Which Wood Burning Stove?

[Unbelievable Jeff]

I am looking at buying a 5kw wood burning stove for our lounge, and I was wondering if anyone had an recommendations, which brands to go for etc?

 

Any help considered!

[buctootim]

Ive got a Morso, but as long as its made of cast iron I don't think there is much to choose between them. Wood choice is probably more important - make sure its properly dry otherwise the glass blacks up and you get crap in the flue.

http://www.flamingfires.co.uk/which-wood-burns-best.htm

[Window Cleaner]

I am looking at buying a 5kw wood burning stove for our lounge, and I was wondering if anyone had an recommendations, which brands to go for etc?

 

Any help considered!

 

 

5KW is a very low powered affair then, never seen one so small. Even the bottom ot the range stuff have nominal outputs of around 7KW. Anyway we've got 2, both Invictas and they are excellent, not kids Tea party 5KW jobs though.One is 10 KW and the other is 12 KW.

[Unbelievable Jeff]

5KW is a very low powered affair then, never seen one so small. Even the bottom ot the range stuff have nominal outputs of around 7KW. Anyway we've got 2, both Invictas and they are excellent, not kids Tea party 5KW jobs though.One is 10 KW and the other is 12 KW.

 

Using the calculators it's more than enough, we need a 3.6kw one apparently. Lounge is 16 x 12 feet.

[Window Cleaner]

Ive got a Morso, but as long as its made of cast iron I don't think there is much to choose between them. Wood choice is probably more important - make sure its properly dry otherwise the glass blacks up and you get crap in the flue.

http://www.flamingfires.co.uk/which-wood-burns-best.htm

 

 

You can get compact logs though, they're pretty good, burn for a good while and put out good heat. Don't know if you can get them in the UK though actually.

[buctootim]

Using the calculators it's more than enough, we need a 3.6kw one apparently. Lounge is 16 x 12 feet.

 

The size of your room is what counts. If you get one too powerful its just becomes too hot and is unusable. The smaller ones, obviously, have smaller grates so make sure the logs you buy will fit in. the

[Window Cleaner]

Using the calculators it's more than enough, we need a 3.6kw one apparently. Lounge is 16 x 12 feet.

 

 

Wouldn't know, we live in a converted stone farmhouse ourselves and although we have other CH we do like a nice bit of heat

from the "poeles", gets pretty parky around here in winter. Never heard of any calculators though, then again never bothered to know if you need them. Installed both stoves myself using the original chimney flues and lining them with stainless steel tubing because that's what you need to do for the insurance here.

[buctootim]

You can get compact logs though, they're pretty good, burn for a good while and put out good heat. Don't know if you can get them in the UK though actually.

 

The sawdust logs? Yep you can buy them. I prefer actual logs, but then I only use mine as an aesthetic thing though, not as a primary source of heat.

[Window Cleaner]

The sawdust logs? Yep you can buy them. I prefer actual logs, but then I only use mine as an aesthetic thing though, not as a primary source of heat.

 

We mix them, real logs from trees that I've cut down over the years and compressed chip (no pine content ones) logs that we buy. That way I can control the stocks of wood and don't ever have to burn anything that's not completely dry.

[Torres]

WC - what's your method for seasoning and drying the logs from stuff you've cut down? We had a big oak tree in our garden crown lifted last November and it's left us with a decent stack of logs but I want to make sure they're ready before chucking them on the fire (which isn't installed yet, but that's a different story).

[Torres]

So, the different story - we've just had one of our chimneys rebuilt, relined and insulated and it's ready for a stove. Now, we don't have mains gas and our current central heating is from an oil boiler. This doesn't give us any DHW so we're currently reliant on an immersion heater for that.

 

What I wanted to do was get a boiler stove installed that would heat the living room (which is pretty big) and also integrate with the existing central heating system to give hot water for rads when alight and give us DHW.

 

I had a guy come round last week with my builder but he was very sceptical about the feasibility of what we wanted to achieve, which surprised me as stuff I've read online before suggests that it's perfectly possible. Was he talking toss? Anyone here attempted to do the same thing?

 

If it's not feasible to do what I want, anyone got any suggestions for alternatives to the immersion heater for DHW?

Edited 23 January, 2014 by Torres

[buctootim]

So, the different story - we've just had one of our chimney's rebuilt, relined and insulated and it's ready for a stove. Now, we don't have mains gas and our current central heating is from an oil boiler. This doesn't give us any DHW so we're currently reliant on an immersion heater for that.

 

What I wanted to do was get a boiler stove installed that would heat the living room (which is pretty big) and also integrate with the existing central heating system to give hot water for rads when alight and give us DHW.

 

I had a guy come round last week with my builder but he was very sceptical about the feasibility of what we wanted to achieve, which surprised me as stuff I've read online before suggests that it's perfectly possible. Was he talking toss? Anyone here attempted to do the same thing?

 

If it's not feasible to do what I want, anyone got any suggestions for alternatives to the immersion heater for DHW?

 

Never done it, but the Energy Saving Trust has good info (and a helpline I think). There are also green discussion forums you can use. Generally though the cheapest solution is better insulation. My factory insulated tank will keep water hot for five days.

 

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generating-energy/Choosing-a-renewable-technology/Wood-fuelled-heating

[Window Cleaner]

So, the different story - we've just had one of our chimneys rebuilt, relined and insulated and it's ready for a stove. Now, we don't have mains gas and our current central heating is from an oil boiler. This doesn't give us any DHW so we're currently reliant on an immersion heater for that.

 

What I wanted to do was get a boiler stove installed that would heat the living room (which is pretty big) and also integrate with the existing central heating system to give hot water for rads when alight and give us DHW.

 

I had a guy come round last week with my builder but he was very sceptical about the feasibility of what we wanted to achieve, which surprised me as stuff I've read online before suggests that it's perfectly possible. Was he talking toss? Anyone here attempted to do the same thing?

 

If it's not feasible to do what I want, anyone got any suggestions for alternatives to the immersion heater for DHW?

 

 

You can certainly get wood stoves that heat water, know a few people who have them but it's not cheap and whether you'd be able to link them into the current oil fired system I couldn't say. You'd need to be looking at something like the Regulus Malaga 02/03 with the additional boiler pack anyway. Total cost of that would be somewhere around 6500 euros I think; By the time it's all installed you'd not see much change out of 10 or 15 K but as you can get tax credits here for that sort of installation it appeals to more than one.

Edited 23 January, 2014 by Window Cleaner

[Halo Stickman]

The size of your room is what counts. If you get one too powerful its just becomes too hot and is unusable. The smaller ones, obviously, have smaller grates so make sure the logs you buy will fit in.

 

Definitely this!

 

It's important not to get one that’s too big

 

My mate kindly gave me his old Oakfire cast iron woodburner for use in my workshop (12’x10’). I don’t know what its kW rating is, but size wise it’s about 18” x 14” x 10”. The problem I have is it gets the place too damn hot!

 

I guess that overall heating output is also influenced by the length of flue, and whether it exits the room through the wall or up through the ceiling; or whether it's exposed, or goes up an existing chimney? Mine is exposed and goes up through the ceiling, and even though it’s double-skinned for its entire length it still gets hot, adding to the overall heat output.

 

Also, make sure you source a good supply of cheap well seasoned wood!

[crouch mask replica]

To answer the OP, your original calculation seems about right. A wood burner runs best and most efficiently when run hot. Keeping it closed down for too long results in dirty glass and more likelihood of tar build up in flues. Too big a stove makes the room uncomfortable to be in. If you can find a calculator which takes into account size and type of windows, number of doors, etc. as well as Height, Depth & Width of your room you will get a more accurate idea of your needs. They are available online.

Before choosing stove you need to know if you are in a smoke control zone, if you are, you will have to buy a stove which is approved by DEFRA for use there. Also, if you do not think that you will be able to source enough wood (or sawdust pellets) to run the stove you might need to look for one which will take a grate to enable you to burn coal/coke etc. When burning wood the fire needs to sit on a bed of ash, when burning coal the fire needs to be on a grate ( and you need to empty the ashpan before its full otherwise you burn the grate out quickly).

As to makes, personally I would avoid the many Chinese imports which are on the market at the moment, there are a lot on ebay and with online suppliers, and their prices are tempting. A lot of the ones I’ve seen are poorly finished, a stove works well when you have control over its air intake from the designed inlets, when air is leaking in due to poor seals it will not perform well. That said I fitted one of these for a friend 3 years back and he is very happy with, it is not his main source of heat and just runs as back up in a study. I fitted a couple of Morso’s on a local farm recently, they let accommodation and already have 2 other Morso’s fitted, one is 20 years old and still going strong. They are good stoves and parts backup is good (another drawback to the cheaper imports) but they are costly. I like Charnwood stoves and intend to fit a Country 6 in our lounge this year. Charnwood are a family run company based on the Isle of Wight, what’s not to like. Their Country 4 might meet your requirements.

To season wood, I have a lot coming from laying/coppicing our hedgerows, about 4” to 6” dia. I cut them to about 4 ft lengths then stack them in the open on pallets to keep them off the damp ground, and then put old corrugated iron sheets on top held down with rocks. You need the tops of your stacks covered but the sides open to the wind. After 2 winters seasoning, I cut the logs to length during dry weather and stack in the wood shed which has Yorkshire boarded sides, always allow air to get at your wood. If you are in doubt about your wood being seasoned a moisture meter is really handy and relatively cheap.

[Toadhall Saint]

Got a stovax that's built into the wall - looks good and is more than man enough. As to output go into a shop that specialises with your rough room measurements and they will point you to your best option. Remember when giving the size it's not just the square meter it's the cubic meter as it's the total space your trying to heat.

[Unbelievable Jeff]

Thanks for all your advice! Was looking at the Morso Squirrel, so sounds to me like this is the one to go for!

[norwaysaint]

Lovely with a wood burning stove, I built a woodshed for our logs, but I put some in the shed to dry out more before rotating them next to the fire. Ours isn't that big, but it's capable of keeping the whole downstairs warm.

We inherited a few square km of forest last year, so I treated myself to a chainsaw. Plenty of logs for the fire now.

[waggy]

We've got a Becton 7 which is one of the smaller multi-fuel stoves and it is recessed into the fireplace. It gives off approximately 7.5kw which is double the average gas fire output. Have been burning well seasoned mix of soft and hard wood supplemented with paper briquettes made from junk mail and newspaper. We only need to get our chimney swept once a year. Providing you give it a good burn on 'full throttle' a couple of times a week to purge out the crap from the chimney it shouldn't need sweeping more often than that. Providing you regulate correctly with the top damper, if burning wood, the glass shouldn't soot up too badly. The best way keep the glass clean is a daily rub over with newspaper and to 'wash' it at least once a week with a rag and a mix of ash and vinegar.

As regards local emission controls in our area your fitter has to provide the council with a certificate to confirm that the burner conforms.

Take the plunge and enjoy a warm house.

[Grey Crab]

Lovely with a wood burning stove, I built a woodshed for our logs, but I put some in the shed to dry out more before rotating them next to the fire. Ours isn't that big, but it's capable of keeping the whole downstairs warm.

We inherited a few square km of forest last year, so I treated myself to a chainsaw. Plenty of logs for the fire now.

 

More bullsh*t.

[Window Cleaner]

More bullsh*t.

 

 

Why so ? Perhaps ordinary people don't own land in the overcrowded UK but they do elsewhere in Europe, we've a few acres of woodland, paid about 5000 euros for it. If you can't build on it it's cheap as chips, plenty for everyone that wants it.

Edited 24 January, 2014 by Window Cleaner

[RedWillie]

Jeff, we got a room bigger than your s and have a clearview pioneer 400. It is fantastic, keeps the room toasty and we open the doors to the conservatory and it heats that as well. We looked at many before getting one. Avoid the cheap, eBay import stuff. Most are poorly made, are heat inefficient and the glass gets dirty immediately. It's worth spending a few quid in my opinion. The Charnwood is a good shout but the Clearview just pipped it for us. A tip is even if you are just thinking about it now, start collecting wood. The burners love a good seasoned log. If the wood is to 'green' or high moisture content it will create soot in the flue and chimney, won't burn anyway near as hot and will fog the glass. Oak is a great burning wood but really needs to be seasoned well - at least a couple of years.

We love ours, boil the kettle on it and you'll be surprised how you view a free bit of timber in the future! Oh and our gas bill is tumbling...a good forum is here

http://thegreenlivingforum.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=21

[Jonnyboy]

Is this what the prawn sandwich brigade talk about at halftime?

[RedWillie]

Forgot to mention the Clearview Pioneer is a 5 KW output.

[John Boy Saint]

We have a Stovax it's a tiddler too as the living room isn't the largest. I can certainly get it going like furnace though.

we bought the house Mrs JBS Dad built in 1953 off the estate when he passed away, the Chimney had been closed up and it was rammed full of sticks thanks to the Jackdaws, the company who fitted it said that we didn't need to put a liner up the Chimney stating that they don't normally in the north of the country (bloody relief seeing as we had been quoted north of £700 for that alone!!) the draw is pretty impressive.

Getting the size for the room square footage is important, so many of the guys who quoted us said that folks walked into their showrooms and despite advice said "I want that one!" then a few months later were complaining that it was too hot and wanted it changed.

The one thing I did get after a visit to a showroom was a magnetic flue thermometer, the lady said stick it on the top of the burner rather than on the flue out of the top of the burner, I get the heat stuck in the middle on the thermometer and everything is spot on glass quite clean too, or very easy to clean.

The one thing having a wood burner does make you is a wood Pikey, the chap over the road cut down a small Sycamore I said do you want me to get rid of that for you? Then he says I have a 60ft Ash tree in the back garden I want to take down (hyperventilation and a semi would sum up the moment). I have another mate who had a big Birch come down just before Crimbo put the piccys on Facebook and when he said someone had laid claim to it I was almost in tears.

Someone said about a bit of Oak they have and wanted know what to do with it, cut it up and leave it over the summer it should be good as gold for burning next Autumn.

We are going to extend the house in the next couple of years and there is another Chimney at the back of the house, so that will be used, and something a little more Wow in the way of Woodburners will be installed.

I enjoy my Woodburner, and the biggest satisfaction is getting the flue balance just right, so that I have some embers to work with the following morning to get it going again.

[John Boy Saint]

Bit of an Anoraks guide to wood I stumbled across, most of it lost in a Woodburner for scent.

 

Alder: Poor in heat and does not last,

Apple: Burns slowly and steadily when dry, with little flame, but good heat. The scent is pleasing.

Ash: Best burning wood; has both flame and heat, and will burn when green, though naturally not as well as when dry.

Beech: A rival to ash, though not a close one, and only fair when green. If it has a fault, it is apt to shoot embers a long way.

Birch: The heat is good but it burns quickly. The smell is pleasant.

Cedar: Good when dry. Full of crackle and snap. It gives little flame but much heat, and the scent is beautiful.

Cherry: Burns slowly, with good heat. Another wood with the advantage of scent.

Chestnut: Mediocre. Apt to shoot embers. Small flame and heating power.

Douglas Fir: Poor. Little flame or heat.

Elder: Mediocre. Very smoky. Quick burner, with not much heat.

Elm: Commonly offered for sale. To burn well it needs to be kept for two years. Even then it will smoke. Vary variable fuel.

Hazel: Good.

Holly: Good, will burn when green, but best when kept a season.

Hornbeam: Almost as good as beech.

Laburnum: Totally poisonous tree, acrid smoke, taints food and best never used.

Larch: Crackly, scented, and fairly good for heat.

Laurel: Has brilliant flame.

Lime: Poor. Burns with dull flame.

Maple: Good.

Oak: The novelist's 'blazing fire of oaken logs' is fanciful, Oak is sparse in flame and the smoke is acrid, but dry old oak is excellent for heat, burning slowly and steadily until whole log collapses into cigar-like ash.

Pear: A good heat and a good scent.

Pine: Burns with a splendid flame, but apt to spit. The resinous Weymouth pine has a lovely scent and a cheerful blue flame.

Plane: Burns pleasantly, but is apt to throw sparks if very dry. Plum. Good heat and scent.

Plum: Good heat and aromatic.

Poplar: Truly awful.

Rhododendron: The thick old stems, being very tough, burn well.

Robinia (Acacia): Burns slowly, with good heat, but with acrid smoke.

Spruce: Burns too quickly and with too many sparks.

Sycamore: Burns with a good flame, with moderate heat. Useless green.

Thorn: Quite one of the best woods. Burns slowly, with great heat and little smoke. Walnut. Good, so is the scent.

Walnut: Good, and so is the scent. Aromatic wood.

Willow: Poor. It must be dry to use, and then it burns slowly, with little flame. Apt to spark.

Yew: Last but among the best. Burns slowly, with fierce heat, and the scent is pleasant.

[Saint in Paradise]

Using the calculators it's more than enough, we need a 3.6kw one apparently. Lounge is 16 x 12 feet.

 

 

Is your lounge really that small ?

[Torres]

My factory insulated tank will keep water hot for five days.

 

5 days? FFS, mine will last a day, max. What is yours?

[Unbelievable Jeff]

Is your lounge really that small ?

 

Yep, don't forget property is expensive London way, especially when looking for square footage! We do have a large kitchen/diner as well though.

 

Don't get much for £500k anymore...

[Unbelievable Jeff]

By the way, we are getting it fitted by my father in law - we already have a chimney with clay lined flu. Do we need any certification if this is the case?

[Bearsy]

Forgot to mention the Clearview Pioneer is a 5 KW output.

 

Agreed, if you only buy one wood burning stove this year, i would get this one.

[Unbelievable Jeff]

Agreed, if you only buy one wood burning stove this year, i would get this one.

 

It sounds about the right size. I'll have a look.

[Tokyo-Saint]

By the way, we are getting it fitted by my father in law - we already have a chimney with clay lined flu. Do we need any certification if this is the case?

 

Good choice. After have a nice bath to celebrate.

[buctootim]

5 days? FFS, mine will last a day, max. What is yours?

 

I had an unvented system put in - which means you mains pressure hot water for really good showers and quick baths. Ive had it five years and its great. You don't have to change your whole system though, you can stay with gravity fed and just get a better tank. Ive got one of these http://www.range-cylinders.co.uk/tribune-he.html and (I think) the industry leader are these. http://www.megaflo.com/campaigns/529.htm