Wood burners. Are they worth the huge cost?

[TallyHo1980]

We are thinking of having a wood burner installed and have received quotes of around £5k for the whole job, including installation. This seems like a massive amount but all the quotes are the same. We don't already have a chimney which makes the cost higher.

Those of you who have wood burners, are they worth the cost? Do they save you much money on central heating? We would be able to get wood for free.

I really like the idea of a wood burner but £5k is a lot. We can afford it, but it would probably mean no holiday next year and cutting back on a few other things. Is it worth it?

We had a stove fitted last year and I think it was worth every penny, especially as winter went on and on. However, ours came in at less than £2000. I know you don't have a chimney but am still surprised at how much you have been quoted.

If you can get free wood, this could save you a decent amount over the long term, but I would opt for a multi fuel stove and mix wood and coal to optimize heat output.

Bloody hell! Are they going to build you a chimney? Shop around some more, it's not all that difficult to do. You could try speaking to a national supplier of stoves to see what they think it would cost, and if they can recommend any installers near you. I know a couple in the south east if it's any help (East, North London and Basildon). Ours has paid for itself already after three years (was only £1500 to be fair) and is my favouritest thing that we have done to the house so far, even more so than the shutters which I lovingly fondle every morning. Our house is cold, so our gas bills were huge, felt like we could have the heating on all day and still be cold in the living room. The woodburner goes on in the morning and by the evening has heated most of the house, especially the rooms directly above it. Even if we only pop it on of an evening, it warms the living room up very quickly and there's nothing nicer than sitting in front of a stove when it's cold and wet outside. We get wood delivered for about £50 a tonne, but we also womble it and I'm currently chopping up old roof timbers to fill up the shed.

Ours was around £2500 including having the chimney lined
and I love it

Love ours. It will pay for itself eventually as our house is cold. It was 2k but had a good chimney already. Do it!!

I assume you're having a metal twin-walled flue installed which is why it's so expensive? We had the same thing done a couple of years ago but we managed to knock a few thousand off the cost by buying the flue and stove ourselves and just paying for it to be installed.

If you can get free wood then it will reduce your heating costs, however, just be a bit cautious about what wood you burn: if it's soft wood/old pallets etc then it can cause more tar to be deposited on the walls of the chimney, meaning that they need to be swept more often or you risk a fire.

TBH I don't think a twin-walled flue ever really pays for itself unless you have an enormous stove to go in an enormous house! For us though it was worth the expense just for the sheer pleasure of the thing

Ours was about £1800 for a 4.5kW stove (inc flue and granite hearth) but we already had the chimney. It was probably the best thing we've ever bought (housewise). It definitely hasn't paid for itself as we have to buy the wood but this cost is probably offset by the saving in central heating. Despite that I absolutely love it!

This might be a useful thread on mse.

I think that having free wood makes a big difference, and even more so if you're on oil. Although you'll need somewhere to season it.

We're going to get one put in when we re-do our family room but we're coupling it up with thermal board on all the external walls.