Real world experiences of log burners.

Real world experiences of log burners.

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Discussion

AC43

11,436 posts

207 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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crankedup said:
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but I agree with you, these things are not a touch on the real thing. Which is why I have a dilemma in our stove replacement.
Yes but we rented a log cabin/chalet type thing in France last spring.

There was a log fire inside and a log store outside.

Guess who had the job of schlepping in and out three or four times a day often in the dark to get the logs? And guess who had to clean the thing out, stack it and light it, keep in going over the course of an evening and hoover up all the dust and debris (several times a day)?

My wife has terminal OCD when it comes to interiors and once this house is developed she'll be even worse. It's like she's expecting the Elle Deco photography squad to burst through the door unannounced at any time of the day or night.

Much though I love them I'm beginning to wonder if a log burner such a good idea.....

RedLeicester

6,869 posts

244 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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JohnStitch said:
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.
I have an inset and it's incredible. Lay the fire carefully and it starts heating the room within a few minutes, and kicks out insane amounts of heat. So much so that it's actually too good - we had visions of beanbags on the carpet in front of the fire, but it's simply too hot to even attempt that and we stay well away. Lovely thing. Seen some awful designs of inserts however, and just as many terrible installations.





As for logs being a bit messy or energetic, oh for goodness sake. They aren't expensive either unless you're comparing to a mains gas condensing boiler or buying your wood from the petrol station or kiln dried nonsense.

AC43

11,436 posts

207 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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RedLeicester said:
I have an inset and it's incredible. Lay the fire carefully and it starts heating the room within a few minutes, and kicks out insane amounts of heat. So much so that it's actually too good - we had visions of beanbags on the carpet in front of the fire, but it's simply too hot to even attempt that and we stay well away. Lovely thing. Seen some awful designs of inserts however, and just as many terrible installations.

I really like to look of that. What's the make/model?

RedLeicester said:
As for logs being a bit messy or energetic, oh for goodness sake. They aren't expensive either unless you're comparing to a mains gas condensing boiler or buying your wood from the petrol station or kiln dried nonsense.
You haven't met my wife. She had me get the Dust Buster out virtually every time I opened the door. I'll need to make sure we don't have oak floor with a dark stain like the last place. It just shows eveything.

Plus I'll need to design in a large internal log stack - save all the to-ing and fro-ing. And putting shoes on/taking them off. Did I mention the OCD?




Edited by AC43 on Wednesday 1st February 13:53

sjg

7,444 posts

264 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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Loved the idea of one, so was happy to buy a house that had one already.

It's nice on occasions, mostly when it's freezing outside. But usually we're not in the lounge for more than a couple of hours in the evening - so earlier in the day I need to decide if I can be bothered to light it tonight and turn the radiator off in there. Then get it going before we want to sit in there, and in order to run it hot enough to not be causing problems (soot, creosote, etc) it makes the room roasting hot. Then there's managing your stocks of wood & coal, and taking the ash out, etc. Easier most nights to just let the CH do the job. I don't consider it too messy, but the light carpet in front of the stove is in pretty poor shape.

If we moved, I'd think twice about spending a lot of money to put one in.

MX5_Nuts

1,487 posts

106 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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Has anyone installed one in a conservatory with polycarbonate roofing? Thinking of buying my parents house they're selling and the conservatory gets bloody freezing in winter with no central heating. I believe it's a DIY job using twin wall flues..

Decided I'm getting one for the living room but like the idea having 2 smile

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

223 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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MX5_Nuts said:
Has anyone installed one in a conservatory with polycarbonate roofing? Thinking of buying my parents house they're selling and the conservatory gets bloody freezing in winter with no central heating. I believe it's a DIY job using twin wall flues..

Decided I'm getting one for the living room but like the idea having 2 smile
I have been discussing this today with an installer.

No problem at all, just replace one of the poly panels with a fire/heat proof sheet and you're away.

I would also consider, superfoil and plasterboard for the conservatory too, turn it into a usable room.
We did ours 2 years ago and now our most used and warmest room in the house and that is with just a 2.5kw electric panel radiator. Plus that is heating a room that is 7m x 7m.

However, now I know it is our most used room a wood burner would be lovely.

MX5_Nuts

1,487 posts

106 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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gizlaroc said:
I have been discussing this today with an installer.

No problem at all, just replace one of the poly panels with a fire/heat proof sheet and you're away.

I would also consider, superfoil and plasterboard for the conservatory too, turn it into a usable room.
We did ours 2 years ago and now our most used and warmest room in the house and that is with just a 2.5kw electric panel radiator. Plus that is heating a room that is 7m x 7m.

However, now I know it is our most used room a wood burner would be lovely.
Excellent thanks!

I've been looking into it and I believe you can use something like this for the flue;



That's winter sorted - Just got to sort something out for the excess heat in the summer lol

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

223 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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MX5_Nuts said:
That's winter sorted - Just got to sort something out for the excess heat in the summer lol
It used to get to 40ºc in here on the 32ºc days outside in summer, the most it has ever got to is 23ºc this summer, and even when it is -5ºc outside it is still at 18ºc inside 4 hours after the rad has gone off (which is set to 21ºc).

Superquilt, battened for air gap and then plasterboard...











3 days diy from start to finish, less than a grand worth of materials and now the most efficient room in the house. But crying out for a wood burner in the corner.

Just need to decide whether to put a lightweight tile system over the poly panels now, however, we are on the top floor so no one can see the roof, not even us, so guess it is not needed.

RichB

51,435 posts

283 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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Wow, that's a hell of an improvement!

MX5_Nuts

1,487 posts

106 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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Looks amazing!! Have you got any links to the insulation used? I've been looking into roof tiles but this method would save ££££'s!!

irish boy

3,523 posts

235 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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Love ours. Went wood only as couldn't se assed with the mess of coal. We use kiln dry, costs about £70 for 20 nests which lasts donkeys. The kiln dry doesn't blacken the glass and also has longer burn time per log.

Makes the kitchen/snug very homely.



gizlaroc

17,251 posts

223 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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MX5_Nuts said:
Looks amazing!! Have you got any links to the insulation used? I've been looking into roof tiles but this method would save ££££'s!!
http://www.ybsinsulation.com/brands/superquilt/

Always quite a bit on eBay where people have overbought.

Normal 12' x 12' conservatory you can do for around £400 + plastering I would guess.

paulwirral

3,104 posts

134 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
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RedLeicester said:
I have an inset and it's incredible. Lay the fire carefully and it starts heating the room within a few minutes, and kicks out insane amounts of heat. So much so that it's actually too good - we had visions of beanbags on the carpet in front of the fire, but it's simply too hot to even attempt that and we stay well away. Lovely thing. Seen some awful designs of inserts however, and just as many terrible installations.





As for logs being a bit messy or energetic, oh for goodness sake. They aren't expensive either unless you're comparing to a mains gas condensing boiler or buying your wood from the petrol station or kiln dried nonsense.
Inset in France is usually hooked up to 2 insulated pipes connected to the outer box with a central fan - distributor box , that has other insulated pipes connected to inlet vents in the other rooms , a very basic but effective warm air heating system .

MX5_Nuts

1,487 posts

106 months

Wednesday 1st February 2017
quotequote all
gizlaroc said:
http://www.ybsinsulation.com/brands/superquilt/

Always quite a bit on eBay where people have overbought.

Normal 12' x 12' conservatory you can do for around £400 + plastering I would guess.
Excellent - Thanks smile

austinsmirk

5,597 posts

122 months

Thursday 2nd February 2017
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they're great, but the classic car comparison is spot on.

then you need an external woodstore, somewhere to chop wood.

a range of axes, a log grenade, a chain saw, a chopping horse.


its excellent fun ! smashing wood up and wheelbarrowing stuff around the garden is great fun.

get a multi stove one though. you get through timber at good rate, using coal ovids works out better.

all a generally messy business. My wife is super OCD with cleaning- but she loves the look of it, the heat and so on. we don't use our CH full time now- but bare in mind the cost of coal (or wood) if you have to buy it, it would be more efficient just to use a normal gas CH system.

but it's lovely on a cold night to have and look at.

RizzoTheRat

25,085 posts

191 months

Thursday 2nd February 2017
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austinsmirk said:
get a multi stove one though. you get through timber at good rate, using coal ovids works out better.
I think multifuel makes sense on bigger ones, but on the smaller ones the grate (to burn coal you need to get airflow underneath so they have a raised grate where a wood burner just has a flat floor) takes up a lot of space, meaning you can fit a lot less wood in. My sister burns wood during the day and puts coal in late evening to keep it going all night. I opted for a wood only as it's only 5kw and I'm not bothered about leaving it running all night.

paulrockliffe

15,639 posts

226 months

Thursday 2nd February 2017
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RizzoTheRat said:
I think multifuel makes sense on bigger ones, but on the smaller ones the grate (to burn coal you need to get airflow underneath so they have a raised grate where a wood burner just has a flat floor) takes up a lot of space, meaning you can fit a lot less wood in. My sister burns wood during the day and puts coal in late evening to keep it going all night. I opted for a wood only as it's only 5kw and I'm not bothered about leaving it running all night.
That's true, I definitely recognise the lack of space in ours. We have two 5kw multi fuels, but although more space would be useful you can get enough wood on to get enough heat out. I'm burning softwood at the moment too, which takes up more space too.

I've never managed to keep it in over night with the smokeless fuel though, best I've managed is it reigniting kindling after smoking for 10 mins in the morning, you just can't get enough fuel in it if you've had it on all day as it's full of ash. And you really need to at least drop the ash through the grate everyday or you struggle for space.

RedLeicester

6,869 posts

244 months

Thursday 2nd February 2017
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AC43 said:
RedLeicester said:
I have an inset and it's incredible. Lay the fire carefully and it starts heating the room within a few minutes, and kicks out insane amounts of heat. So much so that it's actually too good - we had visions of beanbags on the carpet in front of the fire, but it's simply too hot to even attempt that and we stay well away. Lovely thing. Seen some awful designs of inserts however, and just as many terrible installations.

I really like to look of that. What's the make/model?

Plus I'll need to design in a large internal log stack - save all the to-ing and fro-ing. And putting shoes on/taking them off. Did I mention the OCD?
Pick up log basket, go get logs, bring log basket back, done! Or burn the wife.

It's a HWAM i30/65 - http://hwam.com/wood-burning+inserts/hwam+i+3065 - Danish company who have been building uber-efficient log burners for years.

We also have a HWAM 3640 in the kitchen which gets even more use than the insert in the lounge.



paulwirral said:
Inset in France is usually hooked up to 2 insulated pipes connected to the outer box with a central fan - distributor box , that has other insulated pipes connected to inlet vents in the other rooms , a very basic but effective warm air heating system .
Which is rather what I meant when I referred to poor design or insulation. Some of the inset fires are literally just boxes with a grate, so much of the heat goes up the flue or into the surrounding walls rather than out into the room. The HWAM one we have is actually two boxes with one mounted inside the other, and an external air intake so no need for silly vents in the room. It draws cold air in from outside and then the heat is funneled out of the gap between the layers and out into the room. Very simple engineering, but vastly more sensible.

parakitaMol.

11,876 posts

250 months

Thursday 2nd February 2017
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Just found a better 'after' shot of the Bullerjan once all the decorating was finished.




227bhp

10,203 posts

127 months

Thursday 2nd February 2017
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Looks like a runaway Stephenson's Rocket has just made an unwanted entry to your front room.