Woodburners

TopBanana

TopBanana

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Tim
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Does anyone here regularly use a wood/coal burning stove at home? I'm after tips for how to make it a smooth process! I'm thinking that each morning I'll sort out the ash from the night before and lay it ready for lighting when we get in from work.
So what do you do with your ash? How do you stop it all being too time consuming?!

I must say that I love having a woodburner, and I quite like the process of lighting it and keeping it fed all evening, but if we're going to be using it more regularly then I need to find ways of streamlining!
 
We've had our wood burner now for 6 years and wouldn't be without it now. Part of the morning routine is to clean it out and re-lay it ready for the next lighting. Ash goes in a small bin bag and into the rubbish bin. That takes about 15 mins. This time of year I'm chopping kindling and storing it. Already had the chimney swept and had a delivery of logs. I try not to light it regularly until late Sept early Oct. We use an eco fan ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heat-Powered-Burning-Stove-Fireplace/dp/B007AGJGDY ) so that wood burner heats the whole of the down stairs. I have to admit that by late winter early spring I'm really fed up with the cleaning process. We've got a Clearview 'Pioneer' Great focal point in the room when it's up and running. I'm retired now so that 15 mins in the morning is not a problem but I wouldn't want to have to go through the cleaning and re-laying process after getting in from work each evening. I'd be reaching for the central heating switch!
 
all depends on what size stove you get for ash, I have a small fire, about 450mm x 350mm plenty of heat from that fire to warm my living room ,which is 24ftx14ft and a open staircase, it also heats the upstairs..
theres very little in ash, probable empty it once a week, best thing that i have had fitted in the house..
 
Woodburning is quite labour intensive though. I got four birch trees and a small oak tree trunk delivered last year and it took ages to cut and split then had to be stored for at least six months. In fact mostly I'll be burning it this year since I have only just finished the previous year's ash, larch and apple trees that were delivered.

I understand that some wimps buy logs precut but that misses the chief heating effect from all that axe work.
 
I've had the burner for a few years and love the whole wood chopping, sorting, seasoning process. But this year we're both working more than previous years (which had maternity leave, part time etc).
@mark richards emptying your ash once a week is very impressive, ours is normally full after 2 or 3 days at the most!
 
TopBanana said:
I've had the burner for a few years and love the whole wood chopping, sorting, seasoning process. But this year we're both working more than previous years (which had maternity leave, part time etc).
@mark richards emptying your ash once a week is very impressive, ours is normally full after 2 or 3 days at the most!
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mostly only used in evening...not all day..
 
I fancy get one myself. How much would you expect to pay for installation provided there was a chimney there ready for a flue.
 
rjbell said:
I fancy get one myself. How much would you expect to pay for installation provided there was a chimney there ready for a flue.
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freestanding or inset?
 
Until I moved 3 years ago I always had fires, and in my last house an Aga, I found that wood made very little ash, as said never emptied the grate every day
unlike the Aga.
Have to admit though, that much as loved watching flames, I can't say I miss the work that went with it and coming home to a warm place on a wet, cold winter day
and not having to light the fire etc. is a bonus.
 
rjbell said:
I fancy get one myself. How much would you expect to pay for installation provided there was a chimney there ready for a flue.
Click to expand...

I think most installs now use a flue liner anyhow it makes for a much cleaner easier install and for maintainance.
 
Just jumping in on the thread, we are looking at installing a Parkray Derwent model has anyone had any experience of this model?
 
rjbell said:
I fancy get one myself. How much would you expect to pay for installation provided there was a chimney there ready for a flue.
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Mine cost about 1k for installation with a 904 liner http://www.schiedel.co.uk/products/residential-steel/flexible. These at the time (3 years ago) were considered to be the best.

Then add the cost of the stove, I have a Charnwood c7. Gets expensive but you can get cheaper stoves and liners. Have to say though I do love it :). HTH
 
rjbell said:
I fancy get one myself. How much would you expect to pay for installation provided there was a chimney there ready for a flue.
Click to expand...
We have been Quoted £2700 all in((. Thats to open up the chimney fitting an rsj, replaster, new hearth, Liner and new cowl and includes a stove (£700)
 
Ours was about £1250 to fit which included the hearth, liner for chimney, cowl, replastering. Can't remember the cost of the stove, but it is a multi fuel one, which was was the best one for us. We have a small annual supply of wood from the garden - mainly from bushes - and every few years some bigger branches from a hazel, so a multi fuel seemed a good ideal.

We find wood burns well, bright and hot, if it is dry (which as others have noted can take a long time), but also quickly. When we use smokeless fuel the stove gives off a more gentle heat but if the stove is 'banked up' with fuel it will last all night and is still hot, and can be restarted in the morning. However, the smokeless fuel produces a fair amount of ash. If I had to go out to work I do not think I would want to rely only on a wood or multi fuel stove.

As a slight aside I quite like this poem -

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.


Dave
 
I use an old style rubbish bin for the ash - just tip it straight in every 3-4 days. Takes about a minute.

Then once or twice a year the bin gets emptied into plastic rubbish sacks for disposal..
 
We use logs as our main heating source.
Generally the fire stays in all night, we put some decent hardwood on before we go to bed and there is enough alight to roar it up again in the morning.
As for ash, we empty about once every 5 days, rather than empty it every few days we compress the ash with a coal shovel until it's full right up and is enough to fill the ash bucket.
I go through about 16+ cubic metres a year but luckily it just costs me collection and processing time :)
 
@Tringa
You forgot the final rhyming couplet;

But save yourself this luddite beating
And switch on the gas-fired central heating.

:coat:
 
Had a wood burning stove for a couple of years,ripped it out and sold it :D Now have a 3ft x 2ft open basket,as for cleaning out the ash,once a year and even then I don`t take it all away as it`s good for retaining the heat.
 
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