Wood Burning Stove - Is it really worth it?

NotSoWise

martinthebandit wrote: »

Our place is a 1970's bungalow with cavitywall and 6" of loft insulation, both the wood burner and the gas central heating were installed less than a year ago.

During the worst of last winter we were spending about £60 a month on logs. Currently our combined gas and electric bills are £40 a month.

We plan on having our flue swept once a year and so far have never bought kindling.

I expect our running costs for the wood burner to be a lot less this year as I have built up a stock of free or cheap wood and the good lady has been busy making briquettes out of newspaper etc


I think our decision to have a log burner installed was one of our better ones and the fact that it does save me a bit of money is a bonus

Make sure the wood is fully seasoned - it needs to be so you don't get a build up of tar in chimney.

(Wood can take a year or more to season depending on type/species).

hethmar

Get a damp meter - cheap ones on ebay - wood should be below 18%

mark_j

mark_j - is that a vintage Lister? (sorry im not too hot on which is which re vintage tractors)[/QUOTE]

We have a couple of Lister type D engines, small stationary ones which were used at the farm years ago to pump water or provide lighting when the power was out. The white tractor is a David Brown, the little grey one is a Feguson T20 from 1955 and the red one is a massey ferguson 35 from 1960, start it on petrol and then runs on heating oil when warm.

And regarding handheld moisture meters, definantly a worthwhile investment, i have a Stihl one, its very accurate and use it most days on different sites.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do

Russ123_2

These hot air guns how do you use them? throw coal\wood onto a clean grate and position the nozzle? that easy?

mttylad

With a gas fire, when I want to go to bed I simply turn it off.
What do you do with a woodburning fire? I would not want to leave a fire going when I go to bed.

How much smoke do they make? I am in a smokeless zone - many others are putting them in that are also in the zone.
How do the councils react to woodburning in smokeless zones?

savemoney

I got my winter supplies, I am also making paper logs and I also collect wood. Cant afford to high gas bills, already had one price rise now another next month

I got the paper log maker in beginning of July I have around 60 logs now dont mind making them easy enough to do


My only source of heat is multi stove in dinning room, coal fire (useless) in living room and gas CH

A._Badger

Russ123 wrote: »

These hot air guns how do you use them? throw coal\wood onto a clean grate and position the nozzle? that easy?

Yes, that easy! They will also light smokeless fuels quickly - and some of that stuff can be murder to get going with conventional means.

Russ123_2

Thanks for the info, also do you know anything about 'all night burner grates' up till now i had never heard of them. Some websites claim you can keep them going for 15hours?

c20fires.co.uk/fireplace_accessories/all_night_burner.htm

A._Badger

mttylad wrote: »

With a gas fire, when I want to go to bed I simply turn it off.
What do you do with a woodburning fire? I would not want to leave a fire going when I go to bed.

How much smoke do they make? I am in a smokeless zone - many others are putting them in that are also in the zone.
How do the councils react to woodburning in smokeless zones?

Unless you have an approved stove (they are supposed to offer more complete combustion) wood burning is outlawed in smokeless zones (which doesn't mean people don't do it, of course).

Leaving a wood stove running overnight isn't really recommended because when just ticking over wood is said to produce tar and smoke that condense in the chimney and, eventually, can cause a fire risk.

That said, I have friends who run their wood burners day and night throughout the winter and have yet to come to grief.

Stoves running on smokeless fuels are less of a problem in that respect, perfectly legal in smoke control areas, and can be left running more or less indefinitely subject to the regular emptying of ash and the dd pause to clean the chimney.

A._Badger

Russ123 wrote: »

Thanks for the info, also do you know anything about 'all night burner grates' up till now i had never heard of them. Some websites claim you can keep them going for 15hours?

c20fires.co.uk/fireplace_accessories/all_night_burner.htm

Many years ago I had a friend with one of these. I seem to remember it worked very well. Haven't seen one in decades!

I think the deciding factor would be how well your chimney draws, though. A poorly performing chimney can wreck just about any set-up.

If the chimney was good, I reckon one of these would work well and the price seems quite good. I've seen those (hopelessly inefficient!) Spanish baskets selling for over £150 for a big one.