CHERTSEY

BOATS, BRIDGES, BOILERS ... IF IT'S GOT RIVETS, I'M RIVETTED
... feminist, atheist, autistic academic and historic narrowboater ...
Likes snooker, beer, tea, rivets and solitude, and is strangely fascinated by the cinema organ.
And there might be something about railways.
**********************************************************************************

Friday 4 May 2012

Ashes to ashes

You might think that one smokeless fuel is very much like another. Certainly I used to find the in depth comparative discussions on Canalworld to be rather esoteric and obscure. I took it for granted that Taybrite was the best, and worth the extra pennies, and we stocked up on some. And it was OK, we were happy, we were warm, the fire ticked over, we filled the stove with coal and emptied the ash and would have thought nothing of it... Until one day we were running low, we were in Midland Chandlers, and they were selling some stuff called Stoveglow which was a bit cheaper than Taybrite, and right there under our noses, so we bought a couple of bags.

My first reaction was that it smelt nastier than Taybrite, when you first put it on and the fumes wafted back at you. But I quickly noticed too that it produced a different sort of ash, less dry and dusty; and gradually it dawned on me that it produced a lot less of it too. It lit easily, stayed in exceptionally well, and had remarkable powers in coming back from the dead if it ever was abandoned for too long.

Fetching a few bags at a time from MC in Penkridge was no hardship, although they could never predict when they would have it in, or how much, but we got through the winter fine like this. Then a couple of weeks ago, they didn't have any. We managed to get a bag or two of Taybrite, then were reduced to using Homefire, which was easily the worst of the lot. But now we were used to the Stoveglow, even Taybrite was unimpressive. I was removing a tray full of ash for every small bucket of coal on Chertsey's Epping, whereas with the Stoveglow it was more like one tray for every three buckets - that must surely mean it was burning more completely and so being better value, regardless of the extra convenience too. I noticed also that the fire kept going out, in circumstances it wouldn't previously have.

Well, I thought, it's May now. I'll just let it out for the summer. But last night was pretty damn chilly and more cold weather is forecast. It's all right for me; I can snuggle up with Lionel*, but the condensation's no good for the cabin, and I don't like my boat to be a chill, unwelcoming place.

So after searching in vain for other suppliers of Stoveglow, we ascertained this morning that MC had two bags in stock, and Jim dashed off to get them straight away.

Meanwhile, with the Epping being cold, I thought I would take the opportunity to give it a good spring clean, and use the new flue brush for the first time. I didn't manage to take any photos of the work in progress, but I am pleased to report that the Epping is quite an easy stove to clean, with removable plates both in the smoke box and above the oven meaning that it's not difficult to get at all the crud and sweep it down into the firebox for removal via the ash pan. Having the luxury of 240v I finished the job off with the little hoover that came with Bakewell, but it would have been a perfectly effective job without that. I then gave the stove a polish, so that's its spring clean for the year!

The coal box is now restocked with Stoveglow, the fire lit, and the cabin airing. If anyone knows of a reliable or even better bulk supplier of Stoveglow in this area (Cannock-ish) we would of course love to know about it.


Meanwhile the Squirrel on Bakewell has to be kept warm for our new pet, who sits beside it and snuffles and gently snores. More about Ginge later....

*

4 comments:

  1. Ahem.

    Stoveglow is an unusual fuel, because it has no stated definite make-up, and no two bags can actually be guaranteed to be the same, (although those from any batch usually are a similar mix).

    As I understand it, it is a mix of whatever they happen to be manufacturing at the time, particularly as they switch from making one kind of ovoid to another.

    We have ended up in the past with bags that are clearly nigh on 100% Taybrite, and, equally, (like we are currently burning), those with no Taybrite in at all.

    It really is a Russian roulette, reflected in a price that is generally less than any of the fuels that may or may not be in the bag you buy.

    So whilst it's good value, you do need to be prepared to adjust your firing techniques to suit whatever happens to be in the latest bag you open. I'm not sure what we are burning now (under the guise of Stoveglow) - I don't recognise it, but it is mostly larger ovoids than Taybrite, (with a few much smaller ones mixed in), and has quite different characteristics.

    So if you are "very happy" with your current Stoveglow, don't be surprised to open future bags, and find something rather different in them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I did have an idea that was the case, although it has been very consistent over the winter. So what I need to know then is what was actually in the Stoveglow we've been buying. Any ideas? (Given that it's definitely not Taybrite, but similarly sized lumps)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Exel? its good stuff.
    Have you thought of asking Jacko on Roach what he recommends.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Excel, that's a thought. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete