Wood burners

Nick_C

We moved early last year and wanted a wood burning stove to replace the gas fire. We looked at stoves costing about £1k, but the total cost was coming out at between £3K and £4K (we got three quotes).

We removed the gas fire, got the chimney swept, bought a new grate etc, cut a piece of fireproof board to shape to protect the solid marble hearth(!), and now enjoy burning wood on an open fire. Total cost about £200.

An open fire isn't very efficient but it looks and smells lovely. We don't need the GCH on when we have a fire. The heat is OK and I think you feel warmer seeing a fire. We have a fire guard and we don't go to bed until the fire has gone out.

Although the inset/cartridge wood burners look lovely, I actually prefer the look of a real open fire.

Hoof_Hearted

We love our wood burner. It is so nice sitting in front of it on a cold evening.

We buy bulk wood in the summer -- a lorry load for £150 -- and this lasts the winter. I also burn scrap wood if I have any and use old fence panels for kindling. We have the chimney swept once a year and the amount of soot isn't exceptional. A stack thermometer helps us to optimise the burning efficiency.

£150 represents 3-months gas usage, so I wouldn't claim that it is particularly money saving. We just like it.

suki1964

Davesnave wrote: »

I would, as some of them are carp, but you certainly dont need to pay top dollar. You do want to be sure the spares are there when it needs a part in 5 years time.

I agree that fine detail over efficiency figures isn't something to worry about too much. The best inset stove will always be a bit less efficient than a free standing one because more heat goes into the chimney brickwork, but then you could argue that's a heat store and it'll be given back for longer once the fire dies down.

Maybe take a look at Fireline Stoves, which is a brand the guy who's fitting my new stove sells most of, because they're reasonably cheap and don't result in many call-backs. I'm having something posher, because I can, but still under 1k and made locally, so a bit of prejudice there as well!



Treated timber nowadays is not the same as treated timber years ago, when they used to put arsenic compounds in the treatment, or tar based products. Whether you burn it is up to you, but I know farmers who have burned old fencing stakes for years, without significant issues with their flues. But then farmers do all sorts of things they shouldn't....we won't go there!

Obviously, in the old days, putting arsenic-containing ash on the veg garden wasn't the best of ideas.

As for hardwood only.....well just think what those living in colder areas like Canada or Scandinavia have lots of, and it isn't hardwood, although they have that too.

Lots of things influence what happens in a flue, besides just the wood, as I found out after removing the boiler in my stove. What a difference. Clean glass for a start.


Err....you're sure it's not your cheap Chinese Tiger that's gobbling the wood? Some of my friends use very little wood in an evening in their Morsos and Woodwarms, compared with me and my old stove, which is why I've just ripped it out for something better.

However, my wood is either free or cheap, and I know supply can be hit & miss elsewhere, so it's definitely worth not tying yourself to wood alone.

I also agree that people can fit themselves if they have the skills.This web-site gives great coverage of that topic:
http://www.stovefittersmanual.co.uk/

It also gives quite a lot of info about various stoves that are sold via the site.

There's also: http://www.whatstove.co.uk/woodburning-stoves-and-multifuel-reviews

which is OK. It is obvious from the vastly conflicting views that some people have issues that are more to do with the fitting than the fire itself, so it can be confusing at first.

Finally, if you are getting someone else to fit, get at least 3 firms to quote, if you can. I chose someone who has fitters within the firm rather than employ sub-contractors. One of the sub-contract guys I spoke to also knew his stuff, but they couldn't guarantee I'd get him, and I do think the appriasal and installation is really important.

Actually no I don't think it's my cheap Chinese tiger +. What it is, is living in NI and all hard wood is imported and cost a fortune

We have wet pine available I buy two years in advance. I store in dry draughty places

However wood here is astronomical.

My stove heats a huge living room, two huge bedrooms and a bathroom as well as keeping the chill out of the rest of the house

However , in my case, buying smokeless is the cheapest and best option It's clean, gets delivered, and a coal scuttle will do a days burning, 11 - 11 most days with a wee log to eek it out on the coldest of days

I save my good wood for my pizza oven

Davesnave

suki1964 wrote: »

Actually no I don't think it's my cheap Chinese tiger +. What it is, is living in NI and all hard wood is imported and cost a fortune

We have wet pine available I buy two years in advance. I store in dry draughty places.

I didn't realise that. I'm lucky in generating some wood myself from land maintenance. Also, one of my friends is a farmer and part-time tree specialist, who pays me in logs for land rental.

But it all starts out as wet wood, which brings up the issue of storage and seasoning, which can take 2 years or so and a lot of space. Apart from the CO detector, which GM mentioned, it's worth reminding intending wood burner owners that they will need somewhere to stack and season, or else they'll be buying expensive barn-stored or kiln-dried logs.

suki1964

Davesnave wrote: »

I didn't realise that. I'm lucky in generating some wood myself from land maintenance. Also, one of my friends is a farmer and part-time tree specialist, who pays me in logs for land rental.

But it all starts out as wet wood, which brings up the issue of storage and seasoning, which can take 2 years or so and a lot of space. Apart from the CO detector, which GM mentioned, it's worth reminding intending wood burner owners that they will need somewhere to stack and season, or else they'll be buying expensive barn-stored or kiln-dried logs.

Here in NI you can only buy forestry wood, which is pine, and is soaking, and takes at least 3 years of drying to get a good burn

I did ring around a few places offering kiln dried wood, which was coming in from Poland and costing a fortune


Now and again they guy who supplies me with wood will get yew or hawthorn Those bits I save for the pizza oven

Right now I've the stove lit. Taken a shovel of smokeless to bring the room up to temp and will probably burn around four logs ( one log split to four ) before bed. Stove lit at 3pm , no other heating

Zola.

Shop around, read reviews. We bought a Morsoe and absolutely love it

http://morsoe.com/uk/indoor/products/multifuel/morsoe-o4-with-big-performance.

Calculate your room size carefully and consider the KW output. We got the Morsoe as its slightly smaller, even though our room is 24 square meters, it warms the room really well, but not over bearing.

The stove was £750 or so at the time, there was a lot of work getting it installed as the old fireplace was bricked up etc. The whole thing came to about £2,200 to install, but its up there with the best money we've ever spent.

Grenage

Gloomendoom wrote: »

A glass of water isn't much use if you have gone to bed.

Years ago, when open fires were the norm, they used to show public information films just before the telly shut down for the night. One was all about the perils of not using a fireguard.

To be fair if someone goes to bed without the fire being out or well covered, there's no helping them.

JohnB47

I'm not sure about an inset stove. Mine has a right angled flue so that the stove sits well forward of the fireplace. This means you get both radiant and convected heat. I'm wondering if an inset would provide as much convected heat.

I think tucking a stove into a recess is less efficient than having it well forward (as long as the hearth is suitably sized).

lstar337

JohnB47 wrote: »

I'm wondering if an inset would provide as much convected heat.

I have used one that gave out tons of convected heat.

It had channels that ran up through the body. It drew the air in through the bottom and it came out through vents at the top. It had its own flow control and the heat of the air coming out was phenomenal.

I only used it for a week away, but it was a Dimplex (didn't even know they made them) model.

Must have been this one: https://www.plumbnation.co.uk/site/dimplex-westcott-inset-solid-fuel-stove/?gclid=CjwKEAiA6YDBBRDwtpTQnYzx5lASJAC57ObM6POlsbByvjmi7Je_uNgU8HHmkwG_N_BQJCgHQdhr8xoCo3Hw_wcB

You can see the vents top and bottom.

theonlywayisup

We live here in the UK, in Cornwall and have a Westfire http://www.westfire.dk/?lang=en it's freestanding, a showpiece and whacks out the heat. It is incredibly efficient (88%) and you can 'turn down' the heat easily. Ours is a few years old, they will no doubt be much more efficient now.