what log supplier

gazzer01278
gazzer01278 Posts: 9
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my dads just had a log burner fitted any advice on where to buy logs online.also are these heat logs any good , complete newbie to all this as dad thought he could just burn timber from wood skips, but im lead to believe this isn't the way as flue damage will develop ?

bridgwater somerset

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  • zaax
    zaax Posts: 1,910
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    edited 16 October 2016 at 8:46PM
    If its multi fuel you can, but not varnished wood & if needs to be soild wood not MDF etc. Pallets etc. are good though. What does the manual say?
    Do you want your money back, and a bit more, search for 'money claim online' - They don't like it up 'em Captain Mainwaring
  • alleycat`
    alleycat` Posts: 1,901
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    Some heatlogs are good, verdo and hotties as examples, others are not as good (they tend to fall apart / expand / not last very long).

    You can get the Verdo ones at home bargains for a relatively cheap price to try.

    Pallets (untreated) can be burned (watch out for nails, etc).

    Anything that's likely to be tantalized, covered in paint or full of glue (e.g mdf) isn't a good idea.
    It'll burn but the crap you're inflicting on your neighbours isn't really a good thing.

    Smokeless fuel, typically, is cheaper (if multi-fuel stove) but needs more cleaning due to left over ash.

    Have a look on arbtalk for wood suppliers in your area (if he's looking at buying logs).

    You'll need to create some sort of store if you buy logs (rain off / air flow as high as possible).

    Heatlogs need to be kept somewhere relatively dry (Garage/shed).
  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741
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    my dads just had a log burner fitted any advice on where to buy logs online.also are these heat logs any good , complete newbie to all this as dad thought he could just burn timber from wood skips, but im lead to believe this isn't the way as flue damage will develop ?

    bridgwater somerset

    There are plenty of people burning pallets and waste wood who report no problems, even after a good number of years. It's not something HETAS is going to encourage, but there's a good body of evidence from personal accounts that this isn't causing any serious damage, like liners wearing through in a few years.

    The worst thing is damp wood, which won't deliver in heating terms or in pleasure; it'll soot-up the glass and fill the chimney with tars. Even running a boiler seems to reduce the cleanliness of the stove, because when I converted mine to 'dry,' it burned better, produced far less tar and the glass stayed clean. It was a different stove altogether.

    Make sure Dad has a carbon monoxide alarm in the room where the stove is. That's the No1 rule with all stoves.
  • Ectophile
    Ectophile Posts: 7,276
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    edited 18 October 2016 at 7:56PM
    If you grab your local free adverts paper, it'll probably be full of people offering logs. A "load" is a remarkably variable quantity, but usually means a pick-up truck. Other people sell by the cubic metre (which is loose-filled, not neatly stacked) or by the builder's bag (which is less than a cubic metre). Although the wood should be seasoned, I'd still recommend storing it for a year if possible as it will burn better after an extra year - but that means a good log store.

    You can buy kiln-dried wood, which is more expensive. But that's a bit pointless unless you have a really dry place to store it.

    I generally keep a few packets of Fuel Express heat logs around, as they burn well (I get them whenever they are on special offer at Tesco). But heat logs are only cheap if you can bulk-buy by the palette load. You need somewhere dry to store them. If they get damp, they puff up and eventually disintegrate back into sawdust. The best heat logs are dark brown, as if varnished, as they are more highly compressed.

    A lot of the wood I burn is scrounged, from trees that have been cut down locally. But they take two years to season. So that's even more storage. And I have to cut them up myself.

    You really shouldn't burn anything treated, painted or varnished (Ok, maybe a little bit as kindling, but definitely not large quantities). And no chipboard, MDF, plywood or anything like that. People will march up and down waving placards if the council want to build a municipal incinerator, but one wood burner stuffed full of toxic treated wood could produce more pollution than a properly maintained incinerator ever would. Painted wood could be full of lead. Tantalized wood could have arsenic in it.
    If it sticks, force it.
    If it breaks, well it wasn't working right anyway.
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