Stove - please advise on fuel

[bewilderedhedgehog]

Hi - I have a wood burning stove which I have never used. I work at home and have decided in the winter to just heat the sitting room during the day with the stove. I have had it swept but not sure what fuel to use. The sweep suggested briquettes but there are lots of different types! I would prefer something smokeless. What is best please? Thank you!

If it’s a wood burning stove and not multi fuel then seasoned or kiln dried logs. It’s more cost effective to buy in bulk ie by the grab bag/ton from a local supplier. Do you have a wood store or somewhere to store it?

They are best for different things, briquettes generally burn hot leaving very little ash. They can make the room feel too hot almost for me so I start a fire off with some briquettes and then put on a couple of big logs for a slow burn. I chop up windfall though so my miserly heart enjoys the free heating. You can get bark briquettes that burn very slowly. I’d buy a couple of different kinds and experiment.

Is it a woodburner or a multifuel? If it has a grate it is likely a multifuel. If not you can only burn wood, and it needs to be dry, or seasoned to use the jargon. Might seem obvious, but it takes a year or two for wood to dry out properly. If wood is still moist it may burn, but it tars up your chimney, which can be dangerous. Hard wood is best, oak, plane etc, soft wood like pine is ok too, but burns away fast. Wood briquettes are an option too.
If you have a multifuel stove you can burn coal too, but don’t use ordinary house coal, it’s bad for the stove, the chimney and the environment. Your coal supplier can advise on smokeless fuels. More expensive, but they burn more cleanly and for longer.
Don’t be tempted to burn damp wood with coal. The moisture combines with sulphur from the coal to produce acid which again is very bad for your chimney and the environment.
Dry wood or smokeless coal are your choices really. Hope this helps.

Briquettes! They burn hotter and slower than seasoned logs, are far easier to light and keep alight.

We've had wood and coal but now it is briquettes all the way.

You can also build a nice longlasting fire by using a couple of hot and quick briquettes stacked on a slower one and then finally a longlasting one that will still be warm in the morning.

We buy a quarter pallette of assorted briquettes from Wood Fuel Co-op and they last us ages. Their website is also full of useful info about what to buy for what stove and what use.

www.woodfuel.coop/categories/wood-fuel/

Check if it can take smokeless coal, burns for far longer

Many thanks for these really helpful responses and apologies for late reply! Have had dental stuff and now dosed up with ibuprofen! Will check type of stove and links tomorrow but this is exactly what I needed. Many thanks again! X