buy smaller pieces of coal, is there a disadvantage to this? Does it burn hotter or faster?

Thanks for these 2 posts. Went to B&Q, found the Ecoal50 and bought 5, 10kg bags (25 quid). They were also selling HeatLogs (IIRC) so we bought a bag of those, just to try.

 

I don't know what brand, but we have a small 'pot-bellied' stove. We also have Alde central heating on Milady of Norwich, but for home use, we gave up bottled gas for spot heating as too expensive. The red bottles may be better than the blue ones (I know one is butane and the other is propane, but can't remember which is which), but suspect the result will be the same. Anyway, a solid fuel stove is cosier.

 

Again, I don't know what model the Alde is, or whether it is thermostatically controlled, but hope the stove will provide most of the space heating, the engine most of the hot water, with the Alde just acting as back up.

 

Roger

(Novice. Planning to lose my boating/CCing virginity next Tuesday.)

Edited November 10, 2013 by MyLady

[DHutch]

Steak & chips.

Good times!

 

We burn a fair bit of welsh steam coal, certified smokeless, and half way between housecoal and anthracite, purely because we have a bunker of it on the boat and buy it by the ton. But with the aside it works fine. If im going to buy a bag of something specific for the stove, its usually the cheapest housecoal a passing coal boat has, soft an easy to light, and makes a nice bit of smoke....

 

We dont live on, spend much time on the boat in the winter, or have a great call for heat anytime we are actaully moving the boat however.

 

 

Daniel

[peterboat]

Just watching stove now burning well on wood anthracite and something out of a red bag for £7.50 for 20 kilos I have also had to light the bubble as the boat has been empty for a week. The bubble as usual was up to temp in 10 mins the stove 3 hours will put the bubble out soon as the bedroom will be to hot and the rads are hot now. Have to say its brass monkey weather out there car said it was -1 c

 

Peter

[deckhand]

Stoveglow , burns long and hot.

 

Wont use Taybrite again unless I really have no choice,

 

Still a few for me to try

 

Have some seasoned oak logs from bricks and mortar place but whilst I like these on the fire there, I don't like them on the boat fire,

[Stilllearning]

Have to report that Taybrite has much too much ash, so will go back to Excel. Anthracite is excellent, very hot but as stated, hard to damp down.

Having bought a bag of Ecoal from B&Q, it's an experiment we will never repeat - yes it burns, but with very little heat, which is rather the whole point of the exercise!

[MyLady]

Have to report that Taybrite has much too much ash, so will go back to Excel. Anthracite is excellent, very hot but as stated, hard to damp down.

Having bought a bag of Ecoal from B&Q, it's an experiment we will never repeat - yes it burns, but with very little heat, which is rather the whole point of the exercise!

We've been using Ecoal in a pot-bellied stove. The stove controls have only marginal control, but the ash does: with little poking, it burns slowly, but poking the ash out gives a very hot fire, we saw air temperatures in the mid 30's! We've yet to try anthracite, but hope to have success. The result from HeatLogs depends on the source, bought from Keighley B&Q, the "logs" were a good size and controllable, bought from Northampton B&Q, they were broken into small pieces with lots of dust - and little control was possible. It seems that handling in, or before delivery to the store is critical. In any case, HeatLogs are a ready source of fast heat, but little use to last overnight. Till we find a source of anthracite, we'll stick with Ecoal + HeatLogs as required.

 

In our stove, poking to remove ash is a valid means of control, though an art rather than a science!

 

Ecoal from B&Q is rather expensive, £4 a day, but we find it works.

 

Roger

Edited November 25, 2013 by MyLady

[Machpoint005]

Supertherm in the Morso. Admittedly it's cheaper, because we buy in bulk at home (bricks & mortar) and carry what we need to the boat. The stuff works well in opem fires as well as so-called multifuel stoves.