Woodburner alternatives - electric stoves any good?

daltone

hi all

I have a little holiday let cottage, and was thinking of installing a woodburner in the living room. The chimney appears to be blocked, and thinking about the hassle of stocking wood for guests to use, and the potential hassle of guests who don't know what they're doing stinking the place out with smoke etc, I'm having 2nd thoughts.

The cottage already has a Dimplex electric stove fan heater thing, which is pretty cheap and nasty and also makes a racket when it's switched on. I was thinking of replacing it with a better electric stove like a Broseley Canterbury or Gazco Huntingdon 30.

Does anyone have recommendations? Are they good-enough looking to be worth the £600-700 they'd cost? Are they noisy and annoying in use?

thanks in advance
Ewan

G_M

Is there another form of heating? Or is the 'Dimplex electric stove fan heater thing' the only heating?


For a holiday cottage you want to keep it simple, so you are right to avoid a wood burning stove unless you live locally, are willing to go in whenever called upon, and can clean it out and re-stock wood each time there's a change of holiday-maker......


I assume you pay the utility bills....?

matelodave

I think you are wise to avoid a wood burner in a holiday let. Are you contemplating fitting a gas stove instead of the electric one that you've got. The cost of the flue and stuff will probably make that prohibitive.

In the end even a £600 electric stove wont perform any better than what you've already got (they are still just a posh fan heater), so if it's not repairable I would be inclined to just replace it like with like.

Swipe

I agree. A wood stove in the hands of an inexperienced guest is a disaster waiting to happen.

daltone

Thanks for the responses - the cottage has central heating, with an electric boiler (there's no gas supply and nowhere to store LPG cylinders so that's not an option). If it was a larger property then I think we'd need to have an open fire / stove, but as it's a little cottage I think we can get away without one, really.

So the "stove" that's there right now is just for putting on the effect of sitting in a cosy room, and the few times I've used it, I thought it was a bit crap and annoying. It feels plasticky and cheap and looks the same. Even so, Dimplex sells them new for £150-200.

A recent guest gave us a 3/5 score on the decor and furnishings in the feedback form the agency sends them, and made the comment that it's only because of the awful fake stoves (there's another one in the kitchen), and that she would expect a proper woodburner in this kind of cottage, as she's stayed in loads that are similar. You can't win, it seems ;-)

If we did have a log burner, we have a housekeeper who conceivably could store logs and put out 2 or 3 with a few bits of kindling for each guest at the start of their stay. Then if the guests want to sit around a fire all the time, they could go and buy some more at the local store. Save me a bit of electricity in heating the place as well

What I think I want is something that looks & feels the part, and if people decide to put it on, will provide a fairly good flame effect and maybe generate some heat without making too much noise or smell.

cheers
Ewan

matelodave

You'd still have to get the chimney sorted out, possibly with a liner as well which would probably set you back well over a grand. Add the cost of a stove and it's installation and you'd not really save the cost of it all in reduced leccy bills.

In the end it's only you who can decide whether you want to pay the cost. As said, those who know how to light and use a stove properly are pretty few and far between so you'd have to be convinced that you didn't introduce a smoke, fire or carbon-monoxide hazard due to improper use.

SonOf

On the other hand.... a holiday let with a woodburning stove would be more attractive to many people and could allow an increase in the rental as well as boosting off-season rentals.

A lot of cottage search engines include real fires as a filter.

Fake stoves are awful.

FreeBear

daltone wrote: »

If we did have a log burner, we have a housekeeper who conceivably could store logs and put out 2 or 3 with a few bits of kindling for each guest at the start of their stay.

A log burner will make a lot of mess. All those bits of dry wood & bark falling off the logs. Ash getting everywhere when the stove is cleaned out, and finally... If you have carpets or rugs anywhere near the stove, hot embers falling out will burn holes in them. Should guests be daft enough to light the fire and leave the door open, embers will spit across the room and possibly start a fire...

Is an investment of £2-3K (along with the increased cleaning costs) really worth it just so that a few people can bump up your ratings ?

sgun

daltone wrote: »

A recent guest gave us a 3/5 score on the decor and furnishings in the feedback form the agency sends them, and made the comment that it's only because of the awful fake stoves (there's another one in the kitchen), and that she would expect a proper woodburner in this kind of cottage, as she's stayed in loads that are similar. You can't win, it seems ;-)

What I think I want is something that looks & feels the part, and if people decide to put it on, will provide a fairly good flame effect and maybe generate some heat without making too much noise or smell.

Some people live to complain. She saw photos and had a description of the cottage before she booked so it can't have been much of an issue. Personally I hate those electric fake stoves, reminds me of tacky 1970s living rooms. I would rather see a sleek modern electric heater, they can blend in well with older style cottages. So yeah, you can't win! Don't get a wood burner for all the reasons people have given and also it might affect your insurance.

G_M

and don't forget the annual chimney sweep cost........

daltone

Yeah, the costs of installing the log burner and maintenance is definitely a factor, but as SonOf says, it will be a draw for some guests and potentially allow a higher rent (in bigger properties with a garden, hot tubs are another way of jacking up the rent - who knew...)

I've gone and ordered a Broseley Canterbury stove. At least it's cast iron so will look the part more than the cheapo plastic thing that's there at the moment...

thanks