Log burners to cut energy costs??

[SpatulaSpoon]

Hi is anyone able to give me their thoughts on their log burner?

How big a room it heats, cost monthly for the wood etc?

I know they aren't very green, but the fuel cost increases are shocking and if it means the initial outlay when i get my bonus would mean long term less to heat my large open plan downstairs room, so be it!

Any draw backs?

Thanks 💜

Well they'll be outlawed soon, so there's that......

You aren't going to save money by the time you take in to account buying the stove and installation. Even if you had your own private supply of wood it would take years to pay for itself.

We have a 6kw log burner to heat our 6m by 4m room. We run it most evenings from december to the end of feb and that costs us about £200 in logs. If you have a bigger space and need a larger burner, you will need external ventilation in order to run the log burner.

Drawback-you won’t be popular with your neighbours.

Things to consider:

blog.gr8fires.co.uk/2019/05/20/comparing-the-cost-of-running-a-woodburner-with-the-price-of-oil-gas-and-electricity-in-2

@GlitterSquid

Well they'll be outlawed soon, so there's that......

I don't think that's right but happy to be corrected if so. There were two recent changes (1) a ban on most polluting fuels (coal and wet wood) and (2) new regs requiring new stoves to be 'Ecodesign' www.countrylife.co.uk/interiors/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-rules-on-log-burners-wood-burning-stoves-and-open-fires-236496

I have always said no to one because of the indoor and outdoor pollution but DH is very keen. He's trying to persuade me that new stoves are much better from the pollution point of view plus it would be a good idea to have another source of heat for the house (and they are nice and cosy). I am starting to be won over but am still worried about the pollution and the potential for people to find them off putting in the future.

We have a Charnwood Island log burner which is on the Defra ‘approved’ list, with really low particle emissions and 6kW output (I think).

We live in a 400 yr old house, so it’s extremely draughty. And our ground floor is pretty much all open plan, but the stove makes the entire ground floor toasty. Too hot sometimes, if I’m honest.

We live rurally so tend to collect wood all year. We might get a delivery on top, for about £80. We have a large wood shed so have lots of space to store and season the wood.

We love our wood burner. There is no gas in this small village, so I’d say most people here have stoves.

Ours cost about 3.5k to buy and install and heated a massive open plan area (barn conversion)

It was a 4.5kw stove. We used coal and wood - usually two loads of wood per winter so £150 and coal is about £20 a bag so maybe 2 of those a month.

Have you seen the biofuel stoves? You can buy the liquid from Amazon. Cheap to buy as no installation costs but I guess more expensive to fuel.

They are very good at heating a large space. I heated all but the kitchen (due to the house layout) of a large 2 bed terrace with one. I only had the heating on in the early morning.

I burnt one load of logs a fortnight thankfully these were free. Installation wasn’t too bad about £1k including the stove. Mine was fitted by a family member and was checked by building regs (it was part of a bigger renovation).
I dont feel there’s any greater risk from a wood burner than from traffic fumes. I do have a relative with an open fire that we visit regularly and whilst I grew up with an open fire I wouldn’t have one at home now.

There shouldn’t be any smoke that is noticeable to the eye from the chimney if the wood you are burning is well seasoned

I think ours cost £2k ish about 3 years ago. They wanted £1300 on top to install, so we did it ourselves and got it inspected and signed off separately.

We only use ours in really frosty weather to boost gas C/H, it’s lovely but eats wood, they are expensive to install £2000 including flue, dry wood is also expensive.

Love my burner but it's not cheap to buy wood; my guess is you'll get more heat per £1 spent on oil/gas even at crazy coming prices -- unless you forage or have a free source.

Hard to say about how 'green' it is; it's C neutral.

No one ever talks about indoor air pollution from gas boilers. Is there a direct comparison for gas vs. oil boiler vs. wood burner, unpleasant gases or PM10s per unit of heat obtained?

No one ever mentions how awful they are to live next door too. I have 2 health conditions affected by the smoke that pours from my neighbours all around. Hate them with an absolute passion, sorry. They're very inconsiderate

We burn only seasoned wood and barely any smoke comes out of the chimney. Perhaps your neighbours aren’t burning seasoned wood?

I pay £110 delivered for 1.3 cubic meters of logs (a local place & they deliver in a tiny tipper truck). I burn them in an open fire but I'd guess that's enough to last approx 1 season in a log burner.

I've not done the maths in a while but it's probably not far at all from being comparable economically with gas CH at current prices, let alone any oil/electric heating.

We have a couple of open fires that get a good bit of use in winter with house coal.

We use about 25kg a day if it’s burning all day and it kicks out a lot of heat. Last delivery was about £200 a ton.

All the talk of banning house coal and wet wood only relates to small volume sales for collection. Not delivery of proper quantities for serious heating.

We moved into a house with one and buy logs very cheap off a bloke I know so will only cost about £50 December-February - but we use it in the front room as it's freezing even with the hearing on so we are still paying for other heating for other parts of the house.

DH wants another one in the kitchen but I have said no.

I love the smell of burning wood when I walk around the neighbourhood - most of the neighbours have one so there's little chance of pissing them off.

Thanks everyone, really helpful!

Saved us a bomb in gas, but we are gardeners so have an endless supply of logs, kindling etc. for free and we work a year or two in advance drying the wood. We take the cardboard boxes from the supermarkets instead of bags and use that to fire start.

If you have to buy wood pre-dried it might not be a saving at all. It is quite expensive from what I have heard.

I have a 20 x 12 sitting room. My log burner is a 5kw unit in a 26" fireplace. I had my flue lined so it draws cleanly. We are surrounded by woodland so I collect wood all year and stack it in a shed to dry. It's free and there are no associated 'miles'.

I get through one basket of fuel per evening, which heats the sitting room, and the hall & stairs, plus ds's bedroom immediately above where the chimney breast wall is warm. I turn the CH off at 6pm, the kitchen cools after we eat, and we use the log burner for all heat after dark.

It halved my gas bill when I had it installed, saves me about £450 p.a. Recently our elderly neighbours spent evenings with us because their heating was out. If necessary we can cook on it too. The only downside is bringing in wood on really cold days.

@ChiefInspectorParker

HEATING. they don’t help if your hearing goes wrong

Curses, here was me thinking it'd help with my dad losing his hearing!

hmmm... my moisture meter cost at least £30, I wouldn't call that cheap. Is a favourite gadget, though.

Burner is a lifesaver when the power goes.

Bloody expensive the price of kiln dried wood where I am.