Am I missing something?

meritaten

We took out coal fired central heating and got a gas fire with back boiler. because otherwise you had to have the fire going just for hot water (or use the immersion heater which ate leccy). then a couple of years back got the combi. my gas cooker was about twenty years old when the thermostat went so I bought a new one - we thought it would reduce the bills - not send them sky high!
and the leccy fire is in the living room, I do use it but its so efficient that 15 mins on low heats the room nicely. then I just put it on the 'flames only' option. and as the leccy bill hasn't changed at all - I just don't get how having a woodburner would be an advantage.
and as its in the living room - I aint cooking in there! rofl - I prefer to cook in the kitchen!

Loanranger

Just a thought, have you checked the meter reading? Is it correct? Was it an estimated bill?

meritaten

yes - checked the meter reading and I know the guy read it, as I let him in to do it and it was right!
I don't want a woodburner. I don't like them much and it would look all wrong with the fireplace. got a marble hearth and surround and an 'Adam' type mantelpiece. and besides - I am carp at lighting fires, my coal fire used to have me in tears trying to light the dam thing. and you cant turn them off when the room gets too hot!

geekgirl

We have a woodburner that we cook on and use to heat our house. It can heat the water as well but we don't have it plumbed in to do that. Our gas bill in winter is similar to our gas bill for summer as we do not use the gas boiler for heating the house just the water.

Now it does save us a lot of money. But you have to take into consideration the where your logs or coal are going to come from. We only burn seasoned logs as my partner is a tree surgeon so we have a lot of logs for free. Would you have a source of free logs? Because if not he would have to take that into consideration as well.

Then there is lighting it and keeping it alight. Ours runs 24 hours a day but we mostly keep it shut down so it runs slow. This does build up tar in the chimney but again this doesn't cost us money as my partner sweeps the chimneys. This has to be done twice a year. All more costs to take into consideration.

meritaten

I am going to learn all the pros and cons by heart - then put my foot down and tell him he gets rid of the lectric fire over my dead body!
I may allow him to buy a new (more expensive) gas cooker. I am planning on Bribing our friend with a six pack of lager to tell him 'Sorry mate its the cooker - using a lot of gas there'. as I hate that cooker - its oven is too small and I am forever burning my hands and arms.

theoretica

Have you checked that your gas usage has gone up? It isn't just the price of gas?

*SuzySue*

My OH wants a wood burner, but we're not getting one. 3 neighbours have installed them recently and my car is constantly covered in ash now. :mad:

We could have free wood, but even taking that into account the burner would take 8 years to pay for itself based on current gas prices. If we ever had to buy wood it would be longer again. It's a stupid, backwards craze that is anti-social and awkward by today's living standards.

meritaten

yes, the gas usage has gone up by nearly a third. and the only change I can see is the new gas cooker.

meritaten

I also don't approve of burning wood for fuel. make it into tables, chairs, sculptures etc and I have no problem. but to just burn it? Wasteful in my opinion.

[Deleted User]

Wood is the most renewable source of energy for heat and power creation.

Wood burning does releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere just like fossil fuels but it is considered to be carbon neutral. When a tree grows, it absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releases pure oxygen through photosynthesis which is why carbon dioxide that is released into the air when that very same tree is burned equals zero in regard to the greenhouse effect. This process is known as carbon cycle because the carbon dioxide that released into the air by combustion is then absorbed by other plants. In addition, the amount of carbon dioxide produced by wood burning is not any larger than carbon dioxide that would be released during decomposition of that tree if it would not be burned. For that reason, wood fuel is considered environmentally friendly source for heating unlike fossil fuels where there is no carbon cycle.

It's probably the fuel of the future!