Wood burners

[gavp1979]

I use smokeless when I am working because I can load the stove and then it will happily burn for a few hours before I need to put more in but when I am sat watching TV with a beer or a glass of wine nothing is better than the flame and atmosphere that you get from burning logs

 

[CD]

Ours was made and fitted by local firm Dean Forge, and is one of the best things I’ve ever bought.

It helps if you have a son who cuts up fallen trees for people, a wife adept at using an electro-hydraulic log splitter, and the nearest neighbour half a mile away.

 

[Donegal john]

Being a tight git for me it's all about the cost, the guy in the video said running his stove for the same length of time used 11kg of wood compared to 6kg of smokeless fuel and the heat output from smokeless coal was higher, that is a huge saving if you use smokeless all the time.
If you have a multi fuel stove and you cannot get wood cheap and cut and season it yourself using smokeless is the obvious choice.

I use my 21kw boiler stove to heat my house so heat output for me is key. I use 2 types of coal a smokeless ovoid that has a long burn time and a pet based coal (calco) that has a massive heat output I have a large 3 story house with 18 radiators and using the calco I have them all roasting hot within 30mins of putting on a good fire. Only downside is it takes a 20kg bag in 1 go to get a good fire going but I close it up and use the ovoids to maintain the heat. Costs about £40 a week in winter but the house is warm and cosy.
I have tried burning logs but never got the house warm with them and coal burns longer. Logs are good for looking at but not for heating a large house in my opinion

 

[Druncan]

It's a linked topic, but while doing our house conversion we added 75mm of insulation wherever we could in the drylining with a vapour barrier and sealed all the 240v back boxes. Also 600mm+ loft insulation makes a huge difference. However, we now have to have a vent near the stove from the loft so the stove can breathe as it's over 5kw. I also sweep our chimneys every 6 months, but going to be trying my new Vevor rods on a drill! next time! VEVOR Chimney Sweep Kit 6m Chimney Cleaning Set Flue Sweeping Brush & Rod Cleaner Kit | VEVOR UK. CO2 detectors and linked fire alarm fitted. As re-training firefighter I don't want my own lum burning up!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I like the fact they clip together knowing my luck the other type would unscrew and get stick in the flu.

Do you have to also clean the soot on top of the plate in the bottom of the chimney where the flu goes through?


https://www.vevor.co.uk/janitorial-...sweeping-brush-rod-cleaner-kit-p_010136466765

 

[gavp1979]

I have got a sweeping kit similar to that (just a different brand), only used it once but it was nice and easy so will probably do it at the end of winter when we have stopped using it most days and then at the start of winter when we are starting to use it more again

 

[Druncan]

I like the fact they clip together knowing my luck the other type would unscrew and get stick in the flu.
Do you have to also clean the soot on top of the plate in the bottom of the chimney where the flu goes through?

Aye @Chippy_Tea Ages ago one of our crofters (also 'expert' sweep,,,,:tinhat:) lost the brush, fekn nightmare to get it out. (stood on roof and prodded it back down,,,) Done my own ever since. Open all windows first! and cover everything with dust sheets. Our steel throat plate has a 150mm SQ access. I slide that out and drop the debris into a bucket with bin liner. Got a fabricated bit of bendy flat steel to clear the plate. Then up she goes turning to the right all the time 2-3 times does it. Clean the plate again. The same old rods did the septic as well:hat: New stove has ss twin wall so needs soft rods.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I think I will probably pay a sweep to do it, how often do you need to do the flu if you only use the stove at night for a few hours ?

 

[Cwrw666]

I think I will probably pay a sweep to do it, how often do you need to do the flu if you only use the stove at night for a few hours ?

Once a year probably. But doing your own sweeping is a doddle. I've got the screw together sort - you stop them coming apart by always rotating them in the correct direction so they don't unscrew.

 

[Shirley Bassett]

When I lived in Wales our house insurance company asked if we had an open fire or Woodburner. I told them that we had 2 wood burners. They said that they need to have the flues professionally cleaned on an annual basis, and to get a certificate in case we had a house fire.

I used to get them swept in Late September in preparation for use during the winter.

The sweep suggested the timing as he said that some people come to light the burner for the first time, having not used it all summer, and it’s not uncommon to find that a bird has either nested in the flue, or got stuck, and died in there.

 

[Shirley Bassett]

Cutting and storing “green” logs.

When I lived in Wales I did as my neighbours did, in that I used to cut my tree bits to 250mm in length and split it immediately and stacked it in the wood store with the split side face up. My thinking being that it would dry quicker, as there was more exposed face.

I now live in Scotland, and here they seem to cut the green wood into lengths that are around 1m and pile them up to season. I assume that they then split them the following year. I’ve noticed that some houses have 150 to 250mm long rounds that are stacked against the house, but not covered.

What do other forum members do with their green wood?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

The sweep suggested the timing as he said that some people come to light the burner for the first time, having not used it all summer, and it’s not uncommon to find that a bird has either nested in the flue, or got stuck, and died in there.

I thought they installed these to stop that.

 

[Clint]

I thought they installed these to stop that.

View attachment 63447

...and cats.

 

[Clint]

CD carved his from mahogany wardrobes.

 

[Shirley Bassett]

Yes they do install cowls on the exit point of your flue.

Having said that when I first moved into the house in Wales the downstairs wood burner wouldn’t draw properly. I went back to the builder, and he arranged a chimney sweep to look at the flue. He removed from the flue a blackened dead pigeon.

Last summer I had a rattling noise in flue in my current house. I initially ignored it, until a Starling appeared in the burn chamber.

Both flues have anti down drought cowls fitted to them.

I’ve personally been on the roof of my current house, and the cowl is intact, so I’m stumped as to how the stodger got in there, but it did.

I can’t vouch for the integrity of the cowl on the house in Wales.

 

[Nicks90]

Cutting and storing “green” logs.
<Snip>
What do other forum members do with their green wood?

Arrrr, the age old argument of storing wood split side up or bark side up.
Go to Norway and you can literally be ostracised for doing it wrong in your village, and different villages do it different ways!
Personally I don't think it matters. As long as there is a bit of room for airflow to go through and around the logs, they will dry. Also don't get worried about them 'getting wet' when it rains. They will absorb almost zero water deeper than about 2mm deep. And that will dry off in a few days.
As long as they are off the floor and can breath, they'll season enough in a year to burn cleanly.

(I'm a bark side up kinda guy)

 

[Shirley Bassett]

I’m more perplexed why the Scottish leave the wood as whole long lengths, and don’t cut it down to usable size and split immediately.

I’m actually English, and thick skinned, having lived in Wales, and now in Scotland. So getting ostracised goes with the territory so to speak.

 

[Jon1961]

Arrrr, the age old argument of storing wood split side up or bark side up.
Go to Norway and you can literally be ostracised for doing it wrong in your village, and different villages do it different ways!
Personally I don't think it matters. As long as there is a bit of room for airflow to go through and around the logs, they will dry. Also don't get worried about them 'getting wet' when it rains. They will absorb almost zero water deeper than about 2mm deep. And that will dry off in a few days.
As long as they are off the floor and can breath, they'll season enough in a year to burn cleanly.

(I'm a bark side up kinda guy)

For an informative and interesting guide to everything firewood related, I recommend ‘Norwegian Wood’ by Lars Mytting.

 

[Shirley Bassett]

I got given a copy as a Birthday present, and I read it.

It suggests that you should cut the wood to required length and split immediately and store with split face up.

This enable the wood to dry in the shortest amount of time.

It further suggests that the top row of the woodpile/stack should be with the bark facing up, to act as a water barrier for the stack. This is what I do.

So I still don’t understand why the Scottish appear to leave the wood to season as meter long lengths, or as whole cut down rounds. I don’t see the advantage of either approach.

 

[Ossiary]

So I still don’t understand why the Scottish appear to leave the wood to season as meter long lengths, or as whole cut down rounds. I don’t see the advantage of either approach.

Hi Shirley, can I ask what part of Scotland you’re living in? I’m west central and always cut immediately to required length a does everyone I know with a burner. I have also seen the Rounds approach all through the UK ( mainly because I can’t walk/drive/cycle past a woodpile without having a good nosey at it!), so not really a National characteristic. Wonder if it’s a local preference in your area?