Cost Saving of Wood Burner (kw/h gas consumption reduction v's cubic meters of wood burnt).

FreeBear

Ectophile said:

Sweeping the flue at least once a year produces black soot that gets everywhere...

You need to find another chimney sweep.  Mine puts a cloth over the stove, and sucks all the soot into a vacuum cleaner.  No mess at all.

"Can get everywhere if you are not careful".

Yes, the sweep I have used in the past has a nifty foam pad that fills the opening and puts down dust sheets. Once swept, clears up the soot with an industrial vacuum cleaner.

Qyburn

Ectophile said:

Sweeping the flue at least once a year produces black soot that gets everywhere...

You need to find another chimney sweep.  Mine puts a cloth over the stove, and sucks all the soot into a vacuum cleaner.  No mess at all.

Sweep from the top with the stove fully closed, leave it a couple of hours until it settles, then shovel or hoover the dust out of the stove. If the stove's run properly it will just be grey ash, no actual black soot. Our stove with metal liner only needs sweeping every few years, giving only a couple of cupfulls each time.

Qyburn

FreeBear said:

You need to be careful when buying logs. A 2 cubic metre load may look a lot when tipped, but once stacked, the quantity may disappoint.

The way firewood is normally sold is loose volume. So a space or bag of one cu.m is filled by chucking the bits of wood in at random until it's full. Stacked neatly that will occupy around 0.6 cu.m. 

greyteam1959

I sweep my own wood burner flue twice a year.
No mess at all.
No smell of soot after sweeping.

dunstonh

We have three burners.   Its rare all three are running at once but often two are.

Two of the burners heat their specific rooms only.  There is no heat travel outside of those rooms.  The other, which is the one we have on the most has heat travel up two stairwells, lower and upper hallway and one of the bedrooms.  So, the effectiveness of a burner will often depend on its location in the house and the airflow around the house.

During the day, one room in particular is in use. In the evening another.    So, the targeted heat that a burner gives off means we dont need the radiators on during the day.  When we switch to the other burner, that prevents about 4 radiators from coming on.

About one third of our wood is from our own trees. Some years more, some years less. Yet we spent £800 on wood over the last 6 months.   However, from my past monitoring, it saves  oil being burned doing it this way and reduces my oil bill by around £1500.  Next winter, I wont need to buy any wood in as we have a strong cutting season on our own trees becoming available and we are taking down an oak this year which will give us several years wood after a couple of years of seasoning.      

We have no neighbours and are rural.  So, it makes perfect sense.  We also have an emissions monitor and it never picks up any PM increases from the fire.   During the summer, on the other hand, it goes crazy.   As mentioned previously, if you burn dry, quality wood with the correct air levels (not too little or too much) then particulates are not a problem.  Its people that burn crud and badly that give it a bad name.    If you see someone burning and the smoke is more than a little wisp at the pot then they are not burning right (or are in that initial burn phase and running it fast).

We also get about a dozen power cuts a year.  So, the AGA and woodburners give us off grid cover.

I wouldnt buy a burner with the intention of saving money.  You won't unless you have your own wood.   I would buy it for the ambience and if you need targeted heat for limited rooms.    The snow or rain against big windows coupled with the fire burning away and the glow reflecting on the walls gives you a level of comfort that makes it worthwhile.      

applepad

Does anyone buy ‘Heat logs’?  We have a multifuel burner and tend just to use it on an evening, I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that Heat logs burn longer,hotter and cleaner than kiln dried logs? We have used Kiln dried logs before, but the burner seems to need to be feed several times over a 3 hour period, which is ok if I have someone with me- I’m disabled 
Hoping heat logs would be less work an option if I’m home alone ?

Ectophile

Heat logs vary enormously between brands.

Light coloured ones are softer, and tend to puff up when placed on a fire.  Having done that, they burn very quickly.

Dark coloured ones are more heavily compressed, and burn slower as a result.  But none I have tried burn particularly slowly.  Whether they are faster or slower than a normal log depends entirely on the log.  Some logs burn very quickly, others are almost fireproof.

dunstonh

applepad said:

Does anyone buy ‘Heat logs’?  We have a multifuel burner and tend just to use it on an evening, I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that Heat logs burn longer,hotter and cleaner than kiln dried logs? We have used Kiln dried logs before, but the burner seems to need to be feed several times over a 3 hour period, which is ok if I have someone with me- I’m disabled 
Hoping heat logs would be less work an option if I’m home alone ?

I haven't been impressed with any I have tried.  However, they can be useful to help get a quick burn (the lighter coloured ones).  

We use a mix of kiln dried and our own wood seasoned (mixture of oak, ash, willow and pine) and generally get an hour to 90 minutes per log once up to temperature.  

FreeBear

Ectophile said: Some logs burn very quickly, others are almost fireproof.

Willow. poplar, and pine for quick heat & flames. Oak for a long slow burn.

I don't bother with kiln dried logs - Too expensive, and after a few months stack in the log shed, the moisture content rises to 15-18%. Just fill the shed with logs seasoned outside under a tarp in spring, and the summer sun soon bakes them down to around 18%.

silverwhistle

Another vote for not saving money. I use less than 2000kWh gas a year, much for hot water and otherwise rely on a wood stove in the lounge. Wood is scrounged, often after spring and autumn gales, and seasoned myself and is thus a mix: oak, poplar, willow, chestnut, fruitwood etc. Occasional briquettes if I have seen them on offer and want to get a quick fire going.

Ash rarely cleared out, only when the ash bed buils up a little too much. The sweep visits, looks up the flue and says wait until next year (and is free!) and hardly any soot last actual sweep.

Like the poster above I have a monitor which only goes off red when I'm sauteing and the like on the (induction) hob in the kitchen.

Chestnuts, baked spuds in the fire and soup cooked on the top are an added bonus. When I come in from winter football games cold and muddy lighting the fire is the first thing I do. A quick shower and then I settle down in front with a cuppa and good book. Can't beat it.