Olly Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 It's four months since I started planning this, but today my woodburner was installed! I chose to put it in the kitchen, where I had an existing chimney-breast; however as that part of the room was originally a fairly small dining-room, the fireplace was very small. You can just see the firebricks in this picture. On Wednesday the fitter came to open the fireplace, I went to work and left him to it (I'd warned the neighbours!) He told me today it took four hours and 20 bags of rubble! But the result was this: And today, he came back with his mate and by 4.00 pm, I had this: They were supposed to line the chimney, but after a lot of huffing and puffing and s"Ooops, word censored!"ing noises on the roof (they were working from a ladder, which I know is in breach of regulations !) they advised that the chimney has a kink in it and they couldn't get the liner down. I could go ahead without, or I could cancel the job, get someone with a camera on a stick to work out where the kink is, cut into the flue from the room above ... I decided to go ahead without the liner. That's netted me a refund though, which is good! Can't light it till tomorrow, as the plaster has to dry, and I'm going to have to repaint the kitchen (second time this year) as experience tells me that I'll never get away with doing just one wall. However I am very excited, and hope this is going to cut my heating bills. It's only a small stove - 4kw output - but it should heat this room and some of upstairs as well I hope. And I can get out the toasting-fork which we used as children, and which I've hung on to for years in the hope that I'd have an open fire again one day! Roast chestnuts, here I come ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 oooh it looks lovely. You are going to love it - I love mine and use it a lot. Have you found a good source of wood? We buy logs from a chap round the corner but we also have a carpenter drop off offcuts - he did a job for us and we got chatting and it turned out he was "sneaking" his offcuts into the dump in his car to avoid having to pay. Now he leaves them in our carport instead! So always worth mentioning that you have a woodburner which you use to anyone who might get wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen & co. Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 That looks lovely I was hoping to fit a log burner into the playroom as we have a fireplace in the lounge, but the chimney was taken out by the previous owners You need a bottle of champagne for it's first lighting Karen x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Olly that looks lovely I had no idea that wood burners came in any other colour than black. it's so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted November 8, 2008 Author Share Posted November 8, 2008 I keep looking every 5 mins to see if the plaster is dry yet - I've just turned up the radiator in that room, a bit illogical I know, but I have a friend coming round for tea tonight and I really want to be able to light it when she's here! Pengy, you are so right - my neighbour is a builder, I mentioned to him that I was having one installed, and he keeps leaving off-cuts of skirting on the drive for me now! I'm also going to contact a lovely man who came and removed a fallen tree for me last year, as I bet he has some timber going - I have a garage, so I can store wood till it's seasoned. At the moment the garage is full of pallets, I think today will be spent sawing and ripping. Karen, you don't have to have a chimney - the beauty of woodburners is that they run on a flue pipe, so you could have one installed and just run the flue up either inside or outside the house. It's definitely worth enquiring about. This is a Charnwood stove, and they come in a range of colours including blue, green, pewter, bronze ... if this was in a traditional fireplace I would have gone for the standard black, but as this is in my kitchen which has white wooden cupboard doors and beech worktops, i wanted something a bit lighter. I think it was about another £200 or so to have a 'colour', but I decided it was worth it. So many people on here have said that a woodburner is one of their 'best' things, it really encouraged me to go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen & co. Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Karen, you don't have to have a chimney - the beauty of woodburners is that they run on a flue pipe, so you could have one installed and just run the flue up either inside or outside the house. It's definitely worth enquiring about. ! Oooh that's worth thinking about I could always ask Father Christmas Karen x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 That is lovely Olly! - I bet you can't wait for this evening! Our fitters worked from a ladder as well - in a howling gale and torrential rain We've marked some partially dead trees in our hedgerow to be taken out ready for logs. We are lucky that we have so many ash trees as they are the best for burning. We've also got seedlings everwhere so we have been collecting them up and putting them into a holding bed ready to plant out in three quarters of an acre we've set aside for coppicing wood. We already have willow growing ready. Any carpenters we know have their own woodburners - so we have to buy most of our wood at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkshire Pudding Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Karen, you don't have to have a chimney - the beauty of woodburners is that they run on a flue pipe, so you could have one installed and just run the flue up either inside or outside the house. It's definitely worth enquiring about. ! Oooh that's worth thinking about I could always ask Father Christmas Karen x He has ordered one for me! He tells me he can get down flue pipes just as well as chimneys ! Be warned, orders for woodburners have really increased this year as gas became more expensive - some models now have a lead time of up to six months! Ours is on order from Holland and won't arrive until after Christmas, although the flue will be in place before then so all we will have to do will be connect the burner when it finally arrives in January. I am SO excited! We looked at the Charnwood ones because the colours are so nice, but they don't have a model that will fit into our room so we have ordered a free-standing one and are having the flue pipe put up through the centre of the house. The good thing about a flue through the house is that we will be able to have vents in the boxing around it to deliver heat from the flue into upstairs. It will be an 8kW model and we hope it will deliver enough heat to keep the central heating well and truly switched off. Lesley I am - we are saving all the fallen twigs and branches from our ash tree for kindling but there's no way we have enough space to grow our own firewood - I will have to stick to begging offcuts, wood-wombling on walks and buying logs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Olly I am sooooooooooo Seriously I am really pleased for you - it looks fabulous! That is just the kind of style I liked - you can also warm pots on the top, might even be able to boil a kettle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted November 8, 2008 Author Share Posted November 8, 2008 sorry Snowy, because it was actually your post that set the whole thing rolling! I am planning to get a little kettle, I chose a flat top deliberately but it's pretty small, I think I can get a kettle on there though. I lit it this afternoon, and it really warmed up quickly - I need to get used to it a bit more, when to let the airflow in/out and what time to stop feeding it before bed-time, but I'm thrilled so far. I may spend less time on the forum, as I'll be sitting in my rocking-chair watching the fire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Looks Fantastic Olly! Really fits in well doesn't it? Rocking chair in front of the log burner, laptop with wifi........simple C x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Yes, I had to learn to get on with the laptop for just that reason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 He has ordered one for me! He tells me he can get down flue pipes just as well as chimneys ! Lesley I am - we are saving all the fallen twigs and branches from our ash tree for kindling but there's no way we have enough space to grow our own firewood - I will have to stick to begging offcuts, wood-wombling on walks and buying logs! So excited for you Pudding that you've got it ordered at last . I'm very jealous as well as we have to do the whole of our upstairs before we get to the lounge where ours will eventually go . Olly that stove looks gorgeous, such a fantastic colour, and so convenient to be able to start using it now when it's the right time of year to snuggle up in front of it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quickcluck Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 It looks LOVELY, very feminine if you know what I mean... I am mine is being delivered this week, but have to lay a hearth first (next saturday) then get the chimney lined, ( god I hope there are no kinks) then bobs your uncle!!! Will come to you for lighting tips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cordelia Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 thats really nice...I've only ever seen black ones....going to mail this to husband !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 I can't wait (sorry! ) for the temperature to drop on Saturday, it hasn't really been cold enough to justify lighting it this week. I sawed up lots of pallets last weekend, and it's all laid and ready so I can just set a match to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Rocking chair in front of the log burner, laptop with wifi........simple couldnt have put it better myself! its very very nice...am Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quickcluck Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 Hi guys... am taking advice as my OH is downhearted new fire installed today. just fired it up for the first time. Used coal for our first attempt, and that took a few hours.... However it's very smoky in the room. We used smoke pellets to check it when it was installed and no smoke in the room. I am wondering if its because he has been constantly opening the door or if it's 'bedding' it'self in? Help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted November 30, 2008 Author Share Posted November 30, 2008 I'm not so familiar with coal burners, but - I'm assuming this is a closed stove - they can give off fumes when they're new and heated for the first time. If you've got actual smoke, that's a bit worrying - where is it coming from? You are likely to get some smoke when you open the door, but not a lot - is it coming out of the vents, or from the chimney? Was it installed professionally with a register plate etc? I think I'd check the manual, make sure you've got the right vents open so it draws air over the fire and up the flue, and possibly leave it without opening the door (I know, it's so hard to resist!) for a couple of hours to see if it clears it. If not, I think I'd get on to your manufacturer. You definitely shouldn't have smoke in the room. PS It is designed to burn coal, isn't it? Some woodburners are not intended for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quickcluck Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 It's a multi fuel burner! I think it was just the fumes from the first time alight as when it died down it was much better and a clear room! I secretly think my OH overloaded it in his excitement he spent the rest of the night looking for coal buckets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 when I first lit mine, I was constantly opening the door, poking it, fiddling with the air control - it's so hard to resist! Glad it's calmed down a bit. What sort of stove have you got? I think mine can be converted to burn coal, but I've got so much free wood I won't be needing it. I absolutely love mine, although it does rip through wood at rather an alarming rate when it's going - it makes my kitchen really cosy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quickcluck Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Have you got sand in the bottom of yours if you are using wood??? I remember OH mutter somthing about it, which is why we are burning coal at the moment! The sand is for the girls dust bath, so he'll have to get his own! It's only a small one 4.8KW Cant get a pic on here at the mo as am at work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
