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Coal.
May 22, 2018 19:56:15 GMT
Post by Mr Stabby on May 22, 2018 19:56:15 GMT
A bit of a strange thread given that it is so hot at the moment but I bought a tonne of coal by phone today. Excel briquettes, £404 delivered to my mooring (from Mark on Callisto).
I've tried a lot of different coals over the Winter but Excel seems to be far and away the best, I can get 5-6 days out of a 25kg bag as compared to 2-3 days out of a bag of Supertherm so the extra cost per bag is well justified.
What coal does everyone else use?
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Deleted
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Coal.
May 22, 2018 20:09:34 GMT
via mobile
Post by Deleted on May 22, 2018 20:09:34 GMT
I use Brazier because its available in 10kg bags which I really like. £4 a bag from home bargains, wickes for collection or coals2u for home delivery.
My slide rule tells me this is £400 for a tonne assuming free shipping.
I find excel stinks too much.
This is on a moored boat with a residential address. If I was regularly out cruising in winter I would buy on spec from coal boats. preferably homefire.
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Coal.
May 22, 2018 20:12:58 GMT
Post by peterboat on May 22, 2018 20:12:58 GMT
I buy anthracite a ton costs me less than the remade stuff you are burning £6 odd per 25 kilos delivered perfik
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Coal.
May 22, 2018 20:27:06 GMT
Post by Mr Stabby on May 22, 2018 20:27:06 GMT
I buy anthracite a ton costs me less than the remade stuff you are burning £6 odd per 25 kilos delivered perfik That's cheap, CPL are quoting £464 for a tonne of anthracite at Summer prices. www.coals2u.co.uk/anthracite-large-nuts-25kg-prepackedI wouldn't mind trying some if I could find it at £240 a tonne but alas there's no chance of that in the Midlands.
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Coal.
May 22, 2018 22:48:14 GMT
Post by peterboat on May 22, 2018 22:48:14 GMT
I buy anthracite a ton costs me less than the remade stuff you are burning £6 odd per 25 kilos delivered perfik That's cheap, CPL are quoting £464 for a tonne of anthracite at Summer prices. www.coals2u.co.uk/anthracite-large-nuts-25kg-prepackedI wouldn't mind trying some if I could find it at £240 a tonne but alas there's no chance of that in the Midlands. It is second year of buying it, both Richard and myself buy a ton each every year mid summer little coal merchant that owes Richard a few favours. I used to buy it from Rotherham though for not much more its not popular as a lot of stoves wont burn it
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Coal.
May 23, 2018 6:11:17 GMT
Post by quaysider on May 23, 2018 6:11:17 GMT
We'd been burning room heat of late until we got low and topped up with anthracite from a local boat yard the other day for only 6 quid a bag - having never burned it before, I've been taking it steady and so long as I don't over load the fire (which I suppose I won't in the summer) it DOES give a quite quick and satisfying heat for these colder summer evenings.
On route back, I'll grab a couple more bags of excel from Ambush (got some off him last week when we filled with diesel) as that seems good too .
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Coal.
May 23, 2018 6:44:27 GMT
via mobile
Post by Deleted on May 23, 2018 6:44:27 GMT
I buy anthracite a ton costs me less than the remade stuff you are burning £6 odd per 25 kilos delivered perfik I tried anthracite but couldn't get along with it at all. I've got an unusual "Pelgrim" Dutch cooking stove which I fitted myself a few years ago. Its a bit fussy about fuel type and Brazier or Homefire briquettes are the best I have found for it.
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Coal.
May 23, 2018 7:12:09 GMT
Post by naughtyfox on May 23, 2018 7:12:09 GMT
The problem is, no-one really knows what the coal is, or what's in the sack for sure. We were buying 'Pureheat' from the Hebden bridge coal yard but last time we went to buy some the bags said 'Excel Gold' - but we were told it's the same as Pureheat. We were happy with Pureheat, and this Excel Gold seems OK. The coal, no-name, from the Stanley Ferry Marina worked well. Here's my list of my conclusions from a discussion on Canalworld 4 years ago:
Taybrite = bad
Home Fire = bad
Stove Glow = could be a mixture of anything
Supertherm = bad reviews
Blueflame = anthracite pet coke nuggets
Phurnacite (no comments for this)
Excel = good
Winterblaze = good
Stove Flame = good
It's about time someone did a thorough proper investigation into these 'coals' - what are they really? Where do they come from? Poland? China?
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Coal.
May 23, 2018 7:41:31 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 23, 2018 7:41:31 GMT
I use Oxbow Excel whenever I can get it. Very little ash and burns long and well.
Up north they sell a product called Excel, but it isn't as good.
There is little ash, but the fumes are terrible.
The difficulty in these kind of discussions is therefore, that it is impossible to know exactly what it is we are comparing.
Rog
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Coal.
May 23, 2018 9:55:22 GMT
Post by sabcat on May 23, 2018 9:55:22 GMT
I had a Squirrel and anthracite was my favourite, cheap(ish), burnt well, stayed in all night with no issues and has a pleasing blue flame. The remade brick stuff was all much of a muchness to my mind, shit.
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Coal.
May 23, 2018 14:41:34 GMT
Post by naughtyfox on May 23, 2018 14:41:34 GMT
Quite honestly it's all the same stuff in different sacks. Someone is having a laugh.
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Coal.
May 23, 2018 15:26:26 GMT
Post by Mr Stabby on May 23, 2018 15:26:26 GMT
It's about time someone did a thorough proper investigation into these 'coals' - what are they really? Where do they come from? Poland? China? Google suggests that most imported coal comes from Poland, Russia and Colombia, and that smokeless coal is generally anthracite based, powdered, mixed with powdered bituminous coal (to make it easier to light) and bound together using molasses or starch.
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Coal.
May 23, 2018 15:54:57 GMT
via mobile
Post by Deleted on May 23, 2018 15:54:57 GMT
Quite honestly it's all the same stuff in different sacks. Someone is having a laugh. All authorised smokeless fuel products (which includes some wood based products) are listed on a .gov website. It doesn't mention where the mined product comes from but it gives an idea of the constituents ie coal, petcoke, anthracite and other things like molasses. smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/fuels.php?country=englandInterestingly there are two products called Excel - Excel and Excel +. I wonder if they might add Excel Ent to the list one day. Excel :comprise petroleum coke (as to approximately 60 to 75% of the total weight), low volatile coal and reactive coke (as to approximately 20 to 25% of the total weight) and cold-setting resin binder (as to the remaining weight) (b) were manufactured from those constituents by a process involving roll-pressing (c) are unmarked pillow-shaped briquettes (d) have an average weight of 73 grams per briquette (e) have a sulphur content not exceeding 2% of the total weight. Excel + comprise 65% to 70% petroleum coke and 25% anthracite (both by weight) together with a cold setting resin binder, hardener and low temperature stabiliser as to the remaining weight (b) are produced at ambient temperature by a process involving roll-pressing and cold curing (c) are unmarked square pillow shaped briquettes (d) have an average weight per briquette of 100 grams (e) have a sulphur content not exceeding 1.9% of the total weight. --- So excel is petcoke/coal Excel+ is petcoke/anthracite.
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Coal.
May 23, 2018 15:58:52 GMT
Post by JohnV on May 23, 2018 15:58:52 GMT
Quite honestly it's all the same stuff in different sacks. Someone is having a laugh. All authorised smokeless fuel products (which includes some wood based products) are listed on a .gov website. It doesn't mention where the mined product comes from but it gives an idea of the constituents ie coal, petcoke, anthracite and other things like molasses. smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/fuels.php?country=englandInterestingly there are two products called Excel - Excel and Excel +. I wonder if they might add Excel Ent to the list one day. Ow Ow Ow !!!
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Coal.
May 23, 2018 16:01:54 GMT
via mobile
Post by Deleted on May 23, 2018 16:01:54 GMT
A "wood based" smokeless fuel product "fire logs" actually contain more oil based product than wood.
Fuel name Duraflame Firelogs Manufacturer Paramelt BV of Costerstraat 18, PO Box 86, 1700 AB Heerhugowaard, the Netherlands (a) comprise mineral-based petroleum wax (as to approximately 55% of the total weight) and ground hardwood fibre (as to approximately 45% of the total weight) (b) were manufactured from those constituents by a process of heat treatment and extrusion (c) are firelogs that are approximately 320 millimetres in length, 85 millimetres in width and 90 millimetres in height (d) have an average weight of 1.45 kilograms per firelog (e) have a sulphur content not exceeding 0.1% of the total weight.
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