Wood burning stove - pros & cons.

mrbadexample

:hello: all.

MBE is having a good day. :j I've just been told I've won one of these.

The question is, do I keep it or sell it? I like the idea of it, but even though the stove's free the installation could cost a few quid. I have a gas fire in the lounge at the moment. That would need to be professionally removed or I'll blow myself up. Then I'll need to find out if the chimney's ok. Then I need to install it.

But are they worth it? If you have one, can you tell me what you like about it, and what you don't? Is it saving you money?

I like the idea of making paper logs and using all the junk mail and free papers to heat my home, instead of just chucking it in the recycling bin. I'm fairly sure I could acquire enough fuel to run it over the winter without buying much, if anything at all. I also like the general idea of having a fire.

If I turned off the downstairs radiators, and only used the upstairs ones, would that be signifcantly cheaper?

I'd appreciate any thoughts you might have.

Cheers,
MBE

Oh, one more thing - am I ok to be burning wood / coal / paper in a town?

Pink.

Hi mrbadexample,

I don't have one so can't offer any advice but these threads may give you some idea of whether or not a woodburning stove is for you:

Getting the best out of a stove.... ideas

Cooking in the woodburning stove?

Woodburning stove

woodburning stove advice please

Woodburning Stove

Woodburning Stove Advice (And yes, I have been to a shop!)

Ban Woodburning stoves!

Once you've had some input from the Old Stylers I'll move your thread over to the In My Home board where you should get more help.

Pink

rachbc

First off get a HETAS (I think) installer to look and give you a quote. Then find out if you are i a smoke free zone as this will affect what you can burn - some woodburners will qualif as smoke free but not all so check out the one you have won.

We get about half our wood and all kindling from scavaging and collecting but buy a ton of logs each year and about half a ton of coal - still have loads of coal left from last winter as the order came late due to the snow!!

My folks used to make the recycled logs but it takes a lot of space and time for them to dry...

redlady_1

If you are going to use a stove as your main heat source then I can assure you that you cannot keep it going just by scavenging. You will need at least a tonne a month - and the prices of wood has risen. Mine has gone up by 30% which kind of makes the gas price rise look like a walk in the park. Then factor in the coal except you cant burn ordinary coal. The paper logs dont give you substantial heat (just my opinion) and are very time consuming to make and dry. There is the ordering, stacking and collecting of wood. Backwards and forwards in the snow and rain (you will be stacking in this too) Installation will be over £1k ( mine was £1.5k) and you will also need to factor in a sweep at least twice a year. Obviously if it is just background heat then your costs wouldnt be anywhere near as much for running it.

On the plus side you are toast all the time. You dont need a TV as you just stare at the burner. There is something hypnotic about them. Kettle is boiled on it, hams are cooked on it and despite everything there is no way I would want gas central heating. Oh and you dont need any other heat upstairs in your bedroom as the flue will heat it for you.

Does it save me money? I costed it for the first year and it was £65 per month roughly. Plus electric. This year will be significantly more.

If you are in a smoke free zone then you may not even be able to use it. Check with your local council.

mrbadexample

Aww redlady, you make it sound really bad!

It would only be an additional heat source, just as a boost when it's really cold, or used instead of the central heating when it's not too cold. I really don't fancy spending £1k+ to have it installed though.

With regards to paper briquettes, I don't think I'd mind making them in the summer, and I have somewhere I could store them to dry. Wood I'd scavenge or get from freecycle - I don't think I'd buy that much.

I love the idea of a fire in the lounge though. I'll check out the smoke-free zone thing. Certainly lots of food for thought there.

mistyw1973

Oooh I absolutely LOVE our woodburning stove ! We got ours as back up heat for our lounge as it's very large and open and I was really cold in winter, but we find that the heat that pumps out from the stove heats most of the downstairs so the heating doesn't come on much when we use it. (upstairs was never a problem and it keeps the heat well). We run ours very cheaply and have saved a fortune the past winter on gas bills (we are actually over £300 in credit :eek:..never have been before!)

We have been lucky finding good sources of cheap/free fuel...a local man builds chicken coops/bird tables and sells his off cuts off dead cheap...and we also get supplies from a company that make pallets and are more than happy for you to come and take their off cuts away for a donation of tea bags/sugar/bottle of wine etc, so this also works out incredibly cheap. Ours is wood only so we don't use the paper bricks.

The cons are that yes there is work involved collecting, stacking, cutting wood, but we are lucky in that my DH loves doing that...makes him feel all manly !! And instalation isn't cheap (ours was £1k and burner was also £1k) but for us it's been a brilliant investment...as mentioned earlier it's hypnotic to watch, and has made our home really cosy in winter.....

Sorry...I have waffled on...hope this helps

grannigrunt

Congratulations on your win!! We have a stove which was already installed when we moved in. I have to agree with redlady regarding running costs, I wouldn't say they are a cheap form of heating. We are in a smokeless zone so burn anthracite with logs. I find that offcuts are Ok but you need loads as they are soon burned. However, on the plus side, once you get it going it can be kept burning steadily for a good few hours by using the knobs on the front to regulate the air flow. We live in a bungalow with fairly sizeable rooms and we open all the inner doors and it warms the other rooms nicely. I also put my clothes horse in the room when we go to bed and all the washing is bone dry in the morning! Although there are downsides to running a stove the benefits far outweigh them. When it's cold, wet and windy outside there is nothing to beat them and you will never that same cosy feeling from a gas fire.

tony6403

Some log burners are approved for use in smokeless zones . A list of exempt appliances can be found on the Govts. defra website. http://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/appliances.php?country=e

My small burner is superb . I manage to get hold of a good supply of free wood which I dry during the summer months. I have a paper log press with which I do produce a small amount of fuel. Not as good as the adverts make out but still worthwhile. Best when newspaper alone is used ( no glossy stuff ).
You need to be certain that you have a "Class 1" chimney in good condition or be prepared to have a costly liner fitted.
Needs building regulation approval - they will accept a HETAS certificate for this purpose.

hcb42

I think they are efficient burners, with wood though, not with paper, and much nicer to look at than a gas fire.

winning it but with no installation though, that's a bit rough..!

A._Badger

I love my stove - and I've had several down the years in various properties. But redlady is realistic about the downsides. The illusion that they mean cheap (some even say free) heat is just that - an illusion. They are also hard work.

The upsides are obvious, but people need to get a real grip when rhapsodising about the joys. A stove consumes a lot of wood and you aren't going to find that washed-up on the beach!

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi

I echo what everyone else has said. They cost quite a bit to run and if you have it burning all day you will get through a lot of fuel. I would be surprised at anyone getting enough free fuel to run it all winter (unless you work in a wood yard or something!!).

I also think its unrealistic to expect them to heat more than the room they are in so you are still going to need to use the central heating as well. Where they really do come into their own is early and late winter when you dont need to heat the whole house and can cosy up in the lounge with the door closed and be nice and toasty.

As someone else says they are also fab for drying your washing!

I love the look of our stove but if I was thinking purely in practical terms I dont know whether I would bother installing one if we moved house.