Log Burner

kitekat

Does anyone have a stand alone log burner or one that heats the radiators and water,if so what are the pros and cons of having one and the costs of buying/installing,can it be connected to the original gas central heating radiators.Tia

EricMears

kitekat wrote: »

Does anyone have a stand alone log burner or one that heats the radiators and water,if so what are the pros and cons of having one and the costs of buying/installing,can it be connected to the original gas central heating radiators.Tia

I don't have a gas boiler. I do however have an oil boiler which heats a 'Heatbank' from which central heating & DHW are supplied and have added a back boiler on my multi-fuel stove as an additional heat source for the 'Heatbank'. Suspect that might be rather harder to do if your gas boiler is feeding the CH system directly rather than through a storage tank but not beyond bounds of possibility - you'd just need to ensure that a relay system switches off gas boiler when the woodburner is running. The radiators "don't mind" where the hot water comes from - they just accept it.

Probably only worth thinking about if you have access to very low cost wood (preferably owning your own bit of woodland). Otherwise, cost per calorie of buying wood is probably more than of buying gas.

zeupater

Hi

Standalone log burner here - wouldn't be without it.

Despite not being linked to a wet-heating system the log-burner provides the majority of our total space-heating requirements, the house being exceptionally well insulated. As EricMears correctly states, it can be more expensive to run a log-burning stove than mains gas, but that really depends on where in the country you are and how you source your fuel. If you can accommodate tipped deliveries of around 3 cubic metres or more it can (/will) be cheaper than gas if you have a decent stove, burn efficiently and the wood is good quality & dry, but stay well clear of logs sold by the net or delivered in 'fancy' packs unless your pockets are really deep .... also, take care about what the wood is when agreeing a price - softwood will generally provide ~2/3 of the energy per unit volume as hardwood, so look to pay considerably less if it is offered ...

HTH
Z

Ectophile

I have a simple wood burner. I already have gas central heating, and didn't want the hassle and expense of converting my central heating system to duel fuel.

kitekat

Thanks folks is it better to keep it as a stand alone burner or have it heating water /radiators,and what does each one cost.

zeupater

kitekat wrote: »

Thanks folks is it better to keep it as a stand alone burner or have it heating water /radiators,and what does each one cost.

Hi

the relative cost and benefit is really down to your own property. I would hazard a guess (& it is a guess !) and say that a plumbed-in system (including a heatbank, pipework etc.) would cost at least double the cost of a standalone installation, how much more depends on the integration requirements which would need to be assessed and quoted for by your installer.

As for fuel conversion efficiency, what you would be looking for is the highest combustion-chamber temperature so as to burn the highest proportion of the combustion volatiles as possible so that a clean-burn is achieved and running costs/kWh of heat delivered is minimised. Having a 'boiler' integrated into the combustion chamber reduces both the combustion-chamber temperature and heat-delivery efficiency, which will also likely lead to additional 'tar' condensing in the chimney .... however, the trade-off would be where, and how far, you need the heat delivered to.

If you are in a smokeless zone then the decision could already have been made for you as only a small proportion of stoves on the market are certified to be used in these areas. Considering that certification is achieved through maintaining considerably higher combustion chamber temperatures than normal through pre-heating the secondary airflow, I would be surprised if there are any certified units with integrated boilers (but would be happy to be proved wrong ).

If you're not certain whether to integrate the stove into your heating system at the moment, or not, there are some units available which can have a boiler unit retrofitted at a later date ... ours is a Clearview which has this option, if we ever changed our minds.

HTH
Z

OffGridLiving

We have a standalone woodburner and absolutely love it, they look great and are often much better to watch than TV! . We often get free wood offcuts from friends in the joinery trade (unvarnished & unpainted) that helps to supplement the cost of buying wood plus we often run the woodburner in late spring, summer and early autumn months when you have a cold snap and so it saves us firing up the central heating for the whole house when we're just sat in the living room.

We are also looking to install a boiler stove eventually and would consider a heat bank because they can connect to a gas boiler, wood burning stove, solar heating and solar PV (via immersion heater) all at the same time, reducing our reliance on any one energy source.

With just solar heating and a wood burner, you have a combination of heat sources during summer and winter that can help you become carbon neutral with your space and water heating. Brilliant.

kitekat

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

the relative cost and benefit is really down to your own property. I would hazard a guess (& it is a guess !) and say that a plumbed-in system (including a heatbank, pipework etc.) would cost at least double the cost of a standalone installation, how much more depends on the integration requirements which would need to be assessed and quoted for by your installer.

As for fuel conversion efficiency, what you would be looking for is the highest combustion-chamber temperature so as to burn the highest proportion of the combustion volatiles as possible so that a clean-burn is achieved and running costs/kWh of heat delivered is minimised. Having a 'boiler' integrated into the combustion chamber reduces both the combustion-chamber temperature and heat-delivery efficiency, which will also likely lead to additional 'tar' condensing in the chimney .... however, the trade-off would be where, and how far, you need the heat delivered to.

If you are in a smokeless zone then the decision could already have been made for you as only a small proportion of stoves on the market are certified to be used in these areas. Considering that certification is achieved through maintaining considerably higher combustion chamber temperatures than normal through pre-heating the secondary airflow, I would be surprised if there are any certified units with integrated boilers (but would be happy to be proved wrong ).

If you're not certain whether to integrate the stove into your heating system at the moment, or not, there are some units available which can have a boiler unit retrofitted at a later date ... ours is a Clearview which has this option, if we ever changed our minds.

HTH
Z

Interesting thanks

DATMAN_2

how would this be connected to your existing gas heated radiators?