Wood burning stoves>

tigger2 · 18 March 2006 at 1:29PM

With gas and electric on the up thought it was about time I put a wood burning stove in. I have a good supply of logs!

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks

the_reductionist · 20 March 2006 at 5:17PM

Make sure you have your chimney lined - unfortunately this will be expensive. Probably several hundred pounds depending on the length of your flue.

Woodburners kick out a tremendous amount of heat so if you have an average size room (25-30 square metres) don't be tempted to go bigger than 7KW.

I have had woodburners in several houses for many years and if you just want a functional chunky box with a flat top (I like this look) so you can boil a kettle and strip down to your underwear and watch the furniture dry out and warp then there is no need to spend more than £500. Makes like the Cottager are great little stoves.

Woodburning suppliers who do not stock these makes but only very expensive models always rubbish them but in my experience they are reliable, excellent stoves.

You will certainly need a good supply of dried hardwood logs. Birch, oak, apple and ash are the best. Beech burns well but leaves a lot of ash.

pealy · 21 March 2006 at 2:52PM

We have a burner made by Clearview, (this one I think http://www.clearviewstoves.com/pioneer400.htm) and I've been very impressed with it. The ability to control the heat is remarkable compared to an open fire and I really like the the 'self-cleaning' glass which means you can watch the fire all night instead of seeing a big black mess. You can also burn wood or coal equally well with it.

I don't have any experience of other brands but this one gets a big thumbs up from me.

Cardew · 21 March 2006 at 3:21PM

On a slightly different tack, how long does it take for newly cut and split logs(ash and beech) to become suitable for burning on an open fire?

paul_h · 21 March 2006 at 4:44PM

Cardew wrote:

On a slightly different tack, how long does it take for newly cut and split logs(ash and beech) to become suitable for burning on an open fire?

6-18 months, depending on the type of timber - softwood seasons more quickly.

Ash can be burnt green if absolutely necessary as it's water content is low when cut, but benefits from 6 months seasoning. Beech really needs a good year to season.

calleyw · 21 March 2006 at 5:06PM

A couple of things to think about.

If you have pay to for wood which you will do at some stage even if you have a lot of wood now. It is not cheap and in cold weather do not expect to be able order today for tomorrow. They ain't Tescos. And get rather busy. best to get the wood in during the summer as it has time to season. So make sure you have some where to stack it. And don't expect the person delivering to stack it either.

Wood burning stoves create ash which in turn creates more dust. Also you might want to check with your insurers that it is ok. You will need a stone hearth just in case a piece of wood jumps out while you are filling it up.

You need to have your chimney swept at a couple of times a year.

Also they do look nice but I am sure you are aware it is not like turning on a gas fire. It will take a while to warm up. And they can get really hot. Too hot. And there is not much you can do. Apart from shut it down and wait until it cools off and then adding some more wood to keep it alight.

I like to see a real wood fire but they are hard work. My mum gets through a couple of 25kg bags a day of wood. Keeping a rayburn and a wood burning stove in most of the day.

And the stoves will cost anything from couple of hundred upwards and with the lining of the chimney it will take a while to get the money back. So will it be worth it when you need to start to buy logs.

Yours

Calley

OverlandLandy · 19 September 2006 at 5:44PM

the_reductionist wrote:

Make sure you have your chimney lined - unfortunately this will be expensive. Probably several hundred pounds depending on the length of your flue.

I'm looking at a woodburning stove. Can someone tell me why you need to line the Chimney?

Thanks

FirstClassMale · 24 September 2006 at 4:59PM

We have a fireplace in our dining kitchen just crying out to have a woodburning stove fitted. The original thought had been to add aesthetic(sp) effect and a bit more warmth in the cold winter but today I hit on the brainwave that these things can have a btu of 65,000 plus, why not use it to supplement our oil fired boiler. Is this a viable proposition? As far as getting wood, we have an ash (perfect wood) in the garden and access to free (or at the most, a bottle of whisky) wood of all kinds. A trailer and a chainsaw, ahhh heaven.

John_3:16 · 24 September 2006 at 9:25PM

Yes it is very possible just do a search or woodburning stoves on google

peat · 25 September 2006 at 5:57AM

Don't forget grants may be available - check out schri - http://www.est.org.uk/schri/

Just checked, it might just be for woodchip or woodpellet stoves "automated wood fuel heating systems (boilers and room heaters/stoves)"

Still worth contacting your local office though.

Dave2012_2 · 28 September 2006 at 12:02PM

Hi all,

I've just had one of these wood-burning fires installed and have been looking for suppliers of theses so-called "eco-bricks" or wood briquettes which are basically compressed saw-dust and wood-chippings. Not having much luck finding suppliers... the ones I have found have been online and most supply either trade or minimum orders of 1 tonne, which is way too much. Tried the logpile website, but there's nothing that comes up in the West Midlands. Friends and the people who supply the fires say to just get them from places like Homebase or Saw Mills for free but they deny all knowledge when asked about them. Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

Thanks, Dave

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