Log burner investment?

Octopus_blue

What are we thinking? In light of the energy increases....do we reckon a log burner is a good investment? 
Will these be going up in price and worth investing now ti save on central heating or will this eventually just cost the same?

tacpot12

Regardless of what it costs, they pump out a lot of particulate polution. Your health and that of your neighbours will be worse for it. 

Neil_Jones

A log burner doesn't just stop at a new piece of equipment, particularly if you don't already have a flue.  Also you can't just go and chop a tree down in the forest and chuck it in your fire.

This might be of interest:

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/wood-burning-stoves/article/wood-burning-stoves/how-to-buy-a-log-burner-or-multi-fuel-stove-aoa9D9n943G6

As to whether it saves money... depends. You'd have to recoup the investment cost of the burner (and any other work needed such as a flue) and the fuel first.

Ultrasonic

A quick Google supports a suspicion of mine, that having a wood burner will lead to an increase in home insurance costs too.

comeandgo

tacpot12 said:

Regardless of what it costs, they pump out a lot of particulate polution. Your health and that of your neighbours will be worse for it. 

We are 28 houses all with open fires or log burners, some coal some wood but non of us have any health problems though I do agree they are not particularly eco friendly and expect a ban on them in the not too distant future.  

FreeBear

Neil_Jones said: A log burner doesn't just stop at a new piece of equipment, particularly if you don't already have a flue.  Also you can't just go and chop a tree down in the forest and chuck it in your fire.

This might be of interest:

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/wood-burning-stoves/article/wood-burning-stoves/how-to-buy-a-log-burner-or-multi-fuel-stove-aoa9D9n943G6

As to whether it saves money... depends. You'd have to recoup the investment cost of the burner (and any other work needed such as a flue) and the fuel first.

You'd be looking at £1-2K for installation on top of the cost of a stove. Then you need somewhere to store the fuel under cover. A 10x8 shed might last you one winter, but you'd need the same amount of space again to stack logs to season for the following winter.

If you are buying in ready seasoned logs cut & split to size, it will get darned expensive real quick - Even more so if you insist on kiln dried logs.

Do not underestimate the amount of mess a stove makes - Cleaning out the ash will spread dust around the house. The flue will require regular cleaning (soot is real nasty to clean up). On the plus side, as long as you only ever burn seasoned untreated wood, the ash can be spread on the garden.

Phones4Chris

Ultrasonic said:

A quick Google supports a suspicion of mine, that having a wood burner will lead to an increase in home insurance costs too.

Where did you get that over-generalisation from? None of my household insurers past or present have ever asked or got any conditions in the policy about log burners. I suggest this might only apply to some insurers.

in_my_bumble_opinion

Our neighbours heat their 3 bed bungalow with a Villager log burner that heats a back boiler. Works very well. They have an electric shower and a separate immersion boiler which is seldom used.

Overall, given current fuel costs, they probably save over £100 a month compared to using gas or oil (that's taking into account the cost of logs). It's way cheaper and kind of nicer in that it provides a focal point in the living room, etc.

Downside is it requires time and effort.

Works best if you are a household where someone is home most of the time. 

ProDave

I have a wood burning stove in a small cluster of houses otherwise in a remote location in Scotland.

I installed it because we have a lot of trees and just maintaining those produces most of the wood we burn.  If i did not have the stove the wood would just go to someone else that does.

In this situation it makes sense, it completes the cycle of what to do with our waste wood and being such a low density cluster of houses in the middle of nowhere nobody gets bothered by the smoke from the flue.

Now if you are living in the middle of a town or a city and have no source of wood so have to buy it, I would say absolutely do not even think about a wood burning stove, it would be expensive to run and the smoke could be a real nuisance to a lot of people, especially if lots of people install them.

mark_cycling00

You aren't the only person thinking this and as it take 20 years to grow new trees to meet demand, the price of logs will shoot up this winter and prove to be very expensive for a long time.... sigh

chris1973

"These things are great if you want all your neighbours to hate you"

Strange, but i've never made a purchase or indeed any life decision based on what the neighbours think. Its just not something I would ever lose a seconds' sleep over.

Sounds like one of these things that people who ask others to make all of life's decisions for them on facebook would consider.