Radiator vs fire?

[worrier11111]

Like many people, I’m very worried about the continually rising energy prices that will be massively affecting us all this winter.

My son and I have just moved to a new rental property that has a woodburning stove. Would it be cheaper for us to buy logs/coal and use that this winter to keep the principal room in the house warm, or to use the radiators?

Fire - but ours is free to run because we produce our own wood. Also much warmer than a radiator.

Fire

Firs! Start collecting wood now - I'm always picking up sticks for the fire and we have wood from a tree we had trimmed.

I think my eco brain will be on vacation and I won't be alone 😕

If you do, make sure the wood is very dry, so order a load in now and keep it under cover.

Check that it has been properly installed as I have heard carbon monoxide can be a problem if there is an installation issue.

Definitely the fire, I wouldn't be without my log burner and thank god I've got alternative to gas. Make sure it's swept and has been maintained.

It took me a while to get used to using it economically, make sure the wood is seasoned.

As others have said, get a carbon monoxide monitor. When it was installed I was told to buy a new one rather than keep the one I had. Also make sure you get protective gloves, I've lost the nerve endings in my fingers from a burn because I stupidly forgot to use them when I added a log to it.

Thank you. Thanking my lucky stars we have a fire now! X

Also, are logs more economical or should I get coal? Or both? New to all this!

Fires are not very efficient in heating a room, because a huge amount of the energy goes up the chimney. But if you are talking about costs rather than efficiency, it really depends on your wood source. If you can get it free or cheap then it will likely be cheaper. For full price properly dried wood I doubt it will save much money (if any) and will heat less efficiently and be a fair amount of bother.

I’m no expert, but I do remember my parents lighting an open fire in our (small) lounge in winter and almost having to leave the room because it was so hot. I’ve never had that with a radiator?

We have a log burner and it heaps the whole of our down stairs. It throws out a insane amount of heat. We burn one log in around 45-60 minutes

Check out gumtree etc as you get cheap and sometimes free wood on there.

Yes you are correct. It's roasting . If we stick the log burner on in a very large open plan kitchen / sitting area. Within 1 hour the room temp is around 25/26 degrees

We let the heat out into other rooms as it's so hot. It heats the whole downstairs of our house.

It's a 5kw Heta we have.

Some friends with a log burner have a fan on top of it which blows the heat into the room rather than up the chimney. It's a fan designed for the purpose.

If you have old radiators it's worth considering getting them replaced. It's not expensive if you put them in roughly the same place, and modern radiators are much more efficient.

We’re not able to replace the radiators unfortunately as it’s a rental property.

I heard a feature on Call You and Yours on R4 about energy costs and the energy expert they had on said it was cheaper to run central heating than a wood burner. Some callers said they planned to use a wood burner instead of turning on the heating and he said central heating is cheaper.

I don't have a wood burner so not going to be testing this theory.

I find this hard to believe you can get wood very cheap

I could of got 25T from a tree surgeon for £300

That's a artic lorry full . It would of lasted me years.

Unfortunately I couldn't shift it

But if you contact the right people you can get wood extremely cheap or free.

Try local tree surgeons also OP

I was also surprised, but that's what he said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001b3yy]

It was this episode I think.

He Maybe means if you are buying the small bags of wood etc you see in garden centres or Tesco etc.

Perhaps that way would cost alot , but if you source it the right way it's often free or dirt cheap.

Fire! Warm and beautiful.

Fires, for sure.

We have a stove and central heating - the fire makes the room MUCH warmer and you don't need much fuel to keep it burning on low.

Our stove is a multi fuel type. We burn smokeless coal with a few kiln dried logs to get the fire going. Once it’s hot, a chunk or two of coal is all it needs. Feel bad about using wood at all but we don’t use much - it’s so bad for the environment.

We have gas CH but certainly plan to limit its use. No way are those greedy utility companies going to benefit if I can help it.

If you are buying wood at full market costs - I don’t mean getting small bags from the petrol station, I mean getting a proper load from a supplier - it is still more expensive than radiators because so much heat is literally lost up the chimney. The guy on You and Yours was definitely correct.

However, if you can gather wood yourself or have a cheap source, that is a very different matter. It is definitely NOT efficient, but who turns down cheap fuel?

Also all sources have been clear that if you have a means of heating only one room and staying warm that way until you are under the covers, then that is also the way to go.