Stove/Heating costs issue

[OooeeeoooeeeoooeeEthel]

Our woodburner is connected via some dodgy connections to the heating system (so says plumber DH) which we thought was great when we moved in 3 years ago, but its very temperamental. If it gets too hot the backboiler boils and sends the heating into overdrive, the stove clanks away and is generally a bit scary. So we have been leaving the door open and not building it up too much to try and get the balance right.

Only now we have a baby so no more open doors on the stove. DH says only way to be sure about it now is to disconnect it from the heating and just have it to heat the living room. Fine, I say, do that, but it means a much bigger heating bill this winter - £470 for 1000 litres of oil as opposed to free wood.

WWYD? Anyone know of a way to run the stove connected to the heating without the scary stuff?

We have a stove with a back boiler and also a gas boiler that BOTH heat the radiators and hot tank. In the airing cupboard below the hottank we have a thing called a 'Dunsley converter' (google it if you want to know more). We also have a thermostat to set off the heating if the whole system gts too hot and a header tank thing in the loft that realeases the pressure if there is a power cut and the central heating pump can't work. we are pretty sure ours is safe (was installed by HETAS registered person who took 18 months to get it right and was a total nightmare.)

Thanks for that. I will now google Dunsley converter and see if I can persuade DH to have a go at correcting the system.