Review Smokeless Coals Calco Hi-Lite Cosyglo

With the heavy Irish government double taxation on heating oil bringing the price to €900 per 1000L fill, coal has emerged as an economic alternative for domestic heating. Yea -Yea – I know a sustainable energy blog promoting coal!! With fuel poverty aiming towards 50% in Ireland, I have changes my stance and am inclined to say let the rich worry about the carbon credits.

If you should find yourself in the position where it is a question of EAT or HEAT, you would not give a fig what form of fuel gives you the heat once you can afford it.

I have to date this winter not used one drop of heating oil in my home. Why would I? I don’t like being ripped off. Instead, I have used almost 100% smokeless coals in my experimental fireplace which has a Firebird back boiler and a firefront door fitted.

This post is an attempt at reviewing the results of the different coals I have tried. Essentially I have used three types of smokeless coal:

I have written about Calco smokeless mix a couple of times before. There is some controversy out there regarding the use of Calco. Some stove manufacturers will not guarantee their appliances. I have used Calco consistently for nearly four months, and I am very happy with several factors:

The pros;
(a) Calco gives excellent heat output.
(b) It has very low ash compared to other coals.
(c) It can easily burn over-night for up to nine hours.
(d) It is tops in respect of value for money.

The cons;
(a) It can burn too hot if you do not control the burn rate.
(b) It smells worse than other coals.

I have long maintained that Cosyglo Gems is one of the best quality smokeless coals to use in a stove or fireplace. My local dealer Econ Fuels in Tralee introduced me to Hi-lite ovals, also known as “Glovoids”. Hi-Lite has a very similar burn characteristic to CosyGlo and i would consider it as good. It is some 15% on average cheaper than CosyGlo.

Read more at Sustainable Energy Author Ireland