Do I want a wood burning stove?

[Acunningruse]

We moved into a new house a few months ago which has a very modern wall hanging fire. I really miss having a fireplace so definitely want a different fire for this coming winter, we are just trying to decide what type. We love the look and warmth of wood burning stoves from seeing them in other peoples homes but I haven't done proper research into them yet. Do they require much maintenance? Do you use yours often? Are they a bit of a fad that will become dated in a few years?

Any info about owning a wood burning stove appreciated

[Nquartz]

We use ours a lot in winter (obvs) instead of having the heating on all day because it warms the whole downstairs and the bedrooms if we keep the doors shut (2 bedrooms in use, both have the chimney in them).

We get a chimney sweeper in once a year (I believe it needs to be cleaned regularly for house insurance purposes).

We've had ours for about 4/5 years and can't see it ever coming out, but then we aren't really bothered about our home being fashionable.

[Mamia15]

Only get one if you're prepared to clean it daily when its in use and are able to get your hands on a cheap supply of seasoned wood.

[PotteringAlong]

I love ours. We use it every day in the winter and it’s the best thing we put into the house. I don’t care if it’s fashionable, it’s warm and cozy and that’s fine for me.

[NicoAndTheNiners]

I have a multi fuel one. We use it every day in winter. Being able to use smokeless fuel is good as that burns slower/longer than logs. So intend to use that at weekends and logs in the evening/weekday.

“Cleaning” it is so easy it can barely be called cleaning. There’s an ash pan which fills up every couple/few days. You slide it out and walk to the wheelie bin, tip the ash out and put the tray back. Done.

[Cuttingthegrass]

I use mine everyday in the winter. It's multi fuel. It's especially wonderful at weekends keeping the downstairs warm and is much cheaper than keeping heating on and also isn't such a drying heat. Also good for drying clothes as I put the airer in front of it when I go to bed

[SunnySomer]

Personally I love ours and they’ve been worth every penny. If you live in London it’s probably not worth it (going to be banned?). Ours are acceptable in smoke-free areas even though we’re out in the countryside. I don’t find them difficult to keep clean - just emptying the ash pan and wiping the glass every few days. And they chuck out heat, so you don’t need central heating till much later in the year.

[Dontbuymesocks]

I love ours too. It gives off amazing heat in a very large space. However, I wouldn’t want want in a small space as I think it would be too hot. How big is your room? You must get one which is appropriate to the square footage of the room. Wood is also expensive. It’s cheaper to run a gas fire, I think (we have both).

[Doilooklikeatourist]

I love ours , use it every day in the winter ( DH and I both like being the firestarter 😀)

However , we have our own wood ( live rurally and have land )

So , you need storage space for wood , more space than you think , we used to buy wood , and it’s a truck load at a time
Somewhere to put the ash

I don’t know if we’d have another one when we downsize ( getting old now ) but I do love the log burner in the winter 🔥

[Nquartz]

Forgot to say, ours is multi fuel too & we tend to burn coal because we can keep it going 24/7. We have a coal merchants nearby which is cheap

[BrownTurkey]

Yes, read up on particulates or emissions or whatever as this has put me off now. Lovely things though.

[thethoughtfox]

It is the best thing that has ever happened to me. We used it every day from Oct -March and in the insane snow in April. It is more than a heating system. It is so beautiful and peaceful and better to watch than the TV. They take almost no cleaning: removing the ash every few days and wiping the screen with a damp paper towel. I was appalled at first when the guy who installed ours gently explained that no, it didn't have an electric component where you pressed a button to light it I thought it would be a pain to light but we have all fallen in love with the ritual of lighting it and judging when to put another log in. Do it!!!!!

[ivykaty44]

I don’t want to have to make the fire and clean etc, so am thinking of gas look alike. Much cheaper £500 and instant extra heat

[Namechange128]

I LOVE wood burning stoves. However, we have decided not to on environmental grounds - especially if you live in an urban or semi urban area, they are more polluting than a diesel car. There are some quite nice looking electrical alternatives though we can't decide if they are still too naff (and the convincing ones are very expensive).

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/cities/2018/feb/22/wood-diesel-indoor-stoves-cities-pollution

[AnnaMagnani]

We have one, TBH it is a hassle.

It's in a room we couldn't otherwise heat and we do have space to store the logs. You need to have properly seasoned logs, not the stuff sold at petrol stations but really we prefer briquettes. We get them delivered on palettes from here:

www.woodfuel.coop/order-online/

Without the briquettes the stove ate logs like they were going out of fashion and needed a fair bit of monitoring which was a pain. With briquettes you can set it up for a slow burn with no poking at it, and it takes much less cleaning. Plus much less poluting.

If your chimney isn't lined already, a woodburner is not cheap to put in.

So bottomline, if I didn't have to have one, I wouldn't have one again. Definitely would not have one in an urban environment. But I do love the one I have.

[purplegreen99]

You can now get stoves certified as 'Eco-Design Ready' which are much less polluting, even than the Defra-approved stoves.

I love my stove - saves loads on central heating and is easy to use. I'd say we have 6-8 weeks a year when we would have had the heating on but now just use the wood burner.

It's not hard to clean it make up. The main downside is that you need to get and store logs. We have plenty as friends tend to let us k ow if they are getting a tree cut down, or I just ask tree surgeons if I see them in the area. If you want to be diy with logs, you need to be ok with using a chainsaw, axe and splitter and also have space to store logs for a year or two. Otherwise I imagine wood could be costly, especially in urban areas.

[DottyDotAgain]

I love ours so much - got it put in 4 years ago and have never regretted anything it. When we’re using it I give it a good clean once a week but even love doing that . Yes you need to fine a good wood source - took me a couple of years to find someone who supplies lovely seasoned wood, stacks it for us and isn’t too expensive. Every year we all go collecting sticks - fill up lots of bags and stick them in the shed for a few months and then we’ve got a decent supply of kindling. My Aunty who lives down the road also makes us brilliant ‘kindling’ from toilet rolls stuffed with newspaper .

So, yes it’s a bit more work than an ordinary gas/electric fire - and I’m not sure I’d have been bothered when ds’s were little and I was more knackered, but right now it’s perfect and I love the fact that every single time you light it, you get a completely different fire - mesmerising!

[Bezm]

We had one fitted 18 months ago and love it. It's in our sitting room, which is smallish, but if we leave the door open to the family room a lot of the heat carries through. Our gas bills are very small!
However, you do need space to store the wood, which you need to buy in bulk for the best price. We have a big garage which has shelving along the back for it. Only buy seasoned wood, it's false economy to buy cheap stuff. We get given wood from others and store it for at least a year to season. My husband has become an expert at chopping wood, and uses pallets to make kindling.
Wood burners are really expensive to fit but very much worth it!

[Delamereroad]

Have one in our lounge -
Must admit only lit on high days holidays and cold weekends...
We have oil heating.
Creates a lots of soot/dust
Storage for logs is a consideration

Smells divine and throws out a fair bit of heat.

Buggers to keep clean glass etc.

Not sure I would have another one - maybe if didn't work and at home all day would use more.

[Bowerbird5]

We love ours.
We run a large hot water tank off and all our central heating from it. We currently have a Charnwood Country and it is more efficient than our old one. No trouble to clean out I do our once a day and you just empty two trays I usually scrape the sides out into the second tray.
You do need storage. DH used 8 pallets (free) and built a three pile log store. We have a load in two and the third is for windfalls and sticks from village green and share of the occasionally tree fallen in winter. If they block the road a few get together to shift it then share the wood.
We use anthracite and Welsh eggs mixed for very cold weather ( North often -15) and for over night or days when no one is in the house. It means we can keep it going for weeks. Sweep once a year, one of our local firemen do it.
You do get a bit of black dust so no good if a cream room.

[Bowerbird5]

Vinegar and bi carb for glass or Mr Muscle and thick paper towel.

[purplegreen99]

If the house is sooty, the fire may need checking or the chimney sweeping. Same with the glass - it shouldn't be hard to clean if you use seasoned hardwood and the fire is set correctly. I just wipe the glass with a bit of scrunched up newspaper when I make up the fire.
I'd recommend Morso fires. We had another make (forgotten what it was) and replaced with Morso a few years ago. The difference in efficiency was amazing - more heat from fewer logs and a much cleaner fire.

[TurquoiseButterfly19]

I love mine and its used most days in the winter. But i have an old house with a whopping big inglenook, and it fits with the age of the house. Personally i don’t think they suit new modern homes.

That’s my opinion of course.

[TurquoiseButterfly19]

The glass wont get black if you use it correctly.

[Bowerbird5]

Really! Can't have Ben using mine correctly then. We use well seasoned wood. What do you do differently then?

[Bowerbird5]

Been auto correct😳