No quitten we're whelan on to chitchat 11

_Brian · 09-03-2023 8:15pm

Text from school that it’s closed tomorrow, email from the boss to WFH, lane is near impassable and still snowing away heavy.

Albert Johnson · 09-03-2023 9:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120336321#Comment_120336321

You'd want a power of timber to keep a house heated though and all the work associated with getting it ready to burn. Then there's no comparison in the heat it yields compared to coal. Burning timber is OK of a mild day if you're tipping about the house but in cold weather or if you've to go out for a few hours there's no power in them imo. A shovel of coal in a closed up cooker or stove will last hours where timber in the same setup will have a pile of cold ashes awaiting you upon you're return.

roosterman71 · 09-03-2023 9:34pm

I'm in Centre Parcs and what snow fell melted away as soon as it hit the ground. Small bit starting to sticck now. I'm really hoping to be snowed in. Load sof people left today for fear of being trapped here.

tanko · 09-03-2023 9:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120337348#Comment_120337348

They’re snowflakes.

roosterman71 · 09-03-2023 10:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120337405#Comment_120337405

Was talking to a lad in the pool there at half 4. They were just getting set to leave it and then pack up and drive back to Dublin. He was hoping to be on the road at 7. I asked him why not wait and was told the orange warning was out and they didn't want to chance it. I don't understand how driving in the snow and the dark for a couple of hours is better than waiting and tipping off sometime tomorrow afternoon. Each to their own I guess. We walked back to the lodge here after grub around half 7 and I counted 18 cars either being loaded or on the move. And there's no cars allowed in here usually so there is a big move on to get out. In the dark. In the snow. I bought a few cans so I ain't going nowhere!

Limestone Cowboy · 09-03-2023 10:26pm

Snow is brutal here all day. Cars abandoned everywhere.

Limestone Cowboy · 09-03-2023 10:28pm

Pic of the road this morning.

Bass Reeves · 09-03-2023 11:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120337209#Comment_120337209

All timber needs to be in a shed in 2-3 years before it is put in a stove. I have a stove (Stanley Erin) if it's a cold night you need a bit of dry hardwood. I use a small shovel of smokeless nuggets at the start of lighting it

Ya we have oil on for a couple of hours every day during the winter.

Albert Johnson · 09-03-2023 11:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120338074#Comment_120338074

I'm not disputing that but that then means you need a decent shed to hold 3 year's supply. Coupled with the need for a few chainsaws (bigger saw for felling and light handy one for cutting to length) log splitters ect and it's not exactly a low cost fuel before you ever include labour.

Granted with coal you want to be buying a pallet at a time ideally and then need the means of transporting it and storage ect. At the end of the day I still believe that oil is the best all round value for money. No hardship with saving it, getting it home, storing it and getting it to the fire and the ashes out again. Simply lift the phone and the only unpleasant part is paying the invoice..

Bass Reeves · 09-03-2023 11:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120338160#Comment_120338160

No logsplitter two saws with 16'' bars. Mostly try to get wood in the 3-8'' diameter range. House is well Insulated which helps a lot. Will bun anything but will dry it for at least two years.

Ya oil is often better value than you think

Base price · 10-03-2023 12:06am

Ah, ye can't beat the turf - except for the back breaking hardship of saving it whilst getting eaten by feckin midges, loading it and drawing it home, unloading it and piling it up in the shed, filling fertilizer bags to bring to the house, getting it into the fire and finally getting rid of the ashes - ye can't beat the turf 😊

DBK1 · 10-03-2023 12:19am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120338359#Comment_120338359

Like timber, the turf will heat you 3 or 4 times before it ever gets burnt 😂😂

Albert Johnson · 10-03-2023 12:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120338427#Comment_120338427

The upshot being that you'll struggle to find time to be cold when all the above is going on.

10-03-2023 2:57am

I love cutting timber, the smell and the process of bringing it in from the field. Find it a great way to relieve stress. Only thing is try not to cut too much at once.

_Brian · 10-03-2023 7:16am

Oil is superior when all taken into account. It’s ultimate benifet is you can set it on the timer and thermostats to have heat just when you want it.

we burn nuggets and sticks in the stove which is nice. Have some free turf were burning at the moment and it’s inferior stuff, if it wasn’t free I wouldn’t bother with it.

gk5000 · 10-03-2023 8:19am

I got some ash this time last year and have been burning it fine all winter, and tested it below 20% with a moisture meter. I plan the same again some whitethorn, cutting up now and plan to burn from next autumn. Previously had some leylandi which I left season for 3 years to get rid of the tar, but I don't understand the need to season hardwood (unless oak) for longer than a year, so curious.

Jjameson · 10-03-2023 10:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120336321#Comment_120336321

I burned an old crate in the last few days that some Chinese /Indian limestone came in, the heat was superb, equal to any coal, the timber was peculiar, hard wood close grained and quite brittle.

enricoh · 10-03-2023 12:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120334244#Comment_120334244

There's a bargain alerts section on boards, one thread about coal. I got a ton of ovoids delivered from the north a few times from easyglow ( a few crowds do it). Price doubled after Ukraine started but is dropping back now. some fella in the know said to buy angust/ September as current stock bought at high prices. Bit like fertilizer really.

whelan2 · 10-03-2023 1:53pm

Clear tb test

dzer2 · 10-03-2023 1:55pm

I do go up north a bit, last time I bought a ton at 19 euro a bag compared to 32 bag down here it nearly paid for the diesel

_Brian · 10-03-2023 2:07pm

It’s the odd day like today I regret getting rid of the 4WD

Jjameson · 10-03-2023 2:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120340358#Comment_120340358

There’s coal and there’s coal though. Are you comparing like with like?

tanko · 10-03-2023 2:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120340598#Comment_120340598

Coal is far cheaper for the same stuff in the north, no dumb carbon tax on it there afaik.

patsy_mccabe · 10-03-2023 4:35pm

And the sad thing is, it is the poorest that suffer the most with this carbon tax. When I was in Limerick city last year getting stove nuggets, I saw this man leaving the place with a bag of coal on the crossbar of his bike. A lot in there buying just the one bag.

148multi · 10-03-2023 8:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120341258#Comment_120341258

And they've a smaller carbon footprint than most with EVs

Limestone Cowboy · 10-03-2023 9:20pm

Clearing the road today, there was a drift 3 foot high for about 400 meters.

Good loser · 10-03-2023 10:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120338295#Comment_120338295

It's important with a solid fuel stove, in my experience, to cut the timber big - in diameter and max length. Saves on the labour cutting and feeding stove.

Also if leaving house for a spell load stove and cut the air supply to minimum; the same can work overnight sometimes. Would regard one year's drying sufficient.

farawaygrass · 10-03-2023 10:23pm

Got a load of ash from a local sawmill before Christmas. I think it’s mighty stuff. Only complain I’d have is maybe it’s spilt a bit too much. There’s a few logs only split in two and if ya put them in the fire bark side down and shut the air supply, they last ages and give off great heat. Hardly ever have to empty any ashes. I’ve a big bag of turf that must be 6 years in the shed and I’d nearly give it away rather than burn it. Mountain of ash out of it

ruwithme · 10-03-2023 10:41pm

Only coal available in the south now is smokeless, that stuff will give little heat & only sit there with a glow.

Bord na mona black Diamond was the real deal for flame & heat.

Kevhog1988 · 10-03-2023 10:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120340634#Comment_120340634

I tip across the border to buy mine

No quitten we're whelan on to chitchat 11

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