Wood Burning Stoves

[njkmr]

Hi Guys ,just wondering if anyone has experience of using one of these .My situation is I have a Legend in the wall fire that does not really give out that much heat (6.9kw)and in my view most of the heat is going straight up the chimney !!!(living room is 6 x 4.5 metres )

I have been thinking of changing it for a wood burning stove in the hope that it would stand half out of the chimney recess and actually give off heat into the room as opposed to heat going straight up the chimney .

Also would like to leave living room double doors open to heat the rest of house to some extent .We live in a Bungalow .

Another question is if I had a flue going up inside the living room would this section of tubing give off heat or are they insulated to stop people burning themselves if they are touched accidently .The reason I ask is that im converting my loft into a further bedroom and this pipe could be run up through that as well with a view to getting heat from the flue into the room upstairs .

Thanks for any info .
Regards .
Rob .

 

[Gasguru]

Get yourself a HETAS registered installer to have a look....there's a host of legislation and regs. to comply with. If not done right solid fuel can be more lethal than gas regarding carbon monoxide.

 

[dcawkwell]

Yes I saw the flue pipe going up within the room.
Saw it on grand designs.
You have to be careful because like any flue if the gases cool enough they can come back down the flue.

Personnally wouldn't bother can't be asked getting wood etc and messing about with it. Get yourself a good gas fire no mess and instant heat.

 

[Tibbot]

There are flue systems on the market that cater for what you're looking for. Eg. Poujoulat make one with the necessary fire stop plates to pass through combustible floors, giving extra heat but insulated enough not to burn or cause condensation in the flue. Always check flue/stove compatibilty.

 

[Tibbot]

Get yourself a good gas fire no mess and instant heat.

Instant? Still takes as long to get stove up to temperature.

 

[tonyo]

Do you not have mains gas ? I have an expensive wood burning fire as I am not on mains gas. They are expensive to buy, expensive to install and not cheap to run so if you are on mains gas get yourself a gas fire and improve your insulation.

 

[Tibbot]

The OP wants a stove with a pre-fabricated flue system, so a gas version of the same set up won't save any money. Your wood or solid fuel costs will be the result of how and where you buy. With gas there's no choice for supply, just which billing provider you choose to nail your b****cks to the floor with.

 

[njkmr]

Thanks for the replies fellas .
Yep I have a Gas supply for the fire but I dont get much heat from what I burn to be honest and I would be looking to get cheap supplies of wood .

My aim is to reduce the central heating being on as much as anything ,but the gas fire is not able to produce much heat to heat the living room let alone the rest of the house .

Thanks again .

 

[mbga9pgf]

Thanks for the replies fellas .
Yep I have a Gas supply for the fire but I dont get much heat from what I burn to be honest and I would be looking to get cheap supplies of wood .

My aim is to reduce the central heating being on as much as anything ,but the gas fire is not able to produce much heat to heat the living room let alone the rest of the house .

Thanks again .

Wood isnt great at heating water... the other problem a lot of these stoves have is corrosion over time....

You will have to have the stove raging for hours to make a difference. We just leave the doors open in our house with a massive 10Kw woodburner. The beauty is, depending on your air settings and how much wood you put on, you can vary output. CH takes the edge off for an hour, whilst the woodburner is getting going. Then all we do is open the living room door and let the heat through the house. Its quite effective.

 

[mbga9pgf]

double post.

 

[iep]

We bought a bungalow earlier this year which had poor central heating and a tradditional open fire in the living room (previous owner burned logs on it).

We found very quickly that this fire gave off next to no heat and a bit of research told me why. Basically, an open log fire is only between 5 and 10% efficient. I don't know which type of gas fire you have but if it is one of the 'open fire effect' models it may have similar efficiency figures.

We swapped it out for an Aga Little Wenlock stove (approx 5kW, £500) which is around 80% efficient and the difference is incredible. We can heat half the house with the stove alone. On the coldest nights this year (-4 so far) we can easily heat the living space of the house to 24 degrees with the stove. Takes about 30 mins to get going but after that it is fantastic.

Installation was easy. We had the advantage of an existing chimney so all I had to do was give it a good sweep and then install a suitable register plate and flue. Ran my flue design by the local stove intaller first (from whom I bought the flue parts) and only took a day to install.

A metal flue running through the room is a great bonus as this will radiate loads of extra heat. You just have to observe the relevant rules as to minimum distances from walls etc.

If you cna source cheap timber, I think you'll love having a proper stove.

As a more convenient alternative. In my last flat we had a Morso stove with gas conversion. It wasn't quite as 'authentic' but did chuck out a ton of heat and was very easy to use. These are more expensive to buy and install though and personally I quite like burning locally sourced timber rather than gas.

Cheers,

iep

 

[macfudd]

6.9kw is (probably)the heat input to the fire,check what the output is,this will let you work out how efficient it is.There are gas fires available which are almost 90% efficient.Check out Valor for a start.

 

[njkmr]

Decided to go for the multi-fuel stove after all .19% going on gas bill and it wont end there .Just looking for a nice quiet forest to get some supplies built up !!
Getting it fitted next week so will let you know if there is a big difference .
Regards

 

[big-all]

dont forget the output for a duel fuel stove is around half on wood iff you stoke it probably every 20 mins this will possibly drop to 25 to 30% output if you go to stoke it every 40 mins and once an hour may be 15 to 20 percent
it obviously depends on the stove and the wood concerned
but a 1/4 to 1/3 output would be reasonable if your not prepaired to be wedded to the stove

3kw off heat at the radiators cost around 10p with gas
iff your wood burner is say 8k on wood giving out say 2kw thats a saving off 7p an hour is that time or money well spent when you are probably taking 10 mins an hour stoking tending and cleaning so for 6 hrs you have spent 1hr and saved 42p good use off time and effort you choose

enjoyable yes but iff its to save money dont buy the stove as the hetas instilation flue linning cost off the stove and buying wood for a year will probably be 1k so take several generations to pay for instalation

 

[muggles]

The make of stove is very important, as there's a big range in efficiencies over the different manufacturers, and also a huge difference in how controllable they are. Make sure you're getting a good one or you may well be disappointed, Town&Country are the best ones to go for, highly controllable and very efficient, up to 20% more efficient than cheaper makes. If you get a cheap one you may find it's every bit as ineffective as your current gas fire. http://www.townandcountryfires.co.uk/