Just in case its a

[pigletwillie]

Just in case its a proper winter I have ordered today 500Kg (in 50 Kg sacks) of house coal.

Whilst we do have proper central heating, and even an inside loo, we generally burn wood. However, with all this snow happening before Christmas I want to be prepared and have some "backup". I know burning coal is not as green as burning wood but it does burn much hotter and longer.

We have not had to bother for the last 3 years as the winters have been quite mild. This one might just be a really cold one.

At �14.80 a sack its gone up a bit. What do you guys pay?

[Nicos]

�6 for a 20kg bag of smokeless nuggets piglet.

[digthatchick]

We can't use house coal (smokeless area) so we have to use Coalite �9.50 for 20kg
I only use it as a base to start the fire and then its logs. Have enough logs for the next year or so

This was taken at 6.00 pm

[smallblueplanet]

Ours have gone up recently, about September, when the prices swop from summer to winter charges.

Snap digthatchick! Used as a base, we buy smokeless new flame - 50kg open bag, delivered @ �13.50 went up to �17.50!

[shirlthegirl43]

Wish we had a chimney. We burn british gas had to stop the direct debit last month as they put our monthly charge up from 60 quid to 93!!! not sure what we will do when the time comes to pay this month

[BrideXIII]

Wish we had a chimney. We burn british gas had to stop the direct debit last month as they put our monthly charge up from 60 quid to 93!!! not sure what we will do when the time comes to pay this month

with ya on that one hun, although mine is EDF, no chimmenies in new houses, might just drag the barbie in and use that

[Nicos]

Shirl...apparently the charge for dd is based on this time last years consumption.
I've had to go to standing order to reduce mine ( cos basically we're not there much!)- and just made a guess as to how much will be used.

We use the woodburner in the UK all day and then at night put the 'coal' on as it burns slower and stays in until morning..central heating is used for the background heating!

[rustylady]

No open fireplace, live in rented cottage. Just a gasfire and central heating which I can't afford to run. It does feel more like winter this year. Already had some snow and a few frosts. Frost again this morning, and sleet showers this afternoon. Wonder if the landlord would mind if I removed the gasfire and opened up the fireplace??????

[Alice]

Piglet, I buy briquettes at �11 per 50 Kilo bag. They burn a long time and give a great heat.
Hardwood, seasoned logs are �90 ton.
I have the central heating on all the time but in this kind of weather like the stove on as well.

Digthatchick - lovely looking fire. Doesn't a real fire just make the place.

[snuffer]

We always go to Ireland in the summer. From there, we bring back a few bags of peat for burning at Christmas. Makes a good fire and smells nice too when you wander into the garden.

Can I just say, if you are buying coal please try and ensure it is British. This is still a mining area and it is an industry that needs all the help it can get.

[sewer rat]

I have two shelters full of dry split seasoned logs, with the equivalent of two winters worth split and stacked outside.
Myself and two mates "bought" and articulated trailer of timber from the forestry (well, paid the driver �160 to divert a load ) and the three of us spent quite a few weekends sawing and splitting them (using a tractor PTO driven sawmill).

[beefy]

One of the benifits of being a groundsman - I get first chance of any fallen trees or tree prunings at work . Needless to say nobody else gets any . Also I have a friend in the Road Service (Highway maintenance) and get the phone call when any trees come down onto the roads locally. Having acess to my fathers tractors ,loaders and big trailers means we can get the tree cut into large sections lifted onto a trailer and the road opened quickly rather than have to cut it up into pieces that can be carried away.
Coal here was about �12/ bag but has recently been hiked up to �15/ bag(edit prices are for 50 kg bags)

[SarzWix]

We pay about �7 for a 25kg bag of coal, or �4 for a pack of fire blocks. But at the moment we're scavenging as much wood as possible, taking advantage of the 'If it's fallen on the road/verge you can take it' law. There's a forestry place near here where they make planks and you can get sackfuls of their offcuts for free, but it's fresh wood so only burns if seasoned, or on a good bed of coal. Must get up there again as soon as we've got enough diesel...

[geoff]

My Dad was a builder, when I was a boy in the 1950s and 60s a lot of his work was converting open fires to gas or electric. He said yes, they are cleaner and easier, but he would keep one open fire in a house even if the others had been converted, so if times got hard, or there was a strike, power cut or other shortage you could always find something to burn, like fallen trees, old pallets and so on; and you can build up your own supply of coal or wood, which you can't with electicity or gas - he'd been a boy in The Depression you see.

Now I have my own family and we live in a modern house with gas central heating and nothing else, but if we ever move, I will look for an open fire, or one which can be converted back They are much more pleasant, and I don't find cleaning out and lighting them a problem. Most of our rubbish is burnable - packaging, cardboard, junk mail. Even after recycling there is a lot of it, and I see all kinds of scrap wood around; I would burn it all

[Comfreyfan]

A couple of years ago we had new central heating fitted (cost a small fortune). We also had a wood burner installed - it's so effective, whenever we use it the central heating switches itself off.