Burning wet logs / woods

[Ystranc]

I assume that you don't classify a heating system relying on natural gas, lpg, or coal fired power stations as a "cleaner heating system"? Surely no-one thinks that burning fossil fuels is an improvement over short cycle coppice firewood?

It depends on your definition of “clean.” I burn wood as it is my only sustainable option because I’m one of the rural 5%, however I understand the urban obsession with particulate concentrations. When there are several houses with wood burners in close proximity it can get a bit much. As a constant wood burner for our heating and hot water I’m the first to admit that it creates dust and smoke so it definitely ain’t clean, it is however environmentally sound and is off set by the fact that I’m growing timber far faster than I burn it making wood burning a long term sustainable option.

 

[British Red]

It depends on your definition of “clean.” I burn wood as it is my only sustainable option because I’m one of the rural 5%, however I understand the urban obsession with particulate concentrations. When there are several houses with wood burners in close proximity it can get a bit much. As a constant wood burner for our heating and hot water I’m the first to admit that it creates dust and smoke so it definitely ain’t clean, it is however environmentally sound and is off set by the fact that I’m growing timber far faster than I burn it making wood burning a long term sustainable option.

Precisely so. It may be dusty but, done right, it's environmentally sound. If there is an issue with lots of people crammed in together burning wood burners, then there's certainly a question to be answered - but I would suggest that the issue there could be considered to be one of the wrong population density rather than the wrong fuel (in the same way that there is an attempt to offshore vehicle emissions through the use of EVs)

 

[Suffolkrafter]

An external flue pipe is the worst possible option as it will be very cold and initially refuse to draw.

I can vouch for this. We got a stove put in a few years ago with an external flue. Nevermind not drawing, it has an actual downdraft. Air currents seem to go down the flue and then up theoug the house. We have to get an inferno going near instantly to make sure the flow reverses as quickly as possible. It's a tricky beast to light. Reality is that the house just doesn't need a stove.

 

[Ystranc]

I can vouch for this. We got a stove put in a few years ago with an external flue. Nevermind not drawing, it has an actual downdraft. Air currents seem to go down the flue and then up theoug the house. We have to get an inferno going near instantly to make sure the flow reverses as quickly as possible. It's a tricky beast to light. Reality is that the house just doesn't need a stove.

You can pre heat it using an electric heat gun to warm the flue which is a much cheaper option than the fan assisted flues. I tend to wait until later in the day until the sun has been on ours and light it using tiny kindling and fat wood..never paper because it won’t generate enough quick heat and makes huge quantities of smoke.

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Heat gun is a great idea. In a moment of madness I once tried a hair drier, which was a terrible idea and led to a lot of hoovering. I use a small handful of those wood wool firelighters which do the trick. I grew up with an open fire and a wood burner turned out to be a learning curve.

Wood is also depressingly expensive so I don't often use it. I'm envious of the people on the forum who have access the plenty of trees.

 

[Ystranc]

Heat gun is a great idea. In a moment of madness I once tried a hair drier, which was a terrible idea and led to a lot of hoovering. I use a small handful of those wood wool firelighters which do the trick. I grew up with an open fire and a wood burner turned out to be a learning curve.

Wood is also depressingly expensive so I don't often use it. I'm envious of the people on the forum who have access the plenty of trees.

Either expensive or hard work but there is nothing like the feeling of looking at a freshly filled log stack or lighting the fire on a frosty day.

 

[Kadushu]

I bought some of those artificial logs which are basically chipboard in a tubular shape. I slice them about 3/4" thick, like slicing an arctic roll, put them in a biscuit tin with a good seal and splash on a load of white spirit which all soaks in. This makes simple but effective firelighters which aren't too lively, i.e. they catch readily but won't take your eyebrows off. A quarter of a slice will burn for several minutes.

 

[neoaliphant]

I can vouch for this. We got a stove put in a few years ago with an external flue. Nevermind not drawing, it has an actual downdraft. Air currents seem to go down the flue and then up theoug the house. We have to get an inferno going near instantly to make sure the flow reverses as quickly as possible. It's a tricky beast to light. Reality is that the house just doesn't need a stove.

I had the same problem with an esse, the flue went through lower roof then up the side of the house. we had downdraughts untill we had a 1m extension put on, that made a huge difference. also balancing air pressures in the kitchen with the right window depending on winds. havent had a problem in 8 years since.

 

[neoaliphant]

Wood is also depressingly expensive so I don't often use it. I'm envious of the people on the forum who have access the plenty of trees.

It does depend where you get it from. i get most of mine from longleat forestry, its done by weight on a weighbridge. £173/tonne , a tonne is about 2m3 or 2.5 builders bags, they ahve kiln dried for hobby fires etc, but vastly more expensive, and your paying for a gas kiln so kind of defeats the object of using sustainable wood. and thats mostly for urban fireplaces. theres so many restrictions and certificates for wood selelrs now a lot have stopped selling...

i always top up with wind blown roadkill wood, so the storms are handy, why you should always keep a saw in teh car, passers by think im keeping the road safe and drivable, if i wear relective vest i look official.

ive seen people convert oil/gas ranges to electric, but unless you have heavy solar, very expensive to run still.

wood range and fireplaces cost about £600/year if all wood bought for 3 bed rural cottage, with lareg amount of hoem cooking. i know a 7 bed cottage that spends £20,000 a year on oil!! and that was before the increase.

my fathers insulated small bungalow they spend about £1500 on electric heating...

 

[Suffolkrafter]

I had the same problem with an esse, the flue went through lower roof then up the side of the house. we had downdraughts untill we had a 1m extension put on, that made a huge difference. also balancing air pressures in the kitchen with the right window depending on winds. havent had a problem in 8 years since.

We got ours extended too. Same for us, we found that shutting the living room door and opening the window somewhat reverses the downdraft.

 

[henchy3rd]

Once you have enough heat into a open fire it will burn wet wood though it would produce a fair amount of smoke so you need dry wood to get the heat up first. You can split wet wood to get to the inner wood which should be dry if it's not too thin and if no dry wood is available.

A good tip is to place the wet wood close to the fire to help dry it out and pre-heat it as cold wood is hard / harder to light. I hear of the same trick being performed with home wood stoves if your wood pile lives outside, bring in the cold wood from outside and lay it next to the stove to pre-heat it before it goes into the stove, cold wood will just suck heat out of the fire / stove if you put it in while cold.

However, don’t build the logs up to close to a home fire & definitely don’t dry out under the stove or on top..leave at least 6”
I’ve come back to find mine smouldering away, so I was lucky, unless you want to wake up dead.

 

[Ystranc]

However, don’t build the logs up to close to a home fire & definitely don’t dry out under the stove or on top..leave at least 6”
I’ve come back to find mine smouldering away, so I was lucky, unless you want to wake up dead.

Absolutely right for the majority of wood burners/fires, however one of my fires is a coalbrookdale Severn (named after the river) this stove has a wrap around boiler with a secondary iron skin which gets hot to the touch but not quite hot enough to burn your hand. There is a hot plate on top which can double as a flu pipe exit and the front doors get hot enough to radiate heat into the room. This stove runs my central heating.
Earlier in the thread it was mentioned that using the warming oven of a Rayburn could dry wood, I would add that doing that regularly causes the oven to rust, leaving the door slightly ajar will help prevent moisture building up and rusting the oven.

 

[neoaliphant]

Absolutely right for the majority of wood burners/fires, however one of my fires is a coalbrookdale Severn (named after the river) this stove has a wrap around boiler with a secondary iron skin which gets hot to the touch but not quite hot enough to burn your hand. There is a hot plate on top which can double as a flu pipe exit and the front doors get hot enough to radiate heat into the room. This stove runs my central heating.
Earlier in the thread it was mentioned that using the warming oven of a Rayburn could dry wood, I would add that doing that regularly causes the oven to rust, leaving the door slightly ajar will help prevent moisture building up and rusting the oven.

i think i only used the 3rd oven to dry wood occasionally in an emergency, and door was open

a range can give loads of excess heat not used for cooking, main inside wood box is a few feet away, no fire risk but its warmed to help dry out, any outide wood in winter can get some moisture from morning dew/mist so often my wood comes in at least a few days before, we got a seperate stove for heating as we needed the 3 ovens, its handy for drying clothes and all sorts.

Another use for 3rd oven, keeping baby piglets warm, or lambs, as im sure more than 1 farmer has done