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Im a big stove fan and use mine more than most but i wouldnt trade my oil boiler for the mornings .....
Regardless of how hot we had the house the night before its still cool in the morning in winter - can be -10 outside and 13 inside at 5 am. - i do not subscribe to the practice of slumbering the stove over night though.
But if your in the balmy southeast this might not be an issue .
I went for a multifuel stove as smokeless is easier for me to get hold of than seasoned wood (and cheaper). At this time of year is impossible to buy seasoned wood as all the local suppliers have sold out. More coal will be delivered the next day.
Half a bucket of homefire ovals smokeless in my fire lit at 6pm will still be glowing the following morning and is often still going by the time I get home the next evening as well. If you are burning logs then you need to keep an eye on it and stick more wood on before it dies down too much. One advantage of burning wood though is that you only need to clean the thing out once a week instead of every day.
It might be preferable, hardly essential.
I'd disagree. Slumbering wood is bad news, so overnight burns are out. Ordering wood for next day delivery - not in bulk for sensible money round our way. And not at all if the suppliers have run out (as they did round my way when we moved in).
IME anthracite or smokeless is always available.
YMMV of course.
Slumberring coal is bad news too .
It might be preferable, hardly essential.I'd disagree. Slumbering wood is bad news, so overnight burns are out.
You do know that overnight burns are not essential (which appears to be your logic), you won't die if you let the fire go out and relight the next day.....
which appears to be your logic
Well, it's your interpretation of it. It's not all of what I said though.
Slumberring coal is bad news too .
If you're talking about bit coal I'd agree, OTOH anthracite (almost) doesn't tar, and manufactured smokeless is almost as good (although some isn't).
Besides a decent coal burn isn't really slumbering, it's just running at a low burn rate for a long time. It's a world apart from the tarry impurities given off from a smoldering log.
The Flying Ox - MemberRight, so a bit of exploratory demolition has me slightly confused. Despite the house being built of sandstone, the internal wall in which the fireplace sits looks to be entirely brick and with no lintel in sight. The current fireplace cavity only goes back about 12" as well. Would a house built in the early 1800s normally have stone exterior walls and brick walls inside, or am I going to have to remove the bricks to see what's behind?
Mine is Gritstone out and brick in, normal for 1800's Depending where you live depends what ws in there, rmember it may well have been used for cooking and heating as there was no gas and leccy then !!
Ours had a Yorkshire range in originally and over the years had 2 fireplaces built on iside the other. So went fromm this
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to the picture in previous post
[i]There's a place down the road delivers chopped, kiln-dried hardwood for £73/ton[/i]
My folks will do that in 5 weeks, if not less - along with a load of coal...
I guess I burn that in 6 weeks. Wouldn't gas central heating be cheaper and less hassle?
Wouldn't gas central heating be cheaper and less hassle?
We already have GCH and we're paying £180/month at the moment. That's balanced out between very little heating in the summer and aiming for 20°C in the winter, so even if we're getting through a ton of wood every month we're at least £100 better off.
For info, we've ended up going with a chap my wife was recommended. He's done a good job so far, and has also ended up quoting a very reasonable price for re-tiling our roofs and rebuilding the three chimney stacks. This is where we're at:
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Previous lintel was only supported on the left side, just the proximity to adjacent stonework was keeping it up on the right 😯
Between that and the chimney being in a horrendous state of repair, I'm so glad I didn't carry on with this on my own.
Unfortunately because of the way the fireplace was split in two when the cowshed next door was converted into living space (there's another fireplace on the other side of the wall apparently) we can't make the opening any wider, but it'll still be nice when done.
He's coming back to finish tomorrow. I can't wait. What's best for burning and smell? Oak, Ash, Birch?
[i]so even if we're getting through a ton of wood every month we're at least £100 better off.[/i]
A month or a year?
A month, I'm guessing. £180/month for central heating, and as I said it's averaged out over the year. We don't have the radiators on from April/May through to end of September, so we're probably closer to £300/month during the winter. I'd guess that ~£30 of that is hot water, so still £150(£270)/month on gas heating.
What's best for burning and smell?
smell? shouldn't ever get smell with a stove unless its busy poisoning you with fumes.
as for what burns best, anything dry.
We already have GCH and we're paying £180/month at the moment.
Are you heating a stately home? Try switching off the radiators in the 30 bedrooms in the west wing.