Has anyone used the Woodmiser product for wood burning stoves?

celerity

I haven't had a chance to look into this properly yet, but they claim you can burn less wood if you use their product (presumably with no loss of heat, or otherwise I wouldn't question their claim )
They also make Coalmiser, but I'm guessing it's the same product.

I am generally of the opinion that "if it sounds too good to be true..." but like I say, I haven't had a chance to debunk this myself yet, so wondered if anyone on here has an opinion?

http://www.woodmiser.co.uk/

/\dam

celerity

They claim they are backed by a study at Cambridge University which found their product saved 33% fuel.
I can find no mention of any such study on Google.
There is also no mention of heat output, rendering their claim (and crude graph), pointless. In my opinion anyway...

It is of course possible this is a wonderproduct, but they are not doing a good job of demonstrating that on their site.

/\dam

zeupater

Hi

Well, operating our stove so that it reburns the combustion gasses/particles it's supposed to be somewhere over 70% efficient anyway .... add another 33% and I'd be onto a winner .... :rotfl:

Inside the combustion chamber of a decent logburner there would be little need to spread the heat anyway .... it's that hot that the wood surface literally vapourises, mixes with a pre-heated air feed and then combusts .... that's why there's so little smoke : it's almost all burned away ....

In a hearth fire I suppose that the heat is probably concentrated in the middle of the burn, so there could be some science behind using this concentrated heat to help keep the edges alight .... but as an open fire is really akin to turning on an industrial scale extractor fan the 33% improvement could just be increasing the overall efficiency from 15% to 20% (if you're lucky) ......

..... As an aside, did you know that an open fire in a house with central heating can actually have a negative heating efficiency ?? .....

HTH
Z

celerity

The more I look at their site the more I wonder if they are in breach of trading standards. Maybe I'm naive but I really didn't think you could get away with saying things like "So, next time you’re lighting a fire, use WoodMiser in the grate and you’ll use 33% less firewood. "

zeupater wrote: »

..... As an aside, did you know that an open fire in a house with central heating can actually have a negative heating efficiency ?? .....

I didn't know that, no! I've read a lot about how inefficient open fires are but was somewhat sceptical because:

a) I know people with open fires, and they love them and certainly don't complain they don't work. Would your claim be true if someone invented a hatch to seal off the chimney when it's not in use? And conversely, could you vastly improve the effciency if they were kept burning for most of the day, which I imagine small cottages would have done in the past.

and

b) when I open the (mostly glass) door to my wood stove the heat is much more intense, blasting into the room in fact, making me wish I could run it just as efficiently and safely with the door open .

If we are going off on tangents anyway, you may remember me as the person who was splitting logs in the summer for next winter. I'm very glad I've started that process as we are going through a scary amount of wood in our lounge and office now the temperature has dropped. Every day our 3 tonne woodpile visibly shrinks which is very depressing!
To give you an idea, we are using one of the large woven "eco" bags supermarkets give out to transport wood from outside into the house. I load it up so it's reasonably difficult to lift with one hand, and that lasts us an evening or two, for one stove only.

Still has to be better than burning oil though, and wood burners are lovely once they're roaring away...

/\dam

Ben84

I had a look at the site and didn't really find any detailed explanation to judge. The main point it claims is 1/3rd less wood burnt, which if true would obviously save firewood, but it doesn't claim that it makes the fire emit more heat per unit of wood being burnt so I'm cautious that it may not be improving efficiency at all.

grahamc2003

The science behind WoodMiser is both simple and incredibly complex at the same time

Ah, right, got that sorted then.

I eagerly went the 'the science' page, and read no science whatsoever.

No link to the Cambridge paper which 'prove' the claims.

I expect if the claims are true - i.e. that you burn 30% less fuel (eg by the device inadvertantly choking the air supply), then I expect you get 30% less heat out (or maybe even less than that).

zeupater

Hi All

So, in conclusion ... the consensus seems to be that using the product in a woodburner is probably ...


Z

ballogie

bought one
tried it
it works
no idea how
it is a fine mesh of steel wool

how long it will last is another question

cairndog

zeupater wrote: »

Hi All

So, in conclusion ... the consensus seems to be that using the product in a woodburner is probably ...


Z

Hi woodburning experts out there, we've got a log load which seems rather variable and I'm tired of trying to keep the logburner up to speed. I think you can get a gadget that tests the moisture levels in the logs (probably very expensive) does anyone know if they work? I thought I could check the logs and use dryer ones to start it and mix in the dodgy ones as and when. I do know you should use seasoned wood but its not always possible. Can anyone help please?

zeupater

cairndog wrote: »

Hi woodburning experts out there, we've got a log load which seems rather variable and I'm tired of trying to keep the logburner up to speed. I think you can get a gadget that tests the moisture levels in the logs (probably very expensive) does anyone know if they work? I thought I could check the logs and use dryer ones to start it and mix in the dodgy ones as and when. I do know you should use seasoned wood but its not always possible. Can anyone help please?

And as if by magic .....

Hi

What outside storage do you currently have for the logs ? ... make sure that the air can continue to dry the logs and they are sheltered from rain .... Do you have the ability to stack some logs next to the fire to help them dry out before use ... this definately helps ... apart from that with your current load you have very few options other than selection.

With your current load there's little you can do apart from being selective. When picking logs up you'll get a feel for which ones seem to be heavier than normal for that type of wood ... you need to leave these to dry out longer, trying to burn them will deliver little benefit as they'll just steal heat from dry wood which is burning in order to turn their water content into steam. If you have mixed loads of hardwood and softwood it's usually easier to get the fire going with softwood because it's less dense and tends to dry more quickly, also, if you have a selection of hardwoods try and identify what they are ... partly seasoned Ash will usually burn well, whilst the likes of Oak will not.

I find that frosty/dry, but sunny weather does wonders for drawing moisture out of logs, so what burns poorly at the moment will likely give-up more heat later in the winter ... it's just a matter of sorting.

Regarding the moisture testing .... I've borrowed one to try out and wasn't too impressed .... they're fine when you first split a log, but after splitting the exposed surface drys out and then you get false readings of what the core content will be .... this is okay for testing some samples from a delivered batch or wood you have felled yourself, but not suitable for selecting individual logs to burn ....

HTH
Z

cairndog

Thanks zeupater, we are doing things you suggest but not able to identify wood but it does seem very dense. Our log storage is good and eventually this lot will improve. In desperation I have sent for a moisture meter so will see whether it helps and we are splitting larger logs (very dense!) to try and make them easier to ignite. Have also tried briquettes but they collapse if touched so can't be mixed with anything else and burn out too quickly.