Simple really. Just want some advice on best place to buy, what to look for etc.
Room size is 6m x 3m.
Off you go.
Ta

Dunsley here, and pleased with it. It’s nearly four years old, so any further info would be out of date. See what stovesonline offer. And if you’re new to this, see what this supplier has to say about drying wood…

http://www.ed-knights-logs.co.uk/index.php/about-us

Oh, and ask around for an installer.

In the living room we’ve got a small cheapo chinese-made stove from a builder’s yard; in the kitchen we’ve got a mid-sized Morso (a Panther I think). They both do a decent job and look OK. In truth I’m perfectly happy with the cheap one and wouldn’t now pay the significant premium for a ‘named’ stove.

Things to consider: get the right heat output for your room size; you’ll need a lined chimney; you’ll need a suitably sized hearth of a suitable material; consider multi-fuel rather than just wood burner. Wood burners are subject to various regulations (under building regs?) and should be installed be an authorised installer. Or, as people have been doing for decades without problem, you can install it yourself!

As to where to buy – builder’s merchant for cheap end stoves; stovesonline for other models.

Multifuel over a wood burner any day.

why a multifuel over a woodburner then ?

cannot see why you would want to burn coal for any reason.

and if you use the “can stoke it up at night and lock it in” – well more fool you and the health of your chimney.

fwiw – i have a multifuel and will be changing the main stove to a wood burner in due course.

Incidentally, does coal burn ‘cooler’? Silly question, perhaps, but last year I bought a bag just to see what it was like, and whereas once I get a nice wood fire going I can warm the whole house up in a short while, the coal seemed hardly to warm up anything beyond the immediate vicinity.

Or is there a technique/type of coal I should have been using that I don’t know about?

Either way, I’ve got a multi-fuel, but other than the once, only ever burn wood. Moreso Squirrel from a local dealer/installer. Very pleased.

Multifuel and not to stock it up at night and close it.

The coal burns slow and long makes great embers for the logs which sit on top you can get hours out of them that way.

We got ours from http://www.stovesonline.co.uk the good old Morso Badger.

Two other things to think about:

– Are you in a smokeless zone (that may limit stove choice)
– Where are you going to get your wood from/you do know how much it costs to buy/be realistic about how much you will use a year/do you have room to store this much under cover.

On a similar note, I have been quoted around £2.5k to install a stove, line the chimney, and knock out the fireplace in Edinburgh

This does not include the stove itself.

Does this sound reasonable? Does anyone have a installer they would recommend?

equally great embers can be had with wood if you select your wood right and have a dedicated wood burner without coal grate.#

with a coal grate in the stove will rip through the wood quickly.

a flat plate woodburners much more economic with the wood.

Ours has an adjustable grid to select it’s use.

I’ve just got it to go again this am with the coal embers from yesterday, I put the coal on about 5 last night it’s away grand this am. You can’t do that with wood no matter how good it is.

+1 for multifuel. I use a bit of both and get better heat output and rip through less logs if I use a bit of coal as well as logs.

We have just had a quote in Bristol for about £1,800 to remove a gas fire, line the chimney and install the new stove and cut and fit a new slate hearth. Stove and oak mantle are not included in that price.

We went wood burner only on the advice of the installer and us not wanted to have to store coal mainly because of the mess.

Now we just have to wait about 8 weeks for them to have space to fit us in!

wanted to have to store coal mainly because of the mess.

Ours in a plastic bunker there is no mess.

is it a small stove ?

my parents and grandparents stoves can both be lit with last nights embers from logs (7 and 8kw) – mines cant its too small(4.5kw) – would only do it if i closed it down and i refuse to do that.

with a coal grate in the stove will rip through the wood quickly.

a flat plate woodburners much more economic with the wood.

Interesting stuff. I have a Charnwood C4 with multi fuel grate in it, this is optional and can be removed. I only ever burn decent wood. Would I be better off taking the grate out and just burning on a flat plate? Will the wood burn longer using this method? Any other advantages or disadvantages to doing this?

the fitter we spoke to (regarding a Charnwood C5) certainly said if you are just burning wood to do it on a flat bed as it will burn much better on a bed of its own ash.

with a coal grate in the stove will rip through the wood quickly.

Only if you clean the grate out. The multifuel grate on our stoves only let the ash through if riddled, so the reality is that there is always 1″-2″ of ash sitting on top of the grate.

is it a small stove ?

Yup small one and same as sharkbait you riddle it to let ash through when it gets too full.

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/how-to-burn-wood.html

ill just leave that there for you to have a read.

Loads of advice(?) here…

ill just leave that there for you to have a read.

Yeah it tells you to do what I do.

Why not close it down at night?

Closing them down causes a sooty build up.

“We do not recommend that you burn wood and coal at the same time: burning coal produces sulphuric acid and wood can contain a lot of moisture – this combination can coat your chimney in sulphuric acid solution which can quickly eat away at anything.
Plus the conditions for burning wood efficiently are not the same as those for burning coal efficiently.”

sounds like the opposite of what you do.

Been in for 4 years and had no issues.

crack on

its your stove

as an asside – how do peat and wood react ? mcmoonter to the thread mcmoonter to the thread…….

got a chance of a fair delivery of peat at a good rate – would have to give up a large chunk of my back garage to storing it mind you.

how does it burn – last longer or shorter than wood ? smokey ? what about ash waste ?

how does it burn – last longer or shorter than wood ?

Would be interesting to see how it went – I would have thought it wouldn’t burn as hot but also wouldn’t have the same tar issues as [damp] wood, but I could be wrong.
I would personally feel uneasy burning peat though as isn’t it environmentally uncool? but that’s just me.

Would I be better off taking the grate out and just burning on a flat plate? Will the wood burn longer using this method? Any other advantages or disadvantages to doing this?

Coal burns best with a flow of air from below but this would rip through wood which burns best with air flowing from above. Theoretically if you burn wood and coal at the same time you’re compromising either the burn time of the wood or the nasty emissions from the coal.

So if you’re only burning wood then I guess, in theory, you’d be better off removing the multifuel grate.
But I have a question about this. When I light our stove (multifuel Clearview) I allow air from below for 10 mins to get the wood raging before I shut the vent and only use air from above – how does the lighting technique work with no air supply from below…just open the door slightly?

I do have a Jotul F100 stove that my sister have given me for my office which is wood only and no grate – it’s not fitted yet and I’m sure it’s really good but I am thinking of selling it and buying another Clearview just because I’m so used to them!

thats how my parents do it with their cassette wood burner sharkbait – just leave the door open.

interesting point on the peat front – will research.

ok see what your saying – essentially non renewable and CO2 emissions released during digging.

Peat varies in quality depending on where you get it; some is quite earthy. Generally it’s a poor fuel for a stove, it glows nicely and gives off pretty sparks but isn’t dense so doesn’t last very long. I’ve been told it burns very tarry and is not very good for your flue. However it does smell gorgeous when you allow some smoke into the room or you go outside. The tiny amount you will burn is insignificant compared to what gets spread on gardens or burned in peat-fired generating stations.

Coal is a bad idea for a multi-fuel stove as with enough draft it can burn white hot, which can melt the cast iron grate and baffle plate. Some coal is very tarry.

Smokeless fuel is fine in a multi-fuel, it will glow nicely and cleanly all evening and most of the night and forms a good bed for your logs.

For logs you need a good hot bed of embers, either wood or smokeless, to achieve a hot enough temperature so that they glow right through and don’t smoulder and produce tarry smoke. Well-seasoned logs will burn hot and dry and look nice.

Best advice we were given was to err on the side of a smaller stove, which you will be burning harder and thence hotter and cleaner.

very toasty in trail rat towers last night – finally got round to hacking up the last of my sticks for the wood shed. its “stappit”

Smokeless fuel is fine in a multi-fuel, it will glow nicely and cleanly all evening and most of the night and forms a good bed for your logs.

Now you see that’s what I thought until the fitter of my latest stove said he has found that the chemicals and other crap that they use to create smokeless coal can eat a flue liner away in short time if overused.
He quoted one chap he installed a stove for that used a lot of smokless and the flue was eaten away near the top (where the condensates are) within 4 years requiring a new liner!! The fitter had nothing to gain from this advice and interestingly Clearview Stoves recommend only wood or grade 1 coal and not smokeless!
If you’re going to use smokeless I think you need a stainless (904/904) flue which is expensive and still not guaranteed against failure. Generally people have a 316/316 flue fitted and this is def not rated for smokless.
On the subject of guarantees, my fitter also said that in general they’re not worth a penny as the manufacturer will simple state that you’ve burnt something ‘wrong’ and will not pay out unless the liner has torn during installation – and he’s seen that happen with cheap liners also.
Thankfully we’ve now got in excess of 15 cubic m of wood ready to go so I’m not expecting to buy any coal this year 🙂

TR your pic reminds me that I must build my peltier fan 🙂

DO it

ours was broken by a curious visiting child for a short period last year – was knocked off the stove and bent the motor pin.

you fair noticed the difference through the rest of the house without it and then when it came back.

I’ve been meaning to build one since last winter. Spares shamefully sat in my workshop untouched. As much as it hurts an adopted Yorkshire man I’ve put my hand in my pocket and just bought one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006ZX4NJA/ref=pe_385721_37986871_TE_item

Bit more stomach able than the £90-100 for the genuine eco fan models.

Wharfedale, or anyone else with one of those fans, any chance of measuring the actual height (not including the handle as I could nip it off)? I have limited space above my stove as it’s inset, and there seems to be a bit of variation in quoted sizes.

Nobeer

FYI the handle just pushes into the head of the heatsink and doesnt stick out higher than the blade – at least on my calframo one.

Cheers, Terry, I’ll prob just order one, as it doesn’t cost to post back to Amazon anyway.