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Original poster

Wood burner

97 replies

iloveyankeecandle · 28/07/2022 10:44

Getting a bit paranoid about all this gas business. Anyway, it's got me thinking about a wood burner. Has anyone had one fitted recently? What was the rough price and has it been worth it? I have a chimney but it's blocked up at the bottom where the fire would go so I'd need that opening back up.

OP posts:
Scrowy · 30/07/2022 07:54

I wouldn't have one if I didn't live on a farm with woodland we use for fuel and no access to gas.

As it is we have two and through winter they are both on most days. The dust....

there is plenty of free wood about if your willing to put in a bit of work, in ten years I’ve never paid a penny for any wood

Where is this poster getting this 'free' wood from? We regularly come across members of the puboic intending to take 'free' wood on our land and have to remind them that it is only free if they intend to steal it from us.

Just because it's on a public footpath doesn't mean you can take it....

Lorrymum · 30/07/2022 08:08

I would love to have one. Despite living in an Edwardian terrace with a chimney and fireplace apparently our chimney isn't suitable. I am confused that many generations have used coal fires in the hearth without issues.

Loobyloo68 · 30/07/2022 08:09

Mine was fitted about ten years ago, no gas here, but I have free wood, also connected to heating so it heats the radiators and water, so not heating just one room, much more cost effective. When the fires lit I'm not using oil for heating. The fire cost £700 at the time and £1k to have it fitted, best money I ever spent.

Musmerian · 30/07/2022 08:12

Pootles34 · 28/07/2022 10:48

Ours cost a lot to put in - I can't remember exactly but over 5k I think? I worry about the air pollution issue - I don't think I'd have one now. In your shoes I'd look into funneling that money into a more eco alternative - price up all your options first.

It costs about £100 a year to have it swept, plus the cost of the wood of course. And it's a pain in the arse to clean.

Ours cost about 1k - it’s brilliant and I wouldn’t be without it. I get it swept every other year for £50 and it’s definitely meant I use less gas.

countrygirl99 · 30/07/2022 08:40

Lorrymum · 30/07/2022 08:08

I would love to have one. Despite living in an Edwardian terrace with a chimney and fireplace apparently our chimney isn't suitable. I am confused that many generations have used coal fires in the hearth without issues.

Woodburners kick out more heat. They need to.be away from flammable materials and the chimney is likely to need lining which may be difficult if the chimney has bends. DH is a sweep and often has to tell people their fire is dangerous because it's been fitted by a cowboy.

Nolongera · 30/07/2022 09:53

The last house we had there was no gas in the village, our multifuel burner did our central heating and hot water.

Unless you have a free source of wood, don't imagine it will be cheaper, every one and their dog are going to be scavenging wood.

In order to get the central heating on we had to burn a heck of a lot of wood, often we burned coal.

Wood and coal are shooting up in price too, as people look for alternatives.

Currently 7p per kWh for gas here, I have no idea how much coal/wood that translates into, but we spend a stack less on gas than we did on coal, our wood was free provided we cut it and stored it.

Having said that, there is nothing like a real fire, plus cutting and storing it is fab, like going to the gym but not boring as chuff.

WoolyMammoth55 · 30/07/2022 10:51

OP, do you have kids or plan to be pregnant while using the burner?

I think the data on particulate pollution is very concerning and while I might be tempted if it was just me to worry about, I am definitely not prepared to take a risk with my kids health when there are alternative ways to stay warm.

We have GCH, hot water bottles and jumpers :)

Forestdweller11 · 30/07/2022 10:54

Log shed should be in feet not metres ...

SortingOffice · 30/07/2022 14:02

Sunnysideup · 30/07/2022 07:49

Please tell me yoire not using a forty year old stove? Thay needs replacing to one of the defra approved current ones. The old one will be very damaging for your health due to thr particles that will escape into the room,

we have two and old one nd a new efficient one, I seldom to never use the old one, I can tell the difference immediately with particles and only use it when there is a power cut and really need to replace it.

Show quote history

Haha no, the current stove is a stovax stockton 8 multi fuel. Had it about 5 years.
However it's not been used for the last 3+ years. I've had it serviced and the chimney swept this week ready to resurrect it.

bellinisurge · 30/07/2022 14:04

Ours is wonderful.

SortingOffice · 30/07/2022 14:08

Wood and coal are shooting up in price too, as people look for alternatives.

Currently 7p per kWh for gas here, I have no idea how much coal/wood that translates into, but we spend a stack less on gas than we did on coal, our wood was free provided we cut it and stored it.

This is true. When we stopped using our stove three years ago our electricity and oil bills went up as expected, but not by the amount we saved on wood and coal. Of course that may no longer be true.

Has anyone tried heat logs? A friend recommended them as an alternative to wood / coal.

knickersniff · 30/07/2022 18:12

I looked into them just a few weeks ago . We've decided against it and fitting solar panels.

FurierTransform · 30/07/2022 20:40

I had a delivery of logs recently from a local wood yard and they hadn't gone up in price from 2 yrs ago. Get your order in now while everyone is still sweating & not thinking about the winter is my advice.

Indoctro · 30/07/2022 21:40

We had one fitted £3000 plus the stove tat another £1800

Absolutely love it though it heats the whole down stairs.

HerkyBaby · 30/07/2022 22:31

Had one fitted 3 months ago £1400 including chimney knock through and lining.

LuluBlakey1 · 30/07/2022 22:38

We have just had a second one fitted to the back sitting room (there's one in the front room too). Over all coast £3300 (including the stove- Defra rated A+)

What I like about a woodburner is we don't need to heat the house, just the room and we know exactly what we are spending.

They are no faff to clean at all- if they are there is something wrong with your woodburner. They should only need ashpan emptying once a fortnight or so if they are burning kiln dried wood and working efficiently.

LuluBlakey1 · 30/07/2022 22:39

I should say we already had an open chimney so it needed less work than some do.

MrsFinkelstein · 30/07/2022 22:55

In Scotland here. We got our 5kw multi fuel stove fitted in 2019 and it was just under £2000, that was stove supplied, chimney lined, tiled hearth and oak beam mantle.
Best thing ever.
We just made our log store from wooden pallets we got for free. We get wood from various places - our neighbours if they cut down any trees, or any wood we find. We can get a massive bag of softwood logs from a local supplier for approx £80. That lasts us about 3 months and is ready to use straightaway. We can also get smaller tote bags of wood from another local supplier for £33 that lasts about 4-6 weeks.
I hardly need to use the central heating if I have the burner on.

MrsFinkelstein · 30/07/2022 22:57

And cleaning it is a breeze. You can either use hob brite or just Ash and damp newspaper.
We get it swept yearly for about £65.

darlingdodo · 30/07/2022 23:02

Burley Hollywell installed a couple of months ago. Cost £3400 Inc chimney liner. We bought the stove because it's supposed to have a very clean burn.

DH built a log store out of pallets and timber we cadged from a building site and we've had 3 tonnes of wood delivered and are looking at getting another 2 tonnes. We have an elderly family member living with us and can't risk not having heating.

Honeyroar · 30/07/2022 23:03

mocktail · 28/07/2022 12:44

They're terrible for pollution, even the so called eco ones. A greener government would ban them in homes with an alternative source of heat.

They’re also the only way many of us will be able to keep warm this winter.

Cognacsoft · 30/07/2022 23:06

That’s interesting. We inherited a Villager and I don’t think it’s very efficient.

HasaDigaEebowai · 31/07/2022 07:35

Recent installation £2900 for a multi fuel stove 5kw going into a bungalow so just a flue going through the roof rather than a chimney, includes installation, hearth etc. The stove itself was £899.

HasaDigaEebowai · 31/07/2022 07:36

Recent installation £2900 for a multi fuel stove 5kw going into a bungalow so just a flue going through the roof rather than a chimney, includes installation, hearth etc. The stove itself was £899.

Applesapple · 01/08/2022 09:22

If you have to pay for the wood and still have gas supply connected, how do the savings translate? DP and I had another discussion about it but then we got our energy bill for the house we don’t live in yet and 75% of the gas bill was just standing charges. If you have to buy fuel for the stove, how much are the savings roughly if you still have to pay standing charges?