wood burning stove

[trevone64]

im getting a fire place and everyone is suggesting a wood burning stove but i just don't think they look as nice....whats the advantage???

[david_carnell]

Much more efficient than an open fire. Less heat escapes up the chimney (70% plus in an open fire compared to less than 20% in a wood burner) and they use less fuel to creat more heat. Less risk of fire damage I suppose and if you can connect yours to a back-boiler you can use it to heat water and other areas of the house.

You can even use it to generate electricity to sell back to the national grid.

[El Pibe]

They're a great deal more efficient than an open fireplace, last longer on less and give off more heat.

If you don't like the look of traditional wood stoves there are some pretty funky designs around these days.

I agree you can't really beat a proper open fire , but as we've built an airtight house that isn't an option, even the stoves need to be sealed and supplied from an external pipe. we went with a couple that were vaguely similar to this, though can't remember the brand

here are some funky ones

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/wood_burning_stoves/Contemporary-Designer-stoves.html

THis site is excellent

http://www.whatstove.co.uk/stove-reviews/stoves/stove-reviews/_c35/

[El Pibe]

xpost

[*Bob*]

It depends what you want / need it for.

Additional heating for occasional cosy nights in with Ant & Dec and a box of Guylian - the romance of an open fire might be the one for you. Not a legal romance though: you're meant to use smokeless fuel on an open fire, which is about as romantic as a Pot Noodle. That said, one sniff of local air on an autumn night will tell you that many are in flagrant (boom! boom!) breach of the law.

Anything else in terms of practicality, heat etc = stove. They still look nice.. especially if you find the right moulding / surround.

[Jeremy]

I dunno... I just find it a bit daft that people want to shove wood (or smokeless fuel) into a fireplace to keep warm.

It's perfectly possible to get a victorian style fire surround (reclaimed or repro) with a gas burner in it. Seems much more practical to me.

[*Bob*]

Why not just put one of these into the fireplace and have done with it?

http://www-4.plumbworld.co.uk/single-panel-single-convector-600mm-00022949M.jpg

[trevone64]

thanx every one

[Annette Curtain]

"Officially" you should have a DEFFRA compliant stove IF you want to burn wood.

Smokeless coal and other smokeless products are fine on an open fire - but not so efficient.( see clean air act 1971)

The wood burning stove radiates more heat into the room, hence it's more efficient to run. Though it's not a cheap option, you can take the stove out and take it with you when you leave.

Design wise, there's a dearth of naff/cutesy Mrs Hedgehog style logburners to wade through, but with a little patience you'll find a neat modern one to suit your look. Make sure you opt for the multi fuel model, it's more flexible fuel wise. Wood combined with a little smokeless coal is optimum.

I'm fond of the Danish made Westfire. It's got a nice deep firebox, performs very well and looks good, with a neat flat top plate that you can put a pan on to slow cook with.

Lastly, its cleaner & very enjoyable.

We've enjoyed many a good "hot-yoga" session in front of one.

[Huggers]

agree with Bob, what do you want to use it for. For occasional and picturesque use, an open fire is very nice. There are some good gas imitation ones too that can go in the fireplace cavity.

We have our original fireplace in our sitting room where we occasionally have smokeless coal fires. We used to use it much more, until we installed a woodburning stove in our kitchen diner.

Our wood burning stove is on a lot, all day when I am working from home and I don't use any central heating at the same time. It takes the edge off the rest of the downstairs too while keeping the back of the house toasty.

Ours can take a bit of smokeless coal too, to keep it going, but wood is what it is mainly meant to burn.

Then there is storage of wood- you are not going to get far on nets of logs from garages! Bulk buying is the key and you need a place in your garden to store it where it can be both aired and kept dry. So that is a consideration. I made mine out of a pallet and a brolly in the back of the garden and that does the job. .

We chose an ecologically efficient heavy steel stove which heats up very quickly and burns effectively. It was quite expensive but highly recommended by friends -Clearview. But we considered closely many others, including the very popular Morso Squirrel.

It looks very attractive as it sits deep inside the fireplace cavity. If you wanted to preserve an original fireplace there are smaller ones out there, or you could sit it in front of the fireplace and connect it from the back rather than the top.

A really good site for helping you decide is http://www.whatstove.co.uk/ chock-full of users reviewers.

We really wanted a wood burner for our needs, and I think it would have been an expensive choice if we weren't going to use it much.

[Nigello]

Who would fit it around here? Would they supply the stove for you as well? Do you have to have your chimney cleaned out beforehand? I am tempted to get one ready for the autumn (which will probably arrive in early July at this rate!)

[Huggers]

You would need your chimney cleaned and tested, and probably lined. If it doesnt need lining, lining is probably advised. There are loads of fitters recommended on here through CASA in Bellenden Road, or independently. I ordered my stove independently and used Dennis to fit it 07903425482. The fitting will cost you as much or more than your stove but is essential for safety and efficiency.

[uncleglen]

The smokeless fuel from B and Q is fine- it's a peculiar hexagonal shape though. Overwhelming reasons for a solid fuel fire- power cuts and the gas just might run out.

[Lowlander]

Jeremy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I dunno... I just find it a bit daft that people

> want to shove wood (or smokeless fuel) into a

> fireplace to keep warm.

>

> It's perfectly possible to get a victorian style

> fire surround (reclaimed or repro) with a gas

> burner in it. Seems much more practical to me.

We use around ?150 worth of smokeless coal a year on a few open fires. It's nice to look at, means we don't use the central heating so much because we only really use the living room; excellent when I'm working from home as I can just heat up the study. I've worked out that we save around ?150 on gas bills because of this.

Downsides: have to clear it out, go outside to fill up the coal bin, useless most evenings during the week as it takes a few hours to warm up (ditto if you go out).

If I was going to live in my current place more than 5 years I would install a stove...

[El Pibe]

we'll use wood, but that's not really an issue in rural ireland, we'll heat the house as much as possible with water heated using solar thermal which, thankfully considering where it is, works very efficiently through cloud!!

The house is airtight and ludicrously well insulated so we're hoping that the woodburners will provide plenty of heat and make us less dependent on gas. We've an 9 8kw one in the main open plan living/dining/kitchen (where the oven should provide heat too) area and a 7 5.5kw one in the sitting room.

Maintenance will be a pain, especially with two.

[Annette Curtain]

Pibe's

All you need to visulise is some Gas-Fat-Cat laughing all the way to the bank with your cash - then the maintenance pain will ease.

Anyway, wood ash is very clean & light, plus theres an Ash Vac on the market (?50) which magic's away the problemo.

[numbers]

*Bob* Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Why not just put one of these into the fireplace

> and have done with it?

>

> http://www-4.plumbworld.co.uk/single-panel-single-

> convector-600mm-00022949M.jpg

*bob* you are priceless. Burst out laughing at that on the train!

[El Pibe]

found it.

reviews here http://www.whatstove.co.uk/romotop-stoves/romotop-stromboli-stove.html

and i thiiiink, this one, which was meant to be a Morso but this was half the price

http://www.whatstove.co.uk/jotul-stoves/jotul-f-371-stove.html

[Huggers]

that's beautiful El Pibe, and Jotul are a brilliant make, one of the greats...unfortunately 'not suitable for smoke-free zones' though according to the description on your link.

[El Pibe]

i suppose there has to be at least one upside to leaving london then ;-)

[*Bob*]

What what I understood, the 'smoke-free approved' thing is a bit confusing, or it was when we got ours.

Each individual stove had to 'pass' - but the process takes a while and has a cost. As a consequence, there were loads of stoves that used the same cleaningburning tech, but some had been through the test and others hadn't.

So we got one - A Morso Badger - when it wasn't approved. But we knew it would be approved at some point as it was just a smaller version of the Owl, which had been approved.

So worth checking if others in the range have been 'done'..

[Annette Curtain]

The "approval thing" is about how efficient it burns the wood ie: calorific exchange, so many existing appliances would technically pass when their top flue is set is at about 3/4 and the heat isn't rushing up the flue.

However, some manufactures have now passed the test and a device to restrict their flue is fitted. (often a simple screw restricting the full range on the top vent/flue lever)

Ironically, the fire often draws/works better when the simple device (the screw) is removed once installation is complete.

[nakinyeltab]

we just used RPS fireplaces to fit a stove we bought direct on-line. Was miles cheaper than the shop quotes who all insisted on lining our chimney - an unnecessary job which added ?1k to the cost! We used Paul Silver 07939236261 and he and his partner worked really hard all day to give a good result. Nice guys - got their details via this forum in the first place. Also used their recommended sweep Steve Pearce

07930345245.

[canela]

can anyone clarify if ED is a smoke-free zone?

[Carrie]

Yes it is