[poultrygeist]

We have 2 big trees at the end of the drive. Although I'm not looking forward to when we need to have them trimmed back, it will keep us in forewood for at least one winter.

Rob

[Larkshall]

My neighbour has recently (last Summer, 2007) pulled out about 2 acres of bush to use the land for horse paddocks and machinery compound/workshop. I have been busy pulling out and cutting up tree trunks up to 5ins diameter. I reckon I have enough at present for two to three Winters open fires. Still a hell of a big heap of trees there.

[Poolfield2]

We looked at trying to be self sufficient in wood to be the only source of heat for our house and an online calulator thingy said for a family sized house we would need 5 acres of woodland :shock:  :shock: and I should think about a month to coppice and cut it as well. Infact we would be so busy outdoors we wouldn't need to heat the house :!:  

[Larkshall]

I don't think it is possible to be self sufficient using wood as fuel. These days people expect the whole house to be heated, but when wood was the only fuel available, only the actual rooms in use would have been heated, wood was burnt on a bed of ashes (which makes for a steadier burn and heat. Going even further back in history, the dwelling only consisted of one room, this was the case even more recently in Holland (well into the 19th century). Remember that life was not very comfortable those days, it was really just an existence.You only have to look at the cast iron bedroom fireplaces in Victorian terraced houses to realise this. Open fireplaces these days are 22 to 24 inches, those bedroom fireplaces were 10 to 12 inches.

Whilst we have Calor central heating, I am experimenting with using a wood fire in the main room during the evening (or all day when very cold) other times we will be using a fan heater when a room is in use. This is due to the high cost of gas (from previous experience, it will cost £50 per week during bad weather), and our bungalow is very small by today's standards. Water heating is another problem, the biggest waste of fuel is keeping a cylinder full of hot water 24/7, I have an electrically heated shower and use this to supply hot water for the wash basin. I am looking to install an instant water heater in the kitchen. Although we have some insulation, it is below today's standard and cannot be upgraded. So the Government insulation scheme is of no use to us.

[Poolfield2]

We lived in this house with just one woodburner for 3 winters, I can't say it was fun but we just kept a lot of clothes on, take off outdoor coat and put on indoor coat. We have spent the last 6 years dry lining the walls and adding insulation to external walls, double glazing and insulation in the floors. Ooooooh so messy but now we can heat the whole house from 2 woodburners and the warmth of the chimney through the centre of the house keeps the bedrooms warm. The bathrooms will need undertile heating in winter and I will develop even bigger muscles from heaving wood but it's brilliant. Most of the wood for this winter is from the DIY, old rotten floor joists etc.

[Trillium]

Don't know if it's available in the UK but over here we have a number of 'on demand' devices - water heaters and water softeners being the primary ones. By their name, they supply the item literally on demand rather than from storage units. But the catch to on demand water heaters is that water cannot come from a well because well water is about 10 degrees C cooler than municpal water and the heater elements cannot handle even this seemingly smaller difference in temperature. The water softeners look like traditional softeners but are regulated strictly by how much you use rather than fixed cycles.

We hoped to get rid of our water heater but we're on well water  :cry:  so we can't do it. But our rental water heater was almost at it's lease end and we were thinking of outright buying it at that point, when the water heater developed a small leak at the bottom. The company had to replace it with a brand new, now better insulated one, and had to respect the lease. Naturally, we bought it very cheaply 2 months later when the lease was up. Chalk up one for us    

As for heating with wood, we had one house where wood was all we used, but our house was a slightly different design where the living room ceiling sloped up past a second floor hallway so it was open to the second floor which got heated along with all the lower floor except the few rooms 'to the back' of the woodstove. It was fine except in very windy winter days when the whole house plummeted into cold because all the hot stove air got suck out the chimney despite the damper being closed. Brrr...still remember those days.

[Poolfield2]

We occasionally have a day when the wind comes from the wrong direction and too strong and the smoke comes down the chimney and we all get kippered. We have tried a revolving cowl and extended the chimney once already but I think we have more to do.

[poultrygeist]

We've only lit the fire when it was windy a few days ago and it was a bit smoky then.
It used to draw brilliantly before I put the pot on. Now it's a bit more gentle but at least the wood and coal last longer.

Rob

[Larkshall]

We occasionally have a day when the wind comes from the wrong direction and too strong and the smoke comes down the chimney and we all get kippered. We have tried a revolving cowl and extended the chimney once already but I think we have more to do.

There could be several reasons for this.
Do you have any  high land, high trees, high buildings nearby? These can cause a downdraught which stop the smoke coming out of the chimney temporarily.

When you light a fire, make sure you get a good blaze going to heat the flue, this gets the draught going. Once warmed up you shouldn't normally have any trouble. If you do, you will probably need to have a Tee type pot (like a pot with a rounded ridge tile on top). Some old types of anti-downdraught pot had a top which had louvre slots in them, I don't think they make them now.

[JulieSh]

We live in the west of Ireland deep in rural farmimg country....

Although we have central heating, it's source is our Stanley range, which I'm getting to grips with for cooking too (only bought the place 4 weeks ago!)

Our main source of fuel for the range is peat turf - I'm still amazed that blocks of dried mud burn like it does... can you tell I'm a UK townie?  
The best thing about burning turf is that we have nearly 4 acres of bog with the house - will cost us approx £180 a year to have someone cut it for us & that's our fuel bills sorted!

Anyway, there is a small 35 acre forest on 2 sides of our gardens & the previous owners moved as many trees as possible into the gardens as they could! Pretty? yes, but nothing else grows, it's VERY shady & extremely wet!!

So, earlier this week, I treated hubby to a petrol chainsaw..... this weekend will see him logging the trees he's already cut & then we get to grips with embarking on the major felling work around the garden.

I've already decided that in several places, the trees that were planted in 'pairs' will be used to make natural benches.... I hope that next year, our poor ground will be a little drier & that the fruit trees will finally have enough light to produce fruit!!
Julie.

[Trillium]

It is possible to be self sufficient in firewood. A religious community called Mennonites, and a similar, Amish, use only wood to heat and cook. But they buy farms only with at least 5 acre stands of wood which they'll carefully cull and save every useful bit. The wood is very dry before burning so only a piece or two at a time is needed. And, the stoves they use are very efficient so the heat is fully used rather than flying up the chimney. In-chimneypipe flues are also used here to control stove heat as well as wind suction.

Larkshall is right about getting a very good strong startup fire going which will draw up the smoke and keep it drawing. A hot fire properly heats up pipes/chimney bricks as well as the draw air which will continue to go up rather than down. Only near gale force winds will pull up too much hot air and areas of very low pressure can sometimes push smoke back down. If you suspect the latter is your problem, look outside and see if your smoke is falling downward rather than up.