Woodburner owners

[Brixtonvssouthcroydon]

Are you happy with it?
Our new place has a biggish living room and not sure radiators will be enough to keep it warm in very cold days
We are considering a wood burner (using it with smokeless fuel) but wondering if it is actually quite fastidious (time to light it up, feeding it, ordering and storing fuel etc) and in practise it won't be used very much.

I think it's one of those things you either like or you don't. I loved it but yes it's more to do than just turn on the heating. You can burn a surprising amount of wood!

It’s pretty easy actually; easy to set / light/ feed/control and clean. I have one and an open fire. The open fire is a pain, dirty etc. we had a gas fire and it did nothing to heat the room.

Smokeless fuel with destroy the flue so best avoided. Wood is actually easier to burn..gets going quickly if properly seasoned and needs less clearing out. I love ours but we use only at weekends really

My parents installed one a couple of years ago. My mum was not keen, but it does keep the house quite a lot warmer than the fireplace they had before.
It does indeed eat up a huge amount of wood.
They had to let their wooden mantel go, which they missed, but overall, very happy.

They are too hot in modern and/or well insulated rooms but great in colder, older properties. Open fires are really inefficient in terms of heat loss, you lose most of the heat from them up the chimney, the right sized wood burner, burning properly seasoned wood and kept clean is a much better option.

We find wood burns through really quick so use smokeless. Both our liners have been in over 10 years without damage. Just don't use wet smokeless.

Pain in the arse. Messy, expensive and a pain to light and control. Don't get one unless you have to.

20 x 30 L shaped room. We mostly use it to take the chill off when the underfloor heating is too slow. The heat is Intense but does the job. Important to buy seasoned wood, good firelighters and kindling, and make sure your chimney flue is not too high. Modern house, good insulation, but we basically live in a bloody wind tunnel which confuses our heating and it definitely helps.

If you manage the fire well it won't burn through loads of wood. We had ours on all Saturday (so 12-13 hours) and only slowly burnt 4 logs but had constant low level heat.

Yeh we moved in to an eduardian house a few yes ago. Held off using the stove whilst we had young babies but now we invested in a great baby gate/ fire guard and got a log delivery - the thing is never off! It's lovely :)

I have a 5kw wood burner that can heat the whole downstairs of my open plan house. Takes about 5 mins to prep the fire and about 15 mins for it to be a furnace. Yes you have to clean the ashes out every three or so fires but it's not a big deal. They are cosy as hell.

We have a big old (C18th) house and have a wood burner in the sitting room and another in the large central hall. They make a huge difference to the warmth of the house. We burn wood. Easy to light but you have to have somewhere to store it as you could go through a lot.

We’re in a 1930s house and have one in our living room, which is north facing. We don’t use it all the time but usually pop it on over the weekend if we’re staying in for the day during winter. I could live without it, but I do appreciate having it.

We both grew up with solid fuel heating. Always had it in one form or another all our lives. Yes, it is a bit more dust, but that’s about it. Cheaper to run than any other form of heating, easy to maintain and use and repairs are generally diy. (Flues being our exception). Just a lovely heat.
wouldn’t consider a property without one.

It's by far my favourite form of heating. It's a bit of work, but it's the most pleasant for me. I like the fact that there is a clear source of heat that is very hot, and you can choose to be nearer or further from it in order to choose how warm you are. I hate houses that are the same temperature everywhere.

Am I happy with it - yes but I would rather live in a house that had effective heating so I didn't need it.

Yes it heats the room and looks pretty.

However neither of us wants to clear out the ash, get the logs from the garage, put the logs in the garage, light the thing, or basically do any of the work involved with one.

Plus if we use wood instead of briquettes it sets off my asthma. As does walking down the street when everyone else has lit theirs.

Am dreaming of a house on mains gas.

I like mine, it takes a couple of minutes to empty the ash pan every few days, a minute or so to wipe the glass over and I find lighting it easy with wood wool lighters and 8-10 sticks of kindling, chuck on a couple of small logs, open all the vents then close the door on the latch. I think the key is getting the flue good and hot, that way it is easier to maintain a good, slow, warm burn without turning the room into an oven.

I love my wood burner have. 5 kw also and we need no central heating all year (except in the kitchen we have wet underfloor) it heats the whole house -modern three storey.

Smokeless ovals are ok but don't really burn most sort of flow and smoulder. We used them overnight so it's still in the next morning, usually over Xmas holidays. So you will need wood to get the fire going.

They are easy to light and keep going. You need somewhere dry to store wood and fuel. Need to order move and stack wood (hard work- some log companies do this). We spent around 400 on four builders bags of logs this year, 2 dried and 2 seasoned. We will use the kiln dried stuff first. We haven't ever spent this much before on wood but used lots last year

Very old stone house, 11kw stove in living room with a open staircase means I rarely need to put on the heating.

My only regret is not buying better quality like Burley or Clearview.

It's awful for the environment, your neighbours, and your health. Please don't get one. Read this https://www.mumsforlungs.org/our-campaigns/wood-burning - there will be lots of posters on after me saying that they are OK, they can't smell anything etc but they have their heads in the sand.

Wouldn't be without mine. Another 5kw. If just me home then it's on in the sitting room and toasty. Don't need the CH on and to burn expensive oil. Live on a farm so pick loads of wood up through the year and have a load that costs £100. That sees me through the winter. When kids and husband home (Uni and works away) I give in to the ch on. Otherwise just electric blanket on before bed and pull the curtains. That is a big heat saver.

Exactly this.
I absolutely love wood burners, and really want to put one in my house, but after having read how terrible they are for the environment both inside and outside the house I just can't do it.

Love a wood burner. Get a thermo couple fan to sit on the top, it distributes the heat around the room really efficiently. We live in a very old house and it keeps us cosy all winter.

Was scanning all the comments for someone saying this. We have one and have young kids. We’ve decided never to light it again after reading some of the terrifying info online. I fear it will end up being the modern day cigarettes and will be too late by the time everyone realises the damage they’re doing. My neighbour has one and you can smell it a mile off if he has it lit. As I was passing my other neighbour’s house today I saw a wood burning stove van in the driveway, looks like they’re getting one installed too 😩

Sounds like it’s using it for 30 days per year or more that causes most harm but the majority of people would have it on at least 30 times over the winter!

Please look at Doctors and Scientists Against Wood Burning
https://www.dsawsp.org/

If you wouldn't smoke cigarettes in a room with your children/while pregnant, then don't use a wood burning stove either.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/indoor-wood-stoves-release-harmful-emissions-our-homes-study-finds#:~:text=Results%20from%20the%20study%20revealed,stoves%20were%20not%20in%20use.

If you want to reduce your chances of getting dementia, don't use a wood burning stove

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935120311956?via%3Dihub