vegplot
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Downsizing from coal to woodFor the last 10 years or so we've been burning anthracite in a Morso stove. This has supplied us with sufficient heat and hot water even during the coldest months. We're not big users of hot water but having a warm house was nice when we came home from work. We could keep the thing burning for days on end without a relight. However, as coal prices soar and the realisation that were were simply adding to our carbon footprint we've recently moved over to wood.
We live in row of terraces house with no direct road access except a common footpath. It was fine for coal deliveries but makes humping logs (no sniggers please) around a bit of a chore. We keep a supply on our plot, which we're going to build on, it's 23 miles away but is our only option for storage at the moment as its simply not practical to store wood at home.
The transistion to wood has been pretty good so far but the obvious down side is the house is cold as the fire is no longer going overnight or for most of the day but we should be burning far less fuel and our nett carbon impact is significantly reduced. I've always preferd to burn wood, I've grown up with it so it's nice to get back to it.
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woodsprite
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If you had a clearview you could keep your stove running day and night. Not much use to you now I know but maybe for your new build. A wood pellet boiler would be even more efficient.
Hubby could advise on either by pm if you'd like. 
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sean
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Will it not stay in overnight if wanted? Our Clearview does and it's only one of the little ones. Or you could burn a little bit of coal sometimes and we'll promise not to tell anyone.
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Jonnyboy
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We struggle to keep our woodburner going all night. at least at a point where it produces any worthwhile heat. But in a well insulated house it ain't a big deal
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sean
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We're not running a boiler off ours which must make a difference, I guess.
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gil
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The only way I used to get the stove to keep in overnight at my previous cottage was with coal - with wood only, it was burnt out by morning.
The woodburner here is precisely that - wood only.
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RichardW
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We started on anthracite but moved over to wood on both the rayburn & the front room stove. The rayburn is easy to keep in overnight but the front room fire even if stacked to bursting, with all vents closed wont stay in for more than 3-4 hours. Not a problem due to the heat store effect of the fireplace which stays warm.
Justme
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Jonnyboy
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| sean wrote: | | We're not running a boiler off ours which must make a difference, I guess. |
Probably, I read somewhere that too many radiators can cause your fire to burn to fiercely, but I've never grasped 'why'
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Mr BlueSky
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| sean wrote: | | We're not running a boiler off ours which must make a difference, I guess. |
I have found that makes a big difference. Our stove used to stay in overnight no problem but since we have filled the tank with water to heat the rads it is not so easy. We have it found a balance now between keeping the rads warm and not burning off all the wood but it has taken some getting used to and it still will go out on windy nights.
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Treacodactyl
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Re: Downsizing from coal to wood | vegplot wrote: | | The transistion to wood has been pretty good so far but the obvious down side is the house is cold as the fire is no longer going overnight or for most of the day but we should be burning far less fuel and our nett carbon impact is significantly reduced. I've always preferd to burn wood, I've grown up with it so it's nice to get back to it. |
What wood are you burning, have you tried using something like well seasoned oak heatwood overnight? Does it take a long time to come up to heat when it's relit?
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vegplot
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Ours has a back boiler which serves a couple of radiators, it's a mid sized multi-fuel stove but I don't think it's the best design for wood. We're burning a variety of hardwoods including ash, oak, and sycamore. The problem we have is the house itself which is stone and loses heat pretty quickly (although it has a high thermal mass it it never really builds up enough reserve). I don't see a problem with wood in our new build, in fact my initial calcualtions show that we'll only need 3kW.
Our biggest problem will be trying to ensure a viable supply of wood.
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vegplot
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| Jonnyboy wrote: | | sean wrote: | | We're not running a boiler off ours which must make a difference, I guess. |
Probably, I read somewhere that too many radiators can cause your fire to burn to fiercely, but I've never grasped 'why' |
To keep a fire in a firebox it needs to be maintained at a certain temperature. If that drops, by taking away heat, the fire has to burn hotter to compensate and therefore uses more fuel. This is why sizing heat losses is very important with boilers and also explain why boilerless burners can stay fired overnight.
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mochyn
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Our very small Clearview stays in (on wood) everynight almost every night. I'd like to run the Rayburn (an aged Royal with a boiler but no radiators) on wood too, but I worry that it would go out most nights. Mind you, I'm not sure why that would be a problem, now I think about it!
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vegplot
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| mochyn wrote: | | Our very small Clearview stays in (on wood) everynight almost every night. I'd like to run the Rayburn (an aged Royal with a boiler but no radiators) on wood too, but I worry that it would go out most nights. Mind you, I'm not sure why that would be a problem, now I think about it! |
We hope to get a Rayburn Royal for the new build.
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mochyn
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I was lusting over new Rayburns in a shop the other day.
If I only had a spare £4000!
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vegplot
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| mochyn wrote: | I was lusting over new Rayburns in a shop the other day.
If I only had a spare £4000! |
I know. Horrendous price. I was looking at reconditioned ones yesterday online with 12 months warranty which retailed for around £2,200.
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