Considering a wood burner - any advice?

Taadaa

As above - we are considering installing a wood burner with a vertical flue that will exit near the top of the ground floor ceiling as we do not have a chimney - 1970s property. We have a contact (friend of a friend) who works for a company that sells them and has been pretty helpful so far, but wanted to hear from people that have had them installed. As this chap may be able to get us a discount, we will probably buy from them and have it installed seperately.

We want one that is at least 7kw to heat our living room, although if we can raise a bit extra will consider a larger one with a back boiler for the other radiators and/or hot water. Will be a multifuel but would rather burn wood from a sustainable source - we are in a rural area with several local woods that use coppicing.

The bit I really want to know about is the installation. Our floor is already concrete, did anyone have to have theirs re-inforced because of the weight, or use a spreading plate? We don't have a hearth - will thick slate tiles be suitable? We are due to a survey to have cavity wall insulation put in shortly, should we get the burner installed first or does it not matter? Did anyone else not buy and install from the same company? TIA

suisidevw

7kw will be way too powerful for an average sized living room!

Thick slate tiles will be absolutely fine for a hearth.

Get cavity wall insulation done first, otherwise the company will insist on wacking in a massive great air vent which is necessary on a stove over 5kw I believe.

grahamc2003

There are big pros and big cons to a woodburner. They look great, add atmosphere and character and I wouldn't be without one. However, they involve a lot of work, even if you have the logs delivered ready to burn. Don't dream of collecting and seasoning your own wood unless you have plenty of time and inclination and enjoy that sort of thing.

System

We were considering a wood burner about a month ago. In the end we settled for gas. I was suprised to find that unless you find and season your own wood it worked out for us more expensive than using a gas fire. Also what clinched it for me was the mess (ash on the hearth) that would need cleaning up on a daily basis. It would have just added another job to my list of dailies.... sod that!

gamston

if you have gas in your area i'd go for gas
we have no gas here, (i'm not paying the price for bottled gas)
so i have oil and a wood burner with a back boiler,
i use a shed load of wood( 6x6x6 shed) + around 10 bags of coal each winter, so i have a shed with wood ready to burn, a bigger area where i store the following years wood,(15x4x4 area)
i get a lot of dust around the fireplace area, the fire needs cleaning each day
so lots of jobs to do