How practical is a log burning stove (LBS?) for a centrally heated house where the occupants work Monday to Friday? If we want to just top up the heat in the living room come 8pm will this be practical with a LBS? Currently we have one of those coal effect gas fires which does the job, but being an ‘effect’ is quite naff.

Yes. I’d get one for every room.

Depends on the size of the house,how bib the stove is,my mate took his out sai it was uncomfortably boiling.

It’s pretty much what we do, however we don’t actually turn our CH on much anymore are we’re out the house at 6:30 and back around 7-8, we just light the wood burner at night in the living room.

We have one. And we both work.
Its just nice to have.

They are a right pain in the arse, spend half your free time cutting and splitting logs, it’s a backward step in my opinion all that dust, ash and cancer causing particulates.
Whatever you do don’t fall for the myth that they save you money on your heating bills.

We had one when I was younger in the 70’s. My mum constantly told me it was hot/leave it alone.

A lovely idea but then decent combi/central heating came along. If anything I’d have an open fire.

Its abit trend/pulled-pork. ‘The thing to do’.

Abit like mounting a tv above your fireplace.

If your struggling with interior design/focal points- buy some books. Be creative and not follow.

Its time we all stipped following – this is a beautiful book for ideas for rustic v simplicity:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781849754347?redirected=true&viewCountry=UK&selectCurrency=GBP&gclid=CObixpCzy70CFUTMtAodAwcAOg

“Whatever you do don’t fall for the myth that they save you money on your heating bills”

Of course depends what the alternative is….

Personally Cant wait for them to build houses across the road (unlike my neighbours) as they have stipulated they have to bring gas to the street……

Spend the money on insulation, draft proofing or any other passive things you can to conserve energy.
Then, slap some solar panels on the roof (PV and water)
Then maybe, buy a stove.

But I do miss our old stove. 🙁

I hope to save loads because i get free wood, if i had to buy it i wouldn’t have bought one.

Chopping and splitting i like too and i have all the tackle due to my business. I also have a yard to do it in.

So you need to factor in time for this, space to prepare wood and dry, and cost for gear.

Unless you buy dry wood which aint cheap.

Not something for Mr Average 😉

We work and I had the same thought. Could not see the point of all the hassle when I could just turn a gas knob. The mrs won and we’ve had a log burner for 3 years. Would not be with one, no going back. Yes, I spend time chopping and cutting, but now I have a chain saw, a proper boy toy.
However, I do like Hora’s thought.

Depends on your situation.
If you want to save money, do you have a plentiful supply of wood? are you on an extortionate LPG deal, oil expensive in your area? – otherwise saving could be negligible.

Do you put on a jumper when it’s cold or turn up the thermostat? If it’s the latter, you probably won’t light/maintain a fire.

Woodburner would be more efficient for me than the open fire, but I have log stacks bigger than the house, so supply isn’t an issue.

Nearly forgot the most important reason we have one

The goddamn powercuts – our power lines travel a wierd route and come through the quarry.

We regularly get a day or 2 without power once every 6 months or so , high winds or high snows seem to knock us out, this winter was the longest at 3 days….. Your house gets cold in 3 days i hear. Muggins here forgot to drain the boiler/ didnt think power would be out for so long so paying the price having that fixed now.

In winter fire up the stove stick the candles on and have the neighbours round , the ones with the small kids that took their stoves out because they couldnt be bothered with it.

They ain’t for everyone, if your a lazy bastard, or time poor, don’t bother. I enjoy getting out and ‘liberating’ the odd log or two, as mcmoonter lovingly put it, enjoy taking trees down for friends etc, didn’t think I minded chopping the logs, til I bought a splitter recently. Awesome bit of kit, and at £100 each for me and a mate, well worth it.

As said above, good excuse for having a chainsaw, and a trailer, both of which have paid for themselves. The chainsaw being invaluable in the last few years removing windfall from local trails.

You need to be well organised too, and have storage space. I along with most others who burn on here, am always two years ahead with wood supplies, ie the wood I’m gathering at the moment is for 2016.

Edit – get it done properly though, ie get your chimney properly assessed, or fit a good quality flue. Big old sandstone house down on the shorefront here burnt to a cinder last week. It’s split into 4 big conversion flats, and as a result of a DIY job wood burner, 4 families are now in rented accommodation. Ooft.

Do you have a beard?

Don’t waste your money, just put the CH on when you need/want it.

Bloomin ell, some good advice about stoves…! 😉

As Twinwall tries to get across – they’re not exactly health-friendly additions to a home. If I could, I’d use an alternative, but that ain’t gonna happen this side of 2016.

And, as others have reinforced, wood is extortionate these days, probably due to the amount of ‘show’ stoves being set up. If you can’t get the majority of your supply for nowt or a little effort on your part, forget it.

I’ll add my 2p worth.

My own house is 20 years old, timber framed with brick shell. It was really warm until I opened up the chimney to have an open fire. The chimney now sucks out the heat and the open fire looks good but you have to be directly in front of it to feel the warmth from it.

No fire then the long is cold and draughty.

Having just spent 6 weeks working away and staying in a property without central heating and single glazing I was grateful for the stove that was in the lounge.

Compared to an open fire a stove is easy to light and very clean. Emptied it out twice as they really do burn efficiently.

Do you want us to accept you into the STW crowd?

Then you must have one.

I’d say their failing is that in winter when it’s really cold, you’re all nice and snug in the living room because it’s kicking out loads of heat and then you go up to bed and it’s like -20 degrees so you shiver all night and then go downstairs in the morning and the living room is still lovely and warm but the kitchen is so cold your feet stick to the floor.

Slight exaggeration there samurai! Fwiw I like a cold bedroom, and iirc you’re supposed to sleep better in a room that’s too cold rather than too warm?

Grum, no I don’t have a beard, or a singlespeed!.

Fwiw I like a cold bedroom, and iirc you’re supposed to sleep better in a room that’s too cold rather than too warm?

Switch down/off the rad in the bedroom – or tbh in our last new/CH house we always had the bedroom window open when we went to bed.

With gas CH, TRVs on radiators, the central heating cuts back when the stove is on, so I save gas. And it’s my opinion that the house is drier (the dehumidifier confirms this) with air circulation up and down the stairway. Logs cost me £240 for a ton and a half of barn-seasoned hardwood which will last most of a winter. .Nearly all of it is beech, a good fuel. It’s cut to length and pre-split, so I have to barrow it from my drive to the woodshed, no other effort required.

And it looks good. Did you ever come inside on a cold day and warm your hands by a radiator?

Switch down/off the rad in the bedroom – or tbh in our last new/CH house we always had the bedroom window open when we went to bed.

But I don’t have the heating on dear boy, as one has a wood burning stove 😀

Your house will be drier if you burn a stove because the flue sucks up massive volumes of air and ventilates the house effectively.

Blocked chimneys are one of the reasons why so many older houses suffer from damp; in the days when coal was cheap and plentiful, people burned fires in most of their rooms.

Grum, no I don’t have a beard, or a singlespeed!.

I don’t think the wood burner lifestyle is for you I’m afraid.

I don’t have a singlespeed but I do have a handmade Swedish axe and a beard, and I live in Hebden Bridge. 🙂

But I don’t have the heating on dear boy, as one has a wood burning stove

That was our last house. In the current one we’ve this 🙂

If you dont have central heating/live where only heating oil company deliver then its a no’brainer. If you live in rampant surburbia then you need one, a T5 with one bike/lifestyle sticker on and attend Yoga.

hora – Member
If you dont have central heating/live where only heating oil company deliver then its a no’brainer. If you live in rampant surburbia then you need one, a T5 with one bike/lifestyle sticker on and attend Yoga.

POSTED 8 SECONDS AGO # REPORT-POST

But when your gas gets so expensive that you have to give up on your bikes, my wood will still be free. :-)))

Thanks for all that guys. I don’t suppose I came here for a unanimous view! I also feel like I should confess which of the beard/suburbia/t5/etc stereotypes apply – but maybe not 😉

Whats happening in hebden? A while ago I heard a local oil supplier was taken over by a big one?

Ps Mr T5 owner, your missus is a fit-bit usually 8)

I have an art Deco French stove. It runs on welsh anthracite.
It is in 24hrs a day 7 days a week in winter. Costs about £12 in fuel a week to run.
It only cost £40 to buy it as well.
My gas and electric bill for a 2 bed house for the quarter over christmas was £163 for both.

Coming home with food for table and lighting up wood stove somehow cheers up the family – so worth it.