Wood burning stoves/fires

[docsquid]

It may seem odd to everyone here, but we haven't yet got a wood burning fire/stove installed in our house. This is mainly because we have a fairly new gas fire (which as it turns out isn't very good) and also because we live within the boundaries of a town, and I understand that you therefore need a special and much more expensive flue arrangement to be able to comply with the clean air act.

Can anybody recommend a wood burning fire or stove that we can put into our lounge to supplement the central heating and that will fit onto an ordinary semi-detached fireplace AND that will comply with clean air legislation affecting towns? It makes obvious sense for us to use the spare wood generated by our woodland to heat the house. Our downstairs area is completely open-plan (thanks to adaptations for my Mum, when she was alive, and using a wheelchair) and we can heat the house pretty well from one fire in the right place. The central heating could then be used only in the mornings for when we get up.

All suggestions very gratefully received.

[mikepepler]

Try this (lengthy) discussion on PowerSwitch:

http://powerswitch.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=448

[DuncanB]

After seeing some people who quoted silly sums for installing a fire, I got mine put in by a firm in Coventry (not too far away from you?)- they gave good advice on the rules and regs, and did a good job supplying and installing the fire. Their web site is

http://www.theheatingcentre.co.uk.

[docsquid]

That Coventry firm looks worth checking out. We really only want it for heating. We hardly use any hot water, and have a solar water tank fitted (although no solar panels yet) so would not want it for any hot water. It would not have to run any central heating as we have a warm air system in our house (much more efficient than radiators) and as it is very open plan the wood burner would take over much of the heat production anyway. So I hope they have something small enough to meet this simple need!

A personal recommendation is always the best.

[Catweazle]

I have a Dunsley Yorkshire multi-fuel with back-boiler. It easily heats the whole house plus hot water. There is no special flue required, just a double skin 7" liner in my ordinary chimney. It is a LOT bigger than the Baxi Bermuda it replaced.

I think it would heat two large semis, it's only rated at 40,000btu but seems more powerful especially when burning wood. In the evening a 1 hour burn will heat the whole house for several hours, in fact I'm looking for a thermal store to divert excess heat into.

It legally burns wood in a smoke control area, no smoke at all after the first 5 minutes and only a little even then.

All in, I'm impressed and my wife loves it.

[MartinD]

There are many websites offering sales and advice - see http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/

You can also get grants of up to £1,500 (if still available) for fitting a wood gasification boiler - see http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Wood-fuelled-heating

The gasification boilers are expensive - cheaper options from manufacturers such as Viadrus - http://www.mancoenergy.com/

Bear in mind that for a medium sized house you may use around 15 cubic metres of wood per year for all heating and hot water, and that the wood needs to be dried for at least 12 months, ideally 2 years especially for sappy wood like sycamore- which means storing perhaps 45 cubic metres at any one time

Finally, if you are not there to load the logs, your house gets cold - no more holidays at Christmas - except that you could link with your gas boiler for such occasions

see also http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=660&page=4

[Rod Taylor]

I fitted a Clearview Vision multifuel stove to our bungalow some years ago and the performance is really impressive. There was no chimney so a double skin stainless steel flue was run up through the ceiling /loft /tiles.

Clearview sell the fires as fully compliant to use in smoke control areas, and the glass front door remains remarkedly clear and gives a good view of a 'proper' fire.

Our fire is rated at 8 Kw and has no problem keeping the whole bungalow warm, and have no problem recomending them. The fire was fitted before buying our wood with the abundance of fuel available, so is now used exclusively with logs. However the multi fuel function has been found useful in the past, as with topping the fire up with smokeless coal it will remain alight for several days totally untouched and give out a considerable amount of steady background heat.

Ours is fitted with the flue out from the back leaving a large flat top that is also ideal for a kettle and or saucepan on the odd occasion the electric power fails.

Best of luck finding a burner that suits your needs.

[steve rollnick]

Thanks for the interesting thread Docsquid. And to all who replied.

Rod Taylor, can I ask you to explain a comment you made: "topping the fire up with smokeless coal it will remain alight for several days totally untouched and give out a considerable amount of steady background heat".

Can you elaborate a little? I am struggling to keep the flow of seasoned wood from our woodland for use in the burner at home...... because I am not a chainsaw user, probably.

Thanks

Steve

[wood troll]

Hi Docsquid,

We have had about five years' experience of using a Jotul wood burning stove and have found it excellent!

The stoves come in various sizes (ours is the largest at 14Kw) to fit all room heating needs. The stoves have a double burn to ensure the volatiles gases are also burnt. We use about 9 cubic meters of wood a year without being excessive in our use.

We know of several people locally who have bought Jotuls and they all love them!

wood troll

[Darren]

I'm fitting a woodstove at the moment. I had to widen the hole in the fireplace so to take the woodstove. Most of the advice come from the shop I'm buying the stove. It's a lot cheaper to do it yourself it isn't rocket science.

The stove arrives on Wednesday.