Woodstove, I want BIG, installer says I'll melt, thoughts?
Discussion
It's been running 24/7 for about 3 weeks and - mainly - it's brilliant, still takes some learning to control, occasionally it gets away on me and I have to open the patio doors to cool down - I had a few friends round last night, minus 3 outside but the lounge hit 32 degrees. That's quite rare but I'd been out all afternoon so I fed it quite well with hardwood beforehand, came home, opened the door and it was like stepping off of a plane into an African heatwave.
The output is very wood dependent, pop two big dry bluegum logs on it, open the vents fully and it'll heat the whole village but softer wood or anything not fully seasoned produces much lower temps. It doesn't chew through much wood either because it's usually simmering away at around 180c - 250c. I've never filled it right up but I threw two 600mm gum limbs on it recently, turned it down and they burnt nicely for 9 hours, limbs are denser than trunk logs and having a big shed full of them is firewood nirvana.
My electricity bills used to be £250 a month in Winter and I was still buying firewood, now they're £60 a month and I expect a Winter's worth of wood will cost £700 max. But, most of all, for the first time ever, it's warm in here, that's priceless.
Were the PH naysayers correct? Yes and no, in one respect it's like a 1000hp car, it takes controlling but it's nice having all the power available.
Thanks for all the thoughful input, sorry I ignored 99% of you but I'm glad I did
Pics:
The little self powered fan doing it's thing
Flue temp gauge in rare 'not off the clock' position
Todays firewood delivery, should do me until lunchtime
The output is very wood dependent, pop two big dry bluegum logs on it, open the vents fully and it'll heat the whole village but softer wood or anything not fully seasoned produces much lower temps. It doesn't chew through much wood either because it's usually simmering away at around 180c - 250c. I've never filled it right up but I threw two 600mm gum limbs on it recently, turned it down and they burnt nicely for 9 hours, limbs are denser than trunk logs and having a big shed full of them is firewood nirvana.
My electricity bills used to be £250 a month in Winter and I was still buying firewood, now they're £60 a month and I expect a Winter's worth of wood will cost £700 max. But, most of all, for the first time ever, it's warm in here, that's priceless.
Were the PH naysayers correct? Yes and no, in one respect it's like a 1000hp car, it takes controlling but it's nice having all the power available.
Thanks for all the thoughful input, sorry I ignored 99% of you but I'm glad I did
Pics:
The little self powered fan doing it's thing
Flue temp gauge in rare 'not off the clock' position
Todays firewood delivery, should do me until lunchtime
Simpo Two said:
Amazing the way NZ houses have corrugated iron roofs - quite endearing
What's the form on burning gum trees? Will the gum stick in the flue and eventually cause mischief?
It's still common practice to build using corrugated roofing, most are in better shape than mine.What's the form on burning gum trees? Will the gum stick in the flue and eventually cause mischief?
Blue Gum is a nickname for Eucalyptus Globulus, once seasoned there's no gum just a dense heavy wood that burns much hotter and around 3 times longer than Pine.
Evening Mike, still alive here and the house hasn't burnt down but the heat from the stove caused the paper to come off of the living room walls, it's being relined soon
First time visitors are still surprised at the heat, some of them do that thing where they go to sit next to the fire, you know, for 'cosiness' but they only last a few seconds before moving away from it
the highest indoor temp I've seen was 42 centigrade when I loaded it up, forgot to turn it down and went outside to do some jobs, normally it's fine, just takes a bit of watching to keep it under control
First time visitors are still surprised at the heat, some of them do that thing where they go to sit next to the fire, you know, for 'cosiness' but they only last a few seconds before moving away from it
the highest indoor temp I've seen was 42 centigrade when I loaded it up, forgot to turn it down and went outside to do some jobs, normally it's fine, just takes a bit of watching to keep it under control
cheddar said:
Evening Mike, still alive here and the house hasn't burnt down but the heat from the stove caused the paper to come off of the living room walls, it's being relined soon
First time visitors are still surprised at the heat, some of them do that thing where they go to sit next to the fire, you know, for 'cosiness' but they only last a few seconds before moving away from it
the highest indoor temp I've seen was 42 centigrade when I loaded it up, forgot to turn it down and went outside to do some jobs, normally it's fine, just takes a bit of watching to keep it under control
Hero! Adamant it works FINE... despite melting the wall, casually hitting 42 degs and shrugging it off! First time visitors are still surprised at the heat, some of them do that thing where they go to sit next to the fire, you know, for 'cosiness' but they only last a few seconds before moving away from it
the highest indoor temp I've seen was 42 centigrade when I loaded it up, forgot to turn it down and went outside to do some jobs, normally it's fine, just takes a bit of watching to keep it under control
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