Real world experiences of log burners.
Discussion
The analogy with a classic car above is spot on.
Let me give you my two penneth, moved house last year and have been using it as my main source of heating over the winter, I get free wood and if I didn't it would be a bl**dy expensive way of heating the house!
It creates dust, dirt, leaves ash all over the floor and you need to regularly tidy the hearth. If these things bother you it isn't for you - exactly like an old classic car.....
Then you have to set up log store/rotation etc.
When I do building works on the house I'll be installing another, go figure.....
(but then I love classics too!)
Oh & one other thing, make sure you find out about them beforehand, I've got two, my 8kw is good once up to temperature, the 5kw is utterly useless!
Let me give you my two penneth, moved house last year and have been using it as my main source of heating over the winter, I get free wood and if I didn't it would be a bl**dy expensive way of heating the house!
It creates dust, dirt, leaves ash all over the floor and you need to regularly tidy the hearth. If these things bother you it isn't for you - exactly like an old classic car.....
Then you have to set up log store/rotation etc.
When I do building works on the house I'll be installing another, go figure.....
(but then I love classics too!)
Oh & one other thing, make sure you find out about them beforehand, I've got two, my 8kw is good once up to temperature, the 5kw is utterly useless!
I suppose they are a hassle compared to the modern day thermostat...
Yes you have to get wood from somewhere and store it somewhere dry. You also need quite a lot depending on how often it's used.
We tend to light ours from about 5pm till around 10:30 when we go to bed. We get through aprox a ton and a half of wood a season but only light it if the outside temp in typically below ~6 degrees (we didn't need it last night for instance). Our house is mid-terraced and very well insulated, so it never gets that cold.
I tend to put a layer of boiler nuts on the previous night's ash as I find this makes the wood burn hotter, but bizarrely, burn longer.
I light it with a firelighter, and start off with small bits of wood and bark, followed by logs.
I'll usually clean the glass every other night with a bit if Ciff/Jiff on a sponge and a kitchen towel.
Ash is usually emptied once a week (leaving a layer in the bottom as this really helps to get the fire burning hot)
The benefits are...we never use the central heating. The fire is constantly drawing in the stale air from the room which is replaced with clean fresh air at what must be a very fast rate. The heat is a lot nicer than radiators. It's a nice centre point of the room and lovely to watch.
I've never met anyone who didn't love their woodburner.
Yes you have to get wood from somewhere and store it somewhere dry. You also need quite a lot depending on how often it's used.
We tend to light ours from about 5pm till around 10:30 when we go to bed. We get through aprox a ton and a half of wood a season but only light it if the outside temp in typically below ~6 degrees (we didn't need it last night for instance). Our house is mid-terraced and very well insulated, so it never gets that cold.
I tend to put a layer of boiler nuts on the previous night's ash as I find this makes the wood burn hotter, but bizarrely, burn longer.
I light it with a firelighter, and start off with small bits of wood and bark, followed by logs.
I'll usually clean the glass every other night with a bit if Ciff/Jiff on a sponge and a kitchen towel.
Ash is usually emptied once a week (leaving a layer in the bottom as this really helps to get the fire burning hot)
The benefits are...we never use the central heating. The fire is constantly drawing in the stale air from the room which is replaced with clean fresh air at what must be a very fast rate. The heat is a lot nicer than radiators. It's a nice centre point of the room and lovely to watch.
I've never met anyone who didn't love their woodburner.
I've got an inset one, as a way of heating the house it makes a good ornament. It takes ages to heat up, uses loads of fuel, is a bit messy and is generally a bit of a pain. How a big metal box with a raging fire inside it can produce so little heat is a marvel of the modern world! I do like it though, I'd probably have another one but my overall experience is disappointing.
we have one in our cottage - definitely agree on the 'fun' aspect, and will be putting at least 1 in our next house or looking for a house with them already in.
As someone has already said, if the glass is sooty / not clear, then you aren't building the fire properly, or are using poor quality wood. The wood does burn down to practically nothing - ours is rarely emptied of ash.
I'm still tinkering with the top and bottom vents to make sure I get the best balance between heat and speed of burn, but its very much a highlight of the house.
A sole heat source? Probably not - we have central heating as well, and actually quite like a 'cold' bedroom so don't mind that having the log burner lit causes the thermostat to switch the heating off
As someone has already said, if the glass is sooty / not clear, then you aren't building the fire properly, or are using poor quality wood. The wood does burn down to practically nothing - ours is rarely emptied of ash.
I'm still tinkering with the top and bottom vents to make sure I get the best balance between heat and speed of burn, but its very much a highlight of the house.
A sole heat source? Probably not - we have central heating as well, and actually quite like a 'cold' bedroom so don't mind that having the log burner lit causes the thermostat to switch the heating off
Love ours. Have a 5kw Stovax View. Looks great, super easy to use and pumps out enough heat to make the 30 m2 living room toasty enough for t-shirts when it's baltic outside.
It's only as messy as you want it to be, we got a big hamper for christmas a while back and just use that to store the logs, kindling and paraphernalia. Looks pretty, and keeps everything contained.
The glass is easily cleaned with some wet newspaper dipped in ash. And we scoop the ash out periodically with a shovel into a metal bucket from Ikea which lives on the opposite side of the hearth to the basket. You don't usually get an ash pan that is separate if it isn't a multi-fuel stove.
Yes, it takes a bit of faffing about - I'm usually chopping the week's supply of logs and kindling down on a saturday or sunday morning, and have to go to the log store to carry a big bucket of logs in every few days, but it's good exercise and fun! We have a pretty much limitless supply of free firewood thanks to ash dieback and a huge storm - I don't think it would be very cost effective if we had to keep buying wood, but I'd still prefer it to whacking the gas on all the time.
Get one - worst case is you'll hate it and you can flog it on eBay, or just use it as a ££££ mood setter once the kids have gone to bed...
It's only as messy as you want it to be, we got a big hamper for christmas a while back and just use that to store the logs, kindling and paraphernalia. Looks pretty, and keeps everything contained.
The glass is easily cleaned with some wet newspaper dipped in ash. And we scoop the ash out periodically with a shovel into a metal bucket from Ikea which lives on the opposite side of the hearth to the basket. You don't usually get an ash pan that is separate if it isn't a multi-fuel stove.
Yes, it takes a bit of faffing about - I'm usually chopping the week's supply of logs and kindling down on a saturday or sunday morning, and have to go to the log store to carry a big bucket of logs in every few days, but it's good exercise and fun! We have a pretty much limitless supply of free firewood thanks to ash dieback and a huge storm - I don't think it would be very cost effective if we had to keep buying wood, but I'd still prefer it to whacking the gas on all the time.
Get one - worst case is you'll hate it and you can flog it on eBay, or just use it as a ££££ mood setter once the kids have gone to bed...
stinkspanner said:
I've got an inset one, as a way of heating the house it makes a good ornament. It takes ages to heat up, uses loads of fuel, is a bit messy and is generally a bit of a pain. How a big metal box with a raging fire inside it can produce so little heat is a marvel of the modern world! I do like it though, I'd probably have another one but my overall experience is disappointing.
Sounds like yours is the 'landrover model' 
We had one fitted 3-4 years ago and I can honestly say it is the best money we have spent on the house.
Not particularly cheap to run but it does seem to heat up the entire house, we have ours burning most nights. The psychological effect of flames seems to make the house warmer.
Ours is a contempery design with a large window, a little mess but not too much to be an issue.
Not particularly cheap to run but it does seem to heat up the entire house, we have ours burning most nights. The psychological effect of flames seems to make the house warmer.
Ours is a contempery design with a large window, a little mess but not too much to be an issue.
Last year we moved into a house with one, it had recently been fitted. Its a nice looking unit as is the fireplace, tops the look of the living room off. However, its a nice to have and nice to crank up the heat in that one room - mine really doesnt heat any more than my living room. So I spend £60 a year on logs, £50 a year on a sweep and shelled out for a wood shed etc. I do like it, but there is some degree of faff too and right now it wouldnt be top of my list as there are other things that need doing to the house but luckily its there already. They are just like bi-fold doors - fashionable at the moment and nice to have.
8-P said:
They are just like bi-fold doors - fashionable at the moment and nice to have.
The bloke who disconnected our old gas fire so I put the log burner in (5 or 6 years ago) said he was seeing a lot of people doing the same, so it's not than new a thing. As a kid in 70's/80's we had a Rayburn in the kitchen open fire in the lounge, a Jotul in the hall that took longs about 3' long. There's something homely about a nice fire.Another fan here. We use ours to 'top up' and keep the living room warmer than rest of the house.
A good clean burn with dry hardwood results in very little ash. Mine has a tray you pull out, ash goes in bin or sometimes on my soil. It takes seconds, and i probably do this every other burn.
Sometimes I dont get it hot enough, or use wetter (free) logs, and the amount of ash probably doubles.
It creates a little work, and sometimes I cant be bothered, but the heating comes on automatically anyway. Well worth it overall!!
A good clean burn with dry hardwood results in very little ash. Mine has a tray you pull out, ash goes in bin or sometimes on my soil. It takes seconds, and i probably do this every other burn.
Sometimes I dont get it hot enough, or use wetter (free) logs, and the amount of ash probably doubles.
It creates a little work, and sometimes I cant be bothered, but the heating comes on automatically anyway. Well worth it overall!!
They are a great thing indeed. My mum installed one in her living room and the amount of heat it throws around the house is incredible.
It doesn't need to be messy, just keep the log basket somewhere out of the way and fill as required.
Whilst the capital expense will be significant I cant wait to get one in my new house, I have a perfect 'focal point' location in mind which will basically eliminate the need for central heating most of the time. Being out in the country wood is very, very easy to come by too.
It doesn't need to be messy, just keep the log basket somewhere out of the way and fill as required.
Whilst the capital expense will be significant I cant wait to get one in my new house, I have a perfect 'focal point' location in mind which will basically eliminate the need for central heating most of the time. Being out in the country wood is very, very easy to come by too.
I've had one for about 15yrs or so, well before this current trend. It only gets used on very cold long nights in and if i'm in in time to get it going. The heating is on a timer, so by the time i'm home I walk into a warm house so what's the point in getting a fire going for a couple of hours?
I wonder if there will be some new legislation brought in soon, they are so popular now they are considered a pollution problem:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/01/24/air-...
I wonder if there will be some new legislation brought in soon, they are so popular now they are considered a pollution problem:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/01/24/air-...
Even if you arn't convinced about using it, I would highly recommend getting one.
Not only is it a very nice 'selling feature' for future house marketing, but it is creates a very nice focal point in the room. With guests/vistors/romantic night it also quickly becomes a lovely thing to have going in the background.
As for cleaning it & getting it going, look to technology to help! You can buy 'ash hoovers' to literally just suck it clean the morning after (oo err...) and purpose made blow torches to cheat & instantly get it up to temperature & ready to take your wood (OOOO ERRR...)
AND BEST OF ALL....you can have all manner of fun with statements such as ''she loves my wood'' and ''she'll keep taking my wood until morning'' and ''once hot she is insatiable''. Surely that alone and the giggles & guffaws are worth every penny!
edit: I'm getting all hot & bothered just imagining it...
Not only is it a very nice 'selling feature' for future house marketing, but it is creates a very nice focal point in the room. With guests/vistors/romantic night it also quickly becomes a lovely thing to have going in the background.
As for cleaning it & getting it going, look to technology to help! You can buy 'ash hoovers' to literally just suck it clean the morning after (oo err...) and purpose made blow torches to cheat & instantly get it up to temperature & ready to take your wood (OOOO ERRR...)
AND BEST OF ALL....you can have all manner of fun with statements such as ''she loves my wood'' and ''she'll keep taking my wood until morning'' and ''once hot she is insatiable''. Surely that alone and the giggles & guffaws are worth every penny!
edit: I'm getting all hot & bothered just imagining it...
Edited by Andehh on Tuesday 31st January 14:50
Johnnytheboy said:
Main problem ours has is that there is a downward draught in the flue until it gets going, so unless we employ certain tricks, it puffs a lot of smoke out into the room until it gets going.
I get this sometimes - I have found turning off the kitchen extractor fan makes lighting mine an awful lot easier!Johnnytheboy said:
Main problem ours has is that there is a downward draught in the flue until it gets going, so unless we employ certain tricks, it puffs a lot of smoke out into the room until it gets going.
Mine will do that at start-up when cold outside, but I close/part-close the door as soon as possible and after a minute or so it's warm enough to go up the chimney unaided.ctdctd said:
I thought about a log burner briefly but ended up with one of these.
http://www.flavelfires.co.uk/products/flavel-jazz-...
I like the look of that - and much less hassle.http://www.flavelfires.co.uk/products/flavel-jazz-...
Wonder if I can convince the OH.
(after all it'll be me not her sorting out the logs and being told off for dropping bits an pieces on the newly-installed wood floor....
Hmmmm.....
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