Woodburning or Multifuel:

Stoves are either wood burning or multifuel. Coal is a more energy dense fuel, so will burn hotter and for longer than a wood fire.

A wood burning (as oppose to multifuel) stove should only burn wood, as coal needs to be fed air from underneath, and overheating damage can occur if coal is used. A dedicated woodburner is 5 to 10% more efficient when burning wood than a multifuel burner.

A multifuel woodburner can burn both coal and wood, but efficiency is a little down when just burning wood compared to a dedicated woodburner.

Wood is a carbon neutral fuel, so does not release any more CO2 than the wood absorbed when growing. Coal burning releases CO2 that was stored millions of years ago, so is less environmentally friendly.

Fire wood: This can be brought from many local suppliers by the cubic meter, it should have no more than 20% moisture, this can be tested with a £10 Ebay moisture meter - recommended.

If you can cut your own wood, it should be stored in a woodshed to 'season' for at least a year. This is when the cells break down and give off trapped moisture. Burning 'green' wood is very corrosive and will not burn efficiently at all.

Coal: Many local suppliers can deliver house coal, higher quality coals have less sulphur and are thus less corrosive to flue parts.