Woodburner or not?

ProDave

Re air tight houses.  Ours is air tight, super insulated with MVHR triple glazing etc.

If you have a stove in one room and light it, that room will likely over heat.

The secret to it "working" in our case is the room with the stove has double doors to the stair well, and the other living room has double doors to the stairwell the other side.  So with everything open, the stove heats the entire house, not just one room, so it does not overheat.  But it was designed like this from the outset.

Section62

dimbo61 said:

The burner also needs a steel vent pipe to carry the highly toxic smoke away.

"Highly toxic" needs to be read in the context that the UK Government(s) haven't (yet) seen fit to ban the cooking of food for human consumption by placing it a few inches directly above burning wood on a device (commonly known as a charcoal barbeque) which emits smoke at the face level of children and seated people.

There are some health and environmental issues associated with woodburners, but those risks need to be seen in perspective, and compared to the risks that come with the alternatives.

Gers

SameOldRoundabout said:

 

Agree that the glass doesn’t get dirty, but I’m not very good at stacking the wood sometimes and if a piece falls too close to the glass it definitely blackens quickly! 

If you have the stove working properly the black burns off. 

amanda_p

We have had our woodturner for over 20 years absolutely love it. We have a largish 76 built detached house and use it from October to February on a daily basis. When we had it installed I remember ihaving to have a special flue due to burning wood which was quite expensive. The fake ones look what they are fake and cannot stand any sort of fitted gas fires, reminds me of my parents house.

AdrianC

youth_leader said:

I had a woodburner and during bad storms smoke would blow back into the room, nightmare.

That's simply badly installed. Probably just needs a storm cowl on top of the flue.

I've just bought a bungalow and am investigating ways of making it attractive to buyers so my kids don't have difficulty selling it when I've gone.

Blimey, I'm sorry to hear of your imminent demise! How long do you have left?

Because, unless it's likely to be this year, I'd be prioritising how I wanted to live in the place...

davilown

AdrianC said:

dimbo61 said:

I live in the countryside and woodburnrs are a huge pollution problem.

No, they aren't. We have a neighbour who has a woodburner for their central heating boiler and hot water. If you didn't see the smoke from the flue, you'd never know it was lit.

You need a CO alarm in any room with a solid fuel appliance.

No, you don't.

The burner also needs a steel vent pipe to carry the highly toxic smoke away.

Yes, the flue, which will be fitted as an integral part of the installation.

You should use dried wood and NEVER any old timber fencing which may have chemicals painted on them.

Isn't that obvious?

But here in ruralshire, that's no problem. We have trees in ruralshire. If you don't have a chainsaw yourself, you'll know people in the village with one. Or there'll be somebody who'll deliver a large pile cheaply. You'll have a woodshed to stack the cut-and-split bits of tree to dry.

The problems come with the godawful overpriced bags of soggy rubbish urban petrol stations sell as "logs". But who in their right mind would buy those?

They need to be cleaned out after every use

Takes a few minutes to clean out and re-build ready for lighting again.

and checked for any leaks or problems with the vent/chimney.

Not every use...

Every year or three, when the flue's swept. Even that's not really necessary if you don't burn rubbish, and know how to use it - I've had bits of unswept flue apart, and there's minimal build-up.

Spend your money on better loft / wall and floor insulation.
Maybe a air/ground heat source pump instead of a gas boiler

They're different things for different jobs.

A woodburner is not a primary heat source for most people.
It's a feature in the room, something to light and stare at over a bottle of wine of a winter's evening. A less vacuous alternative to staring at the telly.

Woodburners are also a VERY different thing to open fires. They're chalk and cheese in terms of the efficiency of burn and the volume of fuel you get through.

I wouldn't want to be without one.

Probably the best summary I’ve seen so far - a properly installed burner works brilliantly.

One thing to add is, make sure you don’t buy the biggest you can - we had a 4kw in a fairly large double height space and that was too much for that, though it did heat the rest of the bungalow!

babyblade41

AdrianC said:

dimbo61 said:

I live in the countryside and woodburnrs are a huge pollution problem.

No, they aren't. We have a neighbour who has a woodburner for their central heating boiler and hot water. If you didn't see the smoke from the flue, you'd never know it was lit.

You need a CO alarm in any room with a solid fuel appliance.

No, you don't.

The burner also needs a steel vent pipe to carry the highly toxic smoke away.

Yes, the flue, which will be fitted as an integral part of the installation.

You should use dried wood and NEVER any old timber fencing which may have chemicals painted on them.

Isn't that obvious?

But here in ruralshire, that's no problem. We have trees in ruralshire. If you don't have a chainsaw yourself, you'll know people in the village with one. Or there'll be somebody who'll deliver a large pile cheaply. You'll have a woodshed to stack the cut-and-split bits of tree to dry.

The problems come with the godawful overpriced bags of soggy rubbish urban petrol stations sell as "logs". But who in their right mind would buy those?

They need to be cleaned out after every use

Takes a few minutes to clean out and re-build ready for lighting again.

and checked for any leaks or problems with the vent/chimney.

Not every use...

Every year or three, when the flue's swept. Even that's not really necessary if you don't burn rubbish, and know how to use it - I've had bits of unswept flue apart, and there's minimal build-up.

Spend your money on better loft / wall and floor insulation.
Maybe a air/ground heat source pump instead of a gas boiler

They're different things for different jobs.

A woodburner is not a primary heat source for most people.
It's a feature in the room, something to light and stare at over a bottle of wine of a winter's evening. A less vacuous alternative to staring at the telly.

Woodburners are also a VERY different thing to open fires. They're chalk and cheese in terms of the efficiency of burn and the volume of fuel you get through.

I wouldn't want to be without one.

Absolutely what he said ... when our stove installer installed ours it took a day to do, we hd a chimney already in situ but the flue is fitted as standard and the chimney cover.  the knack of lighting a wood burner is the key to keeping a fire clean and running at optimal level.
The heat lingers throughout the house which is why having another installed would be too much as my OH uses our other room every night hence the bio fuel fire ..enough to take the chill off but he's not roasting his bits :-) 

I am very rural so there are many around our village and unless you see the chimney smoke (minimal) you wouldn't know , BBQ's are a whole other nuisance , thankfully not many here 

Logs are cheap if you are in the know and most people here have log sheds. The ash when cold go to the hens and turkeys for dust baths 

We don't have TV's so when Im sat on a winters evening browsing the net with a glass of wine there is something quite special with it burning and the dogs wait for me to get the kindling basket out 

Greymug

Fishoutofwater said:

We are buying a new build and it comes with a woodburner. If we elect not to have it, we can redistribute the budget for something else. I am not fussed either way but thinking about resale, would it put you off not to have a fire of some sort in a semi rural property? 

Wood burners are just good for instagram. In real life, they're a pain in the butt as many other have said. Dusty, dirty, stinky...

FreeBear

AdrianC said:

You need a CO alarm in any room with a solid fuel appliance.

No, you don't.

On the point of a CO alarm being required, dimbo61 is (mostly) correct - Any new installation or replacement solid fuel device requires the fitting of a Carbon Monoxide alarm in order to be fully compliant with the current building regulations.

In England, private landlords are also required to fit a working CO alarm where there is any solid fuel device, this is in addition to smoke alarms..

References: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1010058/Single_stitched_together_pdf_of_all_ADs__Jul21_.pdf - Part J, page 814 of the PDF.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smoke-and-carbon-monoxide-alarms-explanatory-booklet-for-landlords/the-smoke-and-carbon-monoxide-alarm-england-regulations-2015-qa-booklet-for-the-private-rented-sector-landlords-and-tenants

Murphybear

We lived for 6 months in a rural property near Dartmoor, in the winter.

it was the biggest pain in the wotsit.  You have to have the right seasoned wood, you can’t just put any old thing in it.  It takes a long time to get going, then it gets too hot and you can’t turn it off.  It then needs to be cleaned out.  Sparks can jump out and ruin rugs/carpet.

I wouldn’t have another one if you paid me