Log Burner opposed to gas fire.

[neilyoungismyhero]

I'm wondering about the benefits (if any) of getting involved with a wood burner. It would mean the initial hefty purchase plus knocking the wall/ceiling about but after that would it be more economical? - at the moment we have a small gas fire. For the last 2 or 3 years we haven't used the CH just relied on the fire and it's been fine...I feel the cold but have been fine. We now have a small kitchen extension with a dining room and this open space was very chilly last year so we did have the CH on for a while.

The gas fire is practical and clean and no hassle and instant heat whilst a log burner would entail buying the right sort of wood to burn, cleaning it out and putting it on at the right time of time to allow it to be the right temp. during the evening...plus Im not even sure the council would allow this?
Anyone have any advice please?

im impressed with those that only spend 150/200 a winter on wood. I dread to think what we use. We use kiln dried from a local guy but this year we have been supplementing with foraged wood which we are seasoning.

we have a log burner that we installed in our fireplace as they are so much more efficient. We have a fire place in the kitchen as well and are considering one for there too. I’m tempted to get a Multi fuel but gather you should still only burn one type of fuel at a time. Coal needs to have air underneath and logs should be straight on the bottom. I don’t rhino we can afford it at the moment sadly.

We never smell our burner but one of our neighbours isn’t so fussy in what they burn and I can smell theirs.

@Tulipvase yes you can only burn 1 type at a time. We start with logs and finish with coal, keeps the room warm all night and still warm in the morning.

Thanks. That is what I was thinking of doing, we used to burn coal as a child and remember relighting in the morning.

Do yiu just put coal on the logs then? I need to look at some multi fuel burners I think. I thought you needed a grate for coal?

Coastalcreeksider

I believe if you use logs, you make the fire up on a bed of ash but if using coal, you need to clean it out after each burn and re-lay it. Is that true anyone?

Yes, I was told that too

But £200 for 7 months (similar spend here usually, using it most days in that period for most of the evening) is really good value!

There’s a log burner in my house but we’ve never used it. It’s too much of a faff to light and clean, it was always just easier to turn the thermostat up and use the radiators. Also we’re afraid that one of the kids might burn themselves or the dog might get too close and it’s fur might catch fire.

We will be using it for the first time this winter because we feel we have no choice. We can’t afford to heat the entire house with gas central heating. So we’ll be heating the living room using the log burner, then going to bed in cold bedrooms. Never thought I’d see a return to the days where we’re all huddled around one fire, I thought that was a relic of my childhood.

I remember when we had a stove thing in the kitchen you lifted a top hatch. Everything went into it. Paper, veg peelings, eggshells.

A few years ago I visited an elderly couple the kitchen had an open fire which they threw scraps into. Took me back nostalgia

Yep folks will need to make sure their inhaler stocks are good. It won't be all kiln dried burnt this winter

My DC hates being cold and has been asking me daily when we can light it. 🤣 I told them not a chance until we get to late Sept at least.

It’s too much of a faff to light and clean

I simply don’t understand posts like this. It’s a two min job. To light it you throw some kindling in and some fire lighters, light it, let it burn and then throw a couple of logs on it, when they are burning, turn thr air down. It’s hardly a faff. Two mins max.

cleaning it you Pull the drawer out, tip the ash into a black sack and put the drawer back. Again hardly a faff. Thirty seconds at most.

the wood store is a faff. Making sure it’s stored correctly and transferring the wood into the house. But cleaning and lighting it, it’s no more a faff than brushing your teeth or filling and boiling a kettle

Agree. I quite like doing it. Get in on a cold day, get the fire going. It's nice.

I suspect the kinds of people @HipsterCoffeeShop is referring to aren’t people who can’t afford any other sort of heating though, as they’ve mentioned it’s only in the ‘posh’ areas. In London, the people I know with them are extremely well off and have the stoves because they look good, not in any way shape or form for financial reasons. Whereas back home, in a very poor rural area, my family have one cos it’s cheap!

Me too. Kindling, firelighters (the straw ones), long electric lighter, whoosh. Logs on top, strategically placed, baffle pulled out full to let the air in. Job done

Its much easier to just yell “Alexa put the heating on 22”. I don’t even have to move from the sofa. Even if the fire only takes 2 mins it’s still more effort. Not looking forward to pissing about with it this winter.

Its much easier to just yell “Alexa put the heating on 22”. I don’t even have to move from the sofa. Even if the fire only takes 2 mins it’s still more effort. Not looking forward to pissing about with it this winter.

wow, I have no words. That’s extreme.

Not advisable as pallet wood is treated and leaves a tar deposit inside the flue when burned.

We have just installed central heating to avoid using our log burner this year. In order to actually generate enough heat to warm the room, we had to add coal (expensive) to keep the temperature up; logs alone, even hardwood, burn away quickly.

The log burner did us OK (or rather we made do with it) whilst the kids were young and we could afford to install CH. But it does cost significant money to run it (sweep, logs, kindling, coal).

I'd shut down any rooms you can and stick with your gas fire yo be honest. Gas is still half the price of electric, and if you pop a jumper on and a blanket over your legs you'll be fine.

Its much easier to just yell “Alexa put the heating on 22

Can Alexa control gas fires? The OP wasn’t asking about central heating.

@Tulipvase we have a wood fire for a few hours but the wood burns quite quickly after a few hours we just throw the coal on top. There is a little thing you slide lever you change, I think it controls the air flow for either wood or coal. In the morning you need to pull out the ash tray and empty it. You could then relight if the coal was still glowing by throwing a firelighters in and some kindling. Be warned though the ash tray is burning hot so invest in some heatproof gloves for emptying after coal. You also need to check you get the right output size if you want it to heat radiators. The bigger the output the more it will heat if its too small it might not heat the radiators furthest on the line. Also if it's too big and you have a small room the heat can be overbearing!

We bought a metal bucket for ash it can be hot. It's good on the roses. I don't empty it daily though

I think we clean (most) of the ash out of our open fire about once a year, if that.

I go weeks before I need to empty the ash tray if only burning logs. I also put it on the garden.

Just make sure you stock up on wood before the prices go through the roof.

Thank you! Very helpful.