What wood for a wood burning stove?

I went to view an apartment last night that I absolutely love and will be moving in next month.

It’s got a wood burning stove in the lounge and to be honest, I’m peeing my pants with excitement, I love the things, but have never had one in my own house, only in rented cottages etc.

It looks a bit like this, and apparently has a catalytic converter fitted.

Given how many pictures of wood and wood storage sheds I see on here, this seems as good a place as any to ask….what sort of wood do I want to be burning?

I can’t take delivery of a big builders bag of wood, so I’m limited to buying smaller bags (say 15kg), but I do have loads of floored attic space to store them.

I was thinking something like this would do the trick:

Glasgow Firewood

Or am I missing something? Should I be breaking into churches and stealing stuff etc?

Buying wood like that makes little economic sense as a source of heating – merely as an occassional decorative aesthetic addition to your home.

A 10kg bag is probably an evenings worth.

Wood Guide

Found the above guide quite useful. Personally i use ash as much as i can, simply because is very easy to split. If you dont have to split it though, it doesnt matter. Of the wood mentioned on that site, id be a bit wary of cherry. I found it needs to seasoned very well in order to give of decent heat.

Just in case the link doesnt work: http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/woodburning_chart.html

Buying wood like that makes little economic sense as a source of heating

“Economic sense” is a concept which is completely alien to me.

This is a luxury which is in the same category as a glass of wine after work – not really necessary for my survival, but worth every penny for its effects on my general well being 🙂

Thanks for that link Clong!

“Economic sense” is a concept which is completely alien to me.

This is a luxury which is in the same category as a glass of wine after work – not really necessary for my survival, but worth every penny for its effects on my general well being

Fair enough. Most folk on here with the massive wood piles etc do love the process of “having a fire” and the unique sort of warm and colour it adds to a room but also consider it a method of heating the house. To get the “effect on your general well being” as a daily thing (and burning stuff does become addictive!) it will be costing you circa £180 a month in logs. I have mine on much more than just in the evenings and don’t spend that much a year.

To be fair, I don’t get back from work until late, so it would only be on for a couple of hours, just to chill out before I go to bed.

Aye, I’m not really planning on using it to heat the place, just burn a few logs while I watch a movie or something.

It must be a male caveman thing, I just like the idea of having a fire in my house 🙂

To get the “effect on your general well being” as a daily thing (and burning stuff does become addictive!) it will be costing you circa £180 a month in logs.

I’ve now got over 10 tonnes out back – some of it scavenged, fair enough, but mostly bought in. In total it cost me less than £180!

Then again, you need space to store it, tools (a couple of mauls, chainsaw, that sort of thing), and the willingness to spend a couple of hours a week splitting wood and creating log stores to season it. If you’re in an apartment, I can see you’ll have problems due to the sheer bulk of wood needed.

I put one in just before christmas.. It’s frightening the amount of wood you can get through.

So much that I recently planted 100 ash trees. Just need to wait a few years now……..

I’ve been running a Clearview for about ten years, have gas central heating too but rarely have to use it, just when I have a bone idle moment really. Never paid a penny for wood, though as the things have gained in popularity it’s become a little more difficult to source it for free. Bought a chainsaw at the same time as the stove and the upkeep of that is the only real expense. It’s about the only thing that keeps my dog quiet, knocks him out in minutes, snoring his head off.

First thing I would do, is check the Atic floor can take the weight.

Buying wood in small quanties, such as the 15kg bags is an expensive way of running it, if you are planning to have it going most evenings this time of year.

& a new user/burner uses a stack of wood in the first year 😉

I burn evenings only & get through 2 tons of seasoned wood a year, which takes up quite a bit of space, more than you think anyway.

Collecting wood is very addictive, once you have a burner to play with 😉

[edit]Ash is king if you can get it…

Dont be tempted to burn the odd bits of treated/tanalised offcuts, a sure-fire way (pun intended :o))to leave a noxiuos and flammable residue in the flue.

Pallets of kiln dried logs are pretty good value if you dont have the space to season green logs.

If the stove can take coal, use coal on it as well. really cuts down the amount of wood you get through.

If its for fun and luxury Glasgow Wood Recycling does bags of bits of oak whisky cask. Stores more compactly than logs. Smells delicious.

Or… put a TV inside it and play a video of flames