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.

Please consider your health and that of your neighbours, and don’t get one.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/11/wood-burners-more-costly-for-heating-than-gas-boilers-study-finds

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/06/indoor-wood-burning-raises-women-lung-cancer-risk-study

Can’t believe anyone here is endorsing it unless the only heating option available. They should be banned unless you get a specific license

I used to have one in an old house and loved it. However, the house was 100 years old with a massive lounge that was hard to keep warm, even with two full sized radiators. It was a proper country house, over 1/4 mile away from the nearest neighbour and I lived there alone.

It was like having a living creature to take care of - the cycle of sourcing, storing the wood, bringing enough in at a time to warm up and last for a bit, lighting and feeding the fire, keeping the stove cleanish etc. A real labour of love. But it was wonderfully cosy and almost like a compananion on nights in alone.

All that said, this was 10 years ago and now there has been more about the health damage, I would not opt for one again.

I have one, installed 15 years ago to replace an ancient gas fair that was dangerous. I wouldn't install one now but it depends on where you are.

Pros:
Nice centrepiece to the room.
Can't beat a fire for cosy
Warms the house with a really nice heat.
On sub zero days is great to top up the central heating, especially in the draughty room.
Good to have an alternative option for heat if the power (or gas) were to go out.
Plausible access route for Santa.
If you have a large garden with trees you have a very locally sustainable fuel source.

Cons:
Health risks
Dusty
Getting wood. £12.99 at the garage for a bag today. We had a lot from our and next door's garden, but now that has gone it's a faff.
Storing / drying cut wood
Cleaning, Laying the thing, and lighting. t's not hard, but does take time and is a bit dirty.
Cost to install (£4k ish?) Probably better spending the money on insulation / draft proofing.
Space. Chimney and hearth does take up a fair bit of space in the room, and prevent that wall form having a sofa. Depends on your house and layout of course, and decor taste.
I think they will be banned in urban areas soon.

Added con :

You should get the chimney swept at least once per year (I think they recommend twice but that sounds like overkill to me). I don't know the cost but internet search indicates about £100 ?

Apparently chimney fires are on the increase.

OP, have you checked whether or not your radiators are doubles or not ?

You can get two types of radiators, single and double. Not surprisingly double are about twice the power for the same size. To fit new double radiators will probably not be that expensive (maybe less than £500) compared to a woodburning stove.

We have a wood burner and just use logs and kindling I absolutely love it especially best on weekends in winter where we have it lit all day / eve as that's the main room we potter in

The flu is internal and goes up through the built in wardrobe in my toddlers room so her room is always lovely and toasty which is another huge bonus

I agree with @Rollercoaster1920. I wouldn’t be without mine, but there are some cons. Mine is only lit on very cold or damp days. A ton bag of seasoned wood is around £80 delivered and lasts most of the winter. Once up to temperature (after 20 mins of faffing with kindling, etc), our 5kw multi burner can throw out a heck of a lot of heat, so much, that we have to open the downstairs internal doors to let some of the heat out.
If you do get one, I would really recommend getting a kindling cracker. You can make your own kindling from bigger logs and it’s a great workout. It’s also good if you need to get rid of some aggression 😀 https://fandangofiretools.co.uk/products/kindling-cracker-original

Lots of things cause pollution. Holidays abroad cause pollution. The emissions from countries like China and the U.S. will dwarf the impact of a couple of wood burners in the Uk. My mum and dad have a Woodburner. It’s so cozy and warm in their living room, you can’t smell anything when it’s on and it’s easy to control. If I was able to afford one and my house was suited to one I would get one.

Do you mind sharing whihc one you got? We have an open fire at the moment which we rarely use and I had wanted to get a log burner, but after reading about the pollution, am thinking of another option. I love the look of log burners, so would happy have an electric/other fuel burner but that looks authentic!

OP we pay £100 for a ton of seasoned logs, usually lasts for a winter and a half.

Cleaning costs £60 every August. We are fastidious about this as our thatched insurance is invalid without it!

@gnarlynarwhal You're very naive, PM2.5 doesn't smell. They are tiny particles and that's the problem- they get into your lungs, into your bloodstream and into your brain. No 'whataboutism' regarding other sources of pollution makes any difference to this issue, and you know it. The OP has a genuine choice whether to impact their own and their neighbours' health.

The emissions from countries like China and the U.S. will dwarf the impact of a couple of wood burners in the Uk.

1, So: "The per-capita emissions of two people in the UK with woodburners are actually completely OK, because they are, after all, less than the total emissions of the entire population of China combined (1.4 billion people)." You're not very bright, are you?

1. China's emissions will probably start declining from next year. China Nearing Inflection Point for Solar Power and EVs Ahead of 2030 Target - Bloomberg

1. China's government is pushing its population to switch to clean methods of heating and cooking for the same reasons already discussed here (air quality, health, safety, pollution), and has already made quite a lot of progress. In China, replacing coal and biomass stoves has saved lives | Ars Technica

The emissions from China obviously dwarf those of my woodburner.

But they aren't happening live in my living room are they?

Personally I'd rather look after my lungs as much as I can.

Indeed, this is about hyperlocal pollution.

I used to have one and I LOVED it. Can't have one where I am now but do have a coal effect gas fire and have it on most nights.

That’s great sweetie.lucky for you no one is forcing you to get one.

We recently bought one of the fake coal electric fires which uses steam and LED lights. The water tank runs out very fast, and is then a pain in the arse to refill. Very plastic-y build. I don't like the effect it gives, it looks like a smoking coal fire which is not very nice. I doubt the log effect one would be much better. Just my opinion.

You're forcing your neighbours to have air pollution. This isn't a personal decision, it affects others.

I see the JUST STOP FUN brigade are out again.
Is there nothing they won't make an issue of?
Wood has been burned for centuries it did not kill off the human race.
Merry Christmas with the Yule logs

@TwiddlingMyToes

Look for Acantha Alta Electric Inset Stove in Black with Remote Control.

It is an inset stove, very neat to look at, and while it is not for everyday all day use, I find it very good for a quick heat up when needed, or just for the effect. It fits very snugly into the recess where the old gas fire used to be.

There are others with log effect, but mine is coal effect. See range here -

Acantha Fires | Fires, stoves & electric heating | B&Q (diy.com)

I absolutely agree with the mums for lungs campaign. Fuel / wood burners are an appalling environmentally damaging health hazard. They need to be much more heavily regulated/ banned.

I agree. Anyone who is burning through excessive wood might be sensible to invest in one of those little magnetic thermometers that fit to the flue. It will tell you when you've reached your 'optimum burn' temperature. Having the fire working over this consistently doesn't just cost you a load in logs, but will cause parts of the stove to wear out more quickly too.

We love our stove. We've had it about 10 years and find it warms the whole house with very little wood. It costs us £50/yr to sweep and last winter we used £75 worth of logs even though the central heating was only set to come on low for a couple of hours twice a day. We bulk order local kiln-dried logs with each delivery lasting 1.5 - 2 years depending on how cold it is. Last year we had snaps as low as -9, but generally it was fairly mild so we only used half the delivery. I save offcuts of bare, untreated, joinery-quality wood from work throughout the year, so we don't have to buy kindling.
It does need careful minding initially when it's lit, but after that it's pretty forgiving once up to temperature.

@MrsJamin

And we all force pollution on others daily. My next door neighbour smokes in their garden and it drifts in my windows. Annoying as a non-smoker but their garden, they can smoke in it if they want. They are aware of the risks I'm sure.

Just like my choice to light my log burner in my home and be aware of the risks.