How much hassle is a woodburning stove?

[TunipTheHollowVegemalLantern]

We have a damp problem in one end wall, centred around the chimney breast. There original fireplace has been replaced by a stove which was originally woodburning, then converted to gas, and for the last few years has been out of commission. Since having dcs we haven't wanted to use it because of safety.

The damp problem has got worse and worse, we've had damp experts look at it and advise various things which we have tried to no avail. We now have a big slug problem which I am sick to death of.

I reckon that if we used the stove, it would keep the damp problem in the chimney under control. I'm sure it's got worse as a result of not using the stove.

So we want to get it back into commission. The question is, assuming both are possible (someone is coming next week to look at it), do we go with gas or woodburning?
I grew up with a coal fire and would love to have 'proper' fire, but remember it being a fair bit of work to lay and clean out. Is a stove a similar amount of hassle, or more, or less?

Thanks.

Thanks Fluffy. We have an Aldi near us. If stove man says tomorrow it will be possible then I'll head to Aldi to stock up in advance.

I use old site wood and pallets which are taken to a local quarry and put through the rock crusher 5 tonnes at a time which takes no more than 10 minutes to do, free central heating and warm water now for over 3 years bar the cost of transport which is nothing really plus I save a few companies a fortune in having to recycle their waste wood.

lljkk, my brother installed a wood pellet stove which had a combined electrical generator, it was removed and skipped less than a year later due to a shortage of pellets. They are in effect as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike since the fuel is not available in any quantity in the U.K.

That is about what I remembered about them, Bureni. They work well (out economically) in USA where it's legal requirement for sawmills to make their waste into pellets, iirc. So the pellets are very cheap there as it's effectively waste disposal.

I currently use solar tubes for summer water heating and a little background radiator heat but mainly use a traditional styled 22 kw Aiden woodburner in the winter months for the rads, downside or upside is that I had to install a second hot water cylinder to hold all the warm water it makes in addition to running a load of rads. Best investment I ever made.

I'm dying to get one, we're remodelling the house next year.

What brands do you recommend?

I haven't done extensive research yet but like these Dovre ones, they're Scandinavian and meant to be good?

www.dovre.co.uk/stoves-fires/2000-multi-fuel-fireplace/

Poppy, I can speak very highly of this model since I have used it for over 3 years, no hassle and no spares needed. I liked it so much I have bought a second one just to keep. I recommend you buy bigger than you need as far as output goes which means you can run smaller fires instead of having to constantly refill the burner which can be a pain if ran flat out. I use mine to heat all my rads and water and it can also burn coal and peat and has an all night burner facility for smokeless coal.
www.armaghelectrical.com/acatalog/Olymberyl_Aidan_HF443B_20.5Kw_Multi-Fuel_Stove_With_Back_Boiler__10-12_Radiators_.html

we have two stoves, one in the sitting room is just for show...just the fire, but the one in the other room also does the CH

It is a bit of a faff getting teh wood sorted, and chopped, remembering to get firelighters/matches but with teens I rarely have to do it.

I do remember when they were small though it was a right palaver.

And if you are in and out it's a pest to get tehm backed up to run slow all day,

however i do love them!

bureni, thanks. I thought the same thing about size/output, not to mention I like the idea of a mammoth fire roaring in the background

I would just be relying on it to warm sitting room and kitchen/dinner in addition to central heating - would you still recommend that brand for this type of use?

Woo hoo, it's looking promising

Stove man has come and checked it out and measured up. He says it should be possible and is going to contact Villager for a price for the conversion kit.
Turns out my chimney isn't lined, but that will cost £180, which is affordable - for some reason I had got it into my head it would be a massive job and cost thousands.

He agreed with my logic re the damp but tbh from what nearly everyone on this thread has said about how much they love their woodburner, I'd decided I want the stove even if it makes no difference at all to the damp.

What is really lovely is, the chimney breast runs up through our bedroom and above that, my little tiny study in the loft conversion, so we are going to get maximum value from any warmth in the chimney.

I want a woodburner.

My parents had terrible damp in their cottage, it took a new damp course and the outside being rendered with a mix of paint and cement before it went away.

Best get stockpiled with wood while it's cheap then.

Don't forget to get your chimney checked. It might be a legal requirement for your insurance - and never mind that, you need to know that you're not going to poison your family with carbon monoxide.

I had the sweep out a few weeks ago, he didn't need to sweep as the log burner is so efficient it only leaves "dust". He also checked for CO - with a legal requirement being less than 20 per wotnot, 80 would kill you within a few hours, our reading was at 1.

We were given a certificate for 2 years.

I'm sat next to my wood burner right now and tbh I'm roasting.

tunip where are you? We were quoted 2.5k for installation and a chimney liner. I'm intrigued that a liner can be done so much cheaper. May be it's worth us looking at it again

We're in East Yorkshire.
We don't have the proper quote yet but he definitely said the liner would cost £180.

Looking exciting Tunip! My Morso 04 was installed earlier this year - I had to have the chimney unbricked and an inglenook (it hole in the wall) put it. This along with the cost of the stove, remodelling of the hearth and replastering cost just shy of £3k. I still say it was worth every penny though - I could have got a cheaper stove and I could have got the finish for a bit less but it's so lovely sitting here listening to it chug away...

Could you tell me the name of the company? I'm in York and been quoted a lot more than that! £895 for lining ours

We have this one.

It doesn't say about clearview on there - but the one we have is defintely the 'no clean glass' type. Defintiely worth getting - as you can see the lovely flames all the time - it doesn't get sooted up.

We paid a lot more than 180 to have our chimney lined - so make sure they're doing a tip notch job. We had it all done as a package so meybe that's why it was more? But you don't want to fit a fire to a chimney with no proper draw - the reason we had the whole lot done at once was that there was an open fire there when we moved in - that smoked out the whole house whenever we tried to light it.

Love love love mine. Only prob is I stay up far too late cos it's so nice and cosy, next day I'm shattered!!

I love mine. It's about the smallest youcan get and it heats the whole open plan ground floor of our Victorian end of terrace. We buy half a ton of wood which lasted all winter last year. It's worth buying kiln dried wood unless you have space to store it for a year or so to dry out. Our first winter with it we struggled to get it hot, it was the wood that made the difference.

Quick question; we don't actually have a chimney so will have to build that from scratch in the sitting room - how expensive is that?

That's the expensive part. Ours had been capped at the loft conversion, had to get it put back, cost about £2k I think. Maybea bit less.

Love ,love, love our woodburner.Heats up really quickly & creates a focus for the room. Far more efficient than an open fire. Really easy to maintain- I just replaced the glass in ours without any hassle. If you use it a lot have the chimney swept twice a year. As others have said best to have the chimney checked first as you may need it lined.

The wood is really important. We now have outside storage for 6 tonnes which will last us about a year. This allows time for it to mature properly. Hard wood is better than soft wood. Best place to start looking is your local sawmill. Kiln dried not worth it if you then have to keep it outside as it will draw some moisture back in. We have a large trunk next to the fireplace with holds about 3 -4 days of logs so it's nice and dry before burning.

We had a stove fitted in April so it is our first winter with it. We are getting through an alarming amount of wood....just about to light it now. Fortunately, we know a gardener and he has just give us 2 trees for dh to chop up for next year.

Really no hassle to clean out and the dog loves it.
We have this one I like the clean, non fancy look. We have a large living room and were on the border between the 5 and 8. Chap recommended we go with the smaller one. I was worried it wouldn't pump out enough heat....I was wrong, he was right! It's bloody marvellous.

It's not fair I want a woodburner.