With electricity costs jumping up year on year, find alternative ways to heat the home has become quite important for South Africans across the country. One method that is becoming increasingly popular again is using an anthracite heater. Coal suppliers provide anthracite at very affordable prices. Anthracite burns very hot – much hotter than wood or other forms of coal. This is due to its high carbon content. It also burns the cleanest of all forms of coal. This makes anthracite heaters an easy choice for most South Africans.

Comparison of an anthracite heater to other heating methods

• Wood fireplace: While wood generates more heat than a gas or electric heater, it is not as much as an anthracite heater. This is because it loses 40% to 60% of its heat through its chimney.
• Gas heater: A gas heater heats up instantly and is useful during a power cut. The risk is that as the gas is odourless, it a cylinder leak can be dangerous.
• Oil heater: The large surface area radiates heat outwards, so the room is heated fairly quickly, but they use a lot of electricity.
• Wall-panel heater: This type of heater is safe for kids and pets. It is mounted on an interior wall. It can crack if it gets knocked hard.
• Freestanding heater: Works well for small areas only. It is easy to use, but the hot elements can lead to injuries and fires.
• Underfloor heating: Warms a room up evenly, is safe, and doesn’t dry out the air. As it uses electricity and has to be on all the time to work efficiently, it can be quite expensive.
• Gas fire: This type of fire doesn’t need a chimney. You can turn it on and off quickly and easily. It is quite expensive to install though and doesn’t warm up as much as a wood fire.

If this has convinced you that an anthracite heater is the way to go, the next step is to find out if there are anthracite coal suppliers nearby. It will be an unfortunate situation of going through the expense of getting a heater installed only to find out there are no coal suppliers in your area (or who will deliver to your area).