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I actually wish i’d got one with a back boiler so we could have heated the hot water off it whilst it is on!
There's a whole new money pit of pointlessness when you get it installed.
Cougar - I have a very basic gas fake stove that cost half of that - firefox No remote just an old fashioned push and turn control
https://www.stovesareus.co.uk/brands/brands-a-to-f/firefox-stoves/firefox-5-gas-stove.html
I did the installation apart from doing the gas connection. Very simple
If you're out in the sticks and you've a good local free supply of dead wood then yeah, go for it. Otherwise, stick to gas, oil or electric.
When I was a kid my mum used to just go round the neighbourhood asking people who were getting windows / doors etc replaced if we could have the old wood. My dad did a fair bit of skip diving too (yes we did burn quite a bit of painted wood). I think at one point they managed several years without having to buy firewood...
We’re going through this decision process right now. We are in the country, have no mains gas and for 25 years have heated the house with a Stanley solid fuel stove which runs runs on smokeless ovals and stays in all the time outside of summer to power the central heating and hot water. In the living room, which is at the end of the central heating circuit, it is rarely warm enough in winter and we have an open fire which we feed on smokeless fuel and logs. We want to replace this with a log burner, probably the Clearview Pioneer. This will make the room far more comfortable in winter, reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and increase the efficiency of our log fires.
I think at one point they managed several years without having to buy firewood…
It's a slippy slope. Woodburner....chain saw . Pick up - Trailer .....
Then folk start calling when there are trees to dispose....
I have more wood than I know what to do with currently ...but still beats burning oil (most of the time.......but currently oil is cheap sosaving my wood. )
Stoves do no not suck up huge volumes of air, that's why you can have up to 5kw without a vent.
How times change on STW!
Interesting how the air quality was excellent across the UK within days of lockdown, when it was still cold enough for these polluting burners to be on...
A modern stove, used properly, is very clean despite what the tabloids are pushing. It's a joy to have in the house as winter draws in.
Yes Twinwall, but they suck up much more than a gas boiler on a balanced flue.
The humidity in my house drops measurably with the stove on, which is nice. By mid winter I'm doing stuff to add to the humidity like drying clothes on a clothes horse, not the tumble dryer.
We've just been through this (similar scenario. On edge of a town in smokeless zone) and we set out with firm plans for a wood stove but the more we looked into it the more we realised we wanted the convenience of gas.
We like it.
Sorry for the thread hijack but,
How hot does the chimney breast get? Like, would sticking a TV on the wall above it be a non-starter?
There great for drying stuff, we have a rack above one of ours.
The village has gas and we have a combi boiler which we use for heat early morning when getting up and at bedtime for showers. Daytime and evening heat is from log burners. Normally only light one at a time as one room is more day use and the other evening, so let one go out and light the other.
This works for us as I work in forestry, have log storage sheds, house is old so has thermal mass, I grew up with full time ranges and a mate who is an installer. As easy as riding a bike.
Get the smallest stove you can, close to flat out running is more efficient. New decent quality stoves will meet upcoming regs and are just easier to light and use. Having said that, try and find a decent size firebox, if it takes 12" log you'll rarely have trouble with bought firewood fitting in. Sort out a breezy log shed with watertight overhanging roof.
Edit; @Cougar not so much from the chimney breast, but heat directly below it I would imagine.
Interesting how the air quality was excellent across the UK within days of lockdown, when it was still cold enough for these polluting burners to be on…
Were you in a different country? The weather in March was delightful. We did most of our school lessons in the garden!
As someone who commutes between 150-200km a week by bike during all times of the year, I can tell you that air quality in villages is bloody awful as soon as wood burners are lit. Sure, once most get hot enough, they burn better, but for every one that’s burning efficiently, there’s another that isn’t.
It’s eye wateringly bad and stings the back of your throat. For really cold days I have an anti-pollution mask, not for cars but for wood burners.
Get one. Best luxury we have ever purchased for our house nearly 2 years ago.
Prepare to become obsessed with gathering wood, cutting, chopping and storing wood. I'm building my third log store at the moment from free pallets to store the free wood I've picked up through Facebook Marketplace.
It's ace
We had one for 15 years at the old house. Sure, there's some work involved but they are great, and hot! so get a cold house proper toastie.
But the new house is warmer, so we went for a gas version this time. Looks great and is obviously much easier to use - it even has a remote. Not cheap but glad we went gas.
We have a couple of wood burners which do get used reasonably regularly. We're on oil so it's good to have a back up, and if the fire has been on during the evening chances are the heating doesn't need to come on in the morning.
Imo, if you're on mains had gas then spend the money on more insulation.
If you're off mains gas and have a 'hard to heat' home, then they have their place.
However, insulation comes first.
A modern stove, used properly, is very clean despite what the tabloids are pushing.
No they aren't. There's plenty of research out there for you to ignore.
We have one; use it most Winter nights as supplementary heating. We don't need to, but it's lovely
we're on the outskirts of a small village, in a wood. I think the BBQ gives off more smoke than the stove
so no neighbours, and free wood (a lot of ash are falling this year; die back is really hitting)
I have probably five years worth of wood lined up; it's very dry when I use it. That's before starting on the 10 (?) ash trunks carefully placed just behind the house.
Personally, I'd like a second stove. But we have free wood, and the space to store it for a few years.
I doubt I would have one in a bigger village or town though
How hot does the chimney breast get? Like, would sticking a TV on the wall above it be a non-starter?
Don't do it. Not because of heat, but because it's a terrible place to put a TV.
I've had one for around 8 years, I love it, but dunno if I'd bother again tbh. When I did shifts I used to love liberating and chopping/stacking wood, these days I tend to buy it unless something is freely offered, as my time is more precious on 8-4 hours. No more lovely cold winter midweek mornings to bugger about with the chainsaw and splitting maul!.
If the government are serious about emissions, then some proper legislation is required, ditto the amount of folk around me that have more cars than folk in their homes, and lots of other things I can't be arsed arguing about.
We put one in our house a couple of years ago and love it. The house was built in the early 70's and whilst we've had cavity wall insulation and proper windows fitted, it's still a rather cold house. We had a gas fire that never got used so when we did the house up we replaced it with the log burner.
I get the comments about most people not knowing how to use one. To use properly it really isn't just a case of literally burning wood. Our neighbours have one and that's what they tend to do, it stinks. We don't live in a smokeless zone but I've kept the plate on the log burner so you can't shut it down completely, so any smoke is minimal if at all.
For ours, I only get wood from a reputable source that is well seasoned and it gets stored properly, to further dry it out. I buy in bulk so it's pretty cheap and one delivery tends to last at least a year.
I'd get another one in a house like this but not for a newer, warmer home.
I’ve got one and use it everyday over winter. Wood is £70 for a builders bag of seasoned logs and I get lots of surplus wood from work. Problem with fake ones is that their fake and a bit naff but horses for courses. Helps if you have space to store wood. If I had an open fire I’d replace immeadiately with a stove as far warmer.
High wood quality and low moisture content is vital. I never burn anything higher than 20% RH. Getting a moisture metre is an essential purchase as is a magnetic temp guage for the flue. There will be a bit of smoke on lighting up, I use a wood wool firelighter and very dry kindling and small logs to get going. The flue will be up to temp within 15 minutes, after that virtually no smoke. A good indicator is if the glass on your stove stays clean, you're burning wood properly.
Getting a moisture metre is an essential purchase as is a magnetic temp guage for the flue
In 8 years I've never used either of these, possibly handy at first, but once you know your stove, understand your draw, and store wood properly, neither is needed.
They are cheap, they are a guide. They are clean, they are dirty, pick your research papers. They are low carbon... They aren't... Pick your fuel carefully.
If you care enough to seek views you care enough to get good fuel and run it well, it will still pollute a bit but use a sustainable fuel. Balance pollution Vs carbon
If you care enough to seek views you care enough to get good fuel and run it well, it will still pollute a bit but use a sustainable fuel. Balance pollution Vs carbon
Yes, and then again, no. The question is what would happen to the wood if it wasn't burned.
The question is what would happen to the wood if it wasn’t burned.
I would sell it to someone else to burn, at the very least it can be sold into biomass for electric or wood chip boilers. It is generally the lowest grade stuff and helps recoup some of the cost of managing woodlands to improve there structure. Felled to waste on the floor creates more issues with no return. No work leads to stagnant woodland systems.
what would happen? pick your fuel! kiln dried and shipped from unsustainably felled eastern european old growth forest? shipped from sustainably grown scandi forest? local garden waste?
mine is all local garden waste, if i didn't process it, most likely it would go to the local recycling, from there to Drax, from there 30% up in cooling tower steam and 5% transmission losses, rest to tv's lights and cookers. I turn it to heat, bar about 15% up the chimney, for less transport and processing energy.
Felled to waste on the floor creates more issues with no return
What issues?
I would sell it to someone else to burn, at the very least it can be sold into biomass for electric or wood chip boilers. It is generally the lowest grade stuff and helps recoup some of the cost of managing woodlands to improve there structure. Felled to waste on the floor creates more issues with no return. No work leads to stagnant woodland systems.
Work feasability study a few years back for a biomass turbine had it as carbon neutral, despite having 24 timber lorries a day going from Galloway forest to our place, as if the trees are felled left to rot the CO2 is greater than burning.
Madness I thought, but I've since done a fair bit of walking in the Galloways, and there is a shit load of piles of cut timber that have been lying rotting for years, can't get my head round that, what a waste of energy.
neilnevill
Free MemberBalance pollution Vs carbon
What? There's no balance with a Woodburner. You're releasing carbon stored in the wood back into the atmosphere and are creating nasty pollution particulates at the same time. There's no balance.
You’re releasing carbon stored in the wood back into the atmosphere
Yes that's the carbon cycle. Problem is the carbon cycle is out of sync with carbon that was stored over millions of years being released in a 100 years. Wood burners do cause issues with local particale level pollution so you have to be mindful of what you burn and where you live but locally sourced and dried wood has a low carbon foot print as the carbon realised is within the short term carbon cycle.
locally sourced and dried wood has a low carbon foot print as the carbon realised is within the short term carbon cycle.
By burning wood, the only thing you're guaranteeing is the instantaneous release of a quantity of CO2 to atmosphere, at the precise time we need to reduce emissions as fast as possible. Who can guarantee that the same quantity is re-grown, and re-grown quickly enough?
So fiddle me this. In utopia do I burn wood or oil ?
Installed 2 multifuel stoves at our last house. The novelty does wear off, they're dirty and proper kiln dried wood is expensive. We now have a freestanding gas stove in our new house. Looks lovely and the convinince means it wins hands down. It's even got a remote control so I don't even have to move from the sofa, result.
Don’t do it. Not because of heat, but because it’s a terrible place to put a TV.
How so?
In utopia do I burn wood or oil ?
In utopia, neither! Practically, I would always advocate a "fabric first" approach where you reduce your energy consumption as much as possible, with the result being that the source of your residual demand matters much less.
That seems sound, reduce need for energy can only be good.
proper kiln dried wood is expensive.
and also pointless.
Practically, I would always advocate a “fabric first” approach where you reduce your energy consumption as much as possible,
For sure.
The problem with UK housing stock is that it's old, mostly shit, difficult to convert to modern specification and 'people' are pretty clueless about energy conservation in general.
In utopia, neither! Practically, I would always advocate a “fabric first” approach where you reduce your energy consumption as much as possible, with the result being that the source of your residual demand matters much less.
ok and when you have done all the insulation your house can take - and its still cold . what next ?
knock all the houses down and start again ?
Some of us would rather not spend money to heat the house but back in the real world we have to use something - and it appears that every option is evil.
You're learning.
as i said - in utopia .
mean while back on planet earth.
I had my fireplace modified to take wood burner, but after researching the environmental impact could not bring myself to buy one. That said my mains 'green' energy comes from importing and burning trees...