Have you had a wood/multi fuel stove insatlled

[sandybay]

sorry - meant installed not insatlled !!

Was wondering if anyone has had a woodburning or multifuel stove installed.

What is the advantage of straight woodburning rather than multi-fuel?
How much did it cost you to get the flue done etc ?

When we moved in we inherited a Morso squirrel stove that looks just like their wood burner model but runs on LPGas. This is going up in price with oil and is oil derived so we'd like to change to wood. [there is a flue and chimney]

Costs of the stoves seem to vary enormously and we need to keep the cost low.

How much do you spend on wood for the winter and how big is your room ?

Advice appreciated.

[Pippa]

I have a large multi-fuel stove but I only burn wood on it as coal so expensive now. A andlso with burning coal you get a lot of ash that you cannot use on the garden, wood ash is lovely and soft and a certain amount can go on the compost. The bigger the btu output the more you will pay for a stove and there are now 'elf and safety recommendations in place as to how much hearth you must have in front of a woodburner, so bear that in mind when choosing a design. My room is about 21' x 14' with a huge conservatory opening off that and I spent £180 on logs last winter but this year I do not intend spending anything, I have been picking up and 'finding' wood. Hope this helps.

[sandybay]

Thanks Pippa,

Useful to know about the coal ash - particularly if councils do start charging for what we throw away.

Going to Aberystywth today to get some new tyres on the car - there is a stove shop there so will go and see what the costs will be. I'll measure the room before we go.

[TomB]

Straight woodburning rather than multi-fuel?
Wood is cleaner to handle, you don't get black dust everywhere. It is carbon neutral. You don't generate nearly as much ash, and if you burn correctly, can either remove a little each day or leave it a few days inbetween and empty out more. Processing firewood is good exercise too. You don't need a grate to burn wood-only. Wood will not perform as well on a grate, since it needs the ember bed to maintain a healthy fire. Look at a website called woodheat for lots of great information on the subject.

You should speak to your local specialist or to Phil at Stovesonline about your flue, he was very helpful to me. I bought my flue from him and installed it myself.

You need to speak to as many people as you can locally to find out what your best wood supply is. Prices vary enormously, and lots of people sell fresh wood which is of little use until you've dried it out a bit. Plan ahead. Tell as many friends and associates as you can that you burn wood, and they will spot free supplies for you too.

[sandybay]

Thanks Tom. Welcome by the way. Nice to have a bit of male input.

We are going to have to make a decision soon as the room I want it to go in is to be finished soon. We've done our best to keep our oil consumption down with a new high efficiency boiler last year. Used 725 litres for 12 months heating and water. But want to try and depend less on oil for heating.

Can you burn driftwood if its dried out ? Plenty available around here.