Bought this two months ago and have used around 4kg of charcoal (1/2 a large bag of charcoal) already. I light the unit using 4 tiki candles on a stick below the combustion chamber (I remove the lower grate so I can get direct flame onto the briquettes). So far it has worked well! Love the taste you get off of this unit and it cooks pizzas better than my gas bbq. It loses one star for performance due to the cast iron stand handles. If the handles were bent up so the Center of gravity was more balanced while carrying the unit it would receive five stars. With the handles set below Center of gravity it feels top heavy, and a bit tippy if you’re not watching!