Log burger in living room - pros & cons? Safe for cats?

[Isothirty]

Hello all

Thinking about installing a small log burner in our living-room. We have a proper chimney in our 1970’s house. we will rip out the electric fireplace to reveal a coal fireplace and then install a log burner. It will eat into some furniture space in the living-room - but is it worth it?

Will be gorgeous in the winter, true heart of the home, gorgeous cosy living-room space. But it will be a lot of upkeep and maybe hassle with cleaning and constant smoke/logs/dust/ash everywhere?

We have two cats too and I’d be really scared they jumped on it or got too close to it and hurt themselves.

What’s your experience with a log burner?

I have one and use it with an air purifier. The most risk to you inside the house is when you open the door to refuel. My purifier kicks in for about 5 mins if the door has been open for a minute, but usually doesn't if you just lob in a log quickly.

@SantiagoSky

They are not great for your health :(

We have a modern Defra approved ones, and burn our own seasoned logs, my husband has asthma due to lung damage following pneumonia and I can assure you it has no negative impact.

The article is pretty much supporting that as it focuses on wet wood and coal. Which is the issue, that and older stoves.

Op, I’m a fan, thr rooms heat quickly, if you use a modern efficient stove and seasoned wood it’s totally fine, but , you need somewhere to store rhe wood and If you need to buy it, it’s very expensive. So you need a wood store outside. You will also need kindling and firelighters.

I can’t comment on your cats, but for cleaning it, it’s really easy, you pull thr drawer out and tip it in a black sack, occasionally clean the glass, I use stove glass cleaner, spray on, wipe off.

Cost to install is not cheap, your chimney needs a flu and to be lined, so you’re likely looking at a min of three grand for a small one. Ours was four grand, the other was here already, we have two.

So for me, the downsides as long as you use dry seasoned wood and have a modern efficient stove, is cost to install, cost of wood, and storage outside.

we have one now, it's lovely. Very easy to manage and keeps the whole house toasty if we have the doors open and have it going full stretch.

Cats and dogs love them, always vying for position in front!
One of our cats used to look like she wanted to jump up onto the one we had in the sitting room of our previous house, I don't know why she just started doing it, it wasn't a new fire and she is normally very smart.

Anyway we were on the verge of getting a guard for it, but in the mean time I put a brass ornament of a crab on the top and it really put her off. And then she never looked or tried again.

They are brilliant for those days when you want a bit of warm, but it's not really "Put The Heating On" cold.

Would never have a house without a wood burner. I love them!

My friends husband lights theirs for the cat every day during winter. The cat is 21 now. And just lies in front of it happily. 😄

We live in a very old listed house, with single glazed windows, and exposed floor boards, so it gets very very cold downstairs, in normal cold weather ( as in not minus four or whatever) we just light the woodburners, and the central heating is off throughout the house. Heat rises so upstairs, which is carpeted, becomes heated by default. When it’s really cold we do need both, but that’s rare.

As said though, we are self sufficient in wood, and if I had to buy it, I strongly suspect electricity/gas would be cheaper. Wood Is very expensive and takes up a lot of space.

If we were buying wood we would likely be going through approx £400 a month. From oct/nov daily through to feb/March.

If you don't want to lose furniture space buy a slighter smaller burner that fits snugly into the coal fireplace gap. We love ours and it has reduced the gas bill.

Our last cats used to huddle behind it overnight when it died down. Current cat is far too curious and tries to sniff it when it's hot so whilst she olcomes running when we light it I don't leave her alone in the room with it. We've always had one but I hated it when kids were small. It's essential for heating our front room in the winter though, really recommend.

Never mind the cat being safe, I’m not safe from the cat because of the log burner. Every time I light the fire, it doesn’t matter where in the house the cat is, she must smell it starting up and she’s there, sprawled out in front of it. She’s scratched me and drawn blood tonight because she was so cross I was trying to move her so I could put another log on the fire. If She had done that to dh, he’d have booted her outside! But obviously I am far too much of a cat slave to do that to her.

I disagree about cost. I pay £160 for a load and it lasts all winter. It’s much cheaper than gas heating and electric heating. We have oil for heating and hot water.

It saves a lot of money.

Yes, get one, they are fabulous! That is all.

My sister is one and it’s really cozy

With a close connection like that @KittenKong definitely knows what she's talking about. Do cats like your sister?

Ahhhhhhaha! Yup she’s a pot bellied stove! 🤣

Ideal for our pot-bellied cat!

We also live very rurally and have our own supply of seasoned logs so had two DEFRA approved wood burners fitted in our 400 year old house when we bought it.

Ours heat the rooms so well we don't often need the (oil-fired) central heating on.

We don't have cats anymore, but our dogs love lazing in front of them. Only time they get a bit close is if they spot an interesting piece of kindling in the basket 🙄