Are multifuel stoves cost effective nowadays?

chumbasmum

I have a largeish, open plan and love our burner BUT cost effective....not really. We have to buy in wood and I think it would have been cheaper to use our gas CH more. But I love our stove. It produces lovely, natural heat and gives off warming light.

They are great but not really money saving.

redlady_1

Gloomendoom wrote: »

See, that's my problem. To get the rest of the even slightly warm in winter, the room with the stove in it has to be ludicrously hot.

It was so bad in my house once that even the cat had to go outside and lie on the patio slabs to cool down

If the cat has to go outside then that is HOT Mine moves about 2 foot and then I know it's hot.

Keveen - In the winter a 20kg bag of anthracite lasts me about a week just using it to keep the fire in during the day. That cost about £7. Wood, well an old outhouse full will last roughly a month and costs about £70. The fire will be going 24/7. In relation to the wood it depends on how often you will be in.

I also use wood to keep the fire in during the night.

RHYSDAD

We have a Charnwood Country 4 (4/5kw) and if we didn't have tree surgeon friends then I don't think it would be very cost effective. It is very cosy though. Having a fumble with the missus in front of a radiator just isn't the same!!!!

Skulls

Date Time Wood Weight (Kg) Temp ('C)
04-Feb 16.00 Pine 1.00 20
17.20 Pine 1.0 21
18.20 Pine 1.50 21
19.40 Pine 1.30 22
20.40 Pine 1.10 22
22.00 Pine 1.20 23
23.00 Hornbeam 3.25 23
05-Feb 0.25 Hornbeam 3.20 22
1.25 Hornbeam 2.70 22
9.00 Pine 0.50 18
9.00 Hornbeam 2.00 18
11.2 Pine 1.40 18
12.10 Hornbeam 4.00 19
14.10 Pine 2.00 20
15.50 Hornbeam 3.70 22

10-Feb 16.00 kindling 1.00 12
16.10 Hornbeam 2.50 12
17.30 Hornbeam 2.60 18
19.10 Hornbeam 1.70 21
21.00 Hornbeam 3.30 21
22.15 Hornbeam 1.60 21
This spread sheet isn't showing correctly, but I've tried to show my wood consumption during the 2 coldest periods of the winter so far. The Hornbeam logs are anything from 1.5-4 kg each and are fully seasoned and totally dry. The Pine are offcuts from pressure treated roof trusses from Scandanavia. From what I found it takes about 1.1-1.2 Kg/hour to keep a nice steady temp. Although I may be adding 2-3 kg of wood the fire did not need this much. The Pine appears to give off more heat, but this is not the case, it just burns quicker and does not leave many embers. When reloading with Hornbeam, there's most probably enough embers to keep the same heat for an hour or two.
I pay £20 for roughly 60 Hornbean logs and get the Pine for nothing, but only during the Summer.

Lilylover

Hi, I've been an owner of a 5kw multifuel burner for just over a week (professionally installed, chimney lined etc. so initial outlay just over £2k for labour and burner). Bought two bags of smokeless fuel (£10 each) and am coming to the end of the first bag (25kg in size from the stove installers - although I am now looking on line for smokeless fuel alternatives and may find a saving here). I had the original old gas fire removed since it was ugly and we discovered it had an old asbestos block behind the fire! (Lord knows how old the original fire was but house was built in the 50s so could have been installed then.... or maybe early 1980s era so needed replacing!)

So hopefully I can gauge over the coming weeks how much the burner costs to run and will be able to give an answer to Keevan. Mind you, I only intend to have the burner on after 6pm weekdays and all day at weekends. I do have central heating but now the burner is in I only have this on in the mornings and for an hour or so at night (to warm up the rest of the house and heat water).

I am very pleased with my burner; all those who have seen it state how attractive it is. It really has transformed my room. And I do enjoy looking at the coals burning. So even if I don't save on fuel bills I am happy with the welcoming look of my small front room with the glowing flames from my burner.

thebunuk

I need to buy some seasoned, ready to burn logs to see me through the rest of this winter. Does anyone know where the cheapest place is to go? I'm thinking of the diy / supermarket chains or anywhere local to Manchester / High Peak area.

Have been busy sourcing free / cheap wood but it's all unseasoned and won't be ready until next Autumn.

Thanks x

alleycat`

You could try the arbtalk forum but i'd imagine most reputable places would be out of seasoned wood by now (i could be wrong).

DIY, Supermarket, garage forecourts are the most expensive place to buy.

boo2410

I agree, really expensive to buy from garage. In an emergency I bought 2 £5 bags and they were gone in about 4 hours :eek:. We get our wood from an old fella who trundles up on his tractor pulling a loaded trailer and that costs us £80. Found him through a friend of a friend. No idea how much but about 2 tons maybe? Lasts about 3 weeks. Mind you I work from home so fire the stove up at about 8am and it's going solidly til at least midnight, and that's every day. I am trying to train OH not to stack it up with logs, just put 2 or 3 on at a time as the embers give off a terrific amount of heat.

Don't think they are massively cost effective but am trying to cut down on oil as the price has shot up recently and I don't want to buy til it comes down a bit.

woozywendy

We originally went to buy a multi fuel burner but ended up buying a cola fire instead and I have to admit I love it. The old gas fire we had was useless to really heat the downstairs as nobody told us you are supposed to measure the height, length and width of your room so you get the right KW for your room. We buy our coal from https://www.coals2u.co.uk and we have bought 12 x 25 kg bags for £100 in november and we still have 5 bags left as we use heat logs as well 12 x 10kg £50. Best thing we have done as the house is loveley and warm. My bills have come down by £25 a month so far. Hopefully will come down more on next reading.

Leif

woozywendy wrote: »

We originally went to buy a multi fuel burner but ended up buying a cola fire instead

Pepsi or Coke?