Alternative heating, fuel and the future.

dronid

So we moved into our house a couple of years ago (Victorian house, double glazed, some inner wall insulation) and were offered and took up the offer of free Solar Panels and, as an emergency measure, I got a multifuel stove put in in the dining room. Until recently I've not considered using it, but with the ongoing fuel and cost of living crisis coupled wit a cold, wet and windy spell, I've started using it with wood and smokeless fuel and, it's helping a bit.

So is anyone else returning to more traditional heating/fuels, using other alternatives oh and does anyone have any good, practical advice for running a stove to get the best out of it? I'm pretty much a novice so learning and finding out the best ways is ideal.

ariarnia

we have a stove in the lounge. best tips i could give are making sure you are buying your fuel in bulk (the more you can buy the cheaper it is) lose (dumped on your drive) is normally cheaper than bagged (and good exercise for the whole family to stack it) and check if your local supplier is better value than a national delivery (some are some aren't). 

for actually running the stove. make sure you get swept at least once a year. we do october to make sure the chimney is clear for winter. get a stove pipe thermometer and make sure it's burning in the efficient zone (about 300 degrees) it keeps the glass clean keeps your chimney gunk free and means your stove is working as efficiently as it can for it's size 

then look at the room it's in. we don't really have many internal doors (the pets won that one) so in winter the lounge (where the stove is) gets winter curtains (thermal and blackout) on both windows and the door. then we keep the temp in the whole house cool (at about 16 degrees) which stops damp and we keep the lounge toasty warm with the stove. we've also got stacks of games and craft supplies so winter evenings are spent as a family in the lounge watching films or playing games. if people want to have quiet time in their rooms then everyone has either heated throws or hot water bottles (not both). 

also i'd suggest buy a stove top kettle and little milk pan. hot chocolate in front of the stove with a film on is lovely (you can also pop popcorn!)

CapricornLass

Timber should be at the correct dryness for burning.  The stuff you buy from the suppliers should be at the correct moisture level, but any wood that you pick up e.g. from the woods while walking, has to be stacked under cover and dried for at least a year.  Otherwise you will find the glass in your stove will gunk up very fast, and your fire will spent on drying the wood out rather than heating your room up.  It also doesn't help pollution. 

 Bring your timber into the house and let it come up to room temperature by the fire before you add it to the flames. We give ours plenty of air when lighting the fire, and then close the vents down once its established. However, don't overfill the stove.  It can get too hot, and crack your fire bricks.  You can also put a log or two on last thing at night, and turn the vent right down, so that they burn very slowly.  With luck and experimentation, you will find that you can make your fire keep in overnight, and the room will be warmer come the morning.  Then its a case of raking it, adding some more kindling until you get a flame, adding another log or two, and away you go again.  However, you will need to check the ashpan, and get rid of the hot ashes that have built up.  It you are able to get hold of a large metal drum (old oil can, well cleaned out?) then you will have somewhere safe for them to cool down.

I assume that you have a poker, to poke at the ashes and give it more air when they are threatening to smoother the fire?  If not, find your local blacksmith, and they will make a poker for you.  It will be more substantial than anything else you buy, and also if you need a particularly short/long poker, then they will make that for you.  (And, in due course, you will be able to leave it to someone in your last will and testament!)

Its worth asking around and see who people recommend as a supplier.  If you use just timber, and not coal or a mix of timber and coal, then you can put the ashes on your compost heap, and also round your currant bushes in February.

We have one of those little fan things that sit on top of the stove and blow the hot air across the room, which, to my surprise, does actually work.

thriftwizard

All sound advice above, and I'm seconding getting hold of a fan; when our stove is lit & the fan whirring away, it blows the heat right through the front half of our house and up the stairs too, which keeps the central heating from coming on. Only two rooms don't benefit & one of those is the kitchen, which is usually warmed by cooking anyway. The other is a spare bedroom, where the heated drier lives; it's only used when we can't get stuff completely dry outside & the stairwell (heated by the stove, or CH) rack is already full, but will also warm the room nicely in a very short time. We only burn wood, & use the ashes on the garden & allotment & also to rejuvenate "used" compost, in conjunction with coffee grounds from the café press. 

ariarnia

we bought a little fan this year after reading about them on here. excited to see how it works. i have seen that you need to be careful to take them off the stove if it gets to hot or the wires melt? 

it's really cool how they can use the difference in heat between the two parts of the fan to generate electricity to make the blades turn. can't wait for our first fire of the year... which might been quite soon given the weather this week!

RAS

If you can get oak, dry really well and save it for overnight. We always used to put a log on last thing and it would burn slowly overnight.

calleyw

ariarnia said:

we bought a little fan this year after reading about them on here. excited to see how it works. i have seen that you need to be careful to take them off the stove if it gets to hot or the wires melt?

The wires melt?  what wires? all the wood burning stove fans I have seen don't have any wires.  The heat rising off the stove is what powers it

https://fireplaceuniverse.com/wood-stove-fans/

Effician

calleyw said:

ariarnia said:

we bought a little fan this year after reading about them on here. excited to see how it works. i have seen that you need to be careful to take them off the stove if it gets to hot or the wires melt?

The wires melt?  what wires? all the wood burning stove fans I have seen don't have any wires.  The heat rising off the stove is what powers it

https://fireplaceuniverse.com/wood-stove-fans/

Wires run from the peltier module to the fan motor, in reality the module would fail before the wires melted.

calleyw

Effician said:

calleyw said:

The wires melt?  what wires? all the wood burning stove fans I have seen don't have any wires.  The heat rising off the stove is what powers it

https://fireplaceuniverse.com/wood-stove-fans/

Wires run from the peltier module to the fan motor, in reality the module would fail before the wires melted.

Please show me the wires on this? It has no motor as I said they use the heating rising to power them. This is what the majority of people will have as they are cheap to buy less than £30.

I grew up with woodburning stoves and rayburns and aga's.  So would never put anything with motor/wires near them.  As I know how hot them get.  Thats why you don't put TV's above them. 

Effician

calleyw said:

Effician said:

calleyw said:

The wires melt?  what wires? all the wood burning stove fans I have seen don't have any wires.  The heat rising off the stove is what powers it

https://fireplaceuniverse.com/wood-stove-fans/

Wires run from the peltier module to the fan motor, in reality the module would fail before the wires melted.

Please show me the wires on this? It has no motor as I said they use the heating rising to power them. This is what the majority of people will have as they are cheap to buy less than £30.

I grew up with woodburning stoves and rayburns and aga's.  So would never put anything with motor/wires near them.  As I know how hot them get.  Thats why you don't put TV's above them. 

Show me the back of the fan, you can't see the wires from the front., the peltier module is sandwiched between two plate with a short run of cable to the motor, the temperature differential on either side of the module plates is what generates electricity to drive the motor, the fins at the top of the structure create a cool upper & the heat from the stove heats the lower section.

ariarnia

calleyw said:

Effician said:

calleyw said:

The wires melt?  what wires? all the wood burning stove fans I have seen don't have any wires.  The heat rising off the stove is what powers it

https://fireplaceuniverse.com/wood-stove-fans/

Wires run from the peltier module to the fan motor, in reality the module would fail before the wires melted.

Please show me the wires on this? It has no motor as I said they use the heating rising to power them. This is what the majority of people will have as they are cheap to buy less than £30.

I grew up with woodburning stoves and rayburns and aga's.  So would never put anything with motor/wires near them.  As I know how hot them get.  Thats why you don't put TV's above them. 

i don't think it's a big issue but mine came with a warning to take it off the stove if the stove was at above 350c so it doesn't get damaged 

in the text on the link you gave is says about the wires

The heat travels up the fan to where the Peltier device is located around halfway up a typical stove fan. As the Peltier device transfers the heat from the bottom (hotter) part of the fan to the top (colder) part, an electrical current is produced due to this temperature difference.

You’ll therefore see wires sticking out of this Peltier device on a wood stove fan (the device is the typically white pad located between the bottom and top halves of a stove fan).

These wires will connect into a standard electrical motor located just behind the fan blades.

and i think you can just about see them (red) in a couple of the pictures of the back.