Please tell me everything you know about wood burning stoves...

[Fillybuster]

...especially the stuff you never thought to ask before you got one...?

Open fire isn't an option sadly cos DH has ruled it out but he's up for a wood burning stove in the living room (currently midway through building work) We don't have an existing fire place to squish it into, so can be quite creative with size, style etc.

Any chance of recommendations for suppliers, or style, and any advice at all on just about anything stove related, please? Thank you!

[misson]

Before deciding the size of stove, check the volume of the room you need to heat. We have big stoves but we need it. I know people who fitted small neat stoves, which don't heat their rooms properly.

HETAS fitter.

Clear view or woodwarm stoves.

Love our stoves.

[Outinthegarden]

We have a Chillipenguin stove, their Hungry Penguin. It is a 5kw multi fuel stove with a little oven built in and a hot plate; in our 3 bed house it heats so well our thermostat regulated heating rarely comes on. It is very easy to regulate and burns very little fuel. When you go to the show rooms to look at stoves you will notice how light some of them are, you want a good heavy one that has good quality steel, careful of poorly made ones from recycled metals. Happy burning!

[LumelaMme]

Yeah, but when it's a bit chilly and you don't want the central heating on, or your boiler breaks, or there is a power cut, your wood stove will really come into its own!

[Fillybuster]

Thanks for all the replies and info - it's been really helpful. DH is very keen on the Stovax range (anyone have any experience of these?) but we've massively reduced the size we are looking at installing after all the comments about heat!

Full disclosure: we are installing it as a fun extra in a house with central heating, so it's mainly about the fun element and the look rather than practicality

[specialsubject]

Regarding kids - the stove and glass get very hot, that is the point. If you have kids young enough to dance round the room you must have a secure guard. The burns from falling on it (even though you can't fall into the fire) would be horrific.

[lljkk]

DH made our stove protector gate, bit of grills & drilling & hooks.

[MummaB2016]

We've fitted a Charnwood and love it! My uncle is a stove fitted (HETAS) and recommends them so we went with it. It's simple in style and they come in different colours, we got a light grey one as I wanted something a bit different.

One thing we had to consider was the lintel height. We didn't really want the hassle of moving it, but we put an oak beam mantle (eBay) over the fireplace and it has to be a certain distance from the woodburner. Ours falls just under the regulation stated in our stove user guide but uncle said it was OK. If you do need to put it closer than the recommended you can get heat reflector plates to protect your mantle/wall.

When you've got it I also highly recommend a stove fan that you place on top and it moves the warm air around the room more efficiently. It really makes a difference! Ours was a gift from MIL but definitely wasn't £100. I reckon closer to £30/£40. They are on Groupon a lot too.

Good logs are also key! Don't buy any old rubbish going cheap on Facebook. We pay on average about £75 for a tonne bag. You need well seasoned logs. We built a log store for free out of some old crates that I collected and it looks and works great!

You'll need to buy a Carbon monoxide alarm and fit it in the room where the stove is. The installer shouldn't certify it unless they have seen that you have one.

Finally, don't forget to account for the fact that you'll need to get the chimney swept - annually ideally.

[LumelaMme]

Another vote for Clearview - best wood stove ever.

The glass either stays clean or (if the stove was badly loaded) will clean itself during the next burn. Ours will stay hot with just one or two logs in it, turned down low. Never have much problem making it draw however damp and still and cold it is outside (just light a sheet of newspaper and that warms the flue).

It churns out a ludicrous amount of heat from half a dozen logs and some kindling: that much will warm a large and rather draughty room for well over an hour, probably two.

I only clean it out when the ashcan overflows, because as everyone knows, wood burns best on a bed of ash.

[Trethew]

First reply from lucasgrahamfan says it all.

I've had a Villager and a Clearview in previous houses. Now have a tiny Aga woodburner. Clearview wins hands down. Current house is converted stone building with no chimney. Flue goes through living room ceiling, bedroom ceiling and out the roof. Bedroom really warm and currently building airing cupboard into the corner to incorporate the flue which has a metal cage around it

[Trethew]

debmeister a word of caution here. Gas 'woodburners' come in all shapes and sizes, including models that do not need external venting which means the exhaust gases come into the room, same as with a hob. These stoves have catalytic converters which can fail without warning and allow carbon monoxide into the room. Carbon monoxide detectors are essential.

[tittysprinkles]

We also got a fireguard from these people. Not cheap but really sturdy, looks great and worth every penny. The front doesn't get hot but the heat still gets out iyswim. We have a 1 year old and a 4 year old so safety around the fire is really important.

[tittysprinkles]

Debmeister ours is made by Franco belge but lots of companies who make log burners also make gas fires.

Here

[PhillipaFast]

You do have to clean it and hoover every day which is about a 10 minute job

Urm. I don't do this. I clean out the ash every three fires or so. I don't clean the outside of the stove as it doesn't really get dirty. Also, I wouldn't recommend hoovering it out as the ash can kill your hoover although maybe you mean hoovering in front of it where ash can drop when you open the door?
Completely agree getting logs in can be a pain (as I never remember we need more from the outside woodstore until it's dark and raining outside!) Still worth it though, we LOVE our stove.

[blackcountrygirl]

Lucasgrahamfan would you mind sharing which company you buy your kiln dried wood from? Need to stock up for next year!

[Debmeister4]

Oooh titty I love the idea of the look of a stove without the faff! Do you mind me asking who makes those?

[Ruhrpott]

I got one that was the max size I could have without an air brick. Think it's 5kw and it is plenty powerful enough. We also had a double walled insulated external chimney/flue installed as we didn't have a chimney. Not cheap but we love it.

[ispymincepie]

Thanks guys!

[JaniceBattersby]

We have two log burners, three children under 6 and no fire guards. We only have them on at teatime / night and don't leave the youngest in the room alone when they're lit (he's 2. The others at 4 and 6 won't go anywhere near)

You legally have to have a hearth with a change in height which goes out at least 250mm in front of the burner so there is always a natural break in the flooring which stops them getting too close.

[tittysprinkles]

We've got a stove that looks like a woodburner but is actually a gas fire. It's great! 10 seconds to light and no faffing with logs and kindling.

We had a multifuel flue liner installed just in case we decide to get a multifuel stove in future, but with small children the ability to get the fire going quickly is really handy. Could this be an option for you?

[Whisky2014]

I want one too. I currently have a gas fire so will have to take it out and put a stove in. Is it a good thing ir a bad thing we have a gas fire in the place already?

[TeaBelle]

We have a pevex stove which we're very impressed with.

Definitely go smaller rather than bigger. In laws stove is too powerful and it's horribly uncomfortable in their house in the winter.

Group on have stove fans for sale at the moment which work soleley from the heat of the stove so no additional outlay.

Our local wickes and farm shops often have wood, kindling and coal for decent prices. Heat logs are great too. We also burn all of our confidential wastes.

We have a pretty basic fireguard which does the job. It can be sxrewed to the wall but we haven't. The top of the guard matches the curve of the fireplace.

You do have to clean it and hoover every day which is about a 10 minute job. Doesn't sound much but disposing of asg, getting new wood etc can sometimes be tricky if dd is particularly mischievous or clingy that day

[Laquila]

Mincepie - look up the Babydan Configure/Flex system. It's like a stair gate for a fireplace (we have it in black and it actually seems to have made the fireplace look better, it's weird!)

I do have friends with a woodburner who've never had a guard - they've just brought up their kids to be cautious and conscious of the risk. They are clearly much more effective parents than me!

[ispymincepie]

Sorry to hijack but we are thinking about getting one too but worried about small children around it. Would it be difficult to keep them safe?

[lljkk]

Getting the window glass cut & replaced costs about £20 each time.
DH & I are running a 1:1 score on smashes.

When I looked into fans they weren't economical, can't sit one on top of my stove anyway.

Coal ash is well nasty (acidic) & shouldn't be composted. You'll need somewhere where it can cool down before it goes into a modern plastic bin.

Get a thermometer like this and read this MSE thread why it's a good thing to burn at the right temperature.

[specialsubject]

Open fire is under 20% efficient, wood burner over 80%. Unless you really hate the next generation you shouldn't have an open fire.

you need somewhere to store the wood and the energy to bring it in to the house. Five mins a day to empty the ashpan and clean the glass. You will get more dust than usual, I have had to modify my usual weekly vacuuming regime.

must be a HETAS installer, chimney must be swept annually at least.