Wood burner or more practical spending?

windym_2

lowbrim wrote: »

Out of interest how much would the wood be for a full winter.

I actually have a wood burner but fortunate enough to live in the country and so far managed without having to buy any but i would have thought it would be quite expensiveto run if I had to buy the wood as we get through wood at a quick rate and we only use the burner as back up.

I have no idea, we chop our own.

debbie42

lowbrim wrote: »

Out of interest how much would the wood be for a full winter.

If you buy those silly little bags from garden centres/garages etc. then it would be very expensive! Last year I bought seasoned logs from a local tree feller. It cost around £80 for a load which was, I'd guess, around 2 cu m. This lasted me all winter, and I'm now onto logs I started seasoning last year.

John_3:16

A big sack of logs may last a day 1/2? (In a 4kw stove) Buy a smaller stove and burn it harder. So many people buy big and find it costly to run. It also means that you may get very hot as a big stove will kick out loads of heat possibly too much to be comfortable with. Not sure of the area you want to heat but 5kw seems about a reasonable compromise?

lowbrim

2 cu/m would only last me about 4 weeks (burning it 6hours/day) and I have a small wood burner (Villager) so it sounds like it would be very expensive if you had to buy wood and it was your only source of heat.

welda

I would say go for it, I have lived through a few economy down turns and, I have a saying "if you depend on your job you would have nothing".

I installed a 5kw villager just under a month ago, best buy this year, in fact, I should have done this years ago! Stove heats up our three principle down stair rooms, I have not had to put on heating since installation, apart from gas cooker use and, H/W top up every second day. I'm fortunate I have access to free wood, also same for kindling, so I'm a happy warm welda, OH is the same.

With you being in construction, I have know doubt you will be a handy man on many fronts, fit the thing yourself, then call in the council to sign it off. Save you a few £££'s in the long run.

W.

savemoney

I had to have a air brick fitted in mine. Also issued with a certificate and a metal plate fastened to the side of the chimney in a discrete place

john175bramley

I'm having a log burner installed in a couple of weeks which looks quite similar to yours. I ordered the burner online for £250, the lining system for about £350 online. The installer is charging me £375 + VAT.

Derby2

Wow! So many replies!

Windym, with regards to the size of the burner, I was concerned it might be too big. We are going to be using it to heat our living room which is 8.9m x 3.7m, which using the online guides gives us a range between 5.6-6.2kW. However, the stairs to the second floor come off our living room and do not have a door, so effectively this area would be included as well. Do you think a smaller one would be better? If so, does anyone have any suggestions for one I could use in a smokefree zone?

There are some better internet deals around, but so many are out of stock with an 8-10 week lead in time. Since we were flooded and have the carpet up anyway, I was hoping to get it installed and the building work done before the room is put back to normal!

Lotus-eater

We have less than a 5kw one, with all the cold air that will come in via an air brick, I would seriously think about which one you want,
Mine run hard, can really produce some heat. Before we got ours I wanted a traditional dual doored version, but we bought a quite modernish oblong, single door one.
Its very nice and I'm glad we did now, it has a big glass door and the heat radiates out of it far better than metal. It also enables you to see the lovely flames easier.

Like someone else said, you will use alot of wood if you want to use it all the time. You said you are on gas, so I doubt you will save any money unless you get free wood.

Its a soul thing (for the good of) not really an MSE thing.

debbie42

Derby2 wrote: »

Wow! So many replies!

Windym, with regards to the size of the burner, I was concerned it might be too big. We are going to be using it to heat our living room which is 8.9m x 3.7m, which using the online guides gives us a range between 5.6-6.2kW. However, the stairs to the second floor come off our living room and do not have a door, so effectively this area would be included as well. Do you think a smaller one would be better? If so, does anyone have any suggestions for one I could use in a smokefree zone?

There's a list here that says the Morso squirrel can be used. I've read good reports on that one.
http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/smoke-control-areas-clean-air-act.html
and more here (I guess it depends on what they stock!)
http://www.fireplaces-oldham.co.uk/stoves_smoke_control_approved.htm

My room is around half your size, and I run a 4kw stove in it (the Scan Andersen 4-5 in the above list) I'd say the size you are considering would probably be ok, but you could ask the supplier/fitter?