Log burning stoves. Ever regretted yours?

[GalaxyInMyPants]

Our gas fire packed up last winter and I told dh I wanted a log burning stove. He wasnt keen. Was worried about the hassle, mess, dust, etc. he's had a real fire before and says I'll soon get bored of clearing the grate, etc.

We still haven't replaced it. Dh has now come round to the idea. So much so that he's on about getting a bigger one and somehow connecting it up to the central heating system to heat the radiators. Just as an extra.....will still keep normal boiler. He reckons it could save heating bills. I think this sounds like it will be more expensive initally for little benefit.

I've also seen some gas fires which look like very realistic log burners and am wondering if the advantage of flicking a switch beats the crackle of a log burner?

So; gas fire, normal log burner or central heating log burner???

[specialsubject]

log burner - but probably not connected to the heating. And ideally not an inset if you have space, free standing generates more heat.

but remember you need space to store the wood, energy to carry and chop it, a few minutes a day to clean the fire out, a few more to do the extra vacuuming it will need and an annual sweep visit.

oh, and a lined chimney and a HETAS certificated installer.

[Showy]

I regret that it isn't colder and we can't use it more.

[specialsubject]

ps if you want it for this winter you need to get a shift on.

[GalaxyInMyPants]

Thanks. Yes, I prefer free standing ones. Will tell dh we're getting one and ring up for some quotes.

[Elocampane]

I LOVE ours. We are moving house soon, and the stove is the thing I'll miss most

[Elocampane]

mind you, I have to say I don't think it saves any money on heating bills.

but it's lovely on a chilly night

[FlatCapAndAWhippet]

We have an open fire, its dusty and yep clearing the grate is a faff.....but nothing beats it in the winter. Don't go for gas.

[beccajoh]

Don't regret ours for a single minute. Love it! We looked into connecting it to the heating but it was all a bit complicated so didn't bother.

Get your chimney checked as it might need to be lined.

[Sandthorn]

Think you'd need to be very committed to renewable energy to do the central heating thing, though, because setting up a water tank with inputs from solid fuel AND a gas boiler is not trivial. Wouldn't work with a combi. Oh, and unless you have a very cheap or free source of hardwood, and have a bloody big wood shed and the patience to season it, don't count on price per kWh being lower than gas.

Having said that, I love my stove. It's not getting a lot of use this summer (don't think we've lit it since March), but we use it every day in winter, and it's much nicer, drier heat than central heating. It doesn't take anything like as much cleaning as an open fire (we've got one of them too). For a start, it burns much more efficiently, so there's less ash produced. Also, you don't actually want the grate to be clean, because wood burns best on a bed of ash. And finally, the ash goes straight into the ash pan... We empty ours once a week, maybe more if we've used it for longer periods each night.

Whatever you do, make sure you get it installed by a pro: they are DANGEROUS if they're not properly set up. Expect to pay significantly more for lining your chimney than for the stove itself.

[sunny67]

Love ours! Had it about 18 months and like others have said, miss when it's warm. Ours is an inset, goes it to the chimney breast, gives off loads of heat and it's a fair sized living room. We had an inset as a free standing wouldn't look right. It's a multi fuel SE,( smoke exempt) as we are in a smokeless zone and aren't supposed to have wood burners if they're not SE.

[GalaxyInMyPants]

I've told dh I'm off to the stove shop today. He's gone out, he didnt give me any instructions for central heating type ones so I'll pretend I've forgotten.

[GalaxyInMyPants]

They're coming to do a survey on Thursday. I asked about good makes, etc and the bloke said it was like cars and you're just paying for a name. That the cheap ones do the same as the expensive ones. So I should get a 5kw one I like the look of.

Personally I always though that Mercedes were better cars than Kias but there you go.

He said they all do air wash, clear glass thingy now.

[echt]

Our log burner is lovely, though it only heats one (big) room. It's very efficient when we combine it with ceiling fans on reverse setting to push the heat down. You have to keep on top of the wood, though. All ours has been free, collected from nature strips, but needs to be dried and cut. We have a vast garage so can store it.

[GalaxyInMyPants]

I'm going to get a garden log store. Can get the wood delivered.

[Flatcoatfan]

Don't get a cheap one. They are cheap for a reason! We got a cheap one because we liked the look of it but it was useless. We couldn't damp it down so the wood burned far too quickly. We ended up complaining so much to the shop they agreed to swap it. Cost us quite a lot extra but worth every penny.

[Lesleythegiraffe]

Inherited one when we bought the house and hate it with a passion. Would far rather flick the switch to put the central heating on than be arsed with buying logs and cleaning the thing out.

It now sits there and hasn't been used for 3 years and that's how it will remain.

[GalaxyInMyPants]

That's what I thought Flatcoat. The bloke in the shop was guiding me towards a £500 model. I'd rather pay double and have something decent.

[LadySybilLikesCake]

There's loads of places which deliver wood, and it's cheaper to buy a load or half a load. My log burner has a flat top and I can brew coffee on the top. I bought a stove top kettle last year but haven't tested it on the burner yet, I could probably use it to keep stew/soup warm too. It's not too hard to clean, I just pull out the tray and empty it, then use the dyson to go around the sides. Lakeland sell stove glass cleaner so it looks sparkling. It does eat logs though.

[Lally112]

I love mine and its hooked up to central heating but I have an old back boiler and not a combi boiler, free wood means free heating for the most part but chopping wood in the pissing rain or 6 foot of snow and then having to put it in the drying shed before using it is a PITA

[sunny67]

We get a full pallet delivered from a company called certainly wood but it's kiln dried so needs to be kept dry bit I a log store. We also get heat logs, they're compressed sawdust, burn really well but don't look as nice as wood.

[sunny67]

Sorry, that should be not in a log store.

[Strawdolly]

Lots of voices of experience here

[LadySybilLikesCake]

I use a heat log, newspaper, kindling and firelighters to get it going before I use wood. That seems to to get it going quicker. Heat logs are useful but too expensive to use as fuel (I think).

Don't buy logs from a petrol station unless there's no alternative. They cost a bomb and the bags are tiny.

A cellar is a great place to store logs.

[tobiasfunke]

Go to a shop that knows what it's talking about. There are loads of stove shops springing up that will sell you a shit stove because that's what they stock. As for kw - use an online kw calculator to work out the size then ask a knowledegable stockist what the actual kw output of the stoves are as the figures the manufacturers give are often bollocks.

We use verdo wood briquettes as well as wood and they give out more heat and are easier to store. Home Bargains stock them for a knockdown price of £2.49 per block.

[DottyDot]

I love ours - installed last January and I'm gutted it's so hot so I can't use it for the moment! We used it tons from Jan - May and switched off a couple of radiators in the house and recently got our gas/elec. bill from Eon - based on our winter quarter we had so much money in credit they've reduced our direct debit! It's now the lowest it's ever been .

We get wood fairly cheaply from a local supplier and neighbours have started leaving bits and bobs of wood for us as word's got around! Dp's cousin is a gardener so we're lucky he gave us a load too. I've also raided skips (having got permission, obv) and we've been kindling picking in woods over the Spring, so you get quite good at collecting things to burn. We've bought firelighters and kindling at Aldi and various places when we've seen them on sale, so we're getting set up for next Autumn/Winter.

It's definitely more work than a gas fire - lots of cleaning, emptying, re-stocking to be done - I've not minded factoring this in to my routine but if you don't want the bother then it's not for you.