anthracite heaters - does anybody use one?

maumau

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anthracite heaters have come a long way since we last owned one. we're thinking of buying one and wondered if anybody here can offer advice.

first are they cheap to run?
second which is a good make to purchase and are the morso ones worth the money?
third do you get a film of with coal/anthracite dust everywhere?

oh, and also do they warm the entire house?

thanks to anybody who can help.
 

Saba'a

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Have an old one. Hassle is that to keep it going is a hassle as it tends to die out overnight but to be fair due to me not keeping an eye on it.
 

maumau

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thanks Adielk that's exactly what i remember :). That and constantly emptying the ashes out.

it's just that heating is so expensive, both gas and electricity.
 

oober

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I use one.

Yes you have to clean out the ash and if you want it to burn during the night you must pile on some coal before you go to bed and first thing in the morning take out the ash and put on some more coal. But it beats any gas/electric heating.

And it creates a nice atmosphere. ;)
 

Billy

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anthracite heaters have come a long way since we last owned one. we're thinking of buying one and wondered if anybody here can offer advice.

first are they cheap to run?
second which is a good make to purchase and are the morso ones worth the money?
third do you get a film of with coal/anthracite dust everywhere?

oh, and also do they warm the entire house?

thanks to anybody who can help.

No idea about the above, but I can tell you that they stink out the neighbourhood. Try living next door to an idiot with one.
 

mh348

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Just had a second hand heater installed last week, we had an existing fireplace with a chimney so just sealed that up and connected heater pipe thru the wall into the chimney..

Only hassle is you have to clean the ash try and re-fill coal.. A friend that has one said a 50kg bag usually lasts about 5 days if run 24 hrs.

We paid about R130 for the 50kg
 
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mh348

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No idea about the above, but I can tell you that they stink out the neighbourhood. Try living next door to an idiot with one.

lol they were probably using cow dung instead of anthracite

We don't get any smell from the anthracite heaters
 

Seriously

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lol they were probably using cow dung instead of anthracite

We don't get any smell from the anthracite heaters

or maybe he smells the air pollution from a nearby squatter camp! ;)
 

desiganp

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Be careful burning coal indoors - coal generates carbon monoxide during combustion which is harmful.
 

Freshy-ZN

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Proper anthracite doesn't smell and is almost smokeless. Its the crap quality stuff or the coal they try pass off as anthracite which stinks.
 

Goobie

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Just had a second hand heater installed last week, we had an existing fireplace with a chimney so just sealed that up and connected heater pipe thru the wall into the chimney..

Only hassle is you have to clean the ash try and re-fill coal.. A friend that has one said a 5kg bag usually lasts about 5 days if run 24 hrs.

We paid about R130 for the 5kg

You sure about that? The price in Bfn is about R150 for 40kg
 

broloks

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Just had a second hand heater installed last week, we had an existing fireplace with a chimney so just sealed that up and connected heater pipe thru the wall into the chimney..

Only hassle is you have to clean the ash try and re-fill coal.. A friend that has one said a 5kg bag usually lasts about 5 days if run 24 hrs.

We paid about R130 for the 5kg

Builders Warehouse sells 40kg for R160. If I light mine every night a bag (40kg) lasts us a full week. I doubt very much that you can run on 1kg per night.
 

maumau

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R160 per week is quite expensive.

MH348 must mean 50kg but it stilk amounts to R130 per week.
 
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broloks

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R160 per week is quite expensive.

MH348 must mean 50kg but it stilk amounts to R130 per week.

It sounds expensive yes, but mine is an 8kW burner. Burns for approximately 12 hours a night, 7 days on R160. 12*7*8 = 672 kWh

R160/672 = 23.8 c/kWh

A lot cheaper than our electricity. I must add that we don't light it every night. It is some work to clean it and it takes an hour or two to get going at full heat.
 
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