Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

ChocClare

mirry wrote:

we went to look at the wood burners today and found out that it would cost us a fortune , apparently we need to have our chimney LINED and it costs about £1000 then to buy the stove at £400 + so we decided against it:eek:

Mirry - whereabouts in Hampshire do you live? Did you go the New Forest Woodburning Centre in Sway? We were there the other day and he told us that he now has to advise people to line their chimneys, but we live in a three-storey Edwardian house with two wood-burning stoves and have one chimney lined (it was already lined, mainly because the chimney stack had been removed from the roof and the previous owners had put their boiler in the fireplace) and one not lined. We have both swept every year and touch wood, (no pun intended) everything has been OK so far. The other really brilliant thing he showed us was to get a cheap computer fan and fix it either in the wall or in the ceiling - this then blows the hot air from the wood-burning stove into the room next-door/above. Unfortunately we have an INCREDIBLY ornate ceiling which I couldn't bring myself to chop up, and there isn't a room next door (husband's office - let him freeze!!! - he's not there in the evenings!!!).

We had a tree come down in our garden, which we cut up and stored, and then people kept giving us their fallen trees to cut up, with the result that our back garden looks a bit like Steptoe's yard, but we do have a LOT of wood. The latest thing we were given was a whole lot of reproduction solid mahogany "bits" - chairbacks, legs, frames - all beautifully carved, but unpolished and none matching - from an antique dealer's warehouse. You couldn't make a single chair out of any of them (though it looked as though you could!) and so we were given them for firewood. I have to agree with what someone said earlier - hardwood burns MUCH better than softwood, so you don't have to worry about lining your chimney then! But all our wood is seasoned/seasoning, and the old man has just bought a wood moisture meter (how sad are we??) which you stick into the stacked wood to see when it is dry enough to burn.

kittiwoz

Ken68 wrote:

I use polystyrene 2" insulation boards, wallpapered and taped and shaped to fit the window reveal. Light, easily handled, certainly not less fireproof than curtains.

Seems far from certain to me. Surely plastics have a much higher specific energy content than natural fibres and so burn hotter and faster? Also in assesing the fire risk of a material you have to consider smoke production. I believe polystyrene releases rather nasty smoke which is noxious as well as obscuring visibility. Curtains are sometimes treated with fire-retardant chemicals but even if this is not the case I would think that most fabrics, particularly natural fabrics would burn less readily and more cleanly than polystyrene.

I'm not sure that this is the case but unless you have done some research and know that I'm wrong I wouldn't recommend having exposed expanded polystyrene in your house.

kittiwoz

I have been looking into this a little and am increasingly convinced I am right.

Expanded polystyrene poses a number of fire hazards. It begins to soften above 100C and melts at 240C. At increased temperatures (around 350C) the melt decomposes to release flamable and noxious gasses. These will be readily ignited by a small flame or will self ignite at 427C. This will instantly produce flames which will consume all of the exposed polystyrene. This means that, unlike in fires in most solid materials, there will be no period of smoulder. Smoulder is enough to cause a smell and trigger a smoke alarm but is easily extinguished by the householder. Flaming drops of molten polystyrene and the ignition of the released gases can spread the fire to other nearby combustible objects such as furniture. The molten polystyrene would also be very damaging in contact with skin since it could not be brushed away. Polystyrene releases particularly thick black smoke on burning which reduces visibility. Carbon monoxide is released, though this would also be the case for curtains. Styrene gas is very noxious, although it is flamable and may burn off producing more carbon monoxide. Some polystyrene foams are expanded using CFCs which are themselves flamable and cause noxious fumes. Furthermore some foamed plasrics are refered to as polystyrene but are in fact ABS, a co-polymer of acrilonitrile and styene which releases cyanide gas when burned. I gather extruded polystyrene foam is often treated with fire retardants which make it less readily ignitable but it is still burns particularly fast and producing particularly thick black smoke. I believe XPS is not recomended to be used exposed but should be protected by a coating such as metal, concrete or plaster to prevent sources of ignition contacting with it and also to ensure that in an elevated temperature situation where the plastic goes molten it doesn't drip down into living areas.

Here is a safety data sheet for polystyrene.

Ken68

Thank you Kitti., I withdraw my recommendation for using polystyrene insulation board as suitable for window shutters.My apologies to everyone, I should have qualified the message.
The material is as used in roof insulation (was given several sheets by a now retired flat roof specialist)and may not technically be polystyrene and would have passed the building regulations.It would be in contact with electric cables in between joists.
In fact I tried to set light to it without success.
I did post a similiar message on a technical board about a year ago, and received no adverse comments, will look it up and PM you.

zzzLazyDaisy

starlite wrote:

Damn that's bad!

Annoyingly the socket in our shared hall runs from our supply, so we end up paying for our neighbours crazy obsession of hoovering it thoroughly every day..

Could you flick the fuse on that circuit while you are out,or would that defrost your freezer?? I used to live in a maisonette and the communal lighting was run off my electricity - used to drive me nuts when everyone left the lights on day and night!!

EagerLearner

Hi there - can anyone tell me if it's better for me to just use 1 x uplighter in the living room rather than the mail ceiling light (dimmer)?

I was thinking to use the uplighter, with an energy saving light bulb (as I can't use energy saving bulb in the main dimmer light) - can anyone confirm this would be best?

kittiwoz

The material used in roofing insulation is extruded polystyrene. If you couldn't light it it implies it has been treated with a fire retardant but this will not effectively inhibit the spread of flame if it does catch light, unlike in most materials, some of which are even self-snuffing. I believe building regs require that it be behind a protective covering as I suggested. This is why.

MegsMum_2

I've read through all the posts and there are some great ideas here. Anyway, feeling inspired last night I took some energy saving bulbs we bought ages ago out of lamps we rarely use and put them in all the living room lamps. I will look out for some more cheap ones. I also found a spare light single duvet and put this in my daughters duvet cover on top of the other light duvet already there, she was so cosy she slept in!
I'm also looking for the slippers that look like furry boots for both of us. Thanks everyone.

*zippy*

Can I please ask how long you heat your water a day?

I have started to reduce mine down, we altered it again last night to 1 hour in the morning and 20 mins tea time, we use an electric shower so water is washing hands and a few dishes only etc.
many thanks

HappyShopper3

There is just me, but soon to be two of us. I put my hot water on economy 7 for half an hour a day. That's enough for a hot shower. I put my washing on 30 degree wash so that isn't hot anyway and I wash up by hand in cold water. I used to be quite wasteful putting the hot water on for 1-2 hours a day at peak time!!