Is your heating ON or OFF?

whitelillies

I run a dehumidifier in my flat all over winter and its a god send. I dont think it uses up much electric either. I dont like the cold damp air and i have a north facing wall all along one side and only one internal wall. I find that the dehumidifer when taking the dampness out of the room is making the rooms warmer and im using less heating in them. I alternate it in different rooms and this year ive found my flat isnt as cold. Ive got storage heaters so my flats prone to a lot of condensation as theres no ventilation when im out all day. I do open my windows to air the place daily but the damp air hangs around and running the dehumidifier sucks the dampness out of the air when i shut the windows and ive had no ttrouble this year with mould or wet running walls.

Beki

to be perfectly honest i've never looked at instructions on how to light a fire so have always just scrunched up some newspaper, then chucked a 1/4 bag of kindling on top, then squeezed a few firelighters inbetween the wood and lit them. then i add a few small logs once the kindling's taken and add logs gradually after that. maybe that's where i'm going wrong! lol

shegar

LIR to get the best fire base you will need a couple shovels of coal , kindling just burns very quick, it does its job to start the fire but thats it, it wont build a base........good job you aint got a poker yet.....:eek:youve got nothing to poke .!!:eek: ha ha...:D

lostinrates

shegar wrote: »

LIR to get the best fire base you will need a couple shovels of coal , kindling just burns very quick, it does its job to start the fire but thats it, it wont build a base........good job you aint got a poker yet.....:eek:youve got nothing to poke .!!:eek: ha ha...:D

Thanks. I'll see if I can get some coal next time I'm out, until then I'll persevere with wood.

I think I'm putting less in. I keep meaning to monitor but life gets in the way. Today I have certainly used at least a sack ful (well, and ikea bag full..)though....vents closed and low fire. don't think I could keep it going much lower than this.

redlady_1

I use a tremendous amount of wood with mine. Dont forget that keeping it in slumber permanently does nothing for the soot build up. I have nearly been in a year and so will have costed it out but it certainly isnt a cheap alternative to the others.

lostinrates

redlady_1 wrote: »

I use a tremendous amount of wood with mine. Dont forget that keeping it in slumber permanently does nothing for the soot build up. I have nearly been in a year and so will have costed it out but it certainly isnt a cheap alternative to the others.

The slow burn isn't very eco friendly either, is it?

Its interesting spending the last couple of days experimenting. Its certainly been worth while, and I feel I'm getting to know the thing a lot better which can only be good.

On the down side its easier to keep being mean with heating than it is to go back to being mean with it! I'll be keeping heat on low now at nights now at least as I don't want to burst any pipes. Its meana lovely slow couple of days in the warm and mainly inside, but tomorrow is back to normal, a day more outside,just as the weather is meant to hit! :eek::eek:

redlady_1

I only have the burner but keep it in with a smokeless coal "thing" (technical language!) However, I had a supply of wood delivered yesterday and was warned that the forestry commission had put up their prices so next years wood may jump by £20-£30 per load. Given I use one a month I will be stocking up in the summer!!!!!

I still experiment even now. You wouldnt think these things could differ so much. But I wouldnt be without him. Enjoy LIR

All I hope is that I can get back home to Lincs to see my family for Chrimbo!

v8monkeyboy

LiR - I was just thinking of you as I was lighting the wood stove

Something I forgot to add last night was that it matters hugely what type of wood you're using. If you're using softwood like pine then it's burn very quickly as opposed to a hardwood like ash or oak which'll last for ages and ages. It may be worth finding out what wood you have. Each time I order my loads, I make sure they're hardwood; my last load was ash and oak.

T xx

shegar

redlady_1 wrote: »

I use a tremendous amount of wood with mine. Dont forget that keeping it in slumber permanently does nothing for the soot build up. I have nearly been in a year and so will have costed it out but it certainly isnt a cheap alternative to the others.

No they definately arnt cheap to run, i will second that.............I had wood burners and open fires for years , but when we moved here with GCH , my husband had bad stroke, and ive got medical probs, so we said thats the end of all the hard work to do with open fires..............I use to swing the axe daily to get 2 large baskets of wood daily, then chop the kindling wood, then buy coal.............

Now we sit in front of our gas stove and turn the flames on when we want, without all the work and dust..........:D.

Oh yea we did enjoy getting outside to chop etc, when we were fit , but those days have gone now, its cheaper to light the gas stove.........

Fruball

shegar wrote: »

No they definately arnt cheap to run, i will second that.............I had wood burners and open fires for years , but when we moved here with GCH , my husband had bad stroke, and ive got medical probs, so we said thats the end of all the hard work to do with open fires..............I use to swing the axe daily to get 2 large baskets of wood daily, then chop the kindling wood, then buy coal.............

Now we sit in front of our gas stove and turn the flames on when we want, without all the work and dust..........:D.

Oh yea we did enjoy getting outside to chop etc, when we were fit , but those days have gone now, its cheaper to light the gas stove.........

Hmmmmmm I am so glad I haven't gone right out and bought a woodburner - I do love a real fire BUT I don't have access to free wood and I don't fancy wielding an axe myself... Sooooo maybe I should be sensible and think about getting a gas fire installed instead :eek: Never thought I would say that!

Anyway, it will be the summer before I can do anything so at least I have lots of time to think and get some more advice/opinions