heat logs

[kingswood]

any one used these are they any goods, fed up with the smell from coal

[jonesthenuke]

We have tried them ( the oil wax impregnated versions)

 

They burn fast enough that you have have to effectively close off almost all the air supply (else its too hot) and consequently they generate a lot ol oily residue in the stove and up the flue. I would use them if we went to our boat in depths of winter for the intial heat up of the boat as they are a very easy to use fuel, but it would not be my prime choice for any long term use.

 

Similarly have tried a variety of wood chip based pellets (e.g the 2" diameter ones B&C+Q sell in winter). Same problems.

 

Chris

[Wanted]

Really bad for sooting up the flue, I prefer to keep ours in, normally from late autum until early spring

[BlueStringPudding]

I've only used the crumbly dry type, not sure what the waxy ones are. Handy for getting the stove hot before chucking some some slow burning smokeless on like Taybrite. But I wouldn't try to keep them in all night.

[John V]

tried the crackle log type and found it difficult to control

also tried the compressed wood fibre type and found them better but stlll tendency to either burn hot or seemed to produce a lot of semi burned residue

also year before last used several boxes of coconut residue fuel this was the best and most controllable but very costly

best of all IMO is well dried hardwood logs

 

edit to add chopped up pallets are quite good cut up with a jigsaw fed in nails and all ,fish the nails out later with a magnet, plank bits burn quick but the corner blocks stay in quite well

Edited June 6, 2014 by John V

[Timx]

I bought a log thing from a shop, cos it was cold and I was feeling lazy/experiment , stuck it on fire and after ten mins it was like nuclear fusion,had to open doors etc.Think I went outside it was soo hot

[Laurie Booth]

This is the type of logs I use, I chop them into thirds for use on my wood burner.

Gets the fire going really well, but coal is needed if I want to keep the fire in at night.

 

http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Big-K-Heat-Logs/81678011?gclid=CPviyO2z5r4CFQPKtAodfx4Ajw

 

PS

I don't actually buy from this company.

[MtB]

any one used these are they any goods, fed up with the smell from coal

 

 

I've never noticed any smell from stored coal.

 

If however, you mean when a smell you are burning it, this indicates a serious fault with your stove. ALL the products of combustion should be going up chimney not leaking out into your living space. My stove doesn't smell at all when alight. If yours does, this suggests a fault and carbon monoxide poisoning is a significant risk.

 

Do you have a CO alarm in your boat? If not I recommend you get one immediately, AND get the stove flue checked out.before lighting it again.

 

Changing fuel really is not the answer!

 

MtB

[Woodstock]

We tried some from Aldi last year- they were cylindrical and you could break them into "slices" - they burn ok but produce lots of ash. We're still using them, a small amount each time you light the fire is fine but we wouldnt use them all night and i wouldnt buy them again

[craftycarper]

I've never noticed any smell from stored coal.

 

If however, you mean when a smell you are burning it, this indicates a serious fault with your stove. ALL the products of combustion should be going up chimney not leaking out into your living space. My stove doesn't smell at all when alight. If yours does, this suggests a fault and carbon monoxide poisoning is a significant risk.

 

Do you have a CO alarm in your boat? If not I recommend you get one immediately, AND get the stove flue checked out.before lighting it again.

 

Changing fuel really is not the answer! I feel you may be missing the point it stinks everywhere when coal is burnt the smell from boats burning coal is awful especially when there is so much free wood laying around it always amazes me , I can take my dogs for a walk in the nearby woods and pick up a rubble sack full of branches that will last me two days in the little boatman stove and six nuggets of wildfire coal at bedtime will keep it in all night . I think that once the fire is hot there is not the problem it's when the fire and flu are cold and the cheap coal goes in one of my neighbours lights his in the morning and it pours vile yellow smoke out for about 30 mins by which time everyone's boat stinks of coal even ones without a fire

[FadeToScarlet]

any one used these are they any goods, fed up with the smell from coal

Depends on the type, the ones you get from CPL have been rubbish, but we get some from a local.compqny that makes them from recycled wood and they're fantastic.

[MHS]

A neighbour of our burnt these in his multi fuel stove in his house.

 

They burnt so hot that they warped and cracked some of the panels on an expensive France Belge stove within 2 seasons.

 

He soon stopped using them.

[MtB]

I feel you may be missing the point it stinks everywhere when coal is burnt the smell from boats burning coal is awful especially when there is so much free wood laying around it always amazes me , I can take my dogs for a walk in the nearby woods and pick up a rubble sack full of branches that will last me two days in the little boatman stove and six nuggets of wildfire coal at bedtime will keep it in all night . I think that once the fire is hot there is not the problem it's when the fire and flu are cold and the cheap coal goes in one of my neighbours lights his in the morning and it pours vile yellow smoke out for about 30 mins by which time everyone's boat stinks of coal even ones without a fire

 

 

Ah, so you know what the OP meant better than me then.

 

if the OP meant the smell outside and around the boat, maybe he should have said so! Maybe he should stop burning coal and try smokeless fuel, as another suggestion. This stinks on the towpath a whole lot less than wood burning.

 

MtB

[John V]

 

 

Ah, so you know what the OP meant better than me then.

 

if the OP meant the smell outside and around the boat, maybe he should have said so! Maybe he should stop burning coal and try smokeless fuel, as another suggestion. This stinks on the towpath a whole lot less than wood burning.

 

MtB

 

 

I find the smell of good dry hardwood smoke enjoyable, problem is people burn a lot of damp or green wood and that can be unpleasant

[MtB]

 

 

I find the smell of good dry hardwood smoke enjoyable, problem is people burn a lot of damp or green wood and that can be unpleasant

 

Me too. And craftycarper was suggesting burning wood found by the towpath as it is free. No mention of drying it first for the required six months or so!

 

Sounded to me as though he was proposing switching immediately to burning it as an alternative to burning coal.

 

MtB

[John V]

 

Me too. And craftycarper was suggesting burning wood found by the towpath as it is free. No mention of drying it first for the required six months or so!

 

Sounded to me as though he was proposing switching immediately to burning it as an alternative to burning coal.

 

MtB

 

Trouble is even if you buy wood its not easy to find suppliers of properly dried and stored logs of the correct types.

A lot seem just to be the byproducts of tree surgeons and can be any species and often not stored long enough

The last really good load I got was from Kent and was mostly apple with a bit of ash and some oak

[craftycarper]

Me too. And craftycarper was suggesting burning wood found by the towpath as it is free. No mention of drying it first for the required six months or so!

 

Sounded to me as though he was proposing switching immediately to burning it as an alternative to burning coal.

 

MtB

. Mike I can tell you are trying to get a rise from me but it won't work I was,nt suggesting anything just saying what I do ,the wood I pick up on the floor of the woods has been laying around for a year or more so goes straight in the fire no need to season I also run a very large woodburner to heat my house so spend a lot of spare time collecting logs I only by the odd bag of coal each year and that is my heating sorted anyway sorry to ruin your weekend fishing mike but I am just leaving for the weekend so won't be back till Sunday night/ Monday morning have a good weekend whatever you are doing

[MtB]

. Mike I can tell you are trying to get a rise from me but it won't work I was,nt suggesting anything just saying what I do ,the wood I pick up on the floor of the woods has been laying around for a year or more so goes straight in the fire no need to season I also run a very large woodburner to heat my house so spend a lot of spare time collecting logs I only by the odd bag of coal each year and that is my heating sorted anyway sorry to ruin your weekend fishing mike but I am just leaving for the weekend so won't be back till Sunday night/ Monday morning have a good weekend whatever you are doing

 

 

Well had you explained all that in the first place....

 

I was unaware of a difference in dampness and suitability for burning between freshly cut wood and wood that has been lying around in the rain for a year on the floor of woods. Is this really the case? I thought that old wood gathered still needed drying or is stinks on burning just like freshly felled timber.

 

MtB

[Jim Riley]

 

 

Well had you explained all that in the first place....

 

I was unaware of a difference in dampness and suitability for burning between freshly cut wood and wood that has been lying around in the rain for a year on the floor of woods. Is this really the case? I thought that old wood gathered still needed drying or is stinks on burning just like freshly felled timber.

 

MtB

I've found some fallen wood to be drier than freshly felled wood, though the surface can be wet from rain. I stack wood next to the fire to dry, once the stove is hot, so the surface moisture dries off. Or just burn Ash. It contains little moisture even when fresh cut.

[chubby]

i usually have about a dozen or so heat log type things . From poundshop or home bargains . Put in the stove , light with match & it goes for 2 .5 hours or so . I find even at this time of year that in the evenings it can be chilly enough to need some heating but not necessarily a blazing coal fire . £1 a pop suits me & they do chuck out heat very quickly & i find them very worthwhile .

 

cheers

[Henhouse]

 

 

edit to add chopped up pallets are quite good cut up with a jigsaw fed in nails and all ,fish the nails out later with a magnet, plank bits burn quick but the corner blocks stay in quite well

 

Corner blocks of proper timber are fine, but be aware that the corners blocks which are made of chipboard type material may give off toxic fumes when burnt because of the resins used to bond them.

[tree monkey]

Mike the Boilerman, on 07 Jun 2014 - 11:47 AM, said:

 

 

Well had you explained all that in the first place....

 

I was unaware of a difference in dampness and suitability for burning between freshly cut wood and wood that has been lying around in the rain for a year on the floor of woods. Is this really the case? I thought that old wood gathered still needed drying or is stinks on burning just like freshly felled timber.

 

MtB

there is a big difference between green wood(freshly felled) and wet wood, in this case dead wood lying on the floor.

 

green wood is freshly felled living timber and will need proper seasoning, how long depends on species, time of year it is felled and how you season it, the reason Ash is such a good wood is the water content of winter felled Ash is very low relative to most other species, although even Ash will benefit from seasoning, there are other specie which will burn freshly felled, Holly and Birch i think are two but burning freshly felled timber of whatever species will cause smoke and sooting up of the chimney, i find i have to sweep mine every week

 

the big problem for boaters is the space required to season enough firewood properly, some species, summer felled Oak as an example can take 3 years, especially when seasoned in less than ideal conditions.

 

Wet wood in this context is dead timber allowed to get wet(!), assuming the timber has limited decay, the water will just sit on the surface and not penetrate the interior, in this case just stacking under a tarp with plenty of airflow will be enough to dry it out enough, this shouldn't take long assuming there is plenty of airflow and the rain is kept off.

 

It might be worth mentioning wood is only free because the owner has not charged you yet, all the timber in a woodland belongs to someone and unless you have some historic right to gather firewood, its not really yours to take, don't get me wrong i do gather wood, its just no one has stopped me yet

[Paul C]

And to add, the wood that is left free for boaters eg on the towpath side by CRT or their contractors, will NOT be left for a year! More like a day or two.

[kingswood]

 

 

I've never noticed any smell from stored coal.

 

If however, you mean when a smell you are burning it, this indicates a serious fault with your stove. ALL the products of combustion should be going up chimney not leaking out into your living space. My stove doesn't smell at all when alight. If yours does, this suggests a fault and carbon monoxide poisoning is a significant risk.

 

Do you have a CO alarm in your boat? If not I recommend you get one immediately, AND get the stove flue checked out.before lighting it again.

 

Changing fuel really is not the answer!

 

MtB

just the smell when burning nothing wrong with fire I hope, its a boatman stove been in 6 months and yes I have 3 co alarms 3 smoke alarm and 1 heat alarm just to be on the safe side ,its just a slight sulfurish smell bay be in the smoke less coal im using

[MtB]

just the smell when burning nothing wrong with fire I hope, its a boatman stove been in 6 months and yes I have 3 co alarms 3 smoke alarm and 1 heat alarm just to be on the safe side ,its just a slight sulfurish smell bay be in the smoke less coal im using

 

Are you smelling this slight sulphurish smell inside your boat, or outside on the towpath?

 

MtB