wood burning stove

bianchimoon

thinking of ditching the coal fire due to it being worn out and replacing with a wood burning/multi-fuel stove, went to the local showroom and must admit in the main they look archaic, except for the Bodart and Gonay range, boy do they look cool (or hot?) trouble is £3.5k just for the stove, but nothing else comes close for a modern look... anyone got a wood burner or multi-fuel, are they worth the investment?

DrKJM

I've got a Morso O4. Quite contemporary in looks and has some sort of clean burn technology that means it's more efficient AND counts as an exempt appliance if you live in a smoke control area. I love it. Fell asleep in front of it last night in fact. Toasty warm and 4kW which is plenty for a typical living room. They do, IIRC, the O6 (kW) and O8 too if you need more oomph.

Edit to add link to pic.
http://www.stovesandflues.co.uk/buy-sto ... nline.html

Second edit.

It's about a grand

team47b

I get really nice and warm sawing up wood for mine

RonB

Always go for a Clearview myself...

http://www.clearviewstoves.com/

freddiegrubb

if you do buy one don't miss this trick ( if cash & plumbing allow) , get a stove with a water jacket on 3 sides & combine it with your htg./hot water, might as well screw every ounce of value out of your fuel.

kentphil

Kevin McCloud of Grand Designs fame made one from an old safe. He used a thermal lance to burn through it to make the vents etc. Not sure how practical to do this would be, but surely cheaper than £3.5 k

mr_goo

Have been told that Clearview are the best.

DrKJM

Clearview are I think British and have a very good reputation. Morso are Danish(?) and have a similarly good reputation. when I was looking I seem to recall Franco Belge and Aarrow coming up in the lists. The key is to find a good heavy casting rather than pressed steel - more thermal mass and greater longevity. Kevin McCloud did make one out of an old safe but the efficiency would be bugger all and controllability similarly so. Not a problem in a big shed but more so if you don't own a wood and want it for more than the occasional chilly spring evening. It did look cool though.

ben16v

i have an aarrow one with water heater and its very good albeit a bit dusty

bianchimoon

Thanks for the replies, sound advice. Hadn't thought about heating water as well, but wouldn't this lose some of the heating kws? Will check out those links at again

schweiz

My dad put one in a few years back. When it's going you have to open the windows to cool the room down! He only needed a smaller one (can't remember how many kW) but bought the bigger one as as he thought the smaller oner one would look crap in the existing fireplace!

capt_slog

I have two. One in the dining room and one in the lounge. The lounge one has moved house with me. originally bought around 1990 for about £350, it was in two different rooms in its first house and as been in two locations in the present house. Made by Villager and looks a bit like this ....


but this one is more up to date.

The second one is this...



Which I picked up for around £275 around 3 years ago .


If you are willing to pay 3.5K you are being ripped off or have a lot more cash that me.

DrDavros

We have a Stuv insert that puts out 12kw + when going full-blast - a very impressive piece of kit, keeps a large (70m2) space at 19C or so even when the outside temps fall below -15 (but obviously good insulation helps, plus access to a LOT of seasoned firewood).

They also make some sleek free-standing stoves (see http://www.stuv.com/en/products/wood-burning-stoves.html). The Stuv 30 is v.nice, IMO.

Pellet stoves are another option (and can be easier to install). A friend of mine in France has two he sourced from Italy (http://www.fireland.it/uk/products.php?numbcat=9) - way cheaper than he could find them elsewhere and arrived on a palette within a week. In the UK, pellets may be much easier / cheaper to source than good firewood.

caad8

My parents have had a Villager for over 10 years - can't fault it. If cost is an issue then try 2nd hand. I would advise fitting a butterfly valve on the flue outlet (but still in the room) so you can manage airflow through the stove a bit better.

Whatever you go for it will be a significant improvement over the coal fire

BigJimmyB

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/searc ... ory/page/1

rolacola

I fitted a Dovre 425 stove 3 years ago myself, its an 8Kw model. The total install cost me about £1k all in, with the stove costing me £400, flue liner £280, and elarging the fireplace . Its been great, and saved loads of money on heating as managed to get all the wood for free.
Biggest pain has been storing all the wood as i must have about 3 winters worth kicking about in various states of seasoning.

BelgianBeerGeek

You can go down the multi-fuel/water heating route, but I just got the wood burner standalone. I think of it more as an indulgence than a serious heating proposition, although last winter when had a few dumps of snow it really added to the heat in the house. It's also really good for autumn/spring evenings when you don't really want to put the central heating on (if you're tight like me).
Mines a Stovax and I love it. If you can, I'd seriously look at buying one from abroad, where they can be significantly cheaper. And self-service wood stores/getting it for free is also good. There is nothing more satisfying than burning free wood!

RonB

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

You can go down the multi-fuel/water heating route, but I just got the wood burner standalone. I think of it more as an indulgence than a serious heating proposition, although last winter when had a few dumps of snow it really added to the heat in the house. It's also really good for autumn/spring evenings when you don't really want to put the central heating on (if you're tight like me).
Mines a Stovax and I love it. If you can, I'd seriously look at buying one from abroad, where they can be significantly cheaper. And self-service wood stores/getting it for free is also good. There is nothing more satisfying than burning free wood!

Apart from your own woodland I don't know where you think you can get "free wood" from legit. Let's face it you do want to sort out a regular supply, so legit is the way to go, right?

Phil Fouracre

Great idea - we've got a Scan 45, lovely stove, cylindrical, curved glass door, very efficient - think it was about £1200 four years ago

Can't recommend it highly enough, be careful with wood quality whatever stove you choose - moisture content is crucial, can never be too dry

Fitted a few over the years and only problems have been caused by poor quality/seasoned wood = tar and potential for chimney fires

bianchibob

We have a Jotul in our sitting room, like the Clearview it recirculates hot air over the glass front door which keeps it clean. If you have a wood burner you keep warm twice, once chopping wood and secondly burning it. WE have kept ours in last winter for nearly two months none stop, and it will easily 'air' the whole house. One of the best bits of kit I have ever bought
Fitting can be a bit problematical, especially if you live in a n older property as you might have to install a flue liner of some sort. If you live in a thatched property that can be expensive.

bianchimoon

like the stuv designs, not overly keen personally on traditional designs, wouldn't suit my house. Free wood is possible My father in law gets legit free wood from local builders/garden centre they let him take away the old pallets he can carry once a week, just have to be cheeky enough and have the storage space, he's got a couple of winters worth seasoning.

RonB

Fair play. I didn't mean to sound off there. Its just that this is the season when some folks think they can go ahead grab a bowsaw and help themselves from the local forest.

Monty Dog

If you're burning wood, flue liner is recommended otherwise you get build-up of tar deposits that can ignite at the higher temperatures. We had 2 Clearviews installed about a year ago - massive improvement on open fires and big reduction in the heating bills. You can keep them ticking over overnight and through the day.

BelgianBeerGeek

RonB wrote:

Fair play. I didn't mean to sound off there. Its just that this is the season when some folks think they can go ahead grab a bowsaw and help themselves from the local forest.

I do unfortunately have to pay for most of it. It's only if mates/work colleagues are taking a tree down or something like that and they want me to get rid of it. I'd never advocate nicking it.

capt_slog

RonB wrote:

Fair play. I didn't mean to sound off there. Its just that this is the season when some folks think they can go ahead grab a bowsaw and help themselves from the local forest.

There's loads of free wood to be had, you just have to work at it. I often see trees being cut down or tidied up and I ask for the wood. Sometimes it's available and sometimes not, if it is I cart it home, cut it and store it until it's dry.
I doubt that this will continue though, as more people will be doing the same thing.

brit66

This is a timely post as I've been comtemplating in the last few days getting one of these for my house.

The problem is that it's quite modern and doesn't have a chimney. I would therefore need an external flue exiting the side of my property and being attached to the outside wall, all the way up past the guttering.

Has anyone had this done?

DorsetKnob

Right! Wood burning stoves will never be as efficient as Gas central heating unless you have free fuel which, with the cost of logs, is highly unlikely.
The biggest mistake people make is getting a too big a stove. In order to be efficient a stove must be running at, or near too, its max output. If you install a 12kw stove you have to burn an awful lot of wood to get it hot enough to be efficient, and this combined with a small room will have you down to your pants in no time! A guide calculation for the kw size required is: Room volume (m3) divided by 14 will give you a starting kw figure. This needs to be adjusted depending on insulation levels, draughts and the general use the stove is going to have. A big stove in a small room is just not going to work. The average room in an average house is going to be in the 5-6kw region.
Burn good,dry,seasoned hardwood logs. Softwood does not emit enough heat, burns too quickly, and will soot up your chimney. In the worst case, because softwood does not burn very hot and is full of sap this can leave deposits on the inside of your flue/chimney - these can ignite and are probably the biggest cause of chimney fires.
A sound, class 1 (7") chimney does NOT need to be lined. Do not let an installer tell you otherwise! Lining a chimney is expensive and a good moneyspinner for an installer. If the chimney is unsound and is to be lined then it must be back filled with vermiculite granules or similar. A lined chimney with no back fill will generate condensation on the bricks, this mixes with soot and creates acid, which burns into the mortar, leading to a chimney rebuild in a few years.
Cast iron stoves are considered better, although mild steel has become a lot more common in the last few years. For heavy use I would go the cast route, otherwise dont worry about it. What ever you buy make sure you can get spares, at some point you will need new glass, rope etc.
There is nothing wrong with most stoves that are made in China. European stoves are very good but will probably be at least twice the price.
If you are burning wood as opposed to coal get a stove with 'airwash' function. This will keep the glass clean and wood burns better with air taken from the top rather than underneath.
Ash, oak and beach are the best if you can specify. Elm and poplar are both shit so dont even go there.
Any questions please just ask! :

bianchibob

So there you have it, only thing not mentioned is what about a multi fuel stove, one that can burn both coal (stove nuts) or wood. !! Apparently the wood ash is also good as a fertiliser for your garden. Additionally if youn get a power cut, (quite often in rural Hampshire) you can boil a kettle or make a rice pudding on the top !! Marvellous.

DorsetKnob

Most stoves can burn most fuels! Some stoves are classed as 'wood burning only' because thats all they have been tested for at the government ripoff,sorry testing lab. If a stove has a grate, usually with some sort of riddling system, with an ashpan underneath then you can burn most fuels. If there is no grate then it is a true woodburner only. You can boil the kettle/cook on any stove that is rear vented, and, some say, it is a good idea to keep a kettle full on the top when alight as the steam from said kettle will keep the air in the room from drying out thus stopping one getting a sore throat!
As a ps- you will need a room vent of at least 100cm2 if the tested kw output is over 5kw.
As a pps- to clean deposits off the door glass use some damp kitchen towel dipped in the fine ash,
dont bother with chemicals/window cleaner etc.
Cheers
Ta ta

sadlybiggins

We had a dual fuel burner installed last winter and it made a massive difference. As DorsetKnob says, the key thing is that you will need a vent if it's over 5kw. Partly for that reason we went for 4.7kw and it's plenty for us even though the front room is a good size. I have to leave the room periodically as it gets too hot for me but Mrs Biggins is very pleased (with the heat that is, not me leaving the room - I think).

bianchimoon

Thanks for the replies, but.. what if you want the stove to 'residually' heat the rest of the house, would you then get a bigger than recommended for the room?
Not expecting it to be as efficient as gas CH, but as we have no gas in the village it'll help on using less oil i guess?
It is this one i'm looking at, but not many people seem to have them

http://www.bgfires.com/en/our-products/ ... 3-1004.htm

cheers for the advice