East Asian coal briquettes

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East Asian coal briquettes
Japanese name
Kanji	煉炭/練炭
Kana	れんたん
Transcriptions Romanization Rentan
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	蜂窩煤
Simplified Chinese	蜂窝煤
Literal meaning	Beehive coal
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Fēngwōméi Wade–Giles Feng-Wo-Mei
Korean name
Hangul	연탄
Hanja	練炭
Literal meaning	Kneaded coal
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Yeontan
North Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	련탄

East Asian coal briquettes (Japanese: 練炭, Hepburn: rentan), also known by the names yeontan (Korean: 연탄) or fēngwōméi (Chinese: 蜂窩煤; Chinese: 蜂窝煤, literally "beehive coal"), are coal briquettes used across East Asia for home cooking and residential home heating purposes. They were first invented in Japan, then propagated through the rest of East Asia in the early 20th century, although their usage is now uncommon in contemporary Japan and South Korea.

Made from a mixture of lignite coal dust and a gluing agent that keeps the dust particles together,^[1] they became a popular alternative to firewood and natural coal because they come in a consistent size and stack easily. There are 5 standard sizes for the briquettes, and the 2nd standard is widely used in households.

The 2nd standard briquette is cylindrical in shape, weighs 3.5 kilograms (7.7 lb), and is about 20 cm (7.9 in) in height and 15 cm (5.9 in) in diameter. The standard briquette has 22 holes drilled into its top to facilitate steady, efficient burning, and a household typically uses one to three briquettes per day in the winter. A new briquette can be placed on one that has been burned halfway to extend the burn time.

In older South Korean homes, the same fire used for cooking also serves to heat the house, through a radiant underfloor heating system called ondol.