We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Is all heat equal?

Options
applepad
applepad Posts: 417 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
Like the idea of a wood burner/multi fuel stove, but I have some mobility problems so thinking it might be too much work? So do I go gas instead- gas stove that looks like a wood burner.
Also have circulation problems so need it to be warm.

Have a large lounge with a staircase out of it and a door into a large hallway with a flat roof, so by looking at calculators I need a 6kw stove.

No access to free wood, so I would but kiln dried logs in bulk and smokeless coal.

But would a 6kw multi fuel burner give out the same heat as the gas? I have a proper chimney, and normal mains gas.

Also thinking that when you turn gas off, that's it it's off, but a multi burner would burn off once we had gone to bed, helping to keep the rest of the house via chimney breast warm?

Been to a few stove places, and they have all told me different things!
So confused
«1

Comments

  • Loanranger
    Loanranger Posts: 2,439 Forumite
    If you have a disability a wood burner is not a good idea. It has to be cleaned out of ash, just as an old fashioned coal fire would be. So bending down to do that and wipe it round and clean the glass front is hard work. Go for gas.
  • missbiggles1
    missbiggles1 Posts: 17,481 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Loanranger wrote: »
    If you have a disability a wood burner is not a good idea. It has to be cleaned out of ash, just as an old fashioned coal fire would be. So bending down to do that and wipe it round and clean the glass front is hard work. Go for gas.

    Totally agree.

    I recently house sat for a friend with a woodburner and it took hours of work to keep it going despite the logs being cut and stacked ready outside. If I'd had mobility issues it would've been well nigh impossible. Go for gas.
  • applepad
    applepad Posts: 417 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I do have 2 teens and a husband, so I would have help, I just want to be warm, but I need to be able to afford to use it
  • Smodlet
    Smodlet Posts: 6,976 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Cheap Energy Club/other collective switches should help keep the gas at the best prices you can get. I would think gas would be safer as well as a heck of a lot less work (that glass will get really hot and what if you fell against it when no-one was there? :eek:) A fireguard will be a good idea, whichever option you choose. HTH.
  • applepad wrote: »
    I do have 2 teens and a husband, so I would have help, I just want to be warm, but I need to be able to afford to use it

    It really is a lot of work though!! I'd say the people who are doing the maintenance should be getting the majority say in the decision. What will happen when your children leave home?

    I grew up in a house with proper fireplaces and would honestly never have noticed any heat from the fire really making its way upstairs after you put it out! More like icy winds whistling in the chimney. If you're not using any other type of heating in your house, the upstairs is going to be flipping freezing whatever you choose.
  • I prefer CH than fires,but flueless gas fires seem to be very efficient compared to the old flue type ones,if I had to I would go for one of them.
    Anything less efficient than the heating isn't worth it in my opinion good controls and efficient heating should be able to keep all rooms at the right temperature for not much cost.
  • I grew up in a house with proper fireplaces ... the upstairs is going to be flipping freezing whatever you choose.
    We didn't get central heating until I was 13 years old. Before that, it was 1 coal fire in the living room for heat and hot water. In winter the bath was ran, then you would get undressed in front of the fire, wrap a towel around you, run upstairs, dip a toe in the bath and then back to the fire to dry off. :)
    It was luxury when gas central heating was installed and you could sit upstairs anytime of the year without wearing a coat!.
  • Smodlet
    Smodlet Posts: 6,976 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Yep, I remember having to twist strips of newspaper (anyone remember those?) to make firelighters to stuff in the boiler in the kitchen, which heated the water and the one and only radiator... in the hall! Where was the logic? Getting central heating was like moving to a different climate, when we were allowed to turn it on, which was only when HE was there.
  • applepad wrote: »
    Like the idea of a wood burner/multi fuel stove, but I have some mobility problems so thinking it might be too much work? So do I go gas instead- gas stove that looks like a wood burner.
    Also have circulation problems so need it to be warm.

    Have a large lounge with a staircase out of it and a door into a large hallway with a flat roof, so by looking at calculators I need a 6kw stove.

    No access to free wood, so I would but kiln dried logs in bulk and smokeless coal.

    But would a 6kw multi fuel burner give out the same heat as the gas? I have a proper chimney, and normal mains gas.

    Also thinking that when you turn gas off, that's it it's off, but a multi burner would burn off once we had gone to bed, helping to keep the rest of the house via chimney breast warm?

    Been to a few stove places, and they have all told me different things!
    So confused

    Be aware that....

    An open chimney, not 'balooned' in any living area is a constant huge reduction in the heat you have now, in your home and are paying for.
    Disclaimer : Everything I write on this forum is my opinion. I try to be an even-handed poster and accept that you at times may not agree with these opinions or how I choose to express them, this is not my problem. The Disabled : If years cannot be added to their lives, at least life can be added to their years - Alf Morris - ℜ
  • You could certainly keep warm with a wood burner, and I had mine on tonight and it got too hot in the lounge in spite of a fan so I put the kettle on to get it back within optimum temperature limits. The door was open so the heat escapes into the rest of the house. As you say, it will heat the chimney breast and when I go down in the morning the lounge is still noticeably warmer than the rest of the house. I didn't use the central heating at all last winter and my gas bill came to <£40 p.a.

    Dealing with ash is a fortnightly task (if that), plus a bit of kitchen towel to wipe the haze off the glass. I've never found fuelling to be an onerous task, but my house is a snug 3 bedroom.

    Having said all that I am fit enough to scrounge and prepare my own wood. Tonight was just pallet wood and a broken briquette (probably why it got so hot). Kiln dried wood can be a bit of a con unless you get a good supplier, but briquettes can be very effective - I use verdos as my in the house reserve stock as they are easy to store.

    There's also the expense of the stove and flue to take into account, but I love the heat my stove gives off and even the view of the flames is warming!
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.5K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.9K Life & Family
  • 257.2K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.