here's something you've probably heard before - i want to rip out my gas fire/back boiler and have a log fire! - and i want to do it as cheap as pos and still keep my central heating...who can give me the right answer? or the most helpful...your thoughts are welcomed. many thanks - tim
i want a log fire...and i want it NOW!
- Thread starter timbob007
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do it yourself you won't get it no cheaper than that.
and loose the attitude.
That ends that one then 
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So would you care to share with us your reasoning for wanting solid fuel or is it just a case of wanting it and wanting it NOW!
Have you even considered just how many logs you are going to have to shove on your fire to even make your radiators tepid, whilst the room with the fire roasts?
I used to find that trudging down to the log shed at 6am with mud squdging into my slippers a wonderful experience
Have you even considered just how many logs you are going to have to shove on your fire to even make your radiators tepid, whilst the room with the fire roasts?
I used to find that trudging down to the log shed at 6am with mud squdging into my slippers a wonderful experience
AH! i've spent many a winter morning having to shovel coal from the snow bound bunker when i was a wee man, and also having to disect the dog doo when we were too enthusiastic because of the temperature.The reason for the enquiry, was to possibly find a solution to warn the entire house while still starering into the flame that enthralled me as a child - i gather from your response that i can take my fire out and still fire up the rads? - nice to have a non-sarcastic response
even better to have people that don't think we're going to jump to their bec n call
W
wilhelm
hormones mr services? If you cant see in what context the op meant it to be, then youve got a problem.
either you have far too an inflated opinion of yourself seco services or you cant diferentiate between the written and spoken word - perhaps you should try and read the first post with a different perspective. - either that or get some anger management! - please dont reply.
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Yep, You can still have your fire and heat the rads/ domestic hot water, but I would also encourage you to have a modern gas boiler as a back up... A log/ coal fire is nice to look at but not always convenient for our modern world... As more folk fit log burners, so the price of logs will go up. As you are get older, so you will want to saw and carry logs from the log shed. I have only recently fitted a modern combi and central heating to my home, would I go back? Not on your nelly!! And as for my need for flames, I have a Dutch made balanced flue fire... 70% efficient with a remote control and thermostat... Cart logs in the cold and wet with spiders running up my arm? HA!!!!
G
Goldspoon
I live in North Wales so plenty of trees/wood in some areas.
Recently helped out on a job. Single female with two kids in end town terrace could only afford to run combi for an hour or two a day and house was always very cold because of this.
A friend of hers is involved in forestry and can supply her with wood.
Job was fitting wood burner with back boiler and integrating with rads. She insisted on removing combi from system as she "hated it" due to costs of oil and costs of breakdowns.
Within one hour of lighting fire living room was toasty warm plus a cylinder full of hot water and six rads in house all very hot (too hot to hold hand on).
I was very impressed and she was overjoyed. She had grown up with an open fire so knew the score re the hard work of keeping a fire going.
Have helped on other wood burner/back boiler jobs this year (half a dozen) and have generally been very impressed. One house had 12 rads and the room with the wood burner was not getting as hot as the customer expected (lesson learned: customer expectations need to be addressed prior to job starting). This was because the stove was "all back boiler and little direct heat". I was though gobsmacked to find it could do cylinder of water (large one) and twelve rads and many were large doubles. However, it took 1 and half hours of hard burning to get to this stage. Improved situation by rad balancing (switched a couple off as well in unused rooms) and by adding a big double rad to the room with the wood burner in. Also the customer bought some oil for his oil boiler and used this for "assisting the wood burner in the first hour" sort of thing.
Somebody mentioned "tepid radiators": does not have to be this way.
Guy I know has a wood burner and an oil fired boiler. He gets in from work early evening and puts the oil boiler on for one hour. He then lights the wood burner which runs all evening and, along with the one hour from the oil boiler, provides hot water and central heating. He says he uses a "wheelbarrow full of wood" every evening. He gets free wood. House has two electric showers as well.
A huge benefit of a wood burner with pipework/pump/header tank/cylinder etc. is that all the parts are easy to source and cheap and faults not difficult to diagnose in most instances.
Recently helped out on a job. Single female with two kids in end town terrace could only afford to run combi for an hour or two a day and house was always very cold because of this.
A friend of hers is involved in forestry and can supply her with wood.
Job was fitting wood burner with back boiler and integrating with rads. She insisted on removing combi from system as she "hated it" due to costs of oil and costs of breakdowns.
Within one hour of lighting fire living room was toasty warm plus a cylinder full of hot water and six rads in house all very hot (too hot to hold hand on).
I was very impressed and she was overjoyed. She had grown up with an open fire so knew the score re the hard work of keeping a fire going.
Have helped on other wood burner/back boiler jobs this year (half a dozen) and have generally been very impressed. One house had 12 rads and the room with the wood burner was not getting as hot as the customer expected (lesson learned: customer expectations need to be addressed prior to job starting). This was because the stove was "all back boiler and little direct heat". I was though gobsmacked to find it could do cylinder of water (large one) and twelve rads and many were large doubles. However, it took 1 and half hours of hard burning to get to this stage. Improved situation by rad balancing (switched a couple off as well in unused rooms) and by adding a big double rad to the room with the wood burner in. Also the customer bought some oil for his oil boiler and used this for "assisting the wood burner in the first hour" sort of thing.
Somebody mentioned "tepid radiators": does not have to be this way.
Guy I know has a wood burner and an oil fired boiler. He gets in from work early evening and puts the oil boiler on for one hour. He then lights the wood burner which runs all evening and, along with the one hour from the oil boiler, provides hot water and central heating. He says he uses a "wheelbarrow full of wood" every evening. He gets free wood. House has two electric showers as well.
A huge benefit of a wood burner with pipework/pump/header tank/cylinder etc. is that all the parts are easy to source and cheap and faults not difficult to diagnose in most instances.
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