log burner help

[wakey wakey]

Anyone got one? How much do you recon will cost to get one in and can you just remove your existing gas fire and retain the marble and surround and will chimney be ok ?Also are they messy or worth the hassle? And can you recommend any installers.cheers guys

[Kent_Mackem]

Originally Posted by wakey wakey

Anyone got one? How much do you recon will cost to get one in and can you just remove your existing gas fire and retain the marble and surround and will chimney be ok ?Also are they messy or worth the hassle? And can you recommend any installers.cheers guys

You'll need a liner for the chimney and that is the expensive bit. The log burners themselves are fairly cheap. Also, get your wood in (or chopped up) as early as you can so it has a chance to dry out. It's the moisture inside the logs that you want rid of, because you'll otherwise be using your heat energy to drive out the water rather than heating your room.

If your room is big and you're getting a 5kW+ stove then you're legally required to fit ventialltion grills in your walls.

They're not particularly messy. Don't have to clean them out anywhere near as often as a coal fire.

[wakey wakey]

What kind of price you recon for installation? Is the existing chimney no good as thete is already a working gas fire in, cheers mate

[Leon Solent]

Originally Posted by wakey wakey

What kind of price you recon for installation? Is the existing chimney no good as thete is already a working gas fire in, cheers mate

You need a liner. It'll be 5 or 6" diameter and is dropped down from the top of the chimney. Connects to the fire outlet. Woodburners burn hot and an unlined chimney will eventually start crumbling.

Liner and fire installation is about £800 plus the cost of the fire itself, say a couple of hundred for a half decent one.

Only burn seasoned wood, ideally 2 years old so it has dried out. It will lose half its weight in water when drying out. Burning unseasoned wood will creosote the chimney up in no time and is also very inefficient. It takes a lot of heat to boil the water out of the wood before it burns. Again, ideally burn hardwood but woodburners will tolerate a mix of hard/softwood. Chestnut is good for a dark red hot fire but it can be spitty so keep the doors shut and ignore the bangs.

I've two woodburners and have used one of them for the last 20 years and the other for the last 10. Wouldn't have anything else. It's all in the wood you burn though.

Like I say, they burn hot and depending on the room size, they can be overpowering.

[Waxon]

So start cutting your wood now and have it installed in 2 years time, after the Euro's

[tunstallhill]

got one in not long ago, the heat is fucking awesome. totally different from having central heating. have to make sure its worth the hassle for you though, procuring and chopping up timber, coal, cleaning it, making the fire up all takes time and effort, but IMO its worth it.

we never got the chimney lined like, had an old chimney sweep come out to clean it and he said the linings are a complete waste of money, unless you are burning 24 hours a day for years and years. they never had them 100 years ago he said, so no need for them now. as for the burners, i looked all over the shop and you'll be lucky to get a decent one for under £400. defo worth it though

[wakey wakey]

Cheers lads its def worth it in my opinion was round my mates other day and had his on and was amazing like you say its a totally different kind of heat loved it. Not sure if the chimney will need lining as its old Victorian house and will of had reall coal fire in at some point so surely the chimneys good enough for wood. Got about 1k so really hope I can get one bought and fitted for that the rooms only about 18ftx16ft wanted to try get it in for xmas

[tunstallhill]

Originally Posted by wakey wakey

Cheers lads its def worth it in my opinion was round my mates other day and had his on and was amazing like you say its a totally different kind of heat loved it. Not sure if the chimney will need lining as its old Victorian house and will of had reall coal fire in at some point so surely the chimneys good enough for wood. Got about 1k so really hope I can get one bought and fitted for that the rooms only about 18ftx16ft wanted to try get it in for xmas

easy get it for that like. nt really much 'fiiting' required. if you dont get it lined, make sure you get some sort of fireboard above the burner with the flue ging through it to stop stuff falling down the chimney into the room. that was probably the trickiest bit for me, made a timber frame then put a piece of fireboad (like plasterboard) up onto the frame with a hole cut out, and sealed the flue around the edges once though the hole. also check what flue you need, as the bends (90's, 45's etc..) are mad expensive, about £50 each, and the straight lengths of pipe or not much cheaper

[wakey wakey]

cheers lads appreciate your help, ill get back to you when im sweating my tits off and complaining its to warm lol

[Kent_Mackem]

Just another comment on the liner. As well as safety, the other advantage is that if your wood does give off resins and tars then it will tend not to condense in the chimney, because the metal liner stays hot. Without a liner you run the risk of tar deposits building up half way up the chimney where it's a lot cooler. If they do catch fire at a future time then that is pretty bad news.

The stoves take a little getting used to but with practice you'll have a cracking blaze going on that warms up the room and more. Plus the biggest advantage for me is that you can lock it all up and leave it on if you go out or overnight without worry. First thing in the morning just a little poke around and open the vent and you have a lovely hot fire where you can eat your Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes while watching Susanna Reid's legs.