I’m not sure of how much interest this post will be to my usual readership, especially when you consider that solid fuel isn’t the most common method of heating your home these days however there are still lots of homes that rely on open fires (as we do) and stoves (of all sizes) to heat their water and their radiators.
For us wood is not an option as it’s highly inefficient on open fires and fails to reach temperatures required to heat the home. So it is we’re lumbered with coal until such time as we can upgrade our system to something a bit more efficient and stove-like, sadly though coal is expensive and open fires have a tendency to send 80% of heat up the chimney and so in our drafty wee house we can burn up to 7 or 8 sacks a week in the depths of winter … and I think this is going to be a bad one. Currently coal costs us £8.30 a sack and I’ll leave you to do the arithmetic as to our fuel bill!
In an attempt to cut costs I’ve started making dross [coal dust] briquettes which seem to burn rather effectively, although obviously not as well as coal. They’re easy, if somewhat messy, to make. If you do want to do this there are a few things you’ll need:
- a heap of dross – available from coal men or the bottom of your bunker.
- cement
- small/medium plant pots or other tub-ish items to use as molds.
- a trowel
- a bucket
Method:
1. mix 9 parts dross with 4 parts cement and enough water to make a thick ‘paste’ in your bucket;
setting the briquettes in 3 inch plant pots
2. put your mixture into your molds and leave to set in as warm a place as possible;
The set briquettes
3. once dry, burn with coal.
more pretty briquettes!?! The larger ones are from 3 inch pots, the smaller from 'plug pots'.
Incidentally, the fire in the background is the one that heats my home and is our only source of heat.
Oops! meant to say that most recipes suggest a ratio of 2:1, however, I can’t help thinking that it’s in that they will burn better where the cement contnent is minimised. I think the key is experimentation.
Brrrr. But you are fabulously resourceful. We’ve added a new (used) wood pellet stove to the dining room this year and so far has been the only heat source. It’s positioned so warm air rises up the stairwell to the bedrooms. We’re trying to have an oil free winter since it costs over 1000 to fill the tank. If burned as sole source it would last less than a month.
By: leendaluu on 24 October, 2008
at 3:38 pm
For all it’s a bit chilly about these parts in the absence of ‘modern’ central heating systems I’m glad we don’t have oil to worry about. Most, if not all, of our freinds who use oil central heating either can’t afford to fill their tanks or are to afraid (of the cost) to turn it on.
I can think of one family in particular who haven’t had any oil in their tank for maybe about 4 or 5 months now … they simply can’t afford it. It’s an appalling state of affairs especially when you consider the billions being sunk into banks at the same time as the govt refuses to cut fuel duty …
… but that’s another post in it’s own right!
By: Alasdair on 26 October, 2008
at 8:21 am
We live in central France, where it gets mighty chilly in the winter. We rely mainly on wood for our heating. No coal around here. The going rate is about 35-40 euros a cubic meter. Thats lasts about 1-2 weeks.
I wonder if a similar thing could be made from wood chips and saw dust? Any ideas?
The romantic idea of log burning fires soon wears off when the large pile of logs has to be cut and split and hauled in eveyday. We do have some oil fired central heating – but the tanks are empty. We’re hoping the prices of diesel will continue to drop so that by the end of November we will can afford to buy a decent amount to at least heat the bedrooms in the mornings, and then carry on with the wood for the rest of the day. There is no way we could afford to burn the oil all day.
How I long to press a button to turn up the heating!
By: Wallstory on 27 October, 2008
at 12:27 pm
Hi Wallstory and thanks for dropping by.
You could try mixing the chips and saw dust with papier mache, although you would probably need to press your loggettes to remove as much moisture prior to drying, which I suspect would take a few days.
I know that there are recipes for making strong papier mache with sawdust so I guess the issue would really just be the ration to use.
Actually the only reason that I didn’t use papier mache for making my coal briquettes was that I use my leftover newspaper for either lighting my fire and making papier mache ‘things’ … the amount of paper you might need may be prohibitive too.
Having said all that though I can’t think why you could substitute the dross saw dust and chips and putting together a concrete style brick where your sand is sawdust and your aggregate is woodchip!
If you pursue the idea I’d be interested in hearing your results.
As to the romance of logs, they are much ‘prettier’ to burn and the occassional whiff of wood smoke is far preferable to the thick black chocking smoke of our cheap coal! But yes, chopping is a chore, especially as your fingers numb with the biting cold …
… I’m sorry to hear that you’re also struggling to afford oil for your heating, I think it’s fair to say that we’ve all been well and truly shafted on that front and it doesn’t look like things are likely to improve in the near future.
I fear this is going to be a long cold winter, we had our first proper sleet and snow last night and the ice was widespread this morning as I walked the kids to school … actually, my fingers are going numb just now, so I must sign off and make a nice warming cuppa tea.
Alasdair
By: Alasdair on 27 October, 2008
at 1:12 pm
Thanks for the ‘wood concrete’ idea. It always seems a waste, not to mention a mess, to leave all that saw dust and chips on the ground.
It’s certainly worth a try!
Watch this space, the sun is shining, I’m off to make wood while the sun shines.
By: Wallstory on 29 October, 2008
at 2:44 pm
I miss the wood fire. :) I remember Dad used to send us out at the weekend to look for logs on the beach, then he’d come down with a chainsaw and hack it into manageable lumps, load it into the car and then bring it home for us to chop and stack…come to think of it, wasn’t that fond of the chopping and stacking :/
One thing i have found in my shoebox of a house with it’s wonderful central heating, is that i am not as used to the cold anymore, of course that could just be me getting old lol! Central heating helps keep the damp out the house, but it plays hell on the skin, the immune system and probably lots more that i’m not aware of.
I miss curling up next to a fire (then getting yelled at to get out the way so the heat can get to the rest of the house ) But i do see the benefits of controlled use central heating.
Do you use freecycle?
By: Angel on 29 October, 2008
at 3:10 pm
Wallstory,
looking forward to it ;)
Angel,
Ah yes, chopping wood as a child, I can recall being faced with a mountain of logs needing split!
It’s funny when we have visitors, especially at this time of year, they rarely take their coats off … yet when we go to their centrally heated homes we’re practically stripping off!
Of course, this current cold snap is reminding us just how cold it is … the tips of my fingers and the end of my nose have been numb with the cold for the last few days, brrr!
As to freecycle, I keep meaning to use it, never seem to get around to it though :?
By: Alasdair on 30 October, 2008
at 6:55 am
Hello, Alisdair, I came across your page whilst browsing the Web for “Alternative Solid Fuels.” Your “recycled” coal dross briquettes intrigues me. I live in the United States in a 105-year old house of 18 rooms. While we do have two natural gas furnaces, one is older and less efficient. It makes a person dizzy looking at the gas metre when that furnace is running!
The house originally had a coal furnace for use only during the coldest days. While that old monster is long gone, there is still a large quantity of very fine “pea coal” (and dust) in the bin. It’s too small to use in our fireplaces or woodstoves, and I hate not being able to utilise it.
Like so many, I am interested in “alternative” fuels that help reduce the expense of primary house heating fuels such as gas or oil. Thank you for sharing!
By: Thurlow on 8 November, 2008
at 11:02 pm
Hi Thurlow,
Glad you found the post useful, best of luck with the brickettes!
By: Alasdair on 9 November, 2008
at 9:51 pm