As @julianf says, it will work fine. The wood just needs more air and a hotter burn. To get it to last all night on wood you need to slow the fire down so much you will soot everything up quickly. Mine had blocked the 5 flue channels up the back boiler when i tried to do this so took the decision to run on anthracite overnight from then on and I had no more problems as I was able to run on wood in the day and feed it as needed. Working from home a lot it was also the time I wanted the house hotter and to be able to cook so it all worked well for me.
- Thread starter reb78
- Start date
Just ordered two tonnes of their Newburn stuff. Its literally the cheapest I can find and works out at £14.50 per 25kg bag. I REALLY wanted to buy from a local supplier and support them but their cheapest was £18+ per bag and a lot of them were 20kg so at 80 bags, that was just too much of a difference.I get mine from this company, couldn’t find it any cheaper anywhere else, it’s good quality with low ash compared to stuff I’ve had in the past.
WonderFuel Coal / Smokeless Fuel
Premium Quality WonderFuel Smokeless and House Coal!www.thewonderfuelcompany.co.uk
The wonderfuel people seem good though - good contact to arrange delivery already.
Well. Time for this year's order. The Newburn Wonderfuel was my first port of call and it's slightly cheaper than last year at £560 a ton (£14 a bag)
But then this popped up on a search - https://www.housefuel.co.uk/smokeless-ovals?p=12#reviews
Seems to have good reviews and just over £70 a ton cheaper at £487.99 - Comes in at £12.20 a bag. Anyone used it and/or the company? Generally good reviews on their site. Mixed statements about ash amounts and a few grumbles about delivery.
But then this popped up on a search - https://www.housefuel.co.uk/smokeless-ovals?p=12#reviews
Seems to have good reviews and just over £70 a ton cheaper at £487.99 - Comes in at £12.20 a bag. Anyone used it and/or the company? Generally good reviews on their site. Mixed statements about ash amounts and a few grumbles about delivery.
The price is a little closer as housefuel charge 18.50 per pallet (ton in my case) delivery whereas wonderfuel is free delivery. That brings the saving to about £55 a ton or £12.60 a bag. Still a saving. Might get a ton from each then I can mix it if it's rubbish.
Have to say, the wonderfuel stuff was absolutely fine. Good company to deal with and fast delivery.
I just need something to slumber overnight in the Rayburn. Ash isn't a great concern as I have to empty the ash pan daily anyway.
Have to say, the wonderfuel stuff was absolutely fine. Good company to deal with and fast delivery.
I just need something to slumber overnight in the Rayburn. Ash isn't a great concern as I have to empty the ash pan daily anyway.
Gritineye
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That's our problem too, we got our Rayburn new in 1975, for years and years it would be riddled at night and stoked up with Welsh Anthracite, in the morning before work it was riddled, the ash pan emptied and stoked up again.
Coming home from work it would be nice and red on top, the oven would be just right for cooking, and the hot water cylinder would would be not far off boiling for a bath or shower, we didn't have an electric kettle.
Tried a lot of the latest rubbish offerings, most of them hardly manage to stay in overnight, mornings there is just a tiny fire that needs a lot of coaxing to get going, and loads of ash, have to empty twice a day now.
The amount of ash buildup in the fire box stops the pathetic fire from touching the boiler so seldom get a full cylinder of proper hot water, forget ever boiling a kettle.
The whole house feels different now in winter, it's just not so cosy and welcoming when coming home.
Having said that we only used to let it out for a short period in mid summer, now it's been out since the end of April and most likely won't be lit till October, so global warming is definitely happening, no doubt about that.
Help!
We had two tons of the Newburn last year.
Burnt well once we got used to the slightly different way of setting the fire compared to the Scottish coal we had before it.
Stayed in well over night.
No problems with soaking wet ovals unlike the local coal merchant <and certainly none of his attitude!>
Just ordered another ton for the coming winter.
Burnt well once we got used to the slightly different way of setting the fire compared to the Scottish coal we had before it.
Stayed in well over night.
No problems with soaking wet ovals unlike the local coal merchant <and certainly none of his attitude!>
Just ordered another ton for the coming winter.
gaz1
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They were a mixture. The thing you should never burn are the composite or pressed wood blocks. They stink when you burn them - can't be good for you due to the glue used in them.
Gritineye
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Love burning wood in ours, but feeding it all day remotely when not at home has always been problematic...
julianthegypsy
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I've also had a customer phone me because he couldn't open his stove door. The pallet blocks had literally glued it shut. I had to send him new stove rope and glue to redo it after he had to force the door open!
I has that happen on my hunter herald woodburner. Not from pallet blocks but I was lazy and put a piece of wood in that had a plastic label attached to it. Only ever did it once and it caught me out!
Haha. Yours is 15 years older than mine.
One of the advantages of the current smokeless stuff over anthracite though is the lack of clinker. Trying to clear that out was always a chore. I still prefer anthracite though. It doesn't make sense to me to process the stuff into an alternative product to sell on. I suspect as more energy and emissions result than just burning the raw product straight from the ground.
Gritineye
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Likewise more energy and pollution might result from running, servicing and replacing a few new gas boilers over that time, whilst our Rayburn has had one set of self installed firebricks and a couple of grates. It still has an infinite life left assuming a suitable fuel source exists.
gaz1
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dosnt matter your system has and will outlast any new systems thats built
as its also a multifuel based it can use a mixture of materials wood to coal or powder crushed
have you tryed those 8 hr burning briquettes ?
julianthegypsy
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When I was making horseshoes, almost fifty years ago, most smiths used coke but my boss preferred anthracite chips and I have to say I still prefer it if I ever crank up a forge. Never mind the clinker, it just burns so well. I remember my parents old aga too, almost sixty years ago. It had to be stoked and riddled twice a day, or once a day if dad got anthracite. He got anthracite of course.
To be fair, the Rayburn could do 18 hours on that Newburn stuff last winter if you didn't want to cook on it and it wasn't too cold outside so you didn't need the heating high. I know what you mean though - anthracite would put out more heat without effort.
It's a shame that coke mine in Cumbria didn't go ahead - it would have run on that, but I suspect it would have been expensive.
