Tell me about multi-fuel stoves

[MagpiePi]

I've moved into a house that has a multi-fuel stove and want to start using it now that the weather is getting colder. I am planning to use smokeless coal as the main fuel.

So, first of all I need some kit - tongs and dustpans and brushes and that kind of thing and I've also read that welder's gloves are useful. What would you recommend?

TBH I don't really use much kit. Have always had fires and stoves. I have a basket with kindling and woodwool in. I have an arc lighter - that's a good new innovation. I do probably own a fireglove? I don't use it. When I had coal fires all the time I did have a coal scuttle and tongs. A Sir Pokealot makes me feel very nostalgic!

I don't poke it or mess about with it really. The main thing with a fire is to get a good draw of oxygen over it to get it going, and you can do that either with the controls oon a stove or just with a piece of paper.

To clean it out, in the morning, I take a bit of kindling and scrub it back and forth across the plate to knock all the ash down, then take the ash pan out to the ash can outside. Don't put your ash straight in the wheelie bin because it can cause a fire even if your fire was the night before.

To clean the door, take some newspaper, scrunch it up, wet it, dip it in ash and scrub it clean. Comes up clean very fast.

Otherwise I have a little hoover for a fully cold hearth and that's that. I get my chimney swept once a year in late summer or early autumn and that costs £75.

Thanks. I'll start with a coal scuttle and tongs.

I need a coal bunker too...

Auctions are good places for quality coal scuttles and companion sets.
With good coal you can keep a fire going for several days. Bliss.
Coal is far longer lasting than wood.
Enjoy your new stove.

I love my Tilly can which I use to take the ash out. Saves a lot of mess as mine is big enough to take the entire ash pan.

There's a good reclamation yard near me, I bet they'd have them.

Need to add an ash bucket to my shopping list.

Our ash gets used in the garden.

I wouldn't use the ash from smokeless fuel in the garden - wood ash yes....

Look it up online and get the instruction booklet for it if it's not immediately obvious how to open up the air vents etc. As to burn efficiently you need to be burning at a reasonable temperature.

Also get the chimney swept before you use it. Also check up stairs after you've lit it - a friend moved into a house and lit hers for the first time - the chimney hadn't been lined and the bedroom was full of smoke...

Make sure it is multifuel - it needs a grate in it to use smokeless fuel.

I have a multifuel stove with a back boiler which heats water as well.
An ash can is very useful for carrying ash through the house to take outside. If there's a gust of wind as you open the door the ash can blow all over.
Tongs
Poker
Coal scuttle

If it hasn't been used recently you need to start with a small fire, just a couple of logs and leave it to burn out. Do this over a few days.
I have a smallish plastic coal bunker which is fine.
We actually use mainly logs at the moment but a mixture is best.
Clean out first.
You need paper and sticks to start it, it's much easier to start with a log than coal. We get logs delivered by the coal man and store in the garage. He'll also sell a sack of sticks which saves a lot of chopping.

To be honest I loathe the thing. It's a novelty at first but I've lived here 40 years and would swap it any day if we had gas.

@HelloCharming I have downloaded the instructions and I think it has been used recently - the previous owners left it full of ash 🙄 and I'm pretty sure it has been swept and serviced recently but I need to check the information I got as part of the sale documents. It has a liner so shouldn't get smoke upstairs.

@Lilacsilver thanks for that link.

To be honest I loathe the thing. It's a novelty at first but I've lived here 40 years and would swap it any day if we had gas.

I'd much rather have a gas fire too but it came with the house so I'm going to give it a go - I do like having a heat source to sit in front of. I did used to live in a house that had an open coal fire when we moved in and we ended up putting in a gas fire.

'and I'm pretty sure it has been swept and serviced recently but I need to check the information I got as part of the sale documents'

Be CERTAIN. If folks have been cheap and used wood they've dragged in from fallen trees without drying them out enough (2 years is the safe time, I believe), the sap from wet wood can coat the flue and if you're unlucky, set it on fire.

Happened to my parents when they lived in a converted barn for a short time some years ago. Actual chimney fire.

If you're a safety person, get it swept yourself in additional.

You need a bed of ash to make it burn efficiently.

the others have mentioned the tools required, I also use natural fire lighters to get it started,

As said, get it swept and have a draft test, plus make sure sealing ropes are in good condition.
Multi stoves burn at higher temperatures and produce acids in the burn, if you use coal, that can rot stainless flue's if they aren't of the best quality metals.

No bed of ash required, it should have a grate, thats for a woodburner.

Might also be worthwhile checking if you re in any pollution zones, restricting smoke etc.

Get an ash vacuum! Search on Amazon for "ash vacuum cleaner for wood burner".

They take all the hassle out of cleaning the burner.

We had a lot of trouble getting fires to start with screwed up paper and the like and kindling.

What the OH eventually did was start with a small log with a lot of bark on it (facing upwards), arranged the kindling around it like a teepee, and place two or three of these on the pile, which burn downwards, lighting the kindling, which then lights the wood.

Sort of defies common sense but apparently it's easier to start a fire if the fire is working its way downwards instead of upwards? Idk, maybe search old Reddit threads, I think that's where he found it.

Natural Firelighters (Box of 300) Natural Fire Lighters for Wood Burners, Pizza Ovens & Open Fires. BBQ Lighters, Fire Starters for Log Burners – Genuine Eco-Barn Fire Wood & Eco Firelighters

Those things are currently £13.50 and I never paid under £19 so they're a bargain right now.

I think you can get some sort of smokeless coal that is allowed in areas where fires are banned? Sorry, tired, I forget the terminology - I think they're called smoke control areas.

Our method is to shovel in a layer of smokeless coal, then place a firelighter cube on top of the coal and light it. Then build a small pyre of kindling, then load up the rest of the stove space with wood.

Open the lowest vent to have maximum air flow, and get the stove up to a really hot temperature - maybe 35 - 45 minutes.

Then reload with wood and turn the air supply down to a trickle - it will then burn for a few hours rather than fiercely and the wood will last all evening.

I've had my chimney swept this week. Very old school sweep but he told me not to mix fuels in one session. So kindling>wood or kindling>smokeless fuel but not kindling>wood>smokeless fuel. By smokeless fuel, I mean those coal-like nuggets.