How to choose a better, cheaper or more calorific fuel?

We have a heating device in the form of a stove or boiler. What firewood would be the cheapest? Choose the cheaper one and assume that unfortunately we have to burn more of it? Or maybe choose the better one and count that since it's better, we burn less of it? Regardless of whether we are dealing with a stove for pellets, eco-pea coal, coal or fine coal, the dilemma remains the same. Owners of stoves burning eco-pea coal are in a particularly difficult situation. This fuel is divided into up to four calorific value ranges.

Fuel and heating device parameters.

It turns out that the answer to the question of which fuel to choose is not simple. The first and most important premise to make a decision are the parameters of our heating device. That is, what kind of fuel for a given construction is recommended by its manufacturer. It may turn out that despite the purchase of the most expensive and best fuel we can get on the market, we do not have the appropriate technical facilities to use this fuel. The basic information we should look for is the calorific value. That is, how much energy is stored in a unit of volume or mass of fuel. This value is expressed in kJ per kg or in MJ per tonne. The higher it is, the better the fuel, in one kg or ton "closed" there is a greater amount of potential energy. The amount of energy "locked" in a fuel mass unit does not mean that our furnace or boiler is able to obtain all this energy. By burning too high-energy fuel for our device, we do not get anything more than heating the exhaust gases, because our device is not adapted to consume such high doses of energy in such a short time. It may also turn out that our boiler will not be adapted to burn lower quality fuel. Then, despite burning large amounts of fuel, we will not get enough energy from it for our heating device to work efficiently. That is why it is so important to choose the fuel parameters not to our expectations but to the parameters of our device.
If we already know what range of fuel energy value, we can effectively burn time in our device to search for an offer on the market.

Fuel quality and combustion efficiency.

Here we run into another trap. In order to burn the purchased fuel effectively and at the highest efficiency of our device, we must adjust its technological settings (eg the amount of air supplied, the rate of fuel supply, the rate of water exchange as a heat carrier, etc.) to a specific type of fuel. Unfortunately, it is no longer enough to approach the furnace and throw a few shovels of coal once in a while, select the ash and it's ready. Today's ovens are computerized, fully automated devices. Choosing the right parameters of their work for the given fuel may not be a task for a person with a PhD, but at least basic technical knowledge will be useful. If we do not have such knowledge and the task is clearly beyond us, we should ask for help from the person or company that installed the device or to whom we commission the maintenance and service of the device.
Even such an adapted furnace will not always work perfectly. Why, because the fuel entering the device is of different quality. Even the most expensive types of fuel show a certain tolerance in their basic parameters. That is, the seller does not inform us that eco-pea coal has a calorific value of 25 kJ per kg, but we get a message that the calorific value is from 23 to 27 kJ per kg. Thus, fuel with a calorific value of 23 and 27 kJ per kg goes to the furnace once. And the furnace is set and parameterized to burn fuel with a calorific value of 25 kJ per kg, sometimes it burns worse fuel, sometimes too good.

Better more expensive and less?

If we have extensive knowledge about the operation of our device or we can afford to hire a person who has such knowledge, we can use fuels with the most demanding parameters. Even those within the upper tolerance limits of our heating device. Using fuel of the highest quality, which is at the upper limit of our furnace or boiler tolerance, is quite risky. We always have to take into account the need to correct the furnace settings, even for one batch of fuel, depending on its real, non-averaged parameters. We will know the actual parameters not at the time of purchase, but only after burning the first batches of fuel and then it's time to react.

Or maybe mid-range?

If technical knowledge is not what we are best at and the service technician saw our device some time ago, but not necessarily recently and we are not necessarily in a hurry with his next visit. Let's rather choose cheaper fuels with a lower energy value, maybe not the worst ones, but certainly the average shelf is the max we can get at. Such fuel forgives more mistakes and as long as we have heat in the house, we tend to heat the house more than the surroundings.

When is cheaper and more better?

However, if we are a total technical layman and the mere thought of adjusting anything with an automatic device, we get goosebumps. Unfortunately, we have to ask a specialist for help and stick to the economic version. Cheaper fuel will forgive most of our mistakes and the specialist will tell us what to look for and when to call for him. Even if we react to variable fuel parameters with a long delay, the low unit price will ensure that the delay will not cause major damage to our budget.

To sum up: the choice of fuel with specific parameters is an individual matter. Fuel should always be matched to the parameters of a specific device, but also to our knowledge and experience in operating the heating system. There is no universal advice here. Everyone must decide for themselves based on their own knowledge and experience.

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*This article is for informational purposes only. The presented description, in particular the use of the products, is exemplary and constitutes non-binding information about the characteristics and possibilities of their use/application. In any case, before using the product, consult a specialist whether the specific use is safe and justified. We do not bear any responsibility for the use of the proposed solutions, even in very similar situations.