Seems like a good deal on firewood....

https://www.diy.com/departments/keter-store-it-out-arc-plastic-garden-storage-box/653851_BQ.prd

Would this box be enough to store 1.2 m3 worth of woods?

OmegaGene wrote: »

That’s big money

Knock up a few pallets and some tarp
Or get a wooden storage unit like I linked the other day, they can be purchased on eBay quite cheaply

I've a few bags of coal in steeltech shed stored since earlier in the year. Still in plastic bags.

I opened one up there and the coal at the top is fine but further down the bag there's some moisture. What happened?

How do should bags of coal be stored? I would've thought in a shed was fine.

bailey99 wrote: »

I've a few bags of coal in steeltech shed stored since earlier in the year. Still in plastic bags.

I opened one up there and the coal at the top is fine but further down the bag there's some moisture. What happened?

How do should bags of coal be stored? I would've thought in a shed was fine.

It's no issue having damp coal. I store my texan in the open. No problem burning it wet.

Is there much point getting kiln dried wood if you're just going put it in a log store ?

I was just looking at the coughlans website , and you can buy a dumpy bag of " seasoned ash " for 120 euro ,( delivered )
Or a 1.2 m³ crate of kiln dried ash for 230, aside fr the volume difference between dumpy and stacked crate ,is the kiln dried gonna just take on moisture in an open fronted log store over winter .. ?

gooner99 wrote: »

Is that the full pallet of topline logs in the picture?

Yes it's the full pallet, two layers of logs deep. The good fit around the little shelf I made for briquettes was a happy coincidence!

gooner99 wrote: »

It's no issue having damp coal. I store my texan in the open. No problem burning it wet.

Well that's not fully true. Moisture with burning coal creates an acid that attacks your chimney lining. Much like burning wet wood with coal. It'll burn Daddy-O, no problems, but its not a long-term plan for a chimney.

An Ri rua wrote: »

Stove or open fire?

I've burned most wood briquettes on the Irish market. Rocket Blaze are unreal, Pini Kay extruded, so made with high pressure and the central hole aids burning.
Ruf-type briquettes are excellent, as are Flamers from Westmeath. They've changed their process too so they're closer to extruded, unlike the Heat Logs style that Aldi and Lidl often sell.
In the last year, Aldi has been stocking Ruf type briquettes in a pack of 7. I have my doubts over the quality of the wood. Not 100% hardwood.
If you have space, get a pallet of two of Rocket Blaze and re-build the packs in your shed. If you haven't got proper storage, don't get wood briquettes. I stored 2 metric tonnes of loose ruf briquettes under tarp, on pallets, at the side of s house. They certainly pulled in moisture. Not much, as in they went from 5% to 10%. But that's still a shame. Why burn water?

Stove. They will be stored in a garage.

Was wondering if the "All Night Long" are so called because they are long burning, or if the name is just marketing.

Think I'll go with Rocket Blaze. Very pricey though.

Thanks a million for the info. Big help to a complete novice.

waldo wrote: »

How do Rocket Blaze compare to Bord na Mona peat briquettes? Thanks

I would say far more heat from Rocket Blaze. I think they still do sample packs? You can check the amount of energy they produce (Mj) and them compare like for like.
Importantly, as others have said, such little ash from wood briquettes. Turf, like coal, tends to give back a huge amount of ash. Sometimes feels like it's own weight again!!
I find wood briquettes great for producing intense flame which can help denser woods like oak or blackthorn burn better in an open fire.

But then, I like to experiment with fire (sounds worse than it is!). Currently, I've sold on an Eco grate and now I'm solely using storage heater bricks to extract the maximum energy from small, hot wood fires, with some Arigna or Staffords coal nuggets interspersed. It's effectively a mini masonry heater or sort of rocket mass heater (without the rocket). Though I have experimented with a rocket stove and storage heater bricks to create a rocket mass heater in an open fireplace..!
The intense heat of this storage heater brick firebox creates a sort of gasifier effect. Tremendous heat and combustion with little to no smoke.

An Ri rua wrote: »

The trick with Pini Kay style briquettes is to open the damper and let them really combust then,when they're burning, close it down and they will glow. They're still solid when poked when they look burnt, whereas a compressed log that is not extruded like Pini Kay process will disintegrate when you poke at it and very often start to burn badly. The compressed ones WILL expand, thus they need careful watching in either an open fire or against glass. Rocket Blaze do not expand.
I would be surprised if you got through a whole pack in a good (room heater) stove on a long evening from say 5 til 12am. So that's 3 months (96 packs) fires for yes a pricey 399. Obviously in an open fire or a boiler stove they'll go a bit quicker.
If you buy some nice logs now, you can have them drying between now and Christmas and, when out in with the wood briquettes, along with a few coal nuggets, you may never want to leave your house again

Having second thoughts now. I've two stoves, one in sitting room (small size stove) one in living room/kitchen (medium size). Both will be going for the evening. Sitting room stove needs servicing or replacing, it's not closing off properly.

masterboy123 wrote: »

I am a newbie in firewoods and thinking to order :

Sample bundle is made of 2 packs, ~ 20 kg (20 euros)

Would this be enough for 3 months if I light fire once a week?

Also, apart from Ash firewood + rocket blaze + fire lighter. Do I need anything else?

Will be lighting up the stove for the first time in life.

Is this a good deal?

https://lawlessfuel.ie/product/574/

There will be 24 rocket blaze woods in 2 sample packs.

Do I need more than 1 rocket blaze on each occasion to light up the stove?

I was thinking to use 1 rocket blaze to get the fire going on and then throw in the Ash woods.

An Ri rua wrote: »

You're not thinking this through at all. That's 12 fires started over 3 months. You'll have enough for 2 sessions. €20 is a 35-40kg bag of coal nuggets. Spare that and you 'might' get 5 fires.

Blanco100 wrote: »

Is this a good deal?

https://lawlessfuel.ie/product/574/

If delivery is included then yes 1m3 of ash for 190 euro is a good price. How many fires would you burn on average a week though? If burning 2 wood only fires a week in a stove 1m3 should get you to around Paddys day but if burning 3 or 4 a week you would need more than 1m3 to last the winter.

Looking like a pallet (96 bales) of rocket blaze won't be enough for my two stoves over the winter. Could I thin them out with something, not coal?

k123456 wrote: »

The advantage of the crate above is you have a ready made wood store
You would need to make "roof" which overhangs the four sides by about eight inches. A sheet of an attractive ply would suffice. Over time the ply will delaminate , so a better approach is , battens , ply and mineral felt. Like a shed roof.

yeah provided you can get it into your back garden. In my own case I cant as there is a step up and also gravel to cross so those hand trucks with the metal wheels cannot deal with that. I think some companies deliver on a truck with a crane on the back that can crane it into your back garden but the one I use just has a tail lift on their truck. But yeah if you can get the crate into your back garden then it is a ready made log store that just needs a roof and some tarp to shield it from the rain. I cant so the crate ends up chopped up and I'll burn that wood too as its very dry.

masterboy123 wrote: »

I would be grateful if you can advice what other items are needed to use stove. I am going to order Ash Wood, 1m3. What material would be best to light this kind of wood? Apart from lighter do I need any other tools? Such as wood cutting tool or are the woods are sold in small sizes that it can go straight to the stove?

Any other tips will be highly appreciated.

Have a great evening and thank you.

You'll need kindling and firelighters to get it started. A shovel for the ash and a metal bucket if you'll be dealing with hot ash. In general though hardwood doesnt produce all that much ash, I let it build up and clean it out around every 6 or 7 fires and its only about 4/5 shovels into a black bag when the ash has gone cold after a day or so. Unless you're lighting a fire every single day I dont see the need for a metal bucket, just let the ash go cold and then clean it out of there.

You'll definitely need a log tongs for moving burning wood around or the odd time a burning log falls against the glass door and needs to be moved. This is the one I have
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fireplace-Tongs-Grabber-Fired-Camping/dp/B087Z2WPX5/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=log+tongs&qid=1603830584&sr=8-4-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFETEFKT1dIRURTUVkmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA5NjEwODVYTlAxMTMzRDJVSzcmZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDA0NzMwNTFEUE5ZNlRWVFNHV0Umd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl
Make sure to get a tongs with long handles or else you'll burn the hands of yourself using one with the short hands.

Generally the logs are cut and small enough to be ready to burn. You will probably get the odd few that would benefit with being chopped in half with an axe. Id play it by ear though before investing in an axe.

Other than that some glass cleaner for the door. There are specialst products out there for stoves but Ive found normal glass cleaner does it just fine. Best way to do it is get some newspaper, make it slightly damp with a splash of water then dip that into some cold ash and scrub the inner door with it. The ash will remove the yellowish burn stains from the glass without scratching it. Then shine the glass up inside and out with glass cleaner and paper towels or more clean newspaper and its done.