Space Heating

Gas

Diesel

Wood

Wood Chip and Sawdust Logs

Logs made from compressed wood chips and logs are pretty amazing - they burn hot and long and are no mess. They can be made from waste (sawdust and chippings from sawmills), or they can be made from virgin wood, and may be imported (most often from Germany or Canada). With the growing popularity of this type of fuel a number of manufacturing operations are now established in the UK

Charcoal

Charcoal is a good eco-replacement for coal - it's black and dusty, and won't go out once lit. If dry it's easy to light, and works well as a bed for wood. It doesn't burn as hot or as long as coal, but a well stocked stove will burn all night if the air inlets are shut down completely. British Charcoal is a vastly superior product to the imported variety - being comprised of around 90% carbon as against an average of around 60% for the imported product - so it burns hotter with less smoke and reaches cooking temperature much faster. There are now around 300 charcoal producers operating in British Woodlands so it is much easier to buy a high quality locally made product, whilst also helping to restore neglected woodlands and increase bio-diversity at the same time.The shaped charcoal briquettes are best avoided - being made of waste charcoal dust and a whole concoction of garbage to stick them together. The additives may include lignite coal dust, borax, sodium nitrate, limestone and charred sawdust - do you really fancy cooking your food on that?!

Be careful where you get your charcoal from - commercial charcoal can come from tropical rainforest cut down for the charcoal market in Europe and N.America. Ask your council forestry or environment department if they know of any local producers (and if you find any put their details in the Suppliers section below).

Circulating Heat

In order to acheive the best results from any heat source it is essential to get the heat to the right places and conversly to avoid creating cold draughts. Good insulation and well positioned ventilation are essential. Once these factors have been addressed you may look into fans to circulate heat. Stove top heat exchange fans are one way, another is to use your excess electricity (always a problem that) to power small computer fans.

Space Cooling

In summer the problem is usually that your boat (particularly steel ones) get unbearably hot. How to cool them down?

Moor under a tree

Obvious really - trees provide shade, and deciduous trees also cool their immediate environment.

Create a draught through your bilges

Your bilges are the coolest part of the boat - We need to get the keel cooled air up into the cabin. Since hot air rises and cold air sinks there's not much we can do with natural convection. The other way would be to suck the air out of the bilges and deliver it to the top of the cabin, where it will sink back down again. Pipes and computer fans (CPU fans fit well inside 40mm waste pipes that can be often found in skips) can do this.

Create a water-cooled draught

Using the same principle as bilge-cooled draught, this idea uses a pipe that is partly immersed in the river or canal. Obviously the deeper you immerse it the cooler it will get. At least part of the pipe will need to be metal (copper is good) in order to let the air passing through to get really cool. The downside of this setup is the long lengths of pipe you'll need (where does it live for the rest of the year?), and also the fact that you'll need a lot more suction/blowing in order to get the air moving through the whole length of the pipe. Maybe use several computer fans? Let us know if you try this!

Suppliers

North West England

• E&S Fuels based in Lancaster supply compressed logs made from wood waste. These are made in Corwen in N.Wales. They also supply charcoal and logs from local sustainably managed woodland.
• Rebecca Oaks, based in Arnside, just north of Lancaster, manages her own woodland and supplies wood and charcoal 01524 781375
• B&Qs between Lancaster and Manchester sell FSC charcoal supplied by E&S fuels.
• Lancashire County Council Forestry Officer Paul Bullimore can advise on charcoal and wood suppliers in and near Lancashire - 01772 533917
• Greenfires is based in Carnforth close to the marina on the Lancaster Canal. We supply Eco-logs which are made in the UK, wood pellet fuels and British BBQ Charcoal which is made by Ian Taylor in the Lake District. We also supply Eco-Fans, BBQ's, Chimineas and Fire Bowls and Baskets. We will soon be selling innovative lightweight camp stoves which run on wood fuel and are extremely efficient. We are happy to deliver orders direct to your boat if you are moored anywhere towards the northern end of the Lancaster Canal and we can get the van somewhere near - though we may ask for a cuppa when we arrive