Does anyone know what exactly the difference is. Can you not burn coal on woodburner..if not why not?
thanks

I think it has something to do with the grate etc, so you can burn coal on a woodburner but it would not be as efficient, some mix wood and coal too.

It all depends on the kind of grate inside the stove.
A coal one has a grate with holes or slots in for ash to drop though and the air to feed up underneath to aid the coal burning. Although you could put wood on it you will find that you loose your base (and the fire goes out) pretty quickly with this kind of grate.

A multi fuel (wood and coal) will have the same kind of grate except there will be a handle thingy on the side to close the grate closing off the holes for when burning wood as wood burns in its own embers and doesnt need a draft from underneath. so you can burn both fuels on this kind just by opening and closing the grate.
And a true woodburner would have a closed base, as i said before, wood burns in its own embers and draws from above.

Star can i ask why are you asking :D

Thanks for that
It is  just that we have a wenlock stove which I think is multi fuel but am now looking for  the same sort of thing to put at other end of house. When I have been looking on ebay some are advertised as woodburners and some multi fuel so got a bit confused :)

I would ask the sellar then if the grate can be opened and closed as some people call multi fuel burners wood burners..... I know i do as i tend to only burn wood as i get it free so forget sometimes that i can burn coal too, hence just calling it a wood burner :D :D

Just had a thought..... what about a pot belly stove, cheaper and kick out lots of heat. we have one in our back room for drying kids and dogs out. kids call it a pot belly pig LOL
But i suppose it would depend on the room it would be in, not so pretty in a posh lounge but perfectly at home in a more how shall i say it..... rustic type setting ;)

Hi,

I have a woodburner ,yes you can get a conversion plate so the air can get underneath the coals.

Briony, loves her woodburner even better as partner is cabinet maker and all our offcuts go on it
:-) ,personally don't like coal

Also our woodburner heats the whole of our cottage plus all our hot water and there are 7 us ,5 children its just brilliant and for us extrmely cheap :-)

Hi,

There are also many designs that would fit in with any lounge from the very modern looking,to ornate to plain ,different sizez enjoy looking :-)

Briony

I know exactly what you mean briony
ours does water and heating too, great when OH works in forestry no need for coal here either. Wish the electric bill was as cheap as the heating :D

Yes thats true,I'm having a second burner put into the *dogroom*which also has its own ensuite so we will be able bath the dogs from the dog room and have hotwater for the sink that will be in the room this will save 5 Goldens going up and down my stairs wet getting them ready for showa or whatever,for the younger ones it does my back in as I carry them upstair and the weight of wet dogs isn't funny.

Briony :-)

>>weight of wet dogs isn't funny

LOL tell me about it. If kai goes to full weight that will be approx 8 1/2 stone I've got no chance of lifting him, i cant even lift him now at 9mths old :D

I have one that does both - it is magic, however we always use wood as it smells so nice, is cheeper and less messy. It is that they burn at different temperatures and so need different amounts of air to burn well. If I bought another and was using it to heat the house/water I would look at the new ones that will also take wood pellets as these provide very consistent heat and they are made from sustainable wood sources. 

>>they are made from sustainable wood sources

just like my firewood, its from woodland thinnings or clearfells that get replanted :D

Yes that is what we use at the moment, but the pellets come from rapidly growing trees like willow that are copiced on a regular basis, which is even more sustatinable on a large scale :) It is our ambition to have enough land to provide our own power eventually.