[Kristen]

Split seasoned wood is readily available from the royal parks round here.

Hopefully the Royal Parks don't distribute their firewood by Cowboy; around here they are the only source of supply of firewood. When I had my boiler installed I had to buy "seasoned, dry, firewood" for the first season.  Only one supplier delivered wood that was suitable dry, the rest had to take theirs away after I tested a piece before they tipped their loads as far too wet - one of them was 50% moisture!! and supposedly "kiln dried Oak"

This is the sort of moisture meter I have:


http://shop.euroheat.co.uk/Misc2/13/Wood-Moisture-Meter.html

(No idea if that is a good price, or not, just using it as the first example out of Google )

[ilan]

I suppose I am a bit of a wet blanket as I would have thought the pay back period would be two long so if you have not had it fitted now then it would be at least near to the new year many reputable fitters are flat out booked monthes ahead. so I would put the money aside and get a portable fire that is realistic . If you go down the burner route then get a good make yes they are expensive but the cheap ones warp , dont control the burn rate so they over fire and crack they also burn fuel at twice the rate for the same heat output as they tend to be thinner . whilst there is a lot of talk of logs there is a lot of wood out there ie builders. carpenters, wood recyclers etc   

[RubyR3d]

We have a pioneer clearview 400 that can be used on a narrowboat. It is multi fuel nd though we don't live in a smokeless zone you can use it in the burner.  We use logs and we have a delivery of offcuts from a friend in the kitchen making business every week. It is a 5 kilowatt and heats a large farmhouse when the doors are left open upstairs and down. They are about £1200.

[compostqueen]

The british made ones are good.  Jotul is norwegian.  I used this site to choose mine.  It narrowed down my choice to 3 stoves, which made life so much easier   www.stovesonline.co.uk

I had to have a smokeless one too.  I ended up with an Esse and love it.  My mate has a  clearview and that looks really good too, and she is really pleased with it   
I bough a temperature gauge for mine off ebay, which is magnetic and atttaches to the flu pipe and it shows if the fire is too hot etc 
I am using my own logs at the moment, sycamore felled from my own garden, which gives me a warm glow 

[mumofstig]

The Aga Little Wenlock is a nice defra approved stove at a reasonable price
http://www.elyboatchandlers.com/our-range-of-stoves/little-wenlock-classic-se-stove-defra-smoke-exempt-by-aga

[compostqueen]

Our chimney breast is unusually shallow so we only had 3 to choose from.  Ours is wide but not very deep.  There are some lovely ones so have a good browse of that site Surbie.  We had the thicker chimney liner by the way, which gets surrounded by insulation material to prevent heat loss. I think it was vermiculite

[RubyR3d]

Funnily enough my other half has just bought a convector fan that sits on the top and projects the hot air out further. It is silent and beautifully made. Mind you it cost £70. Boys and there toys.

[ugly1]

I have a robin five wood burner/multi fuel stove (stovas make it I think) and live in the Mitcham area of south west london, couldn't do without it. First couple of years actually got a small rebate of the gas company, first times ever. Still my area is one of these smoke free zones and I have used oak, pine and ash. I also use a homefuel coal. Found it best to combine some wood and coal, looks good and seems to warm up quicker.

The stove was DEFRA approved, and being in a 1930's house, just had the chimney checked that it would draw the smoke properly and swept. No liner needed, was quoted £3,000 for liner alone so it pays to shop around.

Like the idea of the fan though, have heard good things about the amount of extra heat they blow into the room.

[Willow_Warren]

I'm so undecided as to what to do.

For some reason I don't feel that confident in the comany that came round and did the quote so I told them that I didn't want to go ahead.  They said that I didn't need the chimney to be lined - but he said that without performing any test?  When I queries he put a smoke bomb through one of the air bricks in the chimney and then looked into the roof to see if anything came out, is this sufficient?  He didn't really explain how wide he would be making the opening...

Anyhow a bit back to the drawing board with finding a company! And still depating over spending the money.  If I don't get it done soon I may as well wait until next year!

H x

[grinling]

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/

This place fantastic for info and prices are quite good as well.

[Dave NE]

. Found it best to combine some wood and coal, looks good and seems to warm up quicker.

From what I have read on other forums, burning wood and coal together causes sulphuric acid which will rot any flue liner, take care, Dave ps love our Dunsley Highlander 5

[MalcW]

I am pleased for you Surbie that you can have the burner in.  I love mine, and because it has a flat top, I bought a le creusot kettle that I can use on it, and I have cooked stews and things on it in the winter, saves a bit of electric!

Damn, never thought of that. Ours is a Stovax, but it's an inset, so we can't but things on top.