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Original poster

Log burner - would it put you off buying a house?

208 replies

HelpMeHiveMind · 19/01/2022 20:27

Sorry another thread from me tonight!

I hadn't realised log burners were quite so controversial in terms of health risks and housefire risk...and of course the environment. The cost doesn't put me off hugely, but the other factors do worry me.

Is a log burner in a property a deal breaker or not a problem? (It does have perfectly good central heating too but would be a shame to have a log burner and not use it when it's the main focal point of living room)

OP posts:
dopenguinsdance · 19/01/2022 22:24

Definite negative. My neighbours on both sides (urban location, brick-built terrace ) got wood burners fitted after they bought their houses; both moved in after me. The smoke filters into my house and it STINKS. You can smell the smoke outside as well. I'd like to sit in my garden or hang my washing out without my clothes smelling like they've been kippered.

buckeejit · 19/01/2022 22:24

@Anothernamechange3 I'd also like to know where you got your lights or what to search for-they look great!

setthecontrols · 19/01/2022 22:26

It wouldn't be a deal breaker but I certainly wouldn't use it as I have young children.

Goawayangryman · 19/01/2022 22:26

Plus for me too.

Although I do appreciate they are not environmentally friendly. Mine has the highest DEFRA rating thingy you can get and it certainly doesn't produce smoke, but I imagine it does produce particulates.

It is one of my few luxuries but it is also a cost-effective way of heating my home because I can get great wood for free..season it for 18 months myself.

I don't fly overseas, drive very little, am vegetarian, so it's my one major transgression.

BashStreetKid · 19/01/2022 22:27

Should I ever be in a position to move to a country property, one of my main stipulations would be that the house must have open fires or log burners.

Zazdar · 19/01/2022 22:27

A positive for me.

BashStreetKid · 19/01/2022 22:28

They proved their worth in the incident around Christmas where some areas were without power for several days. It was clear from the news footage that, for many, they were absolute life-savers.

Wineat5isfine · 19/01/2022 22:30

Would also be a big selling point for me.

We live rurally and put one in shortly after we moved. We are prone to power cuts and being cut off in bad weather.

We only use locally available well seasoned wood and kindling.

We depend on this source of heat in the winter to be honest and do things the right way, as best we can.

And anyone criticising stoves…I hope you don’t drive / travel by plane 😉

CrystalMaisie · 19/01/2022 22:33

Yes it would put me off, I would assume that it was a cold house that needed it, and the heating was inadequate.
I don’t like them visually, as well as all the smoke/ dirt/mess/ environmental reasons.

FurierTransform · 19/01/2022 22:43

Even if you don't want one, I don't understand how it would ever be the thing that put anyone off a house completely... What about an old manky gas fire? Millions of houses still have those fitted.

goingtotown · 19/01/2022 22:50

Our neighbours have a log burner I know when they light it because my house reeks of smoke, I'm hoping the day will come when they're banished.

onedayoranother · 19/01/2022 22:50

New log burners burning the right fuel should not smoke that much, but they won't be requiring people to change them if they exist already.
I had two and last loved them. They were modern and I lined the chimney and got the best rated one I could which surpassed current regulations in terms of efficiency and smoke.
I live in the city now and have a gas coal effect fire which I also love. I also have a Dimplex Optimyst electric stove in a flat.,Couldn't imagine a home without some sort of fire.

LemonSwan · 19/01/2022 22:54

Obviously not lol

Log burners are usually freestanding in a nicely finished cove. Hardly a drama to take one out if you prefer an empty cavern.

Shmithecat2 · 19/01/2022 23:57

Hmm why would it put you off? You don't have to use it.

I love them. I have an open fire in my current rental, but the house we've just bought and started to renovate has a woodburner and an open fire. We're going to replace the current woodburner and install in the open fireplace a couple of Clearview Stoves. I can't wait. We're rural (smallholding, nearest neighbours about a mile away).

ThirdElephant · 19/01/2022 23:59

Why would it put you off? You can always get them taken out.

theemmadilemma · 20/01/2022 08:25

What are all these people burning?

I live in a row of houses and there's probably less who don't have a fire. We do, our immediate neighbours do, and theirs do. I've never much noticed a smell though I see the chimneys going. Only maybe a light whiff outside. But I know we all get wood deliveries and no one burns rubbish.

museumum · 20/01/2022 08:30

We’re suburban and neighbours next door and directly opposite have them. We never smell anything from them - though they must be used as both get big log deliveries twice a year.

Daisydoesnt · 20/01/2022 08:31

I just can't understand all these people with plumes of smoke
We have no gas so it's our only source of heat.
If I stand outside when it's on I can see nothing and smell nothing from the chimney.
We burn seasoned wood at the right temperature. It's not complicated.
I do wonder if when people have them put in single storey extensions with just a flu they are too low to draw properly because you should not be in plume of smoke

This!

Dry, well seasoned wood burnt at the right temperature produces very little smoke, which is almost clear and almost odourless. If it smells or looks sooty it's either being burned at too low a temperature (people shut their woodburners down so they burn more slowly, but you shouldn't. If they're not hot enough the particles go up the chimney rather than being burned in the chamber). Or it means the wood is wet. "Well seasoned" means logs that have been split and left to dry for two years.

Fairylightsongs · 20/01/2022 08:32

@theemmadilemma

What are all these people burning?

I live in a row of houses and there's probably less who don't have a fire. We do, our immediate neighbours do, and theirs do. I've never much noticed a smell though I see the chimneys going. Only maybe a light whiff outside. But I know we all get wood deliveries and no one burns rubbish.

I’ve no idea either, we burn seasoned wood, and anyone who needs to buy wood, does, so unless they are all out foraging for free wood and burning it wet, using old stoves then I can’t see what all this stink is.
Brindille · 20/01/2022 08:36

Massive plus for us. We've put log burners in every house we've owned.

Anothernamechange3 · 20/01/2022 08:38

@Phelescent @Fleur405 @buckeejit can’t find the exact ones but google flicker flame fairy lights

Cultish · 20/01/2022 08:39

Positive for me. I'm getting one put in.

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 20/01/2022 08:45

I've had log burner for years and never had any problems with them. They make a house a home.
Wish I had one now with heating costs going up.
As long as you only burn very seasoned, very dry wood and have the chimney cleaned every year it shouldn't be a problem.
Its wet, sappy wood that smokes that causes the damage.

Yumperwumpee · 20/01/2022 08:48

Please, anyone thinking of putting one in, don't. They're so, so bad for the environment and carcinogenic if you have young children in the house especially.

etulosba · 20/01/2022 08:54

Please, anyone thinking of putting one in, don't. They're so, so bad for the environment and carcinogenic if you have young children in the house especially.

It makes you wonder how life expectancy has risen so high given that the people pushing the envelope were brought up in an era when heating by open coal fires, even in children’s bedrooms, was the norm.

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