Would you have a log burner at home?

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As part of the refurbishment of our maisonette, we need to replace our fireplace and fire. We have looked at lots of options but at the moment we are considering having a small (5kw) panoramic log burner installed. The property was built in the 1930s so it has a proper chimney and fireplace although we may need to have a new flue liner installed.

This is the stove that we like:

 
I wouldn’t call 5Kw small - we have a 5Kw panoramic stove in our large living room and we need all the doors open to keep cool! Seriously we have had 2 log burners (kitchen and living room) for over 20 years (1 replaced recently) and wouldn’t be without them even though we have full central heating. The CH is never used during the day as the log burners keep the house plenty warm enough. Make sure the wood is really well seasoned and that the burners are not closed down too much. Chimney thermometers are a good guide.

Tony
 
We have a log burner in our bungalow.

It sends heat throughout the house and we tend to turn the central heating down when it is on. Wouldn't be without one now.
 
I had a nice multi-fuel stove in my last house in Devon. Used to run in on wood from trees chopped down in the garden. It was very nice when it was running but it really did go through the wood!
If it is the primary heating method you will need a load of wood available to store (I guess you could use your MH storage place?). I used to burn coal/coke quite often instead. Handful of coal lasted longer than a few logs and still had a nice glow.
They are also quite smelly. It is not an unpleasant smell, but certainly not a fresh smell either and you do notice when you come in the room.
Overall, I would have one again for sure, but probably as an occasional 'feature', not the main source of heating.

Oh, and when I looked into getting cavity wall insulation for the house, the surveyor for the company said I would need a 5" permanent vent in the wall if I did due to the stove. I declined that. But you might find it you might have to add a big hole in the wall if you have wall insulation already? Especially on a big 5kw stove.
 
We've got a multi-fuel and love it, wouldn't be without it, although we only really use it in the winter when the weather gets properly cold.

Like wildebus says, you need access to a good supply of wood as even a small burner can get through a forest if you use it a lot, plus you have to have enough space to store your big stash of logs!

Here's ours in the winter from when 2 of the cats were still with us. Bought the stove new off eBay for a really good price after I'd done plenty of research.


Henry & Bailey by the stove 2009.jpg
 
Loved the one we had nothing better than the warm glow and the warm warm. They do get VERY hot and eat oxygen, so we had to have a window open too - seems mad to let some of the heat out!
And get a long handled toasting fork for crumpets!
 
When we bought our current home we were delighted to see that it included a log burner.

But for us we found a problem. In the depths of winter when it's in action our bedroom becomes very cold. This is because the central heating rheostat is in the hallway, detects the temperature of the adjacent warm room, and shuts down the central heating elsewhere.

The only way the extremities of the house stays reasonable is to close the door the burner is in. So if you go ahead, reflect on the rheostat location.
 
Yes, makes a wonderful atmosphere from the aroma as much as the heat source.
As long as u are ok with the cleaning out.
 
The new panoramic stoves with clean burn technology burn far better on a bed of ash. We burn our 5kw stove quite a bit, especially in the depths of a Scottish winter, and I normally only clean it out mid and end season. The window always stays clean and I clean the stove out only when there’s so much ash that it falls out when I open the door to put a log on!
If you want a good brand, Phil, go for Contura.
 
I'd have loved a wood burner or multi-fuel stove in my house but it's not really practical with the layout... blimmin' awkward house, even for furniture because there are so few bits of wall space, what with windows, doors and stairs. My house doesn't have a fireplace or even a chimney! Nor is it affordable for me to be honest. If I had more in my savings pot, I'd completely remodel the downstairs and definitely make room for a fire.

What I really need to do is sell my house, downsize and enjoy some of the proceeds! :ROFLMAO:
 
Bizarrely enough a book I really enjoyed reading (how sad am I?),which became a best seller, was “Norwegian Wood” - how to chop, stack and store wood. It has a section on how to avoid pollution from wood burning stoves, illustrating it with an article about a village which had higher pollution than Oslo due to the amount of log burners. A government programme educating how to light wood stoves and keep them burning resulted in a huge reduction in pollution. I now use their recommended “top down” method of lighting my stoves with great success, as evidenced by the fact that I now need the chimneys swept every other year rather than twice a year.
 
Reminds me of the fifties when every chimney was belting out thick smoke .and you couldn't see across the road .
 
We had an 8kw stove in our old house that heated the whole house quite comfortably. Downside was removing the ash and it introduced a lot of dust into the house.
In our newly refurbished house in France, we have oil fired central heating, but the cost of oil is around double that of the U.K, so we are reluctant to use that.
So, we researched pellet stoves and bought a sealed chamber stove with an output of 9kw.
I fitted it myself following all the required regulations and had it certified as is necessary for our house insurance.
The stove is brilliant, heats our whole house ( 140 m2) on the coldest of days, a massive jump in cleanliness and convenience over our wood stove. It is remote controlled ( via handheld remote and Wi-fi) and has various timers to start and stop it automatically. It’s thermostatically controlled and I don’t need a large log store or axe!
It needs cleaning out every couple of days and produces around an egg cup full of ash every day.
And it’s warm.

I used to love our log burner, but this is even better.
 
When we lived in France we initially had an open wood fire. Very pretty but very inefficient so we installed a 14Kw Jotul burner. It was our sole means of heat for the house and was absolutely brilliant. Lit it around November and it stayed lit until about March. The additional bonus was that while we paid the installation cost the burner was paid for by the French Income tax system
 
Go for it even if its just for special occasions like Christmas or when there is snow outside

A good supply of seasoned wood that is stored undercover is essential
 
Deffo. It's our only source of heating and has a fan system that also blows hot air up onto the landing, via a big tube in the bottom of the wardrobes upstairs. Superb jacket potatoes, roast chestnuts, crumpets on the toasting fork as well. And the dogs love it as well!
 
tonybvi said:
Bizarrely enough a book I really enjoyed reading (how sad am I?),which became a best seller, was “Norwegian Wood” - how to chop, stack and store wood. It has a section on how to avoid pollution from wood burning stoves, illustrating it with an article about a village which had higher pollution than Oslo due to the amount of log burners. A government programme educating how to light wood stoves and keep them burning resulted in a huge reduction in pollution. I now use their recommended “top down” method of lighting my stoves with great success, as evidenced by the fact that I now need the chimneys swept every other year rather than twice a year.
Click to expand...
Got the same book. Love it.
 
Had a parkray when we moved here 44 years ago,dormant as we use oil fully automated so no dirt/dust in the house,would i have a log burner,big NO.
 
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