woodburners – briquettes or smokeless coal?

I know theres a few on here that have wood stoves, and i’m just in the process of deciding which one to get.

I should be able to get a cheap supply of wood, but am just wondering if when i cant burn my free / cheap wood, (eg if not qute dry enough) then is it better (from a cost point!) to burn wood briquettes or smokeless fuel?

Obviously if smokeless coal is cheaper / better then i’ll look at a multifuel stove. At the moment i’m liking the appearence of some of the wood only stoves though as they seem to have larger glass area to see the flames!

Coal Ovids and a bit of wood for a flame when you feel like it.

There’s very little in it.

Wood burns nicely, causes less chimney clogging up. But coal is hotter and more intense.

If we mix coal/wood we can do a bag of coal (£8 worth) in about 7 days in winter. Which then makes the coal option quite expensive.

As with most things the more you buy the cheaper it is, we bought 2 tons of coal in 50kg loose bags to get the best discount, also got a ton of wood briquettes as well but thats for our boiler.

“Mixed Ovoids
Premium quality large manufactured briquette. Can be used on open fires and stoves. Long lasting, easily controllable, high heat source.”

Buy a multi fuel, coal is great if you light early in the morning and then say need to go out. Base up with coal and it will stay in for hrs if you choke it back. My sweep advised smokeless because it does less damage to stainless steel liners apparently!

Check you’ve got the right grade of stainless steel for smokeless as it burns so hot.

I know theres a few on here that have wood stoves

What on earth gave you that idea? 😉

We use some smokeless along with logs which works really well especially if you wan the stove to keep going for a long time – proper hot though so don’t put much on.
I think you’re better off with a multifuel in the long run.