Wood burning stoves

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We live in a big Edwardian end terrace and it is cold in winter. Our fireplaces have been bricked in - basically exposed but one has a defunct gas pipe - but they are very obvious and central to the room and we would like to put in wood burning stoves in 2 of the rooms.

I think it would be lovely for us while we live here but a couple of questions...how long do you think it takes to recoup the cost of installation/relining the chimney/the woodburner, etc.? and do you think having wood burners will sell a property or put people off?

We think we will probably be here for about 10 years so I don't want to put something in (like an Aga for example that some people frown upon but I love) that in 10 years time will mean we can't sell the house easily because they are now seen as 'expensive' or 'environmentally bad'.

In terms of recouping cost - forever. It is not cheap having them installed, having chimney lined etc although it does vary depending on your chimney and what you pick.

How they will be seen - who knows! There will be houses for which it is the only effective heating option. I also have a period house with a massive room and minimal other choices. So we have one but it isn't really love - it makes it warm but it's a faff.

You can make them better to run, basically by not burning wood - using briquettes or solid fuel which is what we do.

For me I knew I was in my forever house and it was woodburner or freeze to death so an easy decision.

For context, we've just replaced a condemned woodburner in our Victorian Chapel conversion.

Relining chimney (thermocrete), stove and installation cost just over £8k.

Not a nominal expense

We’ve had both open fires and woodburners in the past and would go for a wood burner any day, they make a room so cosy. We are just about to have a woodburner installed in our new house, £1600 for installation including new stone hearth and fireplace and new chimney liner. We bought a 5kw woodburner from a local supplier when they had a sale on for £650.

£8k is unusually high, there must be some unusual circumstances there. Mostly it’s under £3k. I doubt that cost will ever be recouped by fuel savings, but they are an attractive feature for most buyers.

For the environmentally friendly aspect, make sure it’s SIA Ecodesign to meet the SU regulations that are coming in in a few years. That might be an issue in ten years.

Yes, it is unusually high. But owing to a bend in the chimney we had no option but to get a thermocrete lining installed which itself was £2.5k ex VAT.

Big Charnwood Multifuel 16KW burner for our large open plan room too.

Very pleased with it though as it looks amazing and once it gets going , properly heats the whole space.

8k is high, and we also have a large Charnwood in one, it's the island 11. And it was four k. However we have a three story house so it was more complex to install. Generally I'd say the cost for a small unit in a two story house is in the region of two grand.

Op. You're not going to put it in and recoup the cost any time soon. We are self sufficient in wood but if you're buying wood it is expensive, and they eat wood, as is the installation and unit itself also expensive.

We love ours, as we live in an old listed building and it's hard to heat due to the windows.

There are people who dislike them, but I'd assume any sensible one will just remove it if they don't like it and wish to buy the house, on the whole though most people see them as a positive, and it's a selling point for your home. It's recognised as an expensive and desirable addition by many,

But it's not cheap and unless you're self sufficient in wood you're not going to be recouping the cost any time soon.

Don’t put one in if you have kids or elderly relatives. It’s getting clearer and clearer that burning wood, even in a stove, is a serious health hazard. There’s been stuff in the BMJ about this recently. In terms of particulate pollution it’s like running a petrol car in yr living room.

We put one in before we moved house but we know the builder well and he should sourced a second hand stove for us so it cost about £1500 for everything. People seem to love the look of it and I think it helped us sell the house.

They're very trendy right now but I am already aware that they are damaging for the environment and I think society is turning more and more environmentally aware all the time so it is a consideration.

BUT we got through a lot of logs. A £5 pack of logs would last one or two days. We live in Yorkshire if that makes a difference and it was a small stove.

We've always had one but now moving somewhere where we're not allowed to get a wood burning stove so I have been investigating electric ones, they're kind of like a condenser dryer in that you can stick them anywhere and plug them in, no chimney needed. While they'll never be the same as a real fire, we can run it on our 100% renewables tariff and unless you've got your nose pressed up against the glass it's very similar.

Logs are awful. Now we have moved to briquettes it is much better. We get a quarter mixed pallet and it lasts us the winter - a couple of fast burners + one slow burning bark and that will heat the room for most of the evening. And we have a large stove that we used to just chuck logs at.

They burn hotter, are often made of waste wood (so better environmentally) and there are different types - long slow burn, fast firelighters and so on. Has made the woodburner much easier.

We had ours fitted 4 years ago, cost £1600 inc making the opening bigger and a small amount of plastering, We have a 5kw Burley stove.
We buy 2x ton bags of logs and that lasts us all winter, they cost £70 each.
You need to factor up keep too, I pay £100 for a sweep and service once a year.

You say "woodburner" but I think you would do better with a multi fuel.

Do you have free access to logs, and are you willing and able to cut and store? Do you enjoy indoor wildlife?

If you're in a built-up area you need something clean-burning.

if any of your family or tegular visitors is asthmatic - don't.

unfortunately they spew out fine particles and voc's that are as harmful as having a diesel car running it's engine constantly in your living room.
even the 'clean' modern ones.

have a look at other measures, like double glazing of secondary hlazing and insulation.

Like piglet, I would get a multi fuel stove which you can use smokeless fuel and or logs.

I use both in mine and it makes a big difference.

And dont forget you cannot just put any old wood/fuel on a stove to burn.

I don't understand this assertion that they spew out particles. I can understand that the smoke that exits the chimney may be harmful, like any smoke, but our multi-fuel, fitted in 2015, is room sealed and has a hardwired CO detector nearby. When it is lit there is nowhere for anything to escape, except up the chimney. It is designed to burn with the door closed.There is no smell in the room, not even a woody smell, and if anything dangerous was escaping the alarm would tell us. Where are these particles coming from?

I would say if you're in a built up area they would be seen as a bad thing, already everyone has realised how bad particulates are for shortening your life, and this realisation is only going to get stronger over time. Solid fuel is very bad for particulates and other nasties due to the fact that the air flow throughout the burning fuel is blocked by the fuel itself, also there fuel is not pure.
If you have a gas supply, gas can be mixed very evenly with air before it even hits the burner meaning the only nasty they emit is nox.
I think more depends on your own opinion on your health then on resale. Being cold affects your health as do all the air pollution, so which do you prefer 10 years of?
So if forced to guess I'd say skip the wood burner and get some decent radiators fitted, then have a small feature fire to go in the gap.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/cities/2018/feb/22/wood-diesel-indoor-stoves-cities-pollution

one of many articles...

I knew these were bad for the environment, but had no idea they were bad for your health if you had one.

I think if you live in a rural setting without mains gas a wood burner is a very good way to heat your home. However in a town or city it's just adding to the pollution. I think investing money in insulation would be a better solution. You could put an electric stove in your fireplace to give that cosy look.
I live rurally and have a 5kw woodburner but have a sustainable supply of wood for it but even then the wood needs storage to season.

Hi,

I read that article and it seemed to be discussing open fires instead of sealed wood burning stoves. We had a multi-fuel stove and flue (chimney) installed earlier this year, and we burn birch wood seasoned logs. The cost is £230 for 2-cubic metres which is a pallet-tall height of about 5ft 6" tall full of logs.

The door of the stove is sealed, as is the flue (chimney) sealed and so no particulates or anything escape into our living room, nor is there any smell inside the living room. Perhaps having the door open briefly to light the wood may allow some particulates to escape, although it takes us literally about 25 seconds for us to light our fire and for the wood to catch, after placing newspaper balls and then kindling in there first, then very small logs to start that catch the flames easily. The door is then closed.

We haven't had any problem with ours. We live rural. In fact, we are thinking of getting a second stove installed. We have a Clear View Pioneer 400 which is a small / slimline stove that will heat a room that is say 8m X 3m or 24 square metres. - Very reliable and a God-send on a chilly night. It is blissfully mesmerising. A chimney sweep once per year that includes a service (in Scotland) is £60. If you get a stove and flue installed, make sure that your installer is fully and properly qualified / accredited.

I can't remember how much ours cost but it was probably about 1k all in. But we did get the stove on sale (you often can) and we ended up getting an insert stove.

We really really wanted a free standing one just for the look of it but it would have come out too far. We reluctantly bought an insert stove. It's been a fantastic buy. It's hot as hell and we have tiled around it to make it look a bit more period. And it's very clean. They neednt look modern, it's all in the surround, really. It's also a lot safer with kids cos our usual fireguard fits the same way it always did.

Definitely think about it.

I fit woodburners and multifuel burners for a living and have one myself which me and my family wouldn't be without. 8k is exceptionally high as a bend in your chimney shouldn't cause you a problem when lining with 316l grade stainless steel liner, I had done bigger than 3 story houses and almost all chimneys have several bends. I have been doing this job for 17 years and have never failed to complete a job that qualifies with HETAS regulations. I may be bias but I consider them one of the safest forms of heating and if used and maintained properly are very cheap to run. If people are paying 8k I think I best put my prices up.