Using a wood burner... for dummies?

leikela

Hi all, thought I'd ask here as it seems the most sensible place for my question I'm about to move into a house with what was described as a "wood burner" (although I'm not entirely sure if it's actually multi-fuel as the previous owner seems to put something else in it) and I have no idea where to start! Is there anywhere online that can help me out with how to get started with it? She's left a store of wood that I can use but aside from that I'm lost! I do have a picture of it if that would be helpful. Thank you

highrisklowreturn

Post the picture.

leikela

Being an idiot... do I need to upload it to a photo hosting site? :-/

leikela

Okay, figured it out I think! This is it:

Williwoodburner

Hello and welcome,

easy to tell if a multifuel or a woodburner, if it has a grate, its multifuel, if not its a woodburner.

stovesonline is a good site to look at and covers all the basics, takes time to get to know your stove though, and how to get the best out of it.

here are some useful links

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/
http://www.wendronstoves.com/static/faq/how-to-light-a-fire/
re the later, look at the Harmony stove video.

Regards

Willie.

welda

It is a Villager Chelsea Duo, multi fuel stove, duo being two doors. I have the same, except mine is flat top, where you have the extended high top.

Mine is my first stove/benchmark, I certainly have no complaints at all with perfomance, it is a 5kw max output stove.

You can download a manual, any probs, drop me a line?


Regards...........

Ps, there is a "show us your stove" thread on here, I posted an image of my flat top.

leikela

Thank you! I will definitely check out those links, pretty excited about it to be honest

I was just looking at that stove thread, some beautiful setups there!

welda

You should be able to remove top, which will then give you a flat top?

You can if required, add an eco-fan to push the heat around, I always have a the kettle on top, handy for the day time brews and, also do the odd casserole, chicken, or beef...........

Regards.........

leikela

welda wrote: »

You should be able to remove top, which will then give you a flat top?

You can if required, add an eco-fan to push the heat around, I always have a the kettle on top, handy for the day time brews and, also do the odd casserole, chicken, or beef...........

Regards.........

I would love to but as its only rented I'm not sure the landlady would appreciate that!

Another silly question: can you use any wood in them? Reason I'm asking is because I have a bunch of wood from the old house that I used for shelves - can I burn that? It's only ever been indoors and is effectively 'naked' (no varnish/paint etc on it). Really need to do some homework!

muckybutt

A few things to bear in mind with stoves etc

1) get it swept at least once a year.

2) never ever burn damp wood.

3) never burn the stove on the cool side, ideal temp needs to be around 250 deg - 400 deg. Best to get a stove pipe thermometer.

Do you know if your stove is connected to a flue liner ? easy way to tell is, do you have a "hat" on top of the chimney pot ? if theres a cowl then chances are it is lined, if thats the case the make sure all wood burnt is dry and seasoned otherwise it will block up rapidly.

If its lined hopefully you should be able to sweep from the inside of the stove.

If its not lined there has to be an access door / trap into the chimney, this will be in the register plate or externally if the outside wall backs onto the chimney, if there is no access you have a problem and you'll need to put access to sweep in as you cant sweep a 14" wide chimney through a 6" hole.

You can tell if its multi fuel by seeing if it has a grate in the bottom of it and an ashpan underneath, if there is no grate and its solid then its purely a wood burner.

When burning wood its best to get a good layer of ash built up as wood is best burnt from the top, whereas coal like a draught coming up from below to burn.

If its multi fuel and you want to kepp it in overnight then use solid fuel, let the fire build up to say 9pm, then load the fire up with solid fuel and close down the vents so as just to allow a slight trickle of air into the stove. In the morning providing its burnt right all you'll need to do is give it a slight riddle and pop a few bits of wood on - open the vents up a litte and away it should go. I wouldnt recommend burning wood overnight as it will burn too slowly and not hot enough, burning on the cool side as mentioned above is a bad idea because correct combustion is not acheived, this will result in tarring up of the chimney / liner very quickly and is also a good starting point for a chimney fire.

Finally get a carbon monoxide detector, sit back and enjoy. They can be hard work at time but once you get to grips with it you'll love it.

muckybutt

leikela wrote: »

Another silly question: can you use any wood in them? Reason I'm asking is because I have a bunch of wood from the old house that I used for shelves - can I burn that? It's only ever been indoors and is effectively 'naked' (no varnish/paint etc on it). Really need to do some homework!

Hard wood is best to burn, MDF and chipboard can be burnt but not in huge quantities, theres a lot of resin and glue in those types of wood which again will fur up the chimney / liner, also steer away from wood like connifer which is very sappy wood.