Any idea what percentage of rated output a woodburner will average?

[Woodworks]

Your climate is distinctly different in Devon. Winter is much longer here, a fair bit colder and we burn through the summer months too. We've friends in Uffculme and my brother's in Exeter. It's like a different country down there!

 

That being said, you should try keeping an old house warm in Aviemore - that's another level again.

 

We do like a warm house, but it's fairly well insulated (usual loft insulation) and warm for it's age. Our previous cottage was far harder to heat.

 

Sure Devon is not as cold as Scotland but up here on the moors it's not as warm as the likes of Exeter either. On the other hand they can build homes in Finland that don't need any heating at all!

 

Can you fit internal insulation? It's how we insulated our barn. Thought your Mrs was an architect doing eco buildings but maybe I have got that wrong?

[Big J]

Sure Devon is not as cold as Scotland but up here on the moors it's not as warm as the likes of Exeter either. On the other hand they can build homes in Finland that don't need any heating at all!

 

Can you fit internal insulation? It's how we insulated our barn. Thought your Mrs was an architect doing eco buildings but maybe I have got that wrong?

 

It's a rented estate house, so there are no economical grounds for doing so.

 

Well remembered about the missus too. Internal insulation is indeed the best way to sort these old buildings out, but again, the estate aren't interested.

 

The issue up here is that generally speaking, the nice houses outside of cities are owned by the big estates or are stupidly expensive. Given that we'll be emigrating in 2 years, there is no point thinking long term about this house.

 

At the risk of a serious thread derail, this is the present favourite property on the house hunt in Germany:

 

https://www.immowelt.de/expose/2CUKG4R

[Woodworks]

It's a rented estate house, so there are no economical grounds for doing so.

 

Well remembered about the missus too. Internal insulation is indeed the best way to sort these old buildings out, but again, the estate aren't interested.

 

The issue up here is that generally speaking, the nice houses outside of cities are owned by the big estates or are stupidly expensive. Given that we'll be emigrating in 2 years, there is no point thinking long term about this house.

 

At the risk of a serious thread derail, this is the present favourite property on the house hunt in Germany:

 

https://www.immowelt.de/expose/2CUKG4R

 

All that for 169k euros! Looks lovely

[Big J]

All that for 169k euros! Looks lovely

 

They just reduced the price too. Was 175k until earlier this week.

 

They have lovely weather up there too (it's about 450 metres above sea level). For almost the entire month of January the temperature did not exceed 0c.

[openspaceman]

If you want to burn about an 1/8th of the amount of wood (for the same amount of heat you're currently getting) you'd do well to look at installing a batch box rocket mass heater. Much less pollution too.

cheers, steve

 

To get the same heat out of 1/8th of the wood BigJ would have to be wasting 3/4 of the heat in the wood he currently burns and I don't believe that to be the case.

 

The rocket stove was originally conceived as a stick feeding fire to reduce some of the losses associated with stick tending a three stone fiire and allow a bit of separation between the sticks and the pot to allow better consumption.

 

I assume a high mass one is to allow the mass to absorb heat and release it over a longer period than the fire is burning.

 

Most of us using logs want to fill the device as few times as possible and to allow primary air control to modulate the power output rather than constantly adjusting the fuel feed into the device (chip stokers do that admirably).

[better dayz]

Is that aluminum chequered plate in the kitchen as a splash back ?

[Big J]

Is that aluminum chequered plate in the kitchen as a splash back ?

 

Not to my taste personally, but such things are changeable. The only country in which I find almost all interior design to be lovely is Sweden. In the UK, we seem to have developed this awful habit of putting up massively loud flowery (and often rather shiny) wallpaper. I'm certain that in 10 years we'll hold such decorative choices in the same contempt as we do avocado bathroom suites now.

Edited February 12, 2017 by Big J

[better dayz]

Not to my taste personally, but such things are changeable. The only country in which I find almost all interior design to be lovely is Sweden. In the UK, we seem to have developed this awful habit of putting up massively loud flowery (and often rather shiny) wallpaper. I'm certain that in 10 years we'll hold such decorative choices in the same contempt as we do avocado bathroom suites now.

 

Absolutely changeable wasn't having a go just wasn't sure if I was

 

Would never of thought of using it like that

 

Looks lovely big log store

[Steven P]

That doesn't sound quite right to me! Our house, 7mx7m upstairs and downstairs, so about 100m2 or there abouts not too far off 127m2 really, though semi-detached.

 

I have only used our 5kw stove for the last 18 months now, in fact even taken away one of the storage heaters (...put it into storage just in case), and we keep our house at a cooler consistent 19deg C with that. I use about 1 sack of coal / coke a week (Mrs Steven P forgets its a wood fire and needs feeding more often than the boys did when they were babies, with coal she has more chances to remember fuel). So far I think I have used 3 or 4m3 of mixed wood this year. Thats with the fire on most of the day.

 

Hot water is electric immersion heater and we use about 14kwh a day electricity (water, washing, cooking and the ****** tumble drier), no gas, oil, or whatever else.

 

Using a 28kw stove plus a load of oil for heating and hot water sounds a lot to me to be honest! (plus electric I assume for the laundry, cooking etc?)

 

 

 

To give an answer, I reckon that my 5kw stove puts out a lot more than 5kW when needed, it is marketed as a 'nominal' 5kW. When its ticking along nicely like just now, 5kW sounds about right (2 1/2 electric fan heaters, yes, about that).

 

 

One day I am gong to turn off the fire and go to electric for a week or so and just add up how many kWH it takes to heart the house.

 

 

 

 

 

As for insultion, I remember an advert on the radio saying the free insulation can be given out even if you are a tenant and not the owner. Worth keeping an eye on that - even if the wood is free, better insulation means its warmer in the morning before the fire gets going and fewer trips to load up the stove (and so fewer trips to the log store in the rain...)

 

As for the stove if you replace it, think about one with a boiler as well, if the fuel is free why buy oil for hot water?

[Big J]

Absolutely changeable wasn't having a go just wasn't sure if I was

 

Would never of thought of using it like that

 

Looks lovely big log store

 

Every house up in the hills there has 10-50 cube stacked by it. It's mostly beech forest and easily 75% forest cover, so processor grade timber as far as the eye can see.

 

Going back to the issue of insulation - the house we rented in Aviemore for a couple of years was near enough unheatable. Traditional stone built croft, minimal insulation in the roof, though it did have secondary glazing. A 15kw stove on full chat would just about get the living room to 18c (when minus 5 outside) but you'd struggle to get the bedrooms above to double digits. Even with the electric heater in the bedroom, 15c was impossible.

 

Contrast that with a friends house in Kincraig built two years ago. 200mm Kingspan in the walls, 250mm in the roof. Three logs on the fire every two days and the house stayed at 25c. Best thing we could do is demolish these dreadful old buildings and start again.