Wood burner - would you?

FreeBear

PennyForThem_2 said:   I have a Morso in a small room and a larger Morso in a knocked through sitting/dining room.  Both chimneys are lined (aluminium tube).

Are you sure it is an aluminium liner ?

Aluminium is not suitable for wood/coal appliances and should only be used for a gas appliance. Twin wall stainless steel is the recommended material for flexible liners, stainless or enameled steel for rigid sections.

ossian

The other issue to be aware of is that woodburning emits a lot of particulate matter.  In urban areas there is the risk of legislative action to restrict this.  Although it's a major contributor to rural pollution I think this is less likely to be legislated against as woodburning is part of rural life (powercuts are more common  and oil heating doesn't work when the electricity is off).  It's up to you what your personal views are on air pollution.

I personally burn wood when no-one else is at home and feel bad about the particulates.  You can do your own research.

mumf

ossian said:

The other issue to be aware of is that woodburning emits a lot of particulate matter.  In urban areas there is the risk of legislative action to restrict this.  Although it's a major contributor to rural pollution I think this is less likely to be legislated against as woodburning is part of rural life (powercuts are more common  and oil heating doesn't work when the electricity is off).  It's up to you what your personal views are on air pollution.

I personally burn wood when no-one else is at home and feel bad about the particulates.  You can do your own research.

It doesn’t bother me. We have to stay warm. No central heating here. 

dunstonh

The other issue to be aware of is that woodburning emits a lot of particulate matter.

Not necessarily. If you burn bad quality wood or use the burner incorrectly, then it can but with decent seasoned/dry kilned hard wood you will not get much in the way of PM.

Although it's a major contributor to rural pollution I think this is less likely to be legislated against as woodburning is part of rural life (powercuts are more common  and oil heating doesn't work when the electricity is off).

My PM meter is higher during the summer than any time in the winter with multiple burners running.

I personally burn wood when no-one else is at home and feel bad about the particulates.  You can do your own research.

If you are having a problem with PM then maybe check the efficiency of your burner or the wood you burn or the way you burn it.

Kim1965

I put a barge woodburner into our existing fireplace, cost me £300.
 I guess it saves a fortune, i buy a couple of 1m square logs a year £55per bag, i generally burn a lot of soft wood construction timber which is free from work (skips full of it). It knocks out a lot of heat I sweep my chimney once a year.
 You need a bit of space to store logs/timber. The bought logs are cheap and need storing in the summer to ensure they are dry, collecting it yourself from woodland means you will have to season it. Wood has to be dry unless its Ash. 
 Our chimney is central to the house and close to stsirs, it heats our living room to the point of having to wear shorts and  a t shirt (even when it v cold outside) and if we close other doors but leave our bedroom door open, it keeps it at worse 18 degrees.
 I only have the heating on for an hour morning and 5 to 6 at night.
They do create a bit of dust, other than that its a winner. 

FreeBear

Kim1965 said: I generally burn a lot of soft wood construction timber which is free from work (skips full of it).

You need to be careful with construction grade timber - A lot of it will have been treated with fire retardants and preservatives. If your offcuts are slow burning compared to a softwood log, that will be the reason.

Kim1965

FreeBear said:

Kim1965 said: I generally burn a lot of soft wood construction timber which is free from work (skips full of it).

You need to be careful with construction grade timber - A lot of it will have been treated with fire retardants and preservatives. If your offcuts are slow burning compared to a softwood log, that will be the reason.

Seems to burn just fine, main issue i have is throttling back the air to stop it burning too fast. 

richardc1983

We had a log burner fitted a Clock Blithfield 5, made in the u.k brilliant stove and very controllable, like a gas fire. It’s multi fuel so we can burn smokeless too. 

Best thing we ever did, last year we burned Hornbeam which is the next type of wood down from Oak in terms of burn time but it burns with a larger flame so at times we were too hot. This year we will go for Oak as it has the longest burn time but because it is denser it’s a little harder to get going and has a smaller steady flame.

The other best thing we ever did was fit ceiling fans in the living room and bedroom… we operate them in reverse and it stirs up the air that gathers at ceiling so you don’t get stratification… the air is pushed along the ceiling and then down the sides of the walls in the room so this helps get the air out into other rooms. If we get too warm we put the ceiling fan in summer mode so that it blows air downwards, this pushes the warm air along the floor and out through the doors and then this travels up the stairs. The warm breeze is welcome!

Our burner warms the downstairs of our 2 up 2 down but upstairs is still cool.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Kim1965 said:

 Wood has to be dry unless its Ash. 

Ash should be "dry" as well, the more water in the wood the less energy you are getting out of the fuel for heat.

One thing people seem to forget is the convenience factor, will the OP still be walking around the woods picking up wood if energy prices eventually drop back to what they are now.

Will people get tired of sourcing and storing solid fuel, carrying it in the house, cleaning out the stove, not to mention having to wait for the fire to get going for some heat. Coming home at 9pm and having to light a fire is a real pain in the behind compared to your central heating coming on automatically an hour before you get home.

If the current prices do drop back to where we are now I get the feeling a lot of stoves being installed simply to combat energy prices will end up becoming expensive ornaments.

PennyForThem_2

FreeBear said:

PennyForThem_2 said:   I have a Morso in a small room and a larger Morso in a knocked through sitting/dining room.  Both chimneys are lined (aluminium tube).

Are you sure it is an aluminium liner ?

Aluminium is not suitable for wood/coal appliances and should only be used for a gas appliance. Twin wall stainless steel is the recommended material for flexible liners, stainless or enameled steel for rigid sections.

No not sure - prob wrong on that - lasted 10 years and sweep has no concerns (yearly sweep HETAS approved) but chimney def lined