Log burners - worth the cost and hassle?

whiteguineapig · 27 March 2013 at 2:32PM

we have never had a problem with nails, they just drop through to the ash tray

Eyeore · 27 March 2013 at 7:46PM

We had our small inset stove installed in the summer, best money I have ever spent! We will be able to tell soon enough if it has reduced our bills but I think it has and the heat/comfort is lovely particularly at the weekends when it is run for most of the day, which also heats the rest of the house!

Eyeore · 27 March 2013 at 7:48PM

Spooky, just posted and now on the news an item about increase in energy bills! At least I can heat the house in energy supply emergency. . . Phew!

Seakay · 28 March 2013 at 1:03AM

I've never had a problem with nails, I just get them out of the cold ash and put them in with the metal recycling. Most say on the 'grill' and a few fall through to the ash pan.
sometimes very resinous wood can spit a little, which makes me glad I have a stove rather than an open fire, but the nails don't do anything.

whiteguineapig · 28 March 2013 at 8:14AM

we have burnt pallets and they are full of nails but we have never had any problems

Dukesy · 28 March 2013 at 9:59AM

pws52 wrote: »

Seaway....I was told not to burn wood with nails in as there is a risk of the nails shooting out and cracking the stove glass.
Have I been wasting time extracting nails from wood when I don't need to?

I'm afraid you have! We burn a huge amount of nail infested wood and have never, ever had a nail come shooting out of it. They just drop straight into the ash tray.

BessieBooBoo · 28 March 2013 at 10:16AM

We got rid of our living flame gas fire, as it didn't heat our lounge, and it was like throwing wads of cash away. As we did have a proper chimney anyway, and missed our real, open fire, we decided to have a multi-fuel (smokeless zone area).

It was installed by proper engineers, chimney lined, proper mantelpiece, etc, but was pricey around £3500 for hearth and everything.

However, OH has an endless supply of free wood, and we use it a lot during these freezing days and nights. Thermostat cuts out when fire gets up to temperature, really toasty warm, and added bonus for us is that we can boil up water for tea, or cook on it for free too.

Use it more at week-ends and we don't need gas heating at all, or gas hob. Has the doggy seal of approval as she won't move from in front of it once the wood has got going properly!

Works for us, especially with the gas & electric going up, we have a back-up for heating and cooking with no other outlay apart from a once year clean/maintenance from the company we brought from.

You need to shop around, see what's out there, work out costs of fuel, compare with your current energy use, weigh up the pros and cons, as it is more work than switching on the gas, however, nothing like a real fire for warmth and just enjoying watching it...

HTH

BBB

[Deleted User] · 28 March 2013 at 10:21AM

I think a log burner helps when you are budgeting as you pay for the wood up front, or aquire it for free if you discount the processing of it and you aren't then faced with the prospect of a utilities bill for heating for an unknown amount of cash. We don't use the central heating much now and find it makes a big difference to how much we pay for gas and electricity.