A superb idea

The simplest ideas are sometimes the best. I was watching some canal vlogs when I happened across this one ... Well Deck Diaries

It's such a simple idea but quite clever ...

We have three coal burning appliances, one on the boat and a multi-fuel stove and open fire at the cottage. It’s a simple stainless steel cage to hold a stack of coal that just gets topped up as the coal burns down and new coal is ignited by the coal it sits on as you top it up.

I gave it a test run on the large stove at the cottage ....

Of course it also helps set the fire by allowing a tower of kindling with coal above. It looks a little lost in the behemoth burner that heats the whole cottage, but it works.

I was worried it would not fit the Squirrel on Percy due to the back/top boiler. So as we are on the boat this weekend it got transported from one stove to another  and I can report....

Job done, sitting here the boat is lovely and warm 

They are so good I’ll be getting another one for the cottage. I'll try it in the open fire and see how it works in there. One benefit I’ve noted is that as the coal is held in the cage as it burns down you don’t get the ash build up near the door and subsequent drop out.