Reply With QuoteNice…im looking forward to it being cold enough to fire mine up properly
Finally lit it for the first time
Nice…im looking forward to it being cold enough to fire mine up properly
We have two burners, and would be lost without them too, but be careful not to fit one that’s too big for the room
The bigger one we have in our living area is a Stovax 7.5kw and would easily make the room too hot if you get too excitable with throwing logs in it. For context the area it heats is our living room 7x6m (and high ceilings) that’s open into a dining area 4x4m that in turn opens into the kitchen 6x5m
So it’s a fairly big area, but heats it easily
I know the logic. However we have a large fireplace and a small lounge. The ones meant to be for the room size look a joke in the spaceOriginally Posted by demonloop
Given it’s off 95% of the time I went for something that worked visually. I can play with the vents to dial it back as required.
Still the same rating as the smaller ones, but guessing higher output without the need for an air brick.
Been smelling wood burners on the street recently. Absolutely beautiful smell and I think we'll cave at some point. Shame to rip out what I think is the original fireplace though.
Yes that is nice , but if you just want some warmth and a great look keep your open fire
Why rip it out just use it as it was intended for a fire? make sure your chimney is swept and enjoy a beautiful fireplace.Been smelling wood burners on the street recently. Absolutely beautiful smell and I think we'll cave at some point. Shame to rip out what I think is the original fireplace though.
I FEEL LIKE I'M DIAGONALLY PARKED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE
The white surround doesn’t look original . Is it metal or timber? If it’s not original then that would lead me to think that the insert could be a reproduction too. The hearth looks original though. At least you have a chimney so a quick rip out of the insert and the rubble infill behind it and then a fire board lining and you could easily get a smaller 5kw wood burner in there subject to the chimney getting swept and checked that it’s still open. Drop a liner down the chimney and off you go:)Been smelling wood burners on the street recently. Absolutely beautiful smell and I think we'll cave at some point. Shame to rip out what I think is the original fireplace though.
I’m suprised that you are allowed to use that in London after S khan crapped all over wood burners and open fires about 4 years ago.
Last edited by Stilgoe1972; 30th September 2022 at 04:31.
I bought a log burner fan to spread the heat of the burner through my workshop/barn. I have a free-standing stove/burner and I want more heat where I have my workbench. That part of of the barn hyas a lower roof. A fan can blow the heat in the right direction and the lower roof will help to heat that area up.
I bought an 'el cheapo' machine to try it out. A 'test run' yesterday with some pieces of wood in the burner. In short: it works absolutely fantastic! Now I know that it works, so in due time, the cheap fan will be replaced in due time for something that's absolutely more interesting: a Vulcan Stove Fan. That's a device that works with a Sterling engine! https://www.stirlingengine.co.uk/d.a...VULCANSTOVEFAN
oo that fan looks really good!, pricey and out of stock but they will email me when its back in stock, thanks for the link!
That look just the sort of thing I'm looking for, can I ask where you got it from please? Also roughly price of install.Had ours fitted a few weeks ago, had a log stored made by an old guy in the village out of reclaimed wood and installed that outside last night. My lad is a stainless steel fabricator and he rattled us up one of these for inside
Looking forward to the cold nights now
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EDIT, see the link In the thread, thanks.
Same as the one we looked at yesterday
Last edited by thfccambs; 18th December 2022 at 10:36.
Yeh sure. Its a Contura 810 which sell at around £2000, with the install it was around 4K however due to the set up of our house and the orientation of the 3rd floor the flue had to go up higher. The whole job was done by Corinium Stoves in Cirencester.
https://www.contura.eu/en-gb/stove-c...0-Style-_-4900
A good thing about the Contura which is why i went for it is that at vent full open you dont have to leave the door open to help start the fire. Im sure other models are the same but a lot ive used in the past dont seem to have enough draw with just the vents fully open.
Last edited by Franky Four Fingers; 18th December 2022 at 10:43.
I'm looking for a trick or an advice. I don't know if I use the correct terms for all parts, but here we go:
One of our wood burners has its flue (chimney) mainly on the outside of the house. And during cold periods like we have now, the air inside the flue is cold before we light a fire. With this cold air, there's hardly any draft in the flue, so the smoke tends NOT to go up when we start the fire!
We tried a trick with burning paper to heat up the flue (and to start a draft upwards) but when we close the glass door of the burner, we see that the fire goes out. Opening the door of the burner is a bad, bad idea: smoke gets into the room. When we persist: relighting the fire etc, the air in the flue warms up and the draft starts; the flames become higher and more intense.
We use the Swiss (Swedish?) method of starting a fire; stacking wood with kindles on top.
What's your trick or do you have an advice.
Last edited by thieuster; 18th December 2022 at 10:47.
Can’t you use one of the firelighting logs you can buy, they come in a paper bag, you light the bag something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fireglow-In.../dp/B06X6GV6PN
Ive tried the “top down” method and tbh it simply resulted in a successful fire the same way as conventional does. With ref your question, i build a normal lattice shape construction about 5-6 high, few natural fire lights dropped inside, single log on top but not too big, around the outside i place a few small loose balls of newspaper and on top finely shredded news paper. On top of that i use a nice handful of the recycled cardboard packing which i have loads of. It burns slightly hotter and longer than the newspaper.
With the door closed and vents fully open it creates a small amount of smoke but as soon as it flames that soon clears.
October i wasnt bothering warming the flue but the last week or so its needed it.
Last edited by Franky Four Fingers; 18th December 2022 at 11:13.
We recommend good fire lighters and plenty of kindlng. Less newspaper as it just creates lots of ash. Both vents cracked wide open and door ajar if needed. You could preheat the inner stove with a hair dryer or heat gun if needed. Also opening the stove an hour before use to let warm air from the room circulate up into the flu helps.
I don’t have a wood burner, but I would have thought pointing a heat gun up the chimney for a minute or two would start it drawing nicely?
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Yeh it’s trickier when it’s very cold I can imagine harder with an external flu-
I start mine with a couple of bits of balled up paper on the bottom- 4 or 5 pieces of kindling (I’m using old lathes removed from my house - they are perfect)
Don’t forget to leave ash on the grate and ensure there are gaps in it - open wide both vents, light the paper and hold the door almost closed - once the wood takes add some slightly larger bits of wood and throttle down the vents
Last edited by lewie; 18th December 2022 at 11:55.
Excellent advice! Thanks!!!! I'm going to give it try. Trick-by-trick.
Thanks, your looks great. We have someone coming out on the 7th Jan.
Do you have a link for your flue? I thought about 4k all in.
No I don’t, it was just the standard stainless system that they supplied. I’ll see if I can find the invoice and get the part numbers
Sorry no details just says -outside installation kit including flue which was 1750 plus vat
Last edited by Franky Four Fingers; 18th December 2022 at 12:11.
Hadn’t thought of that, giving that a go.
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https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/sh...-fire-handbook
This is a really good book about how to have a great Fire , its a surprisingly interesting read makes a good Xmas Present
Quoting myself here. I did the paint-stripper-heating-gun trick and it absolutely works! Another thumbs up for this forum. Even my wife agrees with that!
Out of interest what is the best wood people have going for heat and duration? We have a large cassette style fire, if you don’t get the mass right it just consumes wood for little heat, we have worked that one out, we have kiln dried Ash at the moment, but hawthorn or old decking planks I have seem to be much better.
When we bought the fire we were told that 5kw is 1.4kilo of dry wood per hour, we have never achieved this, I did ask the shop as he seemed to know what he is talking about, his answer was “you are probably trying to get more than 5kw out of it” it’s a big room so could be true.
Interested in what wood people burn
Are you having an internal or external flu? If internal id say. 904 904 double skinned SS liner- length can be deceiving as the stack will have twists and turns
I gave up with Kiln Dried Wood , it burns to quickly and i was ordering 2 loads a year ! , I stick to seasoned Wood now
Oak if you can get it burns long and Slow
A free-standing wood burner generates more heat than a built-in wood burner. You have to take that into account when you're referring to Kms. In real life: the Dovré free-standing, 3 KW burner gives a lot more heat than our 7 KW built-in that's in the living room.
Therefore, the amount of wood you'll have to use is in relation with the temp you want to achieve and maintain AND the sort of wood burner you have.
Then: using weight as a reference is difficult. Ash, oak, birch and others, all have a different weight per m3. Often, the lighter wood burns quicker but not in all cases. I think that wood from fruit trees is relatively light, but has a long 'burn time'. I try to get the fire going with birch and kindles; it starts up relatively easy and then I fill it with oak or ash.
I also use fire starters you can buy for the BBQ but I've found out that there's a lot of quality difference. A 'prepper' I watched on YT uses torn-up cardboard egg boxes. He fills the 'egg cup' with a mix of lintel from the dryer and candle wax...
(*Must try that some day...)
We use one of these lighter things; light it and let it burn down. Usually creates enough heat to create a draw up the chimney. Sometimes add a couple of pieces of kindling to help it.
If you put too much on though, you lose the flame and heat being generated & you end up with the scenarios you mention where you get a lot of smoke, and you’ve got a horrible choice ahead of you.
We managed it one year having returned from holiday, dense cold air in the chimney. Had no choice but to open the door and the windows to try and get the fire to catch.
Our chimney sweep also suggested a bit of heat from a hair dryer / mapp gas torch will help.
Seasoned ash and I mix it with untreated pallet boards. Once it going a couple of logs lasts about an hour plus if turned down
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After so many adverts pushed at me, I have purchased some heat logs and also some night briquettes.
The former, mainly to give them a try for when I just want a little more heat vs a full log to go until bed time.
The second as a bit of a trial. Unlikely I will want to keep it ticking over until dawn as I have central heating. More for when I’m working from home / about in the house and want to keep the fire ticking over without excess heat coming out, but equally not wanting to cook it & reheat again later.
Time will tell if it was a clever or stupid trial.
You might be able to leave the surround in place, that's what we did.
Last edited by gunner; 20th December 2022 at 15:47.
First of the year after getting the chimney swept..have to say there's nothing better!!
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Anyone else not need a glove to open theirs? One of my favourite features of this one.
I wish! I’ve caught myself literally moments from severe burns. It’s daft they all haven’t designed this into them by now.
Bet you’re going to book earlier next year!First of the year after getting the chimney swept..have to say there's nothing better!!
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We are going to get ours done mid summer next year, nothing gets down the chimney so just much easier to be ready versus waiting.
if the heat gun fails, use a hair dryer. Its a modern day version of the ancient use of bellows
Absolutely, we left it far too late booking up the chimney sweep this year!!
Anyone use the thermal fans on their log burner to spread the heat? We're tempted..
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SCAN 80. No glove needed for ours . Integrated handle. Kicks out some heat in our kitchen / dinning space 6-9kw nominal. External flu through the roof. Central heating has been on for 19hrs in total from September 1st.
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Last edited by Stilgoe1972; 21st December 2022 at 18:46.
Tried cheap, tried silly priced ones. Not a fan to be honest. If you have a high space above the stove for all the heat to accumulate then they are good for moving the heat out from it, but not felt any benefit on our set up.Absolutely, we left it far too late booking up the chimney sweep this year!!
Anyone use the thermal fans on their log burner to spread the heat? We're tempted..
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Our Contura has a textured surface, which makes the fans all vibrate slightly which drives me mad with the noise.
I love the look, but the outputs of air are so low the dream never really happens on spreading the heat.
I’ve tried cold air inputs, normal fans to both push and pull air in the attempt of spreading the heat wider than the lounge.
My sweep this year told me to stop trying as I’m wasting my time dreaming of heating a house on the fire. Shame as love the idea!
Same here , think you would need a Spitfire propellor to get the heat to any other room ;)
Funny if you think about it there wouldn't be much heat by the time it reached the next room anyway
Haha yes that is a great point I’d never thought of.
Thermal fan is great. Not too expensive. Great Xmas gift for the family. I have one in my workshop and it helps heating the area where the workbenches are. My wife has captured the fan for her office stove... and I think I'll have to get me a new one!Absolutely, we left it far too late booking up the chimney sweep this year!!
Anyone use the thermal fans on their log burner to spread the heat? We're tempted..
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If you're into nice stuff, then this is the bee's knees... a Sterling motor heat fan!!! For any watch aficionado a great fan.
It is a think of beauty and this was my 'ain't gonna work if this doesn't' purchase.
A total work of art & if the previously mentioned resonance was not there, I would have kept this for looks & watching it in action!
No local urchin you could send up?Absolutely, we left it far too late booking up the chimney sweep this year!!
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Sorry, missed these. I think the surround is timber but we don't use it as the vent doesn't have an auto shut off for the gas which gave us a warning on our certificate. We can use it but it's at our risk so we never have. I think inside the M25 there is a smoke prevention order since the great fire of London but you can use special wood and it's ok. Must be as half the area seem to have them based on the smell outside.
I think if we ever did take it out we'd put it in the back room to replace this monstrosity. Really the wood burner should go in there but as you can see it's a dumping ground and would be of no benefit.
That is beautiful. I'm going to send that picture to my wife and set her on a Pinterest hunt.You might be able to leave the surround in place, that's what we did.
I wish I could remember how I discovered this but the lint from the tumble drier makes good firelighters
agree with kindling over paper and the ash problem
set up properly I find the door closed to make sure of the chimney draw gets it going better, the art is getting the temperature up and keeping it up, better a regular load rather then load, burn down, load burn down cycle
The wood burners shown in this thread look v nice - but I thought they were hazardous to health even with proper flues .. Sure there was something in the press just the other day about them but I did not read it, just saw a headline.
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