Woodburners

People love their wood burning barbecues especially in the US. I haven’t seen any bans on these type of burners so people will generally just stick two fingers up at the law especially when diy stores sell all you need.
 
Some people are off grid and the efficiency of a burner is better than an open fire.

Surprising how many dont have access to gas too and electric only heating isn't cheap either.

if your only source of heat is a burner and it breaks then you'd end up with issues.
We live in the country and off grid, no gas - so it's oil heating supplemented by wood burner in lounge. Some good points on here, main thing with a wood burner is not to burn green wood, suppliers can't sell green wood by law. Our stove is modern, 5 yes old, so has secondary burn of gasses, hence cleaner. Logs cost us c£500 per year, so it's not a cheap option but it does look nice burning away in the Inglenook fireplace.
 
We live in the country and off grid, no gas - so it's oil heating supplemented by wood burner in lounge. Some good points on here, main thing with a wood burner is not to burn green wood, suppliers can't sell green wood by law. Our stove is modern, 5 yes old, so has secondary burn of gasses, hence cleaner. Logs cost us c£500 per year, so it's not a cheap option but it does look nice burning away in the Inglenook fireplace.
Thing is when you speak to log burner owners they all say they get free wood on walks and the like, but you usually have to store and season it for a long time before using it. Just how many walks do they go on to get a years supply of wood and then have space to store it? Imagine lot of people buy it in and supplement it with free wood but wether they season it properly is another thing entirely, and some probably get scrap wood to make it cheaper.
 
We've got one and I have to say - it's a filthy business using it as your main heat source - as we do. Daily cleaning, dust everywhere and that's before you light it. Having said all of that - it's bluddy lovely!!
 
Thing is when you speak to log burner owners they all say they get free wood on walks and the like, but you usually have to store and season it for a long time before using it. Just how many walks do they go on to get a years supply of wood and then have space to store it? Imagine lot of people buy it in and supplement it with free wood but wether they season it properly is another thing entirely, and some probably get scrap wood to make it cheaper.
Yep - First year we had ours - we burned logs that were not kiln dried. Luckily we got a chimney sweep around and he showed us the results of burning damp timber - let me tell you, it's not pretty and damages your chimney breast lining.
 
We've got one and I have to say - it's a filthy business using it as your main heat source - as we do. Daily cleaning, dust everywhere and that's before you light it. Having said all of that - it's bluddy lovely!!
I find ours fairly easy to clean and we don't have much dust to contend with - we do get our chimney swept religiously every Autumn. Also the ash is great for the garden
 
I find ours fairly easy to clean and we don't have much dust to contend with - we do get our chimney swept religiously every Autumn. Also the ash is great for the garden
When we first got it - burning the wrong timber was a nightmare - cleaning the glass was tough! But using the right wood and coal changed everything (apart from the dust). Now we just wet abit of kitchen roll, dip it in the old ash and hey presto - the glass is like new. Yes the ash is great for the garden if you can be bothered to dig it in!
 
Thing is when you speak to log burner owners they all say they get free wood on walks and the like, but you usually have to store and season it for a long time before using it. Just how many walks do they go on to get a years supply of wood and then have space to store it? Imagine lot of people buy it in and supplement it with free wood but wether they season it properly is another thing entirely, and some probably get scrap wood to make it cheaper.
I think that is the issue (free wood). I had to ask my son and neighbour to stop bringing me wood that they had cut from the golf course, jobs, etc. I have two log stores, one's got the last of a felled tree my son brought home and must have been there for three years drying. Before Christmas, there was a shortage of kiln dried logs and we used this for a few days. You could see the difference in the burn and soon blackened the fire glass windows up.

I buy my wood (kiln dried) from a licensed supplier and the prices have doubled. When we first got ours we paid £6.50 a bag for excel (smokeless briquette) and £45 for a ton of kiln dried hardwood. We now pay £13 a bag for the briquettes and £105 for a ton bag of kiln dried hardwood.
 
I think that is the issue (free wood). I had to ask my son and neighbour to stop bringing me wood that they had cut from the golf course, jobs, etc. I have two log stores, one's got the last of a felled tree my son brought home and must have been there for three years drying. Before Christmas, there was a shortage of kiln dried logs and we used this for a few days. You could see the difference in the burn and soon blackened the fire glass windows up.

I buy my wood (kiln dried) from a licensed supplier and the prices have doubled. When we first got ours we paid £6.50 a bag for excel (smokeless briquette) and £45 for a ton of kiln dried hardwood. We now pay £13 a bag for the briquettes and £105 for a ton bag of kiln dried hardwood.
Yes and we have found even the quality of kiln dried logs differ from supplier to supplier. We use Certainly Wood from Herefordshire who have found to be consistently the best supplier of kiln dried logs. Burn brilliantly and clean.
 
Thing is when you speak to log burner owners they all say they get free wood on walks and the like, but you usually have to store and season it for a long time before using it. Just how many walks do they go on to get a years supply of wood and then have space to store it? Imagine lot of people buy it in and supplement it with free wood but wether they season it properly is another thing entirely, and some probably get scrap wood to make it cheaper.
Really? We've had one for the last 10 years and it's never crossed my mind to go out and pick up wood - that's living opposite a park as well!

The wood shop at the bottom of the road suits me fine.
 
yep - agree with the above - timber quality varies from supplier to supplier. I buy by the trailer - They come with a trailer load in October and that more than sees me through til April (or whenever the fire goes out) That costs about £480!
 
Yes and we have found even the quality of kiln dried logs differ from supplier to supplier. We use Certainly Wood from Herefordshire who have found to be consistently the best supplier of kiln dried logs. Burn brilliantly and clean.
When I am stacking my wood I tend to pick out pieces that I can use for my woodturning. The wife goes mad and tells me just to stack it.

I made the snowman on the far right out of fire log 🪵.
 

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Anyone else get the feeling this is more about protecting the profits of energy companies as many are switching to burners or using them more to save on their gas bills, rather than protecting the environment.
If people are switching to wood burners to save on gas bills, then it’s a false economy.

Unless of course they’re burning something they shouldn’t be. Whether that’s due to the type of wood they’re burning, or where they’re sourcing it.

You can’t just nip out into the sticks and help yourself to wood. As most of the time it belongs to someone.
Even if you do have access to a source of natural wood, it’s got to be seasoned for a long time before you can burn it.

For the vast majority, the only practical source of wood is from a supplier of kiln dried logs.

Gas is considerably cheaper.
 
Yes and we have found even the quality of kiln dried logs differ from supplier to supplier. We use Certainly Wood from Herefordshire who have found to be consistently the best supplier of kiln dried logs. Burn brilliantly and clean.
Yeah we use the same wood, Zoo - it's noticeably more calorific than any other seasoned wood we've had (including stuff we've chopped ourselves and let season for 2-3 years). Well worth the extra, noting its massive inflation price-wise recently..

We've never chucked any old scrap wood in there, anything we come by gets left for ages, but I know plenty who burn literally anything (varnished/painted) and stink the place out, including wet wood straight off the tree, pretty much.
 
We live in the country and off grid, no gas - so it's oil heating supplemented by wood burner in lounge. Some good points on here, main thing with a wood burner is not to burn green wood, suppliers can't sell green wood by law. Our stove is modern, 5 yes old, so has secondary burn of gasses, hence cleaner. Logs cost us c£500 per year, so it's not a cheap option but it does look nice burning away in the Inglenook fireplace.
Yup, same here. No gas and the wood burner heats most of the house. Only burn wood with less than 10% moisture and have the chimney swept and stove serviced every year. In my experience twice seasoned wood is just as good as kiln dried.
I’ve no idea how it would be enforced? Working at height is not cheap if done correctly.
 
Yup, same here. No gas and the wood burner heats most of the house. Only burn wood with less than 10% moisture and have the chimney swept and stove serviced every year. In my experience twice seasoned wood is just as good as kiln dried.
I’ve no idea how it would be enforced? Working at height is not cheap if done correctly.
We live in a really old place in the sticks - Trying to heat it with Radiators is a a nightmare. We try to keep the fire going all the time to heat the living room and keep central heating to a minimum. It works for us and the heat that comes off the burner is really pleasant
 
Yup, same here. No gas and the wood burner heats most of the house. Only burn wood with less than 10% moisture and have the chimney swept and stove serviced every year. In my experience twice seasoned wood is just as good as kiln dried.
I’ve no idea how it would be enforced? Working at height is not cheap if done correctly.
Excuse my ignorance but what is 'twice seasoned' wood, RS?
 
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