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[Willow]

Well finally started thinking seriously a getting a wood burner for the living room.

 

BUT it is very expensive once you include all the liners, installation etc especially as we also need a new hearth

 

We use the fireplace quite often in the winter and have loads of wood already from clearing overgrown garden.

 

So pros are:

Safer

Efficient source of heat -> reduced heating bill long term

Easier to clean up

 

Cons

Cost

Due to 70's alterations that need to be undone we need to do quite a bit of work to lower fireplace for a stove.

 

We're hoping to never move from our house

 

Has anyone who has got a wood burner thought afterwards that the benefit wasn't really worth the cost (if they are very honest with themselves)

 

Any pros/cons I missed ? I'm reading through the Open Fire thread.

 

Doing a bit more research I rememeberd the back boiler stoves - so a bit more cost but presumably quicker pay back. Does anyone have a woodburner with a back boiler. The fireplace is below the hot tank so presumably this would make things easier

[Jools]

Nope

 

I reluctantly gave up my lovely open fire in the kitchen of our last house in favour of a wood burner with a back boiler to heat the water too. I missed the smell and sounds of the open fire, but the efficiency of the wood burner more than made up for it. It was so easy to control, to stack up and leave in while we went out, to put a kettle on the top ready to brew up etc etc. We have the best of both worlds in this house - two woodburners (one with back boiler) and one small open fire. They're definitely worth the initial cost in my book.

[Olly]

It is a lot of money, and I think if you are looking at it in terms of 'payback', i.e. reduced heating bills, then it is probably not economic, or at least it would take a lot of years to return the cost. However I don't regret a penny of it - the woodburner is lovely and cosy, it's a 'green' way of heating, and it just brings my kitchen to life. I get a real pleasure out of scrounging free wood, I have not spent a penny on wood yet and although it's hard work chopping, sawing and breaking up the stuff I have been given, I quite enjoy it! There are also the lovely benefits like toast, roast chestnuts etc, and the delicious smell of woodsmoke when you're out in the garden.

 

And it's just FUN - for a pyromaniac like me, it's just like having a bonfire in your living-room!

 

You can see mine here, with some other discussions, and there's also this thread about different types of stove.

 

I don't have experience of a back boiler, the cost and complication was too much for me, and also as I'm out at work all day and often out in the evenings, the woodburner is only lit a few times a week. Take a look also at the Newhouse Farm Forum(used to be 'It's not Easy Being Green') because there's a lot of really helpful discussion on there about woodburning.

 

I honestly don't think you'll regret it - it's one of my 'best things'.

[Lesley]

I have to agree with everything Ollie has said.

 

We inherited a monster of a 'central room fireplace' in a brand new house and couldn't even contemplate taking it down (think new wooden floor, new ceiling, new chimney to be built etc.) so we went for the biggest woodburner that would fit in that space. We love it.

 

We're hoping to change our LPG boiler next year with a multi fuel boiler connected to the hot water and underfloor heating.

[chickencam]

We have had a woodburner for just over 2 years and we love it.

 

I grew up in a draughty old cottage where the only form of heating was 2 woodburners. One of them had a backboiler which was not very efficient and we either had scalding water or luke warm and it wasn't powerful enough to run radiators.

 

We live in a 1980's house and had a hideous fireplace with a small gas fire in it for years. It cost us about £2000 to have the fireplace taken out the hole enlarged enough for a small stove and the chimney lined. Then we paid about £600 for the stove itself - a Stovax stockton 6. It provided enough heat for our reasonably large lounge. The heat it provided is so welcoming and it isn't a dry heat like you get from central heating.

 

We still use the central heating for the rest of the house when it is really cold, but the woodburner. It is the best single investment that we have made in our house.

 

We thought about a backboiler but were advised that we would need a much bigger stove and because a good deal of the heat goes to water heating they are not such good room heaters.

[chickenanne]

I've not replaced an open fire with a woodburner, but did install a stove in last house (current house already had one in place). They are great; more efficent, cleaner, safer, etc.

One thing I would say in choosing which stove to go for - stoves with thicker boxes tend to take a fair amount of time to heat up (and to cool down) than cheaper ones. Our Esse stove heats up pretty rapidly, whereas the Clearview in the last house took much longer, even taking into account type of wood, etc.

[Willow]

Thanks for all those comments, you've convinced me to definitely go for a stove. After further research and a hard look at what we have and all the comments on woodburners on this forum I think the back boiler idea is too difficult to integrate into the house.

 

The house was built early 1960's and as we've renovated we have a comfy slightly contemporary look going with mostly Oak and fittings in stainless steel (and more clutter/mess than is acceptable but that's another story ).

 

I just came across this stove and thought it would work with our style http://www.esse.com/stoves/multifuel_wood/525.html

 

Esse seem to have good reports. Any thoughts/comments ?

 

And before I could even post I got an answer ! wow this forum is so

 

Thanks Chickenanne, I do want quick to warm up so a vote for Esse

[carrie]

We have had our stove a year, I love it, we bought in lots of wood last year, the cost of the wood was cheeper than our gas so we did make a small saving. This year we have collected lots of wood, bought a chain saw and go on lots of lovely walks to find kindling.

Total cost of stove and fitting etc was £2000, but we got rid of an awful gas fire (which needed replacing) and now have a lovely stove.

I love it.

Jacket potatoes cook great double wrapped in tin foil

[Olly]

That Esse looks lovely, Patricia. Apparently Esse have a good reputation - I was warned against buying a cheap stove from eBay or similar, as often they are not properly sealed and leak smoke.

 

No doubt you'll get advice if you're buying from a local supplier, but do make sure the size of stove is right for the size of your room. It's tempting to get a large one, but it's more efficient to burn a small stove hot, than to run a large stove and not have it fully loaded. And do get it installed by a HETAS engineer for safety, unless you have a very handy man about the house! If you look at my thread, you'll see that I couldn't get my chimney lined when the stove was installed, however I've got the sweep coming next week, and I'm going to ask him about getting it lined because I am not comfortable with burning it unlined.

 

What I should have added above is that the woodburner will definitely add value to your house - especially if you're replacing a grotty old fire or fireplace. Apparently it's a very desirable thing these days! I think mine looks even in summer when it's out of action.

[kitchens]

Ive ordered an Esse 500S

 

http://www.esse.com/stoves/multifuel_wood/500.html

 

for £539 inc vat

 

plus fitting with liner £900

 

[chickenanne]

I have an Esse and it's good. The window stays clear, it's reasonable efficient, and per earlier post it heats up reasonably quickly.

[Willow]

Grrr We've decided what we want and they have been to look at chimney etc. We even saw the handwritten quote for fitting on Monday but weren't given a copy as it would be emailed to us and nothing. I just want to go ahead and order so emailed spec to several other suppliers today in hopes that one of them can move quicker.