Help Swapping gas fire for wood burner

[Mabs]

Contemplating doing this, few queries;

anyone done it ?
is it worth it ?
whats the usual cost for the whole lot, chimney lining et al ?
if so what sort of rating/output is best for a semi of standard size ?

any other thoughts, suggestions, potato ?

 

[TdC]

at a guess, @Tom will know

I'd love one but I'm spoiled by the uber low maintenance that is city central heating. I love my heated floors If I ever buy my dream house it will certainly contain a fire place.

 

[caLLous]

A kilowatt calculator is a pretty reliable way to get an idea of what output you should aim for.

 

[Trem]

I am also thinking of one, mainly to burn left over body parts but also for chestnut roasting.

But yeah, answers to the first post would be smashing.

 

[Job]

You will need wood you know, gas just comes in a pipe.
Getting a wood burner is like replacing your kitchen tap with a device that screws on top of a water bottle.

 

[Olgaline]

You will need wood you know, gas just comes in a pipe.
Getting a wood burner is like replacing your kitchen tap with a device that screws on top of a water bottle.

It's a lot cousier though, which I'm guessing is the general idea @Mabs ?

 

[ECA]

Wood burning fires are really really terrible for you, it's worse than smoking for what it puts out.

http://www.epa.gov/airquality/community/details/i-woodstoves_addl_info.html

 

[russell]

Wood burning fires are really really terrible for you, it's worse than smoking for what it puts out.

http://www.epa.gov/airquality/community/details/i-woodstoves_addl_info.html

How depressing ECA!
No idea how much it costs to put one in Mabs, however I would never have a home without one.. Warm and cosy... Heats whole house and very cheap as we are given the wood. The smell is delicious and you save on central heating bills.

 

[Tom]

It's a nice idea if you don't mind having a big pile of wood taking up space, and if you also don't mind having to move that wood from one place to the other, while cleaning up bits of crap that fall from your hands as you do it. It's also a nice idea if you have an unreliable gas supply, or if your central heating boiler is rubbish.

It's a bit like having a classic car as your main form of transport. Looks great, feels amazing - until it stops working. And then you find the boot floor has rotted away, the heating controls are as much use as a fart in the wind, and it crumples like paper when hit by a modern car.

I wouldn't bother, gas central heating is a million times more efficient. Also, would you be happy leaving a fire unattended while you nip to the shops?

IMO they're useful for people who don't have mains gas. For those who do, they're an anachronism.

 

[Raven]

Erm...he isn't talking about replacing his gas central heating, just his gas fire...

They are great for occasional use, much better than a gas fire, most wood burners radiate heat whereas gas fires are convection with a little radiation. If you get a convection wood burner they are probably better I think as it does both better than gas.

However, it is not something you can just turn on and off if you feel a bit nippy, but a decent one can be left alone quite happily when you go to bed, or go out or whatever.

Also if you get proper ventilation (Get your chimney sorted) then all that health and safety bollocks regarding teh evul fumeS!11 is pretty much meaningless.

 

[Mabs]

yea, the heating is used as and when needed, the gas fire gets used for 3 months around xmas when its bloody cold and needs constant warming.

 

[Trem]

Let me expand - we don't have any fires in our house, we have fire places that are blocked up, the one in the front room house AV equipment with a telly mounted on the wall above it. The fireplace in the backroom is just plain blocked up with a vent in it but even though it has that there is still damp spots showing on the plaster so a nice way to kill two birds with one stone would be to put a nice little wood burner/fire in there as a feature and also to sort the damp out. I am ripping it all out after Xmas that is for sure so something will have to go in there and I would rather it be something like this rather than bricking in another one of my children.

 

[Mabs]

bricking in another one of my children.

but you could swap from AV to Audio-with-no-visual which would be an improvement ?

 

[Job]

I went around to a house that was replacing a gas fire/central heating unit with a boiler and wood burner when we started taking the fire out it was so old the entire fire insert was a cast iron vessel that simply heated the house and hot water by being wrapped around the fire...so we just took out the gas part and burned logs instead..he had a lovely open wood fire that heated his hot water perfectly and heated the rads enough after a few hours to keep the whole house toasty....and utterly technology free apart from one simple pump...awesome

 

[Tom]

Let me expand - we don't have any fires in our house, we have fire places that are blocked up, the one in the front room house AV equipment with a telly mounted on the wall above it. The fireplace in the backroom is just plain blocked up with a vent in it but even though it has that there is still damp spots showing on the plaster so a nice way to kill two birds with one stone would be to put a nice little wood burner/fire in there as a feature and also to sort the damp out. I am ripping it all out after Xmas that is for sure so something will have to go in there and I would rather it be something like this rather than bricking in another one of my children.

Right, if you have damp spots on the chimney breast then you have more serious issues, because extra heating would just mask the problem. Damp, mixed with soot from old coal/wood fires, eats away at the mortar holding your chimney up. So do yourself a favour, forget the wood burner and get a builder in to fix the problem, because it won't go away by itself. Of course you could be suffering damp if you're not allowing fresh air into the house, but considering the damp's location, I doubt that's the case.

If your house is cold even with the central heating on then I'm afraid you either have a faulty boiler or a poorly-designed system. Or maybe your house is just badly insulated, which is another problem that can be tackled at far less cost than installing a whole new heating system.

Last year I solved my back room always being cold by doing a combination of insulating both ceiling and floor spaces, and installing the correct radiators for the room. Now the place is like a furnace.

 

[Trem]

Right, if you have damp spots on the chimney breast then you have more serious issues, because extra heating would just mask the problem. Damp, mixed with soot from old coal/wood fires, eats away at the mortar holding your chimney up. So do yourself a favour, forget the wood burner and get a builder in to fix the problem, because it won't go away by itself. Of course you could be suffering damp if you're not allowing fresh air into the house, but considering the damp's location, I doubt that's the case.

If your house is cold even with the central heating on then I'm afraid you either have a faulty boiler or a poorly-designed system. Or maybe your house is just badly insulated, which is another problem that can be tackled at far less cost than installing a whole new heating system.

Last year I solved my back room always being cold by doing a combination of insulating both ceiling and floor spaces, and installing the correct radiators for the room. Now the place is like a furnace.

Boiler (combi) is fine, it is quite new and is checked often, the house is not cold at all.

I think when the fire place was boarded up it wasn't done right and I am pretty sure the plasterer left lots of his old shit there, but because we were quite young and naive we didn't think about it. I need to rip the plaster off and have a look whatever I decide. It is driving me mental just sitting here looking at it every night. Of course it coud be an issue with the house connected to us next door as well but I won't know that until I get the hammer out.

The damp spots only show up in the winter if that gives you any further pointers as to what it might be @Tom

 

[russell]

Erm...he isn't talking about replacing his gas central heating, just his gas fire...

They are great for occasional use, much better than a gas fire, most wood burners radiate heat whereas gas fires are convection with a little radiation. If you get a convection wood burner they are probably better I think as it does both better than gas.

However, it is not something you can just turn on and off if you feel a bit nippy, but a decent one can be left alone quite happily when you go to bed, or go out or whatever.

Also if you get proper ventilation (Get your chimney sorted) then all that health and safety bollocks regarding teh evul fumeS!11 is pretty much meaningless.

Yep not as a replacement to Central heating... Just cuts down on bills as it clicks off when the open fire us on full pelt. Logs go in the wood shed and get transferred into the log basket so not that much effort. Go for it Trem, a brilliant idea and the dogs will love it. Just DONT DO IT YOURSELF!

 

[Jupitus]

Last year I solved my back room always being cold ..<snip>... Now the place is like a furnace.

*giggles stupidly*

 

[Tom]

The damp spots only show up in the winter if that gives you any further pointers as to what it might be @Tom

They appear in winter because it's colder and wetter in winter, which means that damp in your chimney takes longer to dry out and therefore has more time to get in the house.

Damp in chimneys is acidic, you need to sort that out.

 

[Raven]

It is also down to the fact it is colder outside than in and you will get condensation, much like on windows.

 

[Trem]

DONT DO IT YOURSELF!

Who was it who sorted your laptop again?

 

[Jupitus]

Who was it who sorted your laptop again?

Didn't involve power tools, did it?

 

[Trem]

Didn't involve power tools, did it?

Yes it did

(I was drilling as I typed)

 

[TdC]

Just DONT DO IT YOURSELF!

worst post ever. Trem SHOULD do it himself. where else will the Best Thread Of 2015 come from?

 

[russell]

worst post ever. Trem SHOULD do it himself. where else will the Best Thread Of 2015 come from?

True. I was selfishly thinking of Samm and the kids.

 

[caLLous]

You're joking aren't you? I bet they can hardly wait for each new @Trem adventure.

 

[Trem]

Oh no, I definitely heard Samms heart drop when I mentioned it and I did say to her "I want to see how many jobs I can leave half done this year". I have half done the path on the side of the house, I have took some of the ceiling off in the utility room and left it and now I want to do this. I get bored you see, I'm like Homer when he see's a dog with a fluffy tail.

 

[old.user4556]

Set yourself on fire, and you'll be warm for the rest of your life!!

 

[sayward]

Having lived above one and nearly been gassed I have to say bad for the environment.