Friday 17 February 2012

Wood Burner.


Wood burning stoves are certainly one of the 'must haves' of the age. From the tiny croft in Scotland, to the grand Georgian mansion in Chelsea, everyone must have their wood burning stove.

For me, their main asset is that one can light up, then leave the house knowing that the fire is 'contained'; something we could never do with our open fire.

But as far as efficiency is concerned, I have my doubts. Ours, for example, needs to be FILLED with logs before enough heat is generated to notice the difference. Once everything is really hot (this takes at least 20 mins) it works very well. With the old open fire, the heat was almost instantaneous, with a large area of warmth being created within minutes; although probably about 80% of it eventually went skywards.

Another advantage is that a wood burner will burn just about anything. We mostly use Chestnut because it's half the price of oak, but in fact most dry wood will do (except pine).

So, which do I prefer? Well it has to be the stove, and I think the dogs would agree with me; but there was something so nice about a couple of metre-long logs resting on a pair of ancient fire-dogs, and the haunting smell of oak smoke.

21 comments:

  1. very cozy picture. I love a good fire, open or stove.

    Do you have 'no burn' days? When our air gets very polluted, there is a ban on burning fires.

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  2. Your choice of wood - 'Chestnut's only good they say if long dry years it's laid away' according to the old folk rhyme - could be why you need so much, and why it takes a while to get going. We haven't tried chestnut, but of the varieties we have tried it seems very accurate. A while ago I posted a version of the poem here. http://applebeesatpeartree.blogspot.com/2012/01/woodcutter-and-millers-daughter.html

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  3. Elaine. All those pictures, including the 3 hens, could have been taken chez nous. Although your stack of logs puts ours to shame.

    We tend to leave the Chestnut just 2 years to dry. I think the slightly hotter climate here might speed the process.

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  4. We have an open fire, with a stove planned for the extension. The only problem with the open fire is the spitting, despite the fireguard, bits seem to find their way over and round. Nothing like the smell of singed dog :-)
    I am looking forward to getting the stove and seeing how we do with that.

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  5. gas logs for me. No chopping, splitting, hauling, cleaning, etc... just lie on the couch and push the remote; Voila, toasty flames to warm the heart. As for lack of smell, I have an incontinent corgi that is the ultimate challenge for "Fabreeze", to take care of that.

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  6. There is nothing quite like a cozy log fire. The dogs look happy.

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  7. We had a wood burning stove installed last year and at first I missed the open fire, we burn mostly ash and beech dependant on what the log merchant has, but we do collect and chop our own as well. I must say that 'the beloved' is besotted with the stove and claims it is the best thing he has ever bought

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  8. I hope a fire lasts all day; there seems to be no path through the dogs to replenish the logs!

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  9. My daughter has a wonderful wood burning stove and it is oh, so cozy in her home. I have a propane fireplace and all I have to do is flip a switch. I have to admit that in this part of my life, I love the convenience. No muss, no fuss, but yet, there is something missing.

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  10. I meant to comment yesterday about dear Monty's pink nose. Our Vet recently told us the reason our favorite Golden's nose turned from black to pink was because he was being fed and watered using plastic bowls. Something about the plastic interacting with the black pigmentation of the nose. Who knew? And frankly, I'm still not convinced. So, just for the sake of research, has Monty been using plastic bowls?

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    Replies
    1. No, never! I wonder if stainless steel has the same effect?

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    2. Hmmmm. Charles was switched over to stainless steel bowls six months ago but is still in the "pink" nose wise. The mystery continues....

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  11. Especially for you Cro, a Breton song about gathering firewood, sung by Glastonbaury band Dragonsfly
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJpAxaVX9Zc&feature=player_detailpage#t=870s

    Kath x

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    Replies
    1. Great band. I'm just sorry I don't speak Breton.

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  12. A fire makes things oh so cozy. We have a fireplace, and the chimney is short enough that we can even burn pine in there.

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  13. I have a woodstove now, and like it very much. At my other place, we had a coal stove, and i prefer it to the woodstove because it required 3 minutes' worth of maintenance a day, once you got the first fire going. The downside was that i couldn't use the coal ash; whereas i've been able to spread wood ashes in the garden.

    At both places, we've used an Ecofan® and it's marvellous. The heat makes the blades go round, and the warm air is carried much farther than it would be otherwise.

    megan

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  14. I can't sing the praises of wood burners loudly enough. We have two, one of them in a room with a high, raftered ceiling that used to have a large open fire. We could be a glowing pink when facing the fire, but still have a very cold back. Now the whole room is warm and also safe. An added bonus is that with a puff of the bellows the embers will be glowing the following morning and the temperature in the room will not have dropped too dramatically overnight.

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  15. Well you know Cro that I am going to miss ours terribly..the dogs look so peaceful and absolutely spoilt lol...I am coming back as a dog next time..

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  16. The stove does look very cosy. We have an open fire in our 'front room'. I would say about 95% of the heat goes up the chimney, but it is nice to sit by this time of the year.

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  17. I wish I had one. Henry's missing out!

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