Wood burners in a new house

MORPH3US

Hi folks,

Myself and the girlfriend live in a 6 year old house on an estate and our house has no chimney.

With the increases in gas prices, we would like to get a wood burner for the living room.

The problems I see are:

- No chimney

- do they make lots of smoke

- is burning wood etc bad for the environment

- the girlfriend seems to think its illegal in certain towns / citys to burn fuel

Can anyone advise on the above and any other comments on how much it would cost / if you think it would be worthwhile etc!

Thanks lots

M

Volcano

See if you live in a smokeless zone:

http://www.uksmokecontrolareas.co.uk/locations.php

Where are you going to get the wood from? Why do you think it is cheaper than other heating methods?
Smoke output would be proportional to the type of wood burnt/how damp it was.

It is nice to have an open fire, but it does take a while to get it fired up and hence can be a pain if you just want to heat the house for short periods ie first thing in the morning.

meadowcat

You could check out the wood pellet stoves. I think there may be a grant available for them. They are regarded as carbon neutral as the amount of carbon dioxide emitted is the same as that absorbed during the growth of the wood.

http://www.clear-skies.org/households/GrantsAndTechnologies.aspx?intTechnologyID=5

I understand there is excellent heat from these stoves and very little ash. They only have to be filled every few days.

Mr_Proctalgia

Its would be much much cheaper to go for one of the flueless catalytic gas fires now available, they are 100% efficient too and fit in with modern decor. Getting a chimney fitted is likely to cost you several thousands of pounds.