Real world experiences of log burners.
Discussion
We have been doing a Victorian house renovation, took this monstrosity out
And replaced with the 'man stove'
It's a Bullerjan if you want to Google it. I'd agree with a previous comment about it being a feature, everyone loves it and it's a real focal point - we light it every night, really easy to clean and zero smoke. Wood needs to be low moisture that's all - no damp mouldy garage stuff!
Looks awesome and my husband actually wants to marry it.
And replaced with the 'man stove'
It's a Bullerjan if you want to Google it. I'd agree with a previous comment about it being a feature, everyone loves it and it's a real focal point - we light it every night, really easy to clean and zero smoke. Wood needs to be low moisture that's all - no damp mouldy garage stuff!
Looks awesome and my husband actually wants to marry it.
Edited by parakitaMol. on Tuesday 31st January 16:02
Andehh said:
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! 
Curiously, that is one selling feature I've not seen on any of the websites, but maybe it should be!I think this will lead to another lengthy discussion with the missus. Clearly a log burner is compromised in some ways, but the feature-factor and the intangible feel-good factor are very strong positives.
I've got a Hunter Herald 8, never got on with it. In fact it hasn't been lit for two years, just can't be bothered for the amount of aggro it seems to cause. It always seems difficult to get going, burns too fast (roars compared to other's I've seen that just simmer away), and needs constant attention to keep it going.
However, mine is the multifuel version, so not specifically designed for wood burning, and I suspect this is a big part of the problem with it. Having said that, I tried solid fuel a couple of times and that fared no better. Maybe it's more to do with my fire making skills!
Does anyone have any experience of the gas fired stoves? That sounds like a great idea to me, but I am wondering how realistic they look compared to the real thing?
However, mine is the multifuel version, so not specifically designed for wood burning, and I suspect this is a big part of the problem with it. Having said that, I tried solid fuel a couple of times and that fared no better. Maybe it's more to do with my fire making skills!
Does anyone have any experience of the gas fired stoves? That sounds like a great idea to me, but I am wondering how realistic they look compared to the real thing?
ditto most of what the majority are saying above -love my woodburner! Belts out heat, building/lighting the fire is therapeutic after getting home after a hard days work and best of all its cheap to run. We replaced an open fire with a decent quality log burner, this now burns less wood/coal than the old open fire and the improved efficiency/controlled draught up/down the chimney means house is warmer plus the central heating clicks off on its thermostat a few minutes after we light the wood burner even on the coldest nights and our gas bill went DOWN by £600 per year !!! Do I like it? Absolutely -total no brainer!!!
Regular posters will know that I am really peed off with our multifuel stove. It's an esse contemporary style and we burn logs. The blasted thing belches smoke into our room every time we reload with logs. Had the flue checked out and all is 100% good. When the stove is burning nicely, and it always does, its a pleasure to see and plenty of warmth from it. Then dread the reload!
We are taking the stove out this Spring and have yet to decide what to replace it with. Really surprised at the refuel problem. we have about 35 years experience with stoves and this is the first stove to present problems
We are taking the stove out this Spring and have yet to decide what to replace it with. Really surprised at the refuel problem. we have about 35 years experience with stoves and this is the first stove to present problems
Simpo Two said:
AC43 said:
I like the look of that - and much less hassle.
Plastic logs dressed up as a TV? Hmm. About as much character as a dead rat...What I don't understand is everyone saying teh wood needs to be dry, no damp stuff.
When I was a kid we had one of these at home, great piece of kit. My dad could light it and keep it going for about 3 or 4 days before he would clean it out. You could stuff any rubbish in the hole in top plate, potato peelings, cardboard, kitchen waste wrapped in newspaper and of course smokeless coal (or coke). You could open the front door to expose the flames for more heat (although it was always hot), open the bottom flap to let air in and the flue (missing on this one) had a butterfly throttle in it with which you could also control the draw. Not sure how the modern log burners improve on this?
p.s. Oh and mum used to leave a kettle on it and sometimes my dinner on plate over a pan of hot water with another plate covering it!
When I was a kid we had one of these at home, great piece of kit. My dad could light it and keep it going for about 3 or 4 days before he would clean it out. You could stuff any rubbish in the hole in top plate, potato peelings, cardboard, kitchen waste wrapped in newspaper and of course smokeless coal (or coke). You could open the front door to expose the flames for more heat (although it was always hot), open the bottom flap to let air in and the flue (missing on this one) had a butterfly throttle in it with which you could also control the draw. Not sure how the modern log burners improve on this?
p.s. Oh and mum used to leave a kettle on it and sometimes my dinner on plate over a pan of hot water with another plate covering it!
Edited by RichB on Tuesday 31st January 17:56
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.
I've got an inset one and find it takes ages to heat up too - Guess an inset fire will never be as good as a free standing one, plus I've had lots of reliability issues with ours (an Aga Stretton) where the removable cast iron plates have cracked inside it...(don't buy an Aga wood burner, their customer service is diabolical). Having said that, I do love having a wood burner, for most of the reasons everyone else has said in this thread.Simpo Two said:
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.Usually!
Nothing much to add, love our burner and so glad we had it installed a few years back. Only skim read the thread, but some notes:
1) Do you have a suitable area outside to store logs? It's much more cost effective to a bloke off Gumtree dropping off a trailer load for £150, rather than buying the bags of logs in the local DIY place or garage.
2) Get some testimontals for the fitters. We had some right goons, and whilst the stove itself is great, the fitting was a bit of a cowboy job. Fixed now though. If you can, ask about how they can maximise draw into the burner. Better the draw into the burner, it will help it burn more cleanly and will be easier to light.
3) Hate mess and sticks, so we have a bunch of these leather magazine rack things to store lighting paper, kindling and smaller logs.
1) Do you have a suitable area outside to store logs? It's much more cost effective to a bloke off Gumtree dropping off a trailer load for £150, rather than buying the bags of logs in the local DIY place or garage.
2) Get some testimontals for the fitters. We had some right goons, and whilst the stove itself is great, the fitting was a bit of a cowboy job. Fixed now though. If you can, ask about how they can maximise draw into the burner. Better the draw into the burner, it will help it burn more cleanly and will be easier to light.
3) Hate mess and sticks, so we have a bunch of these leather magazine rack things to store lighting paper, kindling and smaller logs.
We use one of these pads to clean the glass which you just use after each use for a few seconds to take any dirt off the glass: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Atmosfire-Wipe-Stove-Glas...
Also bought an ash can vac for cleaning out the ash as i got fed up of dropping ash when using a shovel and it minimises anything getting into the air. I found I always needed to vacuum up something after so may as well just have a stand alone vac which has a better filter for fine dust.
I bought a lined log basket (It was actually sold as a wicker clothes basket!) as I didn't want bits off the logs dropping on the carpet.
I'm fortunate to have a log burner in one room, an open fire in another and a Gas Stovax coal looking fire in another so have all options covered!
Gas one heats up the quickest and is used the most as its in the kitchen/diner, open fire i enjoy lighting the most but really seems to get through logs quickly!
Don't forget cost to line the chimney is possibly more than the log burner itself... and I agree, logs are expensive - Get friendly with anyone cutting down trees!
Definitely worth doing as a nice feature, I will be getting a fan soon to see if that helps spread the warmth as the log burner we have is probably 1 size too small for the room although I know loads of people who went for a big log burner and end up running it with windows open as they kick out so much heat!
Also bought an ash can vac for cleaning out the ash as i got fed up of dropping ash when using a shovel and it minimises anything getting into the air. I found I always needed to vacuum up something after so may as well just have a stand alone vac which has a better filter for fine dust.
I bought a lined log basket (It was actually sold as a wicker clothes basket!) as I didn't want bits off the logs dropping on the carpet.
I'm fortunate to have a log burner in one room, an open fire in another and a Gas Stovax coal looking fire in another so have all options covered!
Gas one heats up the quickest and is used the most as its in the kitchen/diner, open fire i enjoy lighting the most but really seems to get through logs quickly!
Don't forget cost to line the chimney is possibly more than the log burner itself... and I agree, logs are expensive - Get friendly with anyone cutting down trees!
Definitely worth doing as a nice feature, I will be getting a fan soon to see if that helps spread the warmth as the log burner we have is probably 1 size too small for the room although I know loads of people who went for a big log burner and end up running it with windows open as they kick out so much heat!
Edited by Timja on Tuesday 31st January 23:05
Timja said:
Don't forget cost to line the chimney is possibly more than the log burner itself.
This is a good point - if the OP is putting a log burner in a 70's house, it may well have nothing more than a tiny pre-cast flue intended for a small gas fire. If there's no physical chimney breast, the flue will probably have to be exposed - either internally or externally. As you say, the cost can easily exceed the cost of the burner.It's also worth considering how the thing will look from the outside - there are a few places near me that have about 6 feet of stainless flue sticking out of the roof. I assume it's related to regulations and the particular nature of each house, but they do look a bit silly.
Edited by Risotto on Wednesday 1st February 09:48
mjb1 said:
I've got a Hunter Herald 8, never got on with it. In fact it hasn't been lit for two years, just can't be bothered for the amount of aggro it seems to cause. It always seems difficult to get going, burns too fast (roars compared to other's I've seen that just simmer away), and needs constant attention to keep it going.
Quite possibly related point to this is make sure you size it correctly for the room. a friend of mine installed one that was just too powerful for the size of room, and consequently they hardly ever used it. I find ours (Stovax Stockton 5) seems to work best when left at full chat for a good hour or so and then back it off once there's a good layer of glowing wood in the bottom. A bigger stove would mean we'd get too hot and have to back it off too soon.I'm not sure about all this talk of mess. We have a Morso Squirrel, it's actually my 3rd one. When I lived on boats I used them and I carried it through to the house. Cream carpet just in front of the stove which is about 8 years old now.
Like others we don't use it every night, just on particularly cold evenings. The ash is all contained in a pan underneath and we probably empty the pan every 4th or 5th use.
Very easy to light, 5 or 6 sheets of newspaper scrunched up, wood on top then lit with some wonderful extra long Penhaligon's matches we were bought as a gift. I dread to think how much they cost but there are 240 in the tin
Never cleaned the glass, we only burn wood which is stored for ages. Actually burns very little. The log basket does a couple of nights. The trick is to get a stove with good control of the upper and lower air intakes.
https://youtu.be/MknZwipZa7M
Henry
Like others we don't use it every night, just on particularly cold evenings. The ash is all contained in a pan underneath and we probably empty the pan every 4th or 5th use.
Very easy to light, 5 or 6 sheets of newspaper scrunched up, wood on top then lit with some wonderful extra long Penhaligon's matches we were bought as a gift. I dread to think how much they cost but there are 240 in the tin
Never cleaned the glass, we only burn wood which is stored for ages. Actually burns very little. The log basket does a couple of nights. The trick is to get a stove with good control of the upper and lower air intakes.
https://youtu.be/MknZwipZa7M
Henry
Johnnytheboy said:
Simpo Two said:
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.Curiously the fire burns harder with a slight gap around the door than when the door is wide open; you'd think the oposite.
I was told when opening it open the door a crack, and leave it a few seconds before opening fully. The small gap means the air it draws in comes in fast and fans the flames quite quickly, so anything that was smoldering smokily starts burning cleaner and you get less smoke once you open the door.
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