multifuel/woodburning stoves

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
D

Deleted member 6183

Guest
Does anybody have experience in these?

We have a problem in winter with our house being particularly cold, last winter was very difficult.

The house is north facing and we have a new boiler (a big one) and have done cavity wall insulation this Summer. Loft is a bit more difficult as we have a dormer roof although I do intend to lag the eaves and the flat bits of ceiling over the next few months.

We intend to install an 8KW multifuel stove in our lounge which is the centre of the house, it's an odd lay out but from the porch you go through the lounge to enter the house. This room has an open staircase and open plan to the dining room though only normal doorway width to the inner hall where the den, kitchen, utility and bathroom are.

We only expect secondary heat but hope that this install will give an overall impression of a nice, warm house.

Does anyone have any tips on use or advice on what difference in overall heat I can expect?
 
lewyboy

I have a woodburner in my living room as well as a solid multifuel Cooker/boiler in my kitchen. Both are only ever used from Mid December through till the end of February. They are backed up by an oil boiler and joined up in the loft by a magic box that stops you creating too much heat expansion and blowing your house up.

In effect which ever system is delivering the most heat wins via use of electronic temp valves.

I love it. More importantly it heats the entire house often to the point of having to open windows to get rid of some temperature. The house smells great in winter if you scatter some baking flour on the hot plate.

This year I helped my neighbours in cutting down a load of trees. The resultant log pile will keep me going all winter. I have looked at fuel pellets but gave up due to the free logs around.

Way to go... Have fun
 
i have a multi fuel stove the make NESTOR MARTIN

great stove easy to clean and you can get a remote control to turn up or down the heat

the wood lasts ages nice to looks at and heats the house if the doors are left open you could feel the heat going up the stairs

the efficiency of them is great compared to a coal fire (15 to 20 %) stove from (60 to 75 % the one i have is 82%


also two types one steel stove other cast stove

steel heats up and cools faster but should not crack
cast takes longer to heat but longer to cool but can crack

the stove have is steel on the inside and cast on the outside best of both worlds

their is so much on stoves you could talk for hours on them
 
You can't go wrong with a good multifuel.
As said, you will be amazed at the heat output - leave the doors open, and the heat will go through the whole house.
Other benefits are that the room it is in will be warm in the morning - lovely :)
The house will be better aired.

And you just can't beat a glass of single malt (get the Laphroaig in) on a Saturday night, family gone to bed, the dying embers and your own personal thoughts.

Roll on December!

Oh, and I pay about £60 for a pickup bed full of good barn seasoned wood which includes oak.
 
the drier the wood the better for the stove and long lasting when lit
 
^^^ Not just for the obvious reasons, but the latent heat of vapourisation means that you will lose heat energy up the chimbly if the wood has any moisture.
 
As with all great ideas, it's worth thinking this through:

Not wanting to be completely reliant on the vagaries of the leccy supply or oil prices/deliveries, we installed a Bohemia 50T multi-fuel (steel) in our country pile - a traditional Victorian cottage - along with "state-of-the-art" oil c/h. It can supposedly knock out 6Kw @ 80%+ efficiency.

Apart from the charms of a living flame, it will boil a kettle of water and we have literally unlimited supplies of timber.

As Ted and horgantrevor say, there is such a surfeit of heat, doors can be left open to warm the whole floor.

And it's all F r e e e :bannana:

...except, it's not. :wallbash:

Knocking out the bricked-up fireplace, fitting a chimney liner plus the cost of the stove and new hearth was just shy of £2k.

Getting a tree-surgeon to take down six trees and log them - £1600.

Chainsaw, safety gear and 5lb axe - another £300.

That's a lot of cash to run a three-bar fire - even if it doesn't look as good.:D

Having said all that, ours ignites on a single match, is unbelievably controllable and is hugely economical.

View attachment 25197
Just a fraction to be chopped...

View attachment 25198
Logs now five deep and up to the roof...

View attachment 25199
The beast.
 
Last edited:
My neighbor has just purchased a shiny new log splitter £750.....WoooHoo.

Forgot to mention that my multi appliance heat transfer box is made by Dunsley Heat in Holmfirth. The Stove is a Wamsler. The log burner? I have no idea. But once tried never forgotten.
 
If looking for a stove, get one with a back-boiler. You can then chose to heat hot water and then underfloor heating to properly heat he whole house.
 
As others have said, the heat output is astonishing.
We have a small Stovax which was bought more for show than go but now earns its keep as an alternative to turning up the thermostat. It's good for mulled wine and chestnuts as well, just pop them on the top.
 
Ted

Most jealous of your kit, the fire, the logs, the mower.

Damn you and your tidy garage, now my Missus is going on about clearing mine tomorrow!
 
Fraid not Lewyboy, that's all Del's! This is mine. Oh and the log pile......
 
Last edited:
We have a log burner as well as central heating.

The log burner is brilliant and will heat most of the house. Out here we are lucky enough to have plenty of olive wood available.
 
I let one of my units to a company that supplies and fits these.
Most reputable companies should do you a free survey which will give you a better idea of the capabilities of your prospective stove.
 
have a stove is like a part time second job in the summer for me if i out and about and i see timber being thrown away i will ask the builder or home owner can i take it and i call back with the trailer and collect it do this a few times in the summer and i haven't spent a penny on wood you would be amazed what people throw away

i get four months of free heat from this now i also might do a deal with a local timber guy fix his car or truck labour off for some logs

its all about cost and taking your time


also i have not used a linear in my chimney nor have i removed any thing i use my chimney as one as a large stove company told me to do in ireland
i bought a board called scamel board fire proof board its used for this very job and you just remove it every three years to clean

then you block the entrance to the fire place .cut whole in it and fix one 90 degree and a small straight to the stove that sits on the hart of the fire place , seal every thing with fire proof silicone most stove outlets have it job done



a
 
Agreed with the findings so far, my cottage is circa 15th century and has little insulation but has an oil fired bolier and a log burner had us opening the windows at some times last winter. There is also a Victorian coal or log fired range in the dining room but we have never lit it!
 
Stoves obviously need an air supply. Current house building practice is for air tight houses.
To avoid the need for an airbrick in the room (which allows heat leakage), some stoves have a direct air supply.
Any one have any knowledge of these - manufacturers names?
 
Got to mention that a lot of log burners with a water jacket don't burn quite hot enough for a nice (clean air act) burn.

We run a Morsó in steel which is pretty good. Clean air act approved. Use some smokeless fuel as well to smooth out the times between loading. I added oil fired Ch as well but never got round to installing it upstairs because the wood burner kicks out plenty of heat.

Last winter during the cold week (-10) the living room was 30C. Just because we could. It was beyond snug.

I dropped an air brick beside the stove to reduce the draught across the room. The logs in front get a final airing from it.
 
Slightly off topic, but does anyone know if there is any kind of domestic boiler that runs on waste car engine oil?
 
Slightly off topic, but does anyone know if there is any kind of domestic boiler that runs on waste car engine oil?
Yes there are domestic sized boilers that can run on any waste oil, veg or mineral. I'm looking into this soon for my house.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom