Log Burners

Thinking of having a log/multi fuel burner put in at home, any help, tips, advice links etc welcome

We are thinking the same Ken. Keep visiting log burner showrooms but haven't seen the one yet. Looking for large burner with a back boiler.

We dont need the boiler, will be having a trip to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] soon to have a look whats available and get a quote

KSH wrote:

Thinking of having a log/multi fuel burner put in at home, any help, tips, advice links etc welcome

make sure whoever fits it is an authorized fitter.
buy your coal in bulk.
only burn seasoned wood{very important}
get youself a fan to blow the hot air around the room.{not an electric one}
pay as much as you can afford for a fire/burner.
enjoy being warm

Hia

Sounding cosy

Ken, there's loads of stuff on Youtube about wood burners.

Hi Ken, we have an Aga Little Wenlock and have had it for 5 years now.  We have a large 4 bed semi and the fire gives out 5kw of heat which heats the whole house.  We live in a rural town and all our neighbours give us wood, even when they have their tree cut down professionally.  Not paid for wood for 3 years.  We put about 6 nuggets of smokeless coal briquettes per day.

Have your chimney swept before you have it fitted and remember to have it swept regularly afterwards.

Agree with Frank, buy the best you can afford.

If you have any plastering that will need doing, make sure your plasterer uses Lime Plaster as it doesn't crack as much.

They warm the fabric of the house and it still stays warm in our sitting room the next day so cannot recommend high enough 

Thanks everyone, will be looking into this further very soon, my only fear is what temperature the house will be in when i get home from work

In a word DON'T BUY ONE, its like going back to the dark ages,  who really wants to have to store logs/wood in all weathers just so you have enough to last you through the winter, who wants to clean out the grate and dispose of the ash,  if its chilly on summer evenings/mornings, they take for ever to fire up and then you have the problem of cooling them down, most of them are vastly oversized for the room they are in so you need to keep doors open to allow circulation, which allows the drafts.

The list goes on and on.

DON'T DO IT.

your the first person who's said anything against them have you had one ? Everybody else who we've spoke to are all for them and as for the cleaning out that would be down to me so the jury's still out .lol 

Hi, we have had 2 of them in previous houses, and the novelty went within the first few weeks, most people who have actually purchased them themselves, are very unlikely to give unbiased views, you can work it out for yourselves I dont want to take on more work than I have already.

Best of Luck

thanks it's good to hear from both sides I'm like you just thinking of the extra work.

we thought about getting a log burner,i would have to put a flue/chimney through the wall etc,,, the flue pipes are an absolute fortune especially the double skinned pipes which are needed to go through the wall.
The flue is virtually double the price of the burner. we've not got one yet!!

Yeah, the fire itself is only a small portion of the cost.
If we do go for one, we will be getting 5kw or slightly lower, it won't be too big for the room but the main reason is we won't have to put in permanant ventilation which is law now for burners over 5kw, i want to warm the house not create draughts
Know what your saying about cold summer months, but we live in a terraced house, both living rooms have been knocked into one and we have a gas fire in each, we will be keeping one of these in.
Should save a bit of money too, no letting the gas company sit on my £700 anymore and I have a very good supply of good wood free of charge
Thanks for all your comments, they are all being taken in

Adele wrote:

thanks it's good to hear from both sides I'm like you just thinking of the extra work.

Adele, I worried about this when we were going through the process of buying one but it takes very little effort.  I just brush the residual ash from the burner into the retainer then reset the fire and take out the ash and put it in a bucket (we use it on the vegetables as its a good conditioner).  Sweep the hearth.  Job done - 5 or 6 minutes per day.

The house doesn't get dusty because the fire is contained in the burner.  We do put a rug in front of the hearth in case of sparks so carpet doesn't get burned.

Well the surveyor didn't turn up, even after calling him at 16:30 he said he was coming this evening wouldn't mind if he called and said he couldn't make it, he doesn't need to bother coming at all now.
Got some good info off him though and we "think" we have found the fire we want so will look into getting my own and will get someone else to install it.

He obviously does not want the work then Ken. I visit friends in Ludlow and they used to have an open fire place, but they have replaced it with a wood burner. They tell me its a lot less hassle on the cleaning and the heat it gives out is more controllable and its nice focal point in the room. I wish I could have one in my flat!

Why can't you? they do free standing ones now, no chimneys needed, they use an insulated liner that goes through the wall

Housing association!

Well things are finally looking better, load of problems due to the previous house owner
All sorted now, just finished tiling, fitter coming on Wednesday to fit a flue liner and put the fire in

get adele a big chopper for the wood.

looked all over for a big chopper frank can't find one so sticking with my massive one 

It's finally in

get adele to sweep the chimney before you light it.

Nice and cosy in here, Molly has claimed the best space right in front of the fire
Just been trying it on wood for now, gonna give coal a try tomorrow

When you use coal, you will find it will get much hotter so get out your shorts and teeshirts both of you.  

If you start buying Coal ? What was the point, i thought you only got it because you could get a free supply of wood. Gas is cheaper than coal and it comes very close to wood if you have to buy it. Im cold i just flick a switch and when its hot it goes off automatically

Will be mainly burning wood, plan is to put some coal on at night so it will still be lit in the morning, wood won't stay lit overnight

we have a log burner but have used coal  but that doesn't usually last all night but maybe on newer more efficient burner it may do 
just do wood really

KSH wrote:

It's finally in

Good luck with that new log burner,we use logs in both fire's,1 stove in the living room,and we have a log boiler in the basement heating the water through out the house, lovely and cozy all winter long,enjoy your's,a tip, we have found that Birch wood is the best for us,burns much longer,and very economical to use, then again we do live in the land of forest's,if you chop and split your logs best left for every other season,there you have nice well dry logs,better heat and much better for you system and chimney,Regards Alf

Cheers Alf, my logs are already split and dried, they are actually cut into nice squares for me

Pallets???

KSH wrote:

Thinking of having a log/multi fuel burner put in at home, any help, tips, advice links etc welcome

Ken... I wish I had known you wanted a wood burner.....I have just had this one taken when we had the meter cut off the house for the motorhome....a very expensive French wood burner (every part was like brand new) worth around 2000€ + new......the builders took very great care getting it out... we could be arsed to bother selling it due to going away ....so we gave it to next door's for NOWT..his father in law is putting in his renovated large house he is having done up..you could have had for Nowt !!!!!.....no not the walnuts underneath....just the fire insert

Ken it will stay in overnight with wood ours did......with a woodburner never get rid of the ash...always leave a good  bed of ash at the bottom of a woodburner to build your fire on...........BUT if you burn coal or and other fosil fuels homefire etc...you keep the bottom ash pan and bars clear empty...
you want seasoned 3 to 4 years old...some hardwods are a lot better than others...not softwood or pine as that puts resin in your chiminey and causes fires

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Thanks Mel but it would be too big for our fireplace anyway, we wouldn't have the 6" space either side for current building regulations