Currently, there is scrutiny over burning wood and coal in people’s homes. This is to help improve air quality in cities across the UK.
They say the domestic burning of house coal, smokeless solid fuels and wet wood is the single largest primary contributor of harmful sooty particles. Our mission is to refine and improve current conditions as using Firemizer can reduce harmful particulates by 72%.

This leads to the question, should we be burning coal in our homes?

These are some of the pros and cons of burning coal!

Pros

• The most common type of coal is anthracite, the dense composition results in high enter efficiency.
• The production of coal is on the rise and as a result, the stock of coal is abundant.
• The cost of coal is low and remains stable compared to other heating sources.

Cons

• Coal is a finite source, eventually, it will run out and damages the environment in a non-reversible manner.
• Ash from the coal contains harmful metals, handling the ash with care is important and making sure the disposal of the ash is safe.
• We all know coal damages the atmosphere, the release of carbon and sulphur dioxide makes coal the number one contributor to Co2 emissions.
• The way to reach coal is environmentally intrusive, mountains become raised and abandoned mines pose a variety of dangers.

Coal and Multi fuel stoves

Multi-fuel stoves can burn coal and wood. But not all multi-fuel stoves burn wood as efficiently as a log burner would. This is due to wood needing to sit on a bed of ash with air coming from above. Coal requires an oxygen source from beneath it in order to produce an effective fire, this is why multi-fuel stoves have raised grates.

Never burn wood and coal at the same time. Coal emits sulphuric acid and combined with the moisture levels from wood creates a corrosive substance that can damage your stove system.

Smokeless fuels

They give out a higher heat and can last 40% longer than coal. More heat makes it into the room rather than being wasted up the chimney. Using Firemizer with your smokeless fuel will burn longer and you will use less fuel to heat your homes and spend significantly less money on fuel.

Smokeless fuels are much better for the environment, these fuels were created to make smoke free areas across the UK and improve air quality. Household Coal can create up to 20% more carbon monoxide than a fire that uses smokeless fuels.
Man-made smokeless fuels can be burned with wood. These can actually assist logs as it burns quicker.

We know that coal isn’t the best for the environment and nowadays there are plenty of alternatives if you are looking to make the switch however many people still rely on burning coal as their heating source.

More information on coal and the environment here! 

After many cold winter months, spring has finally sprung! Now might be the perfect time to clean your stove you’ve been burning ruthlessly throughout winter. To get you started here are some helpful spring cleaning tips!

Tools

• Make sure you have the right tools for the job.
• Say NO to plastic, only use metal tools.
• Use a metal shovel and brush but only sweep when the ash is cold!
• Take care and wear thick gloves and use a metal bucket for ash.

Top tip; if you burn wood, it burns better with a little bit of ash left in the bottom so you don’t need to throw it all away.  Here are some more useful tips for what to do with leftover ash!

keeping the glass clean

• Use damp newspaper or a paper towel and dip it in wood ash. This will help clean the glass of your stove. Another way is to burn a few high-temperature fires before cleaning, make sure you are burning well dried well-seasoned wood.
• warm glass is easier to clean but make sure the glass is cool enough to touch!
• Cleaning the glass regularly will help with build up.
• Don’t spray water on to hot stove glass, as this could cause the glass to shatter or break.

Make sure you get your chimney and flue swept around once a year! Using Firemizer will help prevent lots of build up of creosote in your chimney or flue.

Air pollution

We can’t talk about cleaning without mentioning air pollution. Did you know that if you use Firemizer in your stove it reduces particulates and emissions by 72% and it works with Fire pits so you don’t need to stop enjoying the fire in this spring weather!

Safety

• This is a good time to check your fire and carbon monoxide alarms.
• Make sure you have a suitable fire extinguisher
• Always be careful when dealing with fire!

With all these cleaning tips you’ll have a lovely clean stove in no time!

These days it’s easy to get fire but how would you light one without matches, you may need to know how one day!

Using flint to start a fire has it’s advantages as it doesn’t matter if it gets wet as it won’t be ruined. 

What you’ll need!

Flint

A pocket knife [if your flint doesn’t have a scraping tool]

Kindling [ paper, cardboard, dry grass and small twigs] all work well

Sticks and larger logs once the fire gets going

Prepare the tinder nest

You want a nest of dry tinder the tiniest spark can be used to create flames. Use a knife to scrape thin wood shavings or alternatively gather dried grass, leaves or bark for a loose nest.

If you use dry grass you want to make a little bed for the flint shavings to go on. Put the bed on some smaller twigs and have other pieces ready to put on the fire.

Get in the zone

Take the flint and pocket knife, scrape some of the flints off one side, if you see sparks flip it over as you’re using the wrong side. You want to create some small flint shavings to go onto the bed of dry grass. A pile the size of a 5p is all you’ll need but you can add more if necessary. 

Relight the fire!

This time you’ll need to use the other side of the flint to create a spark. Hold it down next the bed at an angle so sparks will fall onto it. Take the scraper or pocket knife and scrape down the flint towards the bed. You should start to see sparks and if they don’t catch just keep scraping. Once you have a small flame going start to add some smaller twigs and continue to feed the fire. Don’t add too much too fast. The fire might go out!

Having problems

Is your kindling dry enough?

Is there’s too much wind getting to the embers?

Do you have enough flint shavings

If the fire starts but doesn’t keep going start blowing gently on the glowing pieces. 

Firebuilder can help your fires get going, a kindling and fire starter in one! No odour,  mess or chemicals!

What are the best uses for wood ash?

Before using wood ash for anything there is something to bear in mind. Only use ashes from wood that is free of chemicals, no pressure treated wood, painted or stained wood, charcoal briquettes, or commercial products like slow burning wood logs. why no checkout our blog on what wood you should use on your wood stove. 

However, if you are using Firemizer this makes the ash finer and there are less unburnt log chunks leftover as the fire burns hotter for longer. Accompanied by Firebuilder a firelighter and kindling in one, this has no chemicals or odours as it’s made from 100% recycled cardboard.

If you’re using these then the wood ash is perfectly safe to use once your fire is out!

Make sure the ash is completely cool before touching it, buried embers can remain hot for days. To store ash safely place them into a metal container with a lid and place on a non-combustible surface such as dirt or concrete.

Never combine wood ash with nitrogen fertilisers it will produce ammonia gas.

Compost

Wood ash added to the compost will help boost potassium levels, a key nutrient for flowering and fruiting. Only add wood ash to compost in moderation, since the ash is alkaline too much can raise the pH that may damage your plants.

Melt ice

Wood ash is an environmentally safe way to melt ice and snow. Since the ash contains potassium carbonate, a type of salt that is more eco-friendly it can help break up ice and melt snow when scatted on roads.

Make soap

When ash from hardwoods, for instance, oak and maple, are boiled in soft water it creates lye and when this is mixed with animal fats or vegetable oils it creates a soft soap. A little salt added creates a firmer bar of soap.

Block garden pests

A sprinkle of wood ash around plants or along the perimeter of the plot will be a major turn off for the slimy creepy crawlies, for instance, slugs and snails.

Shine silver and polish glass

Wood ash can be used to polish tarnished silverware, dull metals and cloud glass since it is mildly abrasive. All you need is to take a cup of ashes and a small amount of water to make a thick paste. Then off you go, you’ll have the silverware shining in no time!