Log burners

[vinoandbrie]

I am thinking of getting a log burner put in, but am keen to understand potential costs and issues.

I understand and have looked up the cost of buying the log burner itself, but am wondering about preparation and installation costs. Any advice welcome.

We have a chimney, I don’t know if it’s been blocked up - would a first step be to get in a chimney sweep / chimney expert (what are they called?!) to take a look and see what, if anything, we’d need to get done to make sure the chimney is as it should be to have a log burner installed?

Finally, we live in a conservation area. How do I check that we’re not violating any regulations by getting a log burner installed?

Thank you in advance for any pointers.

Is burning smokeless fuel any better than wood?

I suspect a lot of the air quality issues are less to do with individual wood burners being used a few times a day and more to do with the huge push there was towards biomass fuels (basically massive wood burners) and RHI payments a few years ago as they are burning wood constantly.

We heat our very rural house very efficiently using wood, it does some of our heating and most of our cooking (wood fuelled Rayburn) Our only other realistic option is oil.

We have a couple and they are brilliant. Saves risk of burned floors and sparks causing accidental fires. One heats water at one end of the house too. Much easier to light than an open fire.
We use locally sourced wood and collect our own kindling when walking the dog.
When we have power cuts (not infrequently) they provide heat, allow a kettle to be heated and throw out a glowing light.

We have just had one fitted, go to a recommended hetas fitter and ask them to check chimney and opening for which are suitable. Bear in mind it's unlikely you will get one fitted this winter as most places round here get booked up by now. Our stove cost 900 and installation 500, we already had the chimney, mantle and opening sorted during renovation.

Hi.
You are definitely better going to an independent stove retailer as this is their field of expertise. You'll be advised on the work to be done, definitely having the chimney lined ans a SIA approved stove ready for 2022. They will come with a smoke reduction kit so using in a conservation area is fine. They boast over 80% efficiency so used correctly with good seasoned wood the particulates into the atmosphere are minimal. Dont buy off EBay. Have it all supplied and fitted from one store this will ensure your guarantees are satisfied and you can get after sales support in the future

as mentioned, find a HETAS registered stove retailer and get them to have a look at chimney, hearth and so on.

you will need to burn good dry wood, not crappy stuff from a garage and certainly nothing painted or treated. You'll need somewhere to store the wood which arrives in tonne bags, and the energy to bring it in. Takes a few minutes a day to clean the glass and sweep out the ash. Your room will get a bit dustier. If you've got kids aged 10 or less, you need a solid fireguard. You'll also need a CO alarm and an annual chimney sweep.

this is not practical in a city with limited outside space. While the SUVs idling outside the school create most of the pollution, and burning good dry wood will create very little, probably best not to add to it.

certainly no open fires at 20% efficient unless you really hate the next generation.

I'm lucky in that I have oil heating (often cheaper per unit heat than gas) and plenty of home grown wood that is stacked for at least two years to dry. As you will realise I am not in a city!

Don’t get one if you have a family member with asthma, my daughters is mild but log burners really set her off

As previous posters have suggested - please research the environmental impacts of these wood burners - the likely impact on your health and that of your neighbours - before making a decision (cancer, stroke, dementia, copd etc) . I live in a city and am surrounded by neighbours that have these installed. Since September most nights at around 10pm the smell (pollution) of these wood fires is seeping into my house. My son has respiratory problems and I worry very much about what impact these invisible particulates are having on his lungs. There are some very nice gas fuelled stoves that give the same cosy effect without the damaging health consequences.

OP. Don't listen to people on here going on about emissions and air quality

Lots of other things to be worried about other than wood smoke.

Ever read the headline " Tragedy as man killed by wood smoke". No? Neither have I.

Log burners are great for heating. Just have a DEFRA approved stove and only burn properly seasoned logs. Oh, and getting a wood burner to burn efficiently takes practice. You can't just fill it with wood and forget about it, you must continually monitor the temp via a stove pipe thermometer, and adjust the dampers to suit fuel load and wind.

Most people haven't a clue how to use them properly. Those are the ones that stink.

As others have mentioned approach a HETAS stove installer. Ours gave us the name of someone who sold them and we went and purchased one then the installer fitted it and approved the installation (which means we are covered on our house insurance).

The flue was expensive but maybe you will just need your chimney lined?

We use ours as additional heat in the winter and have a fan which sits on top and automatically routes the heat out of the room so we get the benefit in other parts of the house.

Here’s a headline for you www.google.co.uk/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/spikes-in-air-pollution-trigger-hundreds-of-heart-attacks-in-the-uk-11840966

Regardless of the health impacts, it is anti social. As you say yourself Newoneonherr, most people don’t use them properly so they are spewing out sooty, smelly smoke - which stinks and infiltrates neighbouring houses even with windows and doors closed.

A lot of installers won’t fit unless you purchased the fire through them - you need to check

I wonder whether you could make your fire box smaller by adding fire bricks- that is what my dad did.

We use ours a lot. We have lots of land and trees which we occasionally cut down or that blow down. The flue cost 1.2k and that was 20 years ago.

We have no near neighbours either!

Before I start I must declare that I work for a stove installation company. I am not going to argue that wood-burning stoves are carbon-neutral or even environmentally friendly, but wood is a renewable resource and oil is definitely not. Nor does it have to be transported half way across the world. Please be aware of the 2022 Clean Air Act coming soon. This in no way bans or restricts wood-burning stoves. Manufacturers will then have to meet efficiency targets, but most quality stoves currently on the market already meet these. The Clean Air Act also advises on best practice, including only using very dry wood, ideally less than 20% moisture. Kiln-dried wood is typically 5%. This will reduce the particulates released. Finally for now there is a stove manufacturer called Mendip that is a PARTNER of the Woodlands Trust. They donate £10 for every stove sold- you may consider this a gimmick but clearly the Woodlands Trust don’t.

You also need to consider where you are going to store the logs and where you are going to source them from.

If you have to pay for them, logs are not a cheap way of heating a house.

Love ours! Got it 2 years ago, had to have the chimney re-opened and lined, had the hearth professionally tiled and got a stove that cost £900 as passionately didn’t want one with brass fixtures. Cost 2k altogether and took about 3 days to do.

Yes logs are madly expensive! We make our own otherwise we wouldnt use it half as much.

We installed a wood burner (multi-fuel stove) in 2014 and stopped using it last year. It's an expensive ornament now.

By the end of the first year I hated it. The room was dustier, it made me cough, it didn't heat the room as well as the central heating. It smelled and even made the dog smell!

It was perfectly and properly installed. I just didn't like it. It took my DH 2 more years to fall out of love with it and another year to use up the wood we had already bought. It's a great centrepiece of the room, and the fireplace/surround DH built is lovely to look at, but nothing would persuade me to start it up again.

(Sorry OP, but in answer to your question it cost us around £4K all in, the sweep is £135 a year and the logs around £500 a year)

Wow, didn't realise that log burners were such a Mumsnet no no! I shall put them on the list next to toilet brushes and helium balloons

I went to a stove installation company earlier this year or a quote.

Their price was £3800.

Stove part of that was £600 and we live in Victorian house so the chimney is already there and just needed lining.

Later on I contacted the local chimney sweep and he quoted £2k for the same job an stove.

Less overheads to cover I guess.

He also seemed far more knowledgable about what stove we should choose and gave good recommendations

In the end we didn’t get it done as expecting another baby now so it’s postponed.

I hate the idea of them being bad for the environment, but would love to have the extra warmth and coziness they give

We have recently put a very good fake wood burner in, for many of the reasons upthread

We did have to open up the chimney and laid a new hearth and an oak mantel

It was about 2k with the stove costing nearly £600

So that gives you an idea of prices for opening up chimney and accessories, i would imagine there would be a bit extra for the flue etc

Oh i saw a beautiful gas one

Really really lovely, very hard pressed to be able to tell the difference between it and a woodburner

It was £1400 and i would be happy to get the make for you

It was truly stunning but we wanted something where we could have the ‘flame’ and not the heat

We went for an opti mist

most people don't use cars properly (SUVs in urban areas, idling for ages, carrying a ton of crap, doing short journeys) but that doesn't mean MN screams for them to be banned.

Log burner in a city property with a small garden and fuelled from the local garage - no. Log burner in a country property, used properly with good wood - yes.