what is the burning passion for having an open fire?

Graces7 · 21-01-2020 12:22pm

Now there is someone who knows his turf!

Ours is field-dried then stacked and covered. he bags it when I order it.

Before I came to Ireland i lived on a North Sea island that was all but made of peats as they call it there. I would buy a lorryload each year for £100 and they would tip it behind the shed, to last all year. Never bought coal the whole decade

An Ri rua wrote: »

You've been sourcing it incorrectly. Turf is cut brown or slightly blacker, depending on the bog of course (the man filling the hopper may mix from the top and bottom of the bog) and also then the weather expected/hoped for. Too black and it will break up into nothing even before it's turned, never mind rowed /footed /heaped.

Turf would traditionally be left to dry on bogs, then put into sheds where it would dry even further. Black turf, dry, would, and does, blow the tops off ranges. I've seen it with Boora /Pullough turf (Pullough turf was the world's first commercial peat operation). Turf is now stored in concrete sheds, perfectly blockwork, no air, so that's why some turf doesn't dry out fully.
Well saved turf is as hard as a brick.

An Ri rua · 21-01-2020 12:27pm

Graces7 wrote: »

We dry it of course. Leave it out by the fire.. Mine is stacked in bags outside and i always bring in for the next day early and let it dry out then. A lovely heat and little smoke

Edit: Apologies Grace, I see that you have a solid fuel stove. Still worth noting that you can use the concept of 'cob' to build s seating area around your stove. Or use storage heater bricks (unless sourced on the island, far too heavy to transport out. They work a charm though.
Grace, with your style of living and heating, you should research rocket mass heaters. I am sure that if you get in touch with more eco types in Galway hinterland that you should find someone who's willing to advise or construct it for you. This is essentially how fuel is (was) used efficiently in Eastern Europe, Russia, Scandinavia in places. A masonry heater, though much more expensive, is similar technology. It's essentially heat transfer. Burning hot fires for brief periods, capturing all of that energy in a thermal mass called cob, or masonry tiles in the case of a masonry heater.

I have rocket stoves as backup for external cooking (experimentation) but for my living room I use a Galway-made Eco Grate in an open fire, I burn locally sourced Ruf briquettes made from waste hardwood offcuts, and I capture much of that 5kw output in 2 stacks of storage heater bricks that act as a thermal mass battery and keep radiated heat outputted for a good deal longer as a result.
As a result, I only use oil to heat water and upstairs first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

Graces7 · 21-01-2020 12:59pm

Thank you

The stove is in a tiny alcove; the entire dwelling is small. It works fine; I only light the fire late morning, then make it up well later afternoon( I have health problems that limit my day) and it keeps the place warm all night. The stove keeps the heat in wondrously and in a rental there is little I could do better. There is the "kitchen" then a short corridor then the bedroom so heat travels well. It is aluminium walls etc so well insulated.
If it were an old cottage?

The back boiler here is brilliant. No need to heat any water.

Your ideas would have been great on the North Sea island. An old stone cottage extended lengthwise and I ended up abandoning two of the rooms as it was too hard to heat. My last year the fire burned 24/7 with the back boiler.

I see you will be a person to know if the SHTF!

An Ri rua wrote: »

Edit: Apologies Grace, I see that you have a solid fuel stove. Still worth noting that you can use the concept of 'cob' to build s seating area around your stove. Or use storage heater bricks (unless sourced on the island, far too heavy to transport out. They work a charm though.
Grace, with your style of living and heating, you should research rocket mass heaters. I am sure that if you get in touch with more eco types in Galway hinterland that you should find someone who's willing to advise or construct it for you. This is essentially how fuel is (was) used efficiently in Eastern Europe, Russia, Scandinavia in places. A masonry heater, though much more expensive, is similar technology. It's essentially heat transfer. Burning hot fires for brief periods, capturing all of that energy in a thermal mass called cob, or masonry tiles in the case of a masonry heater.

I have rocket stoves as backup for external cooking (experimentation) but for my living room I use a Galway-made Eco Grate in an open fire, I burn locally sourced Ruf briquettes made from waste hardwood offcuts, and I capture much of that 5kw output in 2 stacks of storage heater bricks that act as a thermal mass battery and keep radiated heat outputted for a good deal longer as a result.
As a result, I only use oil to heat water and upstairs first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

s7ryf3925pivug · 21-01-2020 2:34pm

Graces7 wrote: »

lol.. he is worried re his bus not the fumes! real coal is in porous sacking whereas the smokeless comes in thick plastic; more disposal problems but clean to handle

Turf is part of our island way of life. My neighbour heats his house and earns money to feed his family by the turf he cuts and sells. This is not going to change.

My view is that it should be compelled to change by law.

If they would have problems with heating as a result then that would need to be addressed by the state at the same time.

They are already violating EU directives. The climate emergency isn't a hoax and it's not another y2k thing. In the context tradition needs to be set aside. Traditional doesn't equate to good.

Graces7 · 21-01-2020 3:48pm

Interesting post; thank you.

Maybe posters should list and itemise their offences?

I have no car. I do not eat red meat … Very little plastic here, and recycle
all I can.

I burn one bag of smokeless coal ( 20k) a week and a few chunks of turf, maybe a bag a week. In summer only of course. Burn no oil. No washing machine..Grow what food I can and plant bee friendly plants.

The govt give many of us old folk etc a Solid Fuel allowance,

Antares35 wrote: »

We need to stop people lighting fires in their homes... but it's ok for them to chow down on red meat 7 days a week, dump tonnes of plastic and drive SUVs. I agree with your point to a large extent OP - fires are a complete pain in the áss, but banning them when there are so many other things people do which damage the environment? Quite a narrow and selected target. Plus, don't most people burn smokeless fuel now?

jimgoose · 21-01-2020 3:53pm

I have a beautiful wrought-iron fireplace with a mighty oaken railway sleeper along the top, and a tidy little grate. When I bought the place back in 2005 there was one of those crappy gas fires in it, so of course that got the bin very fast. The actual heating of the place is automated via mains gas, three-zone 'stat-control and a modern condenser boiler. For a couple of nights over Christmas I put down a block and a few lumps of real coal in the fireplace, and anyone who doesn't like it is quite free to suck my hefty garden hose.

fineso.mom · 21-01-2020 9:26pm

Graces7 wrote: »

Interesting post; thank you.

Maybe posters should list and itemise their offences?

I have no car. I do not eat red meat … Very little plastic here, and recycle
all I can.

I burn one bag of smokeless coal ( 20k) a week and a few chunks of turf, maybe a bag a week. In summer only of course. Burn no oil. No washing machine..Grow what food I can and plant bee friendly plants.

The govt give many of us old folk etc a Solid Fuel allowance,

It's not a 'solid' fuel allowance, it's simply 'fuel' allowance. My neighbour gets in in two lump sums of about 30O euro and buys oil with it.

Graces7 · 22-01-2020 10:11am

The place actually got too hot last night,,,,I loaded the stove with a huge chunk of solid turf, then coal eggs around it. Retreated to bed and had to take almost all the covers off. Wonderful to have this. very good usage rate.
And not an iota of damp or mould. Which given the situation is really good.
A lot relies on the wind direction. Does not like a full south or a south west...

An Ri rua wrote: »

Edit: Apologies Grace, I see that you have a solid fuel stove. Still worth noting that you can use the concept of 'cob' to build s seating area around your stove. Or use storage heater bricks (unless sourced on the island, far too heavy to transport out. They work a charm though.
Grace, with your style of living and heating, you should research rocket mass heaters. I am sure that if you get in touch with more eco types in Galway hinterland that you should find someone who's willing to advise or construct it for you. This is essentially how fuel is (was) used efficiently in Eastern Europe, Russia, Scandinavia in places. A masonry heater, though much more expensive, is similar technology. It's essentially heat transfer. Burning hot fires for brief periods, capturing all of that energy in a thermal mass called cob, or masonry tiles in the case of a masonry heater.

I have rocket stoves as backup for external cooking (experimentation) but for my living room I use a Galway-made Eco Grate in an open fire, I burn locally sourced Ruf briquettes made from waste hardwood offcuts, and I capture much of that 5kw output in 2 stacks of storage heater bricks that act as a thermal mass battery and keep radiated heat outputted for a good deal longer as a result.
As a result, I only use oil to heat water and upstairs first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

deezell · 22-01-2020 10:17am

jimgoose wrote: »

I have a beautiful wrought-iron fireplace with a mighty oaken railway sleeper along the top, and a tidy little grate. When I bought the place back in 2005 there was one of those crappy gas fires in it, so of course that got the bin very fast. The actual heating of the place is automated via mains gas, three-zone 'stat-control and a modern condenser boiler. For a couple of nights over Christmas I put down a block and a few lumps of real coal in the fireplace, and anyone who doesn't like it is quite free to suck my hefty garden hose.

Careful now. Plenty of enviro lettuce types who would take up that offer, regardless of your smokelsss nuts.

no.8 · 22-01-2020 8:16pm

deezell wrote:

Careful now. Plenty of enviro lettuce types who would take up that offer, regardless of your smokelsss nuts.

Or those 'enviro lettice types' who care about the health of their children and children's children? Is that the same type of person?
Drove through Youghal the other evening around sunset. F.me, the air quality was the worst ive seen / experienced in many a year. Times are changing Donald, the truth is out there. Smokeless may be the only option in years ahead

what is the burning passion for having an open fire?

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