If you have a coal fire..

[FusionChefGeoff]

How do you manage your coal??

We buy massive (20kg) bags and currently store them on the bottom of racking in the garage. Then we put a more manageable amount in a tall but small coal scuttle which we take through to the lounge where the fire is.

Main problems being the bags are huge and I can't manage them on my own. So when I try to 'pour' coal into the scuttle it just goes everywhere. Or I have to get filthy scooping it out with my hands! Then the scuttle we have is really small so only lasts one evening (if that).

I think I want 'something' in the garage that DH can decant the whole bag into when open then maybe a shovel or something to scoop it into a larger scuttle / bucket for the lounge??

Can anyone shed light on how you manage yours and what your buckets / scuttles / shovels etc look like???

Why would you scoop it out with your hands? You can get a coal shovel or metal dust pan for about £5. Or even a pair of rubber gloves?
Have you considered a coal bunker to keep the coal in in the garage, or outside? Basically a big box with a lid on the top then a sliding door at the bottom on the front.
We used to keep coal in a normal galvanised bucket in the living room and have a coal shovel to put it on the fire.

I don’t burn the coal anymore but our house came with two bunkers full of coal - I used a coal
Shovel to scoop into a scuttle to take through.

We buy bags of smokeless which we store in the garage. Dh decant them into smaller bags which we keep in a metal dustbin by the back door. These are small enough to empty into the coal scuttle.

Metal dustbin is a great idea!! And I use my hands because we don't have a large enough hole in the bag usually for a shovel thing. If we open it up fully it just spills coal everywhere!

When I had a fire I had a coal bunker and got the coal man to dump the coal from the bags into the bunker. It had an opening at the bottom and I used a short handled shovel to scoop coal into a bucket that I carried into the house.

I have a large metal coal bunker in the garden and I fill a metal bin that I keep by the back door from it every two or three days.

We have a coal bunker and a coal delivery man.

The coal man comes and drops a bag full of coal into the top of the bunker. I can’t recall the exact weight but it’s a massive bag of smokeless - would fill a dustbin - costs us £20. Lasts weeks.

Then I have a coal shovel. I can slide up the door on the front of the bunker and fill the hearth scuttle easily using the shovel.

Bunker lives on the driveway and doesn’t take up much room or prevent parking. Looks like this one:
Galvanised Steel Coal Bunker Fuel/Salt/Feed/Corn/Storage (No.3 (150kg)) www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0843D6C85/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_WZ321C85A9FZ0Q52R744?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Would something like this with a door at the bottom work?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/simpaoutdoor-Galvanised-Dustbin-Locking-Plastic/dp/B081M46D35/ref=sr11_8?keywords=Coal+Store&qid=1639955754&sr=8-8

Get a smart bunker. You literally just stick a bucket in and pull the handle.

We have bags of smokeless fuel and used old thick gardening gloves to get them out of the sacks to the bucket to carry it through.

I do what you do apart from scoop it out with my hands. Never done that. You dont need to open the bag along the too, cut a triangle on the corner, and then grab a bottom corner (i find a better grip with a lump of coal there) then pour into scuttle,

I have an outside metal bunker. But if you want it to stay in the garage I'd get a bin and feed scoop for easy transfer.

Bin and feed scoop it is!!! Once I've cleared 'Christmas' out of the garage we'll have a shift around and get that in place.

Thanks all

A cheap metal colander is a brilliant way to transfer coal from bag to scuttle. Never looked back.

That is also an excellent option!

Have a coal bunker now but have used one of those large dalek type compost bins with door in the bottom front bit. Easy to shovel coal out.

I use an old shipping trunk. It's pretty and holds two 25kg bags..I use tongs to load it into the fire.

Anything can be used for coal storage inside.

We keep ours in a Keter storage box outside no idea why my dp didn't just get a proper coal storage seems to do the job though and he uses a shovel to get it out