Wood burning stoves>

[tigger2]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Originally Posted by Cardew

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]

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]

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

[QUOTE]

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

Thanks

[FirstClassMale]

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]

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

[peat]

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]

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

[Mrs pbradley936]

Wood burning stoves are very good for heating.

If you use newly cut wood on an open fire it will spit everywhere and burn any carpet, cat or dog in front of it.

Get an Aga if you can afford one.

[OverlandLandy]

Just an update: I was looking for a woodburning stove - just to heat the living area of the house.

I have made enquires ref the 'pellet stoves' - The principal looks good in theory as you can get a grant of around £600 (stove) or £1500 (stove & boiler) in England & Wales via the following http://www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk/home/ In Scotland you can get back 30% of cost up to £4k http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/generating/types/biomass/

The grants sound good but the cost of stoves etc...are quite high: as a benchmark only:

STOVES:
Eco Prezionsa (stove) 5.1Kw @ £1600 + Vat
Ecofire Freddy Air (stove) 11.8Kw @ £3000 + Vat
Eco Lucrezia Idro (stove & Boiler) @ £3050 + Vat

FITTING:
Flue needs to be done - around £700 + Vat
Installation around £500 + Vat for a stove up to £2000 +Vat for a stove/Boiler combo. (but this EXCLUDES the cost of radiators etc.... another £1500 + vat perhaps for the plumber)
If you need an accumulator tank thats around another £1000

SITE SURVEY:
can be anywhere between £35-£400 depending on location etc.... this would be refunded if you bought a stove. A survey will be needed if you want to apply for a grant.

FUEL COSTS:
Costs of 'Pellet' are around £250-£280 per Tonne (aprox)
These generally come on a pallet comprised of £15kg bags.
The fuel MUST be kept dry.

RUNNING COSTS:
as ever this depends on how hot & for how long you run the stove but as a rough guide:
one 15Kg bag will power a stove for around 20-24hours (depending on the heat required)
This works out as (very aprox) £4.24 per 24hours
There is NO rebate or grant for the fuel.

STUFF:
the stoves are quite efficient. The require electricity (to control the fuel hopper and temperature controls).
You need to empty the ash every 1-3 months (depending on use)
For a grant you need to buy a 'grant approved stove' and use an approved installer.
The Pellets are mostly (but not always) manufactured in Europe and imported to the UK (which raises a few questions about how good it really all is for the enviroment?)
In Scotland you need to apply for a Building warrent
In Engalnd and Wales - the installer should be 'HETAS' registered.
If you are in a 'smoke control Area' you may need to apply to your local building control officer for an exemption from the clean air act!
You are not guaranteed to get a grant!


I have spent a bit of time researching this and my own personal conclusion is that these stoves are OK but I question some of the background Enviromental issues.
The most efficient stove still appears to be a dedicated Wood Burning stove (as opposed to a multifuel stove).
The most cost effective still appears to be a Wood Burner - even having to buy wood (locally of course). You can always make your own 'logs' as well from all your old newspapers & Junk mail (a good use I think!).

I hope this helps anyone looking at the options.

As I say all prices are approximate.... and I guess prices will decrease as the number of users increases.

[FirstClassMale]

That's what I would expect with grants. I looked into them for wind power and by the time I jumped through all the beurocratic hoops, it was going to cost more than if I hadn't bothered applying.

[Ken68]

It seems to me that grant assisted purchases just increase the price of the product. The supplier see you are getting a grant and ups the price. The same goes on with insurance claims in other fields like car repair and house repairs.
A small dedicated woodburner to assist gas central heating is the way I would go. Free off Freecycle, or cheap from the classified. Always seem to see loadsa free wood about.

[Dave2012]

Originally Posted by OverlandLandy

FUEL COSTS:
Costs of 'Pellet' are around £250-£280 per Tonne (aprox)
These generally come on a pallet comprised of £15kg bags.
The fuel MUST be kept dry.

RUNNING COSTS:
as ever this depends on how hot & for how long you run the stove but as a rough guide:
one 15Kg bag will power a stove for around 20-24hours (depending on the heat required)
This works out as (very aprox) £4.24 per 24hours
There is NO rebate or grant for the fuel.

Just to add to this and answer my own question above, most saw mills, woodyards and quite a few DIY places actually compact these wood pellets themselves to reduce the amount of space taken up by the waste sawdust they produce and they're only too happy to give them away for free - I've heard that some Homebase stores do this, but a local saw mill (Great Bar Saw Mills if ur in the locality of Brum) gave us as much as we could fit in our car - just pulled up, asked nicely and we were away! There's no way now that I would ever pay for these! So it's worth asking around.

Dave

[countryman]

[QUOTE][QUOTE][[I]

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

Thanks

I have had a woodburning stove for some time now, my chimney (1963 bungalow) is unlined, no problems. I'm not too keen on any sort of metal flue liners if you can avoid them (i.e your chimney is in good condition) as they unfortunately can act as a lightening conducter (attracter)

[bealine]

See what Pealy has written above. I also have a Clearview 400 and it's the best thing we ever did regarding heating. The house is a lot warmer and the C/Heating gas bills are a lot lower. I wish I had put it in years ago. Lee

[red8]

Considering purchasing a Broseley wood burning bolier cooker from the classifieds. This is all new too me so I've lots of questions: Is it a practical option to use as the family oven and cooker? we live in a smokeless area ao does that rule it's use out totally? Is there a grant for this in Northern Ireland? is it a nightmare to install, a flue would have to be created for it?
this all sounds so negative but I love the idea of it, eco homely and maybe even save a bit of money on heating oil.

[Igol]

Do a search in the forums for 'wood burners' and you'll find loads of threads about them. If you dont have a chimney already your looking at big bucks and if you want to use it as a cooker you need to be looking at things like agas rather than woodburning stoves.