Log fire

Vik91

Thinking of installing a wood log fire and wondering about the pros and cons.
my concerns are the fire risk hazard, indoor pollution, upkeep of chimney and energy efficiency 
is it worth it ?

comeandgo

Do you mean a stove or just open fire?

FreeBear

Do you have a large shed/garage to store logs ?

They take up a lot of space, and can get very expensive if you are buying them in (don't waste money on kiln dried stuff). And you had better like spiders, because you will find they love to hide in the log pile and come indoors with them.

Vik91

I mean a log burning stove and I have a garage to store logs

Bendy_House

Needs to be a HETAS-registered installer, so that should also mean no risk of fire or poisonous fumes

PROS:

Real fire - cannae beat it.

Wood-burning (or 'multi-fuel type) stove = maxish heat out from burning these fuels.

Potentially a 'renewable' source of heating.

CONS:

A bit messy to clear up - the ash is quite fine.

Adds to air pollution. No question.

Needs an annual sweep.

It's a toughie - they are great, a real addition to making a home a 'home'. But...you can't help feeling a bit bad about the (relatively small amount of) pollution they do cause.

Probably not fair, but a clincher would be if you were fortunate enough to live in an area where you had access to your own logs - that then makes it a no-brainer. But, failing that, you need to go by your own principles. And they will likely be outlawed at some point. (The stoves, not your principles.)

If you go for one, enjoy it - but please ensure the logs are stored in a manner in which their moisture content is kept as low as possible - it's this that causes the worst type of pollution, I understand, the carbon particles.

alleycat`

Bendys covered the majority of things to consider.

You'll need a lot of storage space and really it needs to be sheltered but also ventilated - garages can encourage the wood to sit and go mouldy due to lack of air flow.

All of mine is stacked on pallets (so off the ground) and the tops covered but open to the elements on the sides and faces (air flow drives moisture off).

You'll likely need tools - axe, maul, possibly even a chainsaw depending on what wood you can get hold of yourself.

Kiln dried wood is, in my opinion, a scam. Find yourself a good arborist if you have to buy.

Wood fires need feeding and looking after so, whilst beautiful, they're not something that can be left for periods of time.

The alternative is smokeless fuel:-

Smokeless fuel (assuming a smoke control zone) is easier to store, lasts longer, stays "in" longer and works out cheaper (if you're buying in).

It is, however, dirtier to handle, "dustier" and needs cleaning out more regularly and isn't as pretty flame wise.

Remember that Chimneys and Stoves need maintenance too so factor in those costs too.

I love mine but I'm aware, well certainly until recently, it's not as cost effective as good old gas central heating or as easy to use.

mark_cycling00

You're going to spend a few thousand pounds on purchase and installation, buy logs that keep shooting up in price in order to save the cost of heating a living room in the evening. 

People mostly have them because they are "natures television", unless you can obtain all your own wood at no cost when they can be cost-saving.

There is minimal pollution once the fire is going at a hot (400F+) temperature. So you need to be skilled in reaching this temperature efficiently and keeping it there. You need to be at home most of the evening for this to make sense

Other things are: 
 - if the wood isn't good, or you don't get a hot fire going then creosote forms in the chimney. Not good
 - if you get a good fire going then the stove will be a serious fire-risk. Nearby paper or logs may catch fire so you need to be careful

victor2

We have one, but it is cheaper to run the central heating on a cold evening - and the CH heats the whole house too!

But the effect is very nice, and it throws out a lot of heat when on! We have the chimney swept annually and only use logs purchased from a nearby "firewood supplier", who leave the timber outdoors for two years before cutting it. The logs are pre-cut to just fit in the burner and always less than 20% moisture. We only buy a few sacks of logs at a time - enough to go in the back of the car, as we only have limited storage space in the garage.

It was professionally installed, which included breaking through into a bricked up chimney breast and putting a flue pipe up the chimney.

Bought a quartz slab to use as the hearth, and had to fit a child guard to keep the grandchildren safe. One still managed to put his arm through and touch the (very) hot glass door with his fingertip. They don't listen, but he won't do it again!

No regrets buying it though.

I bought a moisture sensor, which I hardly use now as I know the logs I buy are always low. Most useful "gadget" is a thermometer which goes on the flue. It shows when the fire is burning at an optimal temperature. Fairly obvious once you get used to it, but still handy to have. Some people get the self powered fans to go on top of the burner, but as ours is not in a recessed fireplace, we don't need one.

As others have said, if you have a source of cheap/free timber, and a place to store it, you could save money, especialy with the price of standard utilities soaring.

rudigarude

I've seen this topic crop up a few times on here and everyone has made really great points. I'd just mention my experience of this as it's exactly what I've just done, had a log burner installed. It was fitted only last week (literally on the day that temperatures topped 40C!).

We've been renovating our house and we had to have work done on our chimney and chimney breasts, as the previous owners had blocked them without sweeping them or capping the top. Lots of birds nesting, falling down and we worried about damp behind the wall. So it was work we had to have done, but due to the increases in energy cost, we got it done sooner. It cost just over £2800 with all the work we needed to have done along with the stove install. We couldn't be happier with it, although we've not lit it yet  

I've lived in houses before with log stoves, so it was always something that we wanted to do, and we have space on the garden to store several years worth of logs. I don't know how much it'll get used this winter but I've just ordered two trucks worth of logs (one load of kiln dried and one unseasoned) and it came to the approximately what Octopus energy are predicting one month of my energy bills will be this winter. Not sure how true that will be, but regardless I'm very happy with the situation.

One final note, before embarking on the log burner install, I've heavily insulated the loft and had cavity wall insulation done, installed TRVs on the radiators, installed thermal blinds/curtains, optimised the flow temperature on the boiler and fitted a smart thermostat. In the two years we've owned the house, our gas usage has gone from 18,000kwh to 10100kwh, and I'm hoping the recent insulation modifications will reduce this even further.

Grenage

Bendy_House said:

Needs to be a HETAS-registered installer, so that should also mean no risk of fire or poisonous fumes

Just wanted to add that you don't need a HETAS installer; you can do it yourself, but it needs to be signed off by building control.  It's generally easier to get someone in.

Unless you're getting free wood then it's going to cost more than central heating.  Yes gas is going up but so are the prices of logs.

koalakoala

They smell. In fact the whole street smells sometimes with one log burner smoking away