[Closed] Log burner advice..........thank you

laaahvly!

(BTW, youre not really supposed to store wood to the side of the stove that close. When they store it underneath thats on stoves that have been tested not to raise the temp of anything underneath above 100deg. Since its supposed to radiate from top and sides, that wont be the case to the side. Purty though it is, you may want to reconsider.)

we store wood at the sides, helps dry it out - I am careful to stack it so that the wood doesn;t touch the metal though. When it was new we once put a piece on top and it was only the smell of the burning that alerted us to the fact that was a bad idea..

BTW - what model stove is that? Im considering sticking a second one in the barn and much as I love my Leyre, theyre not readily available in the UK.

very nice will, just in time for winter 😀 happy days

50mm clearance to combustible materials from the flue, so imagine the stove will be the same. wouldn't want one to fall over whilst you popped out with the stove alight though would you?

I will move the logs after hearing that thanks!! Better to be safe than sorry.
Stoner
It's a Hunter Cleanburn Lovenholme 5kw.

Very nice and you have it roaring away a treat.

It isn't cold enough for ours yet, although we did have a 'big freeze' day last Wednesday.

Not rally cold enough here but i am like a kid with a new toy at the moment!!

We stack wood either side, without any issues.

Got to get the chimney swept this year I'm reliably informed, even though its stainless lined..

quick question, do I need to line a chimney with ducting to run one of these, or can I plonk one in a fireplace and fire it up?

I have plonked one in a fireplace, 5kw and less you dont need to line the chimney, my house was built in 1930 with a purpose built chimney for open fires. I also had a builder a couple of doors down who checked everything for me.

some good tips here

[url= http://www.woodburningstoveslimited.com/index.php?action=cms.lining_56 ]clicky[/url]

depends on the condition of the chimney. It may need lining. Carbon monoxide is the silent killer and is produced by all fuels not just gas appliances.

Very nice! Thinking of having a stove, inlaws have 3 and they are great.

Inlaws recommend using these for [url= http://www.logs-uk.co.uk/ ]hardwood logs[/url].

We stack ours like yours, again ensuring it's no touching, although when the wood is wet we do often dry it out on the top for 30 mins.

I truely adore my wood burner... However, seeing yours now in a white fireplace makes me think maybe it would lighten the area a bit to paint it.

Inlaws recommend using these for hardwood logs.

£165 for 1.6m3?! Shop around; depending where you live you should be able to get it cheaper.

£165 for 1.6m3?! Shop around; depending where you live you should be able to get it cheaper

They did have a look around, point me in the direction where they can buy it cheaper and have it delivered?

The small back of truck loads are more a less a thing of the past and not always dry, or so they tell me.

You could have a look here - http://firewoodsuppliers.arbtalk.co.uk/index.php

Be careful though. Prices vary wildly depending on where they source their cord.

If you have the space/time, you can save yourself a bit of cash by buying it in as longer lengths, which you then have to saw and split yourself, or as discs, which you only need to split.

I get the impression that there is a bit of the [i]wild west[/i] about the firewood supply business as some see it as easy money for very little skill or commitment.

If you can cut and split yourself, you should also try local tree surgeons, as they often need to tip arb arisings and you can get a bargain.

A couple of final points.
1. A standard builders bag is not 1m3 - don't let them tell you it is; and
2. Don't discount softwood. The main thing is that it is dry/seasoned. If it is, it burns as well, if not better (albeit quicker) than hardwood. Good dry softwood, is much better than green (unseasoned hardwood). Don't believe all that crap about the resin gumming up the chimney either. Only burning wet wood, will gum up the chimney.

Edit - If you are going with a pro log supplier, ask them what the moisture content of the logs are. It needs to be less than 25% to be considered seasoned IMHO. When they drop them, before you pay, split one and test it using one of these - well worth the £15

[img] [/img]

[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Tester-Detector-Moisture-Zary/dp/B003UUFT2Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319707570&sr=8-1 ]Linky[/url]

That looks so nice, really really want a ikle one for my flat. Set into the chimney just like that one. I'm going to steal a copy of you picture if you don't mind.

wot geoff says ^ +1

also, I had to do some work on a combined heat and power biomass plant model once, during which I was told that there's surprising consistencey in energy density between tree species. Mass density may differ, but energy by mass was pretty constant (for the same moisture level) with a net calorific value of about 18.3 MJ/kg, or 5.08 kW/Kg

I'll get slated for it but...coal nuggets give out loads more heat are reliable and you only need to load it up a couple of times a day and it'll still be going strong the next morning. Cheaper as well unless you get free wood. There I said it. 😆

You won't get cold with wood coz you'll be up and down all the time stocking the burner up IMO.

AND.... read this, it's a great little article on bimoass and VFM
http://www.cosi.co.uk/HeatingAndChimneys/LOGSBioFuelPriceComparisons.html

GeoffJ

Interesting what you say about softwood. I have been offered as much conifer wood as I want. My reaction was to turn it down as I assumed it would be no good for burning (even when seasoned properly) Is that not the case?

I would definately recommend burning coal though if your stove can. A bed of coal on our stove lasts hours, with 1 log on top every couple of hours or so.

You could have a look here - http://firewoodsuppliers.arbtalk.co.uk/index.php

+1

That's where I found my current supplier (3rd one I'd tried, 1st from that forum) - he's much better than the first 2.

Interesting what you say about softwood. I have been offered as much conifer wood as I want. My reaction was to turn it down as I assumed it would be no good for burning (even when seasoned properly) Is that not the case?

Softwood is great, in some ways better than hardwood as its easier to process. Because it isn't as dense, it dries out quicker and I find it tends to produce less dust and mess. It also leaves less ash.

The only thing you have to consider is that it is less tolerant of being out in the open. Get it undercover in a wood store and it will dry out quickly and burn well. If it gets wet again though, it tends to take longer to re dry out than hardwood.

I've got a load of leylandii logs which I'm burning at the moment, whilst waiting for some of the oak and beech to season. It burns hot and smells lovely. I'd recommend it.

You could have a look here - http://firewoodsuppliers.arbtalk.co.uk/index.php
+1

That's where I found my current supplier (3rd one I'd tried, 1st from that forum) - he's much better than the first 2.

Conversely, the only one listed close to me didn't impress me, his "seasoned" wood was very moist. Have found another suppplier locally who isn;t listed on there, but haven't yet tried the wood

Would you mind telling me how much that burner was and where you got it please? It looks great, and just what I am looking for. Am slightly in love with it (in a manly way)

I burn dry softwood as well as seasoned hardwood; spits and crackles a bit, generally burns faster.

Where abouts are you. We supply at £65/m3 + delivery for dried hardwood in the Forest of Dean / Ross-on-Wye area 8)

Fireplace looks good will1 🙂

Stoner - you're the wood pellet guru - can I burn wood pellets (produced for a biomass boiler) in a stove?
If so I might be tempted to buy a pallet of bags to supplement my logs and bit of coal. How do pellets compare to logs pricewise?
Edit... this could be a tricky one to answer as logs vary a lot, but around me the price is rising.

pellets are probably about twice the price of logs if you buy the logs wet and season them yourself.

Read that Cosi article for a bit of background. He has loose collected, and then seasoned wood at about 3.5p kW/h. My pellets are about 5.5p/kWh I guess.

You can burn pellets in a burner but you need to get a wire basket.
http://www.thepelleteer.com/

Its not a great idea TBH, unless you have access to oversupply of cheap pellets.

[img] [/img]

That looks great.

I've just bought a house with a Morso Squirrel in one room and an open fire in the other. I'm just learning to use the stove but so far we haven't really bothered with the open fire as the stove, once going for a while, seems to warm the whole house.

Its not a great idea TBH, unless you have access to oversupply of cheap pellets.

Fair enough, not worth it then. just thought I'd check.
I'm very tempted to get a big delivery of uncut wood straight from the forest. I've probably got the room to store it and it would sort me out for years to come 🙂

tell you what else goes up really well... and is potentially FREE...

Pallets !!!!!

Jeez they give off some heat too...

Although apparently some yukky chemicals maybe...

I'm very tempted to get a big delivery of uncut wood straight from the forest

how do you do that? Can you go direct to the loggers?

Although apparently some yukky chemicals maybe...

The ones with HT branded on one of the blocks are OK. They are heat treated to remove the nasties rather than covered in chemicals.
Great for kindling.

interesting geoff, thanks for that.. yup the slats are great for kindling... the blocks burn really well for longer stuff...

Will check out the ones we have here and see what i'm taking home today as i need to knock up some kindling actually.

how do you do that? Can you go direct to the loggers?

Then you can get one of these 😀

or this

😯

how do you do that? Can you go direct to the loggers?

Rather than pellets on the stove you can burn brickettes this is a good price delivered [url= http://www.whitehorseenergy.co.uk/briquettes ]Verdo briquettes.[/url]

I've just got a ton of them and you can snap them really easily if you want.

Arbtalk eh?

I could easily take delivery of, store and dry 25tonnes....

cant see youtoob vids here, will catch them later though.

how do you do that? Can you go direct to the loggers?

Or direct to the landowner Stoner?

That's what I do, I offer to cut up any wood they want down for free, in return for a split of the wood.

Logged 3 huge Ash Trees on an island yesterday with a mate, still got another 40 to 50 to go!

Stoner were you the guy on here planning to farm Willow, if so I would like to know more about that if you have time?

Yup. A standard load is 25 tonnes, usually in 2.4m lengths

ski - yep, Im due to plant some short rotation coppicing next month.

Im getting the willow whips from a guy in Hartpury, Glos. I went to visit him the other day to talk over varieties and harvesting techniques. Ive plumped for a bout 500 whips 50:50 Viminalis and Q83 hybrid.

The viminalis grows as a fairly straight pole with little side-branching. Should yield a 2.4m cord of about 3" diameter every 4-5 years (and obviously once the stool has developed maybe 4 or 5 cords per plant) The Q83 he showed me seemed to mass up even faster, into 3" over about 4yrs, but wasnt quite so straight.

Its not going to do much more than about a quarter to a third of my annual use, but it provides a bit of screening and will be interesting to see develop. I might yield about £100 worth of wood a year after the initial 3-4 years.

Planted at 1m grid, Im only using a 15m x 30m section of the field, with another 2m x 30m section on the other fence line.

Arbtalk eh?

Think of it like a low(er) rent version of this place.

The spelling and punctuation is enough to have you shouting at the computer. 😐

To the person who wants to paint the area around the stove a light colour - think carefully. Ours is a pale biscuit colour (ooh get me with my interior design skills) and it shows up all the dirt from the logs, stove and bits of ash etc.
I'd stick with natural brick or if painted choose a darker colour.