I just bought a bag of smokeless solid fuel to burn on our multi-fuel burner. Not because I've a problem with wood, but I had a yen to try something different. I liked the idea of a pleasantly glowing bed of coal just as I remember it.
Oh dear.
Firstly the stuff is unbelievably filthy to handle. Yes I know it's supposed to be like coal, but this stuff leaves coal standing when it comes to transferring thick black marks to its surroundings.
Secondly it isn't all that flammable. Not quite in the asbestos league, but not easy to get going.
Thirdly, when it finally deigns to burn, it smoulders with a sullen glow, a dull red gleam about as welcoming as the glint in a demon's eye.
Fourthly - the smell. Imagine setting fire to a pile of antique bakelite phones. It's a little like that, but not quite so acrid.
Why I bought something with eco in the name, I don't know, because eco means crap. It wasn't that I wanted an eco fuel, but this is what they had so I bought a bag to try out.
Never again.
9 comments:
"Secondly it isn't all that flammable"
Well, if that is true then as far as I am concerned there is no need of a firstly and a thirdly, let alone a fourthly. Thanks for the warning.
Thanks for the warning.
Seconded! Our coal merchant is currently pushing this stuff for all he's worth - some kind of incentive at work, perhaps?
We'll be giving it a wide berth now. Out of interest, where do you stand on reconstituted logs?
Sam - I'm certainly not giving them another go. They may need a really fierce heat to get going properly, but I gave them quite a blast with loads of kindling.
Mac - the only reconstituted logs I've tried are SHREDDED HEAT bark logs made from compressed bark.
They are okay in my experience, but don't believe the hype about how long they burn.
Just bought six half-cwt bags of house coal from my local supermarket, because I can heave them into our bunker myself, and save several pounds on the cost of buying the stuff from Corralls.
This new eco stuff is madness, and we just never take any notice of all the trash they spout about it.
I bought a ton pallet of coal as an emergency reserve last winter and I still have most of it just in case the last of the wood I'm cutting isn't dry enough come late winter...as for eco...ha ha!
Thanks for that AK, think I will stick to having the butler shove fat carbon friendly teenagers into the furnace:)
Scrobs - I'd use coal but my burner doesn't handle it well - tars up the glass.
Thud - I use wood a year after cutting, two years for pine etc. I'm told you can burn Ash as soon as it's cut.
Angus - watch out for metal studs building up in the ash pan.
Do not be sucked into these things, lad.
James - aye, I'm a bit miffed that I wasn't more sceptical to begin with.
Post a Comment