Show us: your log burners and open fires

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

figbat

Slippery scientist
We have a 4.9kW one in a smallish front room - it gets uncomfortably warm in there sometimes, although we leave the room door open and have a stove-top fan to help direct heat out of the room to other parts of the house. Doing this, the bedrooms upstairs easily top 21°C in mid-winter, meaning the thermostatically-controlled radiators in there stay off.
 

jowwy

Can't spell, Can't Punctuate....Sue Me
Here is looking forward to smog and fog this winter - just about everyone I know with a log burner will be ramping up their use, and not using gas.

yup, people around these parts are having log burners fitted again as we speak..........when i go out the back i can already smell burning coal and wood, will only get more prolific as the winter kicks in.
 
Someone thinks a load of coal and wood burners is better than electric heating? Can I just say that wood burners cannot hope to come even half as close to the efficiency of modern coal burning power stations. Of course the last one I believe was Drax which is now burning wood pellets from Canada I heard. Even with shipping pollution it's more efficient than most home coal and wood burners.

Then you're onto fuel source. Carbon emissions are not the only issue here. Particulates are also a big health issue. Only if your wood is sufficiently dry will you reduce particulates to potentially less than harmful levels. Great! Just buy kiln dried wood and you'll be OK, right? Well where do you store it? She'd or garage? You know wood picks up moisture right? Shed and garage is likely to be high humidity in your autumn months through parts of winter. Kiln dried wood easily drops to higher levels of moisture and more particulates.

My advice is don't burn wood or coal. Cheap fuel? Is it really? Just ask someone suffering with COPD or other breathing issues whether they appreciate your particulates. Factor in health costs and other pollution costs are they really cheap for society?

Surely there's a better option? Especially if you're loaded enough to have a holiday home.
 

SpokeyDokey

67, & my GP says I will officially be old at 70!
Moderator
I'd burn soft wood mixed with hardwood or better still coal...

The higher heat output will maintain a cleaner flu.

Isn’t coal banned from next year?

We switched to smokeless Supertherm a year or so back - we mix it with ash/oak kiln dried which seems to work well.

Supertherm prices at start of 2022 was £22 and then £24 > £26 and last week £29.50 per bag. 😣
 

SpokeyDokey

67, & my GP says I will officially be old at 70!
Moderator
Needs pricing out of existence IME :cheers:

No way - by the time the cream and whiskey is added it's really rather pleasant. 😁
 

MrGrumpy

Huge Member
Location
Fly Fifer
Got sent this poem from my neighbour. Was out cutting wood for me that I had managed to get a hold off, it’s ash wood!

The Firewood Poem

Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.
 

Tail End Charlie

Well, write it down boy ......
Plan to go grab some more , I’ve got enough to see me through too late spring next year. Wish I had a bigger trailer !

Certain woods, and ash is one of them, I will take as much as I could get. Others, like poplar, alder and willow I'll take only if I'm getting a bit low.
The whole wood sourcing thing is addictive though - be warned!!
 
Top Bottom