Wood burning stove/central heating

alleycat`

I find the "heat" question with logs rather odd.
I can get my stove up to temperature and keep it that way with hardwood logs very easily.
In fact i find it easier to get it up to temperature with logs over any smokeless fuel I've tried.

The logs tend to keep the stove at about 400-420 for just under an hour (5kw stove).

The aspect of smokeless that makes it more appealing, over logs, is that it keeps temperature for a much longer period of time without reloading (but only at about 350).

It is a bit six of one half a dozen of the other in regards to which is best (in my mind anyway).

wrightk

i suppose its personal preference, along with whatever works best for your stove. we have a 10kw charnwood which runs through a gravity feed system. it was a nightmare with logs, now we've switched to coal we find the system works so much better. it was almost like running a steam train with logs to try and keep the longevity of heat throughout the system

muckybutt

We to have a charnwood 11kw gravity fed as well that does the heating for us, I have a great supply of cheap hardwood furniture off cuts and free wood and have no problem keeping it at a constant 400 if needed ! on shall we say tickover it normally runs about the 300 deg mark.

The heat that we can get from the hardwood is equally comparable to that of smokeless that we have burnt before.

A._Badger

All of my stoves in the past, and my present one, have produced greater heat from smokeless fuel than they have from logs.

Logs have their charms but wood doesn't burn as hot as coal - as any blacksmith will tell you.

wrightk

seems like quite a heated debate (no pun intended). i only say about coal as it works for us and works out a lot cheaper than logs, something for the op to think about perhaps.all the people on our little row of houses (about 14) who all have the same stove installed and have been using coal since the 60's said when we moved in 'do not use logs as these stoves eat them', i suppose you learn the hard way

suki1964

Using smokeless here and average 350 oC which I understand is the best you can expect on smokeless. I find though that temp is hot enough as its a constant without having to load the stove every hour

Scuttle of smokeless lasts a day unless its very very cold outside. 50kg cost 16 quid. Logs ( soft wood) 3 quid a sack

wrightk

suki1964 wrote: »

Using smokeless here and average 350 oC which I understand is the best you can expect on smokeless. I find though that temp is hot enough as its a constant without having to load the stove every hour

Scuttle of smokeless lasts a day unless its very very cold outside. 50kg cost 16 quid. Logs ( soft wood) 3 quid a sack

exactly the same price we pay for our 50kg open sack. is very reasonable

Greenfires

wrightk wrote: »

i dont know what makes you think i would buy nets of logs from bandq let alone for 7 quid a pop!! when we used to buy them they were from a local reputable dealer close by, even though they were very reasonably priced i would never go back to logs.they just dont produce enough heat compared with coal

I'm not suggesting that you did, or would - but an awful lot of people do for some reason! Nets in logs from anyone though are generally the most expensive way of buying them.

Interestingly enough, many of my customers actually tell me they can't get the same level of heat from smokeless fuel as they do from wood! Personally I'd only use smokeless if it was free - it's filthy stuff at the side of wood, where we only take an inch or two of ash out of the stove perhaps once a month.

suki1964

Greenfires wrote: »

I'm not suggesting that you did, or would - but an awful lot of people do for some reason! Nets in logs from anyone though are generally the most expensive way of buying them.

Interestingly enough, many of my customers actually tell me they can't get the same level of heat from smokeless fuel as they do from wood! Personally I'd only use smokeless if it was free - it's filthy stuff at the side of wood, where we only take an inch or two of ash out of the stove perhaps once a month.

Have to agree about the mess. I'm burning logs at the moment , not every night but a good few times the past month and still not emptied the ash pan. When I start on the smokeless it will need emptying daily

For us though we have to use smokeless Can only get soft wood as that is all that's grown over here and it costs a fortune and usually comes wet. I only have logs when we " trade" with a local fella ( hubby will do a small job and he pays in logs)

A._Badger

[QUOTE=Greenfires;56242537
Interestingly enough, many of my customers actually tell me they can't get the same level of heat from smokeless fuel as they do from wood! .[/QUOTE]

Then, with respect. they are defying the laws of physics - or not making an accurate comparison.

"[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Wood fuel has typically less than half the calorific value of coal and smokeless fuel, so you must be prepared to use a greater volume of wood to heat your home or room, unless you use both wood and mineral solid fuel. "

Source: http://www.solidfuel.co.uk/main_pages/wood.htm


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