Thinking of a real fire

[geoff]

Our house is a modern one, designed to have gas CH only. I'm thinking that if we ever downsize we'll get a real fire of some kind. When I was a boy we had an open fire, but since then multi fuel stoves and so on have become popular
Now I can see that there will be more and more demand on gas and electricity in the future. My idea is that wood and coal will be simpler and less reliant on other people and suppliers, and we will also be able to burn all the rubbish that hasn't been collected for the past 3 or 4 weeks

Its early days yet, but does anyone have any comments?
Thanks, Geoff

[Two_Sheds]

Thoughts:
- where will you get coal from? It's still a (finite) fossil fuel
- where will you get enough cheap wood from?
- how will you heat the whole house?
- you can't burn rubbish eg. plastics because of the fumes

[Pumpkin Becki]

We have designed our selfbuild house around a small multifuel stove
Nestor Martin Stanford 13 5kW multifuel, wood, smokeless coal burning stove in cast black
(which we use for wood), which works in combination with a gas heated underfloor heating system (water). We are also heavily insulated inline with (and exceeding) the current building regs.

'Though the stove is small, is pumps out a surprising amount of heat and burns the fuel very efficiently, however it could never heat our whole house.

We have a small supply of wood from an old apple tree which we chopped down to build the house, and some of the wooden structure of the old building we knocked down to clear the site. Further supplies will come from my inlaws garden.

You do need to make sure that your chimney is capable of coping with a real fire, and you will have to sweep it out regularly too.

I think real (wood) fires are great, and a sustainable option, I would steer away from fossil fuels like coal however, and dirty fuels like treated timber will make your stove dirty and inefficient, though we do burn some paper, as kindling.

[Lovage]

We love our woodburning stove - it is so cosy on these miserable winter days. The benefit is not just measured in the heat output - it is so much nicer to sit in front of a fire or a stove than to cuddle up to a radiator!

Even if the stove cannot heat the whole house it does make a significant contribution. We have the central heating themostat set quite low for the rest of the house, but the stove heats the front room to an acceptable temp for when we finally sit down at the end of the day. We also have the stove on in an evening spring and autumn and don't have the central heating on at all

Definately worth the trouble

[Bren In Pots]

We replaced our never used gas fire with a woodburner and haven't regretted it a all. Its a different sort of warmth compared to the central heating more cosy like so long as you can get either free or wood for a good price go for it.

[selfraising]

Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread but we were thinking of getting a woodburning stove, just wondering how easy/difficult it would be to fit. We have a gas fire with a back boiler behind it, previous to that there was an open fire.

[Pumpkin Becki]

Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread but we were thinking of getting a woodburning stove, just wondering how easy/difficult it would be to fit. We have a gas fire with a back boiler behind it, previous to that there was an open fire.

Lots of the manufacturers give you technical/installation info on the web selfraising. You might have to do a bit of searching, but if you've had an open fire previously you might be okay. Do you know if your chimney has a metal liner?

[selfraising]

ermm not sure PB, do I need one?

[Pumpkin Becki]

ermm not sure PB, do I need one?

Have a look at this

Wood Stove advice - installation, maintenance, problems

(scroll down a bit for the chimney requirements bit).

Hope that helps

[miffy]

Re real fire,
We contacted our council re logs for the fire and were able to collect some, also friends and relatives save wood, from felled trees and also when friends and neighbours are doing any clearance they save the branches for us. We go along and chop it up ourselves and bring it home from friends of course not the countryside!
You can now get pelleted wood burners which run on wood pellets which are made from the shavings from saw mills and furniture factories, you can also get logs made from these, they burn very hot and are fantastic.
There is a company called Woof who sell recycled products including woodchip logs and logs made from recycled paper, you can find them on the internet.
We have a log burner in one room and an open fire in the other.
If you manage your wood burner well and select the right size for your property it will heat the whole house, you can have vents put into the wall at the top of room and this will allow the hot air to circulate up the stairs to the floor above. Also it heats the chimney breast in the bedroom above and makes that ultra toasty.
The real fire in the front room which is an open grate we use logs on that too and with the door open that heats our hall and the heat then goes up stairs too.
During the very coldest weather it would not heat all the house on its own, the kitchen was colder but we have found that is keeps the temperature really toasty most of the time. We live in an Edwardian house with high ceilings so a cottagey home it would keep lovely and cosy and toasty.
Also it is a really comforting heat and relaxing too.
You also need to think about storage of wood, maintenance and of course expense as wood is not a cheap fuel although a sustainable one if managed properly.
Our woodburner has a catalyst on it so it gives out no fumes.
You would of course need to check if you were living in a smoke free zone or not.
I would recommend it totally.

[Nicos]

just a thought to consider- are there smoke free zones still these days?( coal burning)

[jacob marley]

We live in a burn what you like area old boots the lot if you use pallet wood the chimney requires sweeping regular at the momment we are burning a connifer that fell across the shed last year .
Coal is easy to find we have 3 coal merchants within 10 miles ....jacob

[Two_Sheds]

are there smoke free zones still these days?( coal burning)

Yep: Smoke Control Areas

[winstonwobble]

I have a wood burning stove with a back boiler so it heats the whole house and provides some hot water if we all need a bath at the same time i have to pop on the imersion for 10 mins to help it out but i love mine can highly recomend them

[geoff]

Thanks for all your comments. As I said, it will be a long time ahead before we have to decide, I'm just getting ideas at the moment

We visit friends with a multi - fuel stove and the cottage gets very warm for the amount of fuel burned. And they burn everything! Old wood, coal, packaging, old magazines, everything goes through the stove and the only thing they throw out is the ash.

My enquiry was prompted by the possibility of gas shortages in the future, and also by the possibility of free wood. One of my neighbours felled a pine tree in his garden, someone on the allotment was demolishing an old shed, and further down the street a house was being extended and re - roofed. The builders put up a sign to help yourself to the old wood. They were glad to offer it for free as they would only have to pay for disposal as trade waste

So, I'll probably think of a multi fuel stove with a back boiler and partial gas CH