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Original poster

Am wondering about changing my gas fire to the old style wood burning fireplace.....

60 replies

KaySamuels · 19/06/2008 21:19

.... but have no idea
if this is possible

if it will be lots of hassle/ expense

My main reason for doing this would be to cut fuel costs, we do not have central heating, just a gas fire on the original (?) chimney breast, which is on almost constantly in winter to warm the house through.
Hearing fuel may be going up 40% means the thought of having gas fire on all the time is giving me nightmares!!

Is anyone in the know about these things??

OP posts:
figroll · 17/07/2008 11:12

We don't have a woodburner but we do have an open fire in 2 downstairs rooms and I absolutely love them. Lots of dust and mess, but who cares.

In the winter you can stoke up the fire and get it really warm, but we use solid fuel - smokeless Homefire. Homefire is quite expensive, but you don't use much and it really blasts out the heat. There are cheaper alternatives. The only problems I could see for log burners are the amount of logs you would need and where you would get them from? Solid fuel is quite easily available and really gives out lots of heat - but then I have never used a wood burner, so I am probably not much help.

Bramshott · 17/07/2008 11:23

We have 2 woodburners - they are lovely. We're looking into the possibility of getting a back boiler fitted to one of them to heat the water too.

Trix11 · 17/07/2008 14:42

what make are your burners Bramshott?

uberalice · 17/07/2008 14:59

We've got this one in our living room.
www.stovesonline.co.uk/wood_burning_stoves/Hunter-Herald-6-stoves.html
It can burn wood or coal and it's great. Haven't got a backboiler yet, but we'll put one in at some point.

Bramshott · 17/07/2008 16:11

I think the one in the kitchen is a Stovax (came from stoves online as far as I remember), and the one in the living room is a Dovre because there was a particular style we wanted. We had a Jotul in our last house which was very nice, but there's no way I could afford to put one in!

Trix11 · 17/07/2008 16:37

Thanks both. Do you need special 'permission' of the council to have one.

Do you know if there are any contemporary styles out there?

JillJ72 · 17/07/2008 16:53

A woodburning stove has to meet with Buildings Regs, so if you plan to fit yourself you need to involve the Council who will assess and sign off fitting, or you get a registered fitter who has qualifications to sign off Buildings Regs conformance.

Interested to know from those of you who have had stoves fitted, or fitted yourselves, a ball park figure of how much it cost all in (stove+fitting). I know what we paid, I still wonder if it was over the odds. We have a Stovax, installed earlier this year, so will be tested properly this coming winter.

Trix11 · 14/10/2008 16:23

jill how are you getting on with your stavax?

JillJ72 · 14/10/2008 22:58

It's lovely We've had it on a few times over the past week or two, although my firestarting skills are worse than useless so I have lots of practising to do! It chugs away quietly and has a steady heat output. Cost us a small fortune to buy/have installed but it's well worth the cost, for its heat, its soothing nature and the "Wow" we hear when people visit...!

Trix11 · 15/10/2008 14:44

Jill we have been told by our local supplier it will be in the 'region' of £2000.00 to supply and fit? How does that compare to what you paid? Which Stovax have you got?

mumblechum · 15/10/2008 15:12

We have a Stovax in the family room and it's fantastic. It's q. small but pounds out huge amounts of heat. We pay £65 for a load of logs which last about 3 months, but we only light it at about 5 or 6pm, earlier at weekends.

Cost about £2k to install, inc. having a hole knocked in the wall and a flue added, yours should be less as you're putting it into an existing f/place.

go for it!!

Trix11 · 15/10/2008 16:37

Thanks mumblechum - what model or kw of heat is your one?

mumblechum · 15/10/2008 17:55

Huntingdon 28 Mk2 in British racing green. (sort of Gothic looking glass door)

Trix11 · 15/10/2008 18:00

Oh very nice

Does it heat other rooms ie the room above it or just the family room? Ive heard some of them heat the house!

mumblechum · 16/10/2008 11:50

ours just heats that room, or if we leave the doors open it wafts through to the drawing room.

isgrassgreener · 16/10/2008 13:10

I have a multi fuel coal/wood burning stove by a company called Charnwood, they do traditional looking stoves and some that are more plain and modern looking. My one complies with regs to use in a smoke free zone because the way it burns means that it does not produce much smoke.

We didn't have to get the chimney lined as when it was checked it was ok.It is fantastic, we love it.

If you want something really modern then look at Morso but they are very expensive. www.morsouk.com

Aefondkiss · 16/10/2008 13:18

I am a big fan of our wood burning stove, it really is much better than a dusty open fire and the heat is amazing, the amount of fuel you use is dependent on how hot you want it to be... we get wood from recycling and old whiskey barrels ( tonne for £15 of uncut whiskey scented oak) one load lasts for months and we burn them all day.

JillJ72 · 16/10/2008 15:40

Ours was a bit more than in the region of £2k to supply and fit but seeing as it was all a last-minute job and had to tie in with other building work taking place..... We have a Stovax 5.

Swedes · 16/10/2008 16:37

IN my last two houses I had a Morso Squirrell and I would rather like another one in this house. They are fantastic and very lovely to look at.

Trix11 · 17/10/2008 22:50

I think I have decided on the Clearview - Vision. I know how much the stove costs but what can I expect to have it fitted - does anyone have any idea?

Chocolateteapot · 18/10/2008 07:11

Our stove plus fitting, which included increasing the size of the hearth, was £1200 in total. It heats the living room, DD's room which is above it and sometimes the hall a bit as the chimney runs up the wall by the staircase.

Trix11 · 18/10/2008 18:25

Thats seems very reasonable chocolateapot - which stove do you have? Did you find your own builder to fit it or did the suppliers fit it?

Chocolateteapot · 18/10/2008 19:31

We have a Hunter stove and the supplier fitted it. Did find a big variation on quotes so well worth shopping around.

isgrassgreener · 20/10/2008 12:00

November issue of Country Living and Grand Designs have small articles on stoves, may be worth having a look at them.
I was so pleased that we had our stove alight when we had
power cut last night this may not sound strange, but I live in north London

mummyc · 20/10/2008 12:20

I'm just waiting on a date to install a new (part paid for) stovax glass fronted multifuel riva in the space where we had a miserable gas fire in a modern (80s) house - was gutted I couldn't have a 'proper' stove but am hoping the smell and heat will make up for it.....

Is costing much more than £2k but that's my fault for not shopping around (too hard with DS) and choosing a bloody expensive fireplace (am too fussy)

can anyone tell me about sourcing and storing logs and smokeless fuel? when I was little and we always had a real fire we had a coal bunker and some sticks for starting, will probably use more logs and occassional coal here though and in hampshire no-one seems to have heard of a coal bunker...