Have you made any financial savings since installing your stove?

[scbk]

17 minutes ago, ostosix said:

The tariff i got 14.9p per kw and savings which are moderate, bill less than £40p/m,  pays for my solar in roughly ten years with the next 10yrs grant being profit. You get payed for the lecky weather you use it or not hence the IBOOST. So that advive doesn't figure. If you have a south east to south west facing roof you cannot loose. My installer a great chap who was really into it persuaded me to go for just 2.6kw system as my panels are off south. (2kw if your south facing)He said you'll never use the lecky from 4kw system unless you'd charge an electric car.

 

Remember companies would fit solar to your roof for free so it must have been a good deal!

Yes that's what I mean though, it's ok if you already have solar PV, but the feed in tariff is apparently now about 4p

 

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/renewable-energy/electricity/solar-panels/feed-tariffs

 

I have plenty of space for ground mounted solar but not worth doing at that price

[scbk]

Infact it seems you only get 4p if you have an EPC of D or better, otherwise the rate for solar pv isn't even worth counting - 0.25p/kwh

[benedmonds]

6 hours ago, ostosix said:

....

Thats like saying why have a car because you could sell it and have the money. Every one bangs on about wood being too cheap on ere! Sell the logs and give it to the gas company---- no way;-)

The title of the thread was have you made financial savings....

Nothing like comparing it to selling a car.... unless there was an alternative such as: "have you made financial saving since owning a bicycle.."

 

People bang on about "free" wood.  Everything has a value, if your heating your drafty old house with tons of "free" timber that you could be selling then you should consider the financial implications..  In my case I can see it pretty obviously as I rarely cut or split the wood myself.. When I take a bag I can  easily see the costs. I could use it or sell it. 

 

For sure people enjoy doing it for themselves and if I didn't have access to free split wood I would still do it. But when you look at the costs to most domestic users, including installation,  the cost of a saw, log splitters fuel etc. Rarely will it be financially beneficial.  

 

A friend of mine earns over £150K a year, gets up at 4.45 every morning to commute to London from loughborough, but still spends days cutting and splitting  his own logs, with a saw, ppe and splitter purchased for the purpose..  He is extremely time poor and financially it can't make sense but he must enjoy doing it.. 

 

[Stere]

I'd say if you have to buy wood its as expensive than the alternatives, & even if you get free wood there stil the cost/time of processing it etc.

 

Also price of wood will probably keep on rising as demand is high & linked to othere costs such as petrol, & after ash die back   even less trees around.......

 

Good insulation is the sensible thing to do if you can manage it so you don't need to burn loads of wood to keep warm.

[ostosix]

Fair enough bennedmonds, gas is piped to your house in most cases and is hard to beat price wise compared to ease of life of course. I think for the money even buying wood in bulk as one bag at a time is very exspensive your getting much more heat for you money. 

 

I have mates who set the thermostat at 16 or 17 and pay a lot for gas. When my stoves been on, the house stays above 21 until mid afternoon the next day and when i light it again after work at 5 its normally above 18-19. Those folks would have to keep the heating on all day for that. 

Commuting Loughborough to london every day, chopping firewood must be a dream.

[neiln]

Installed 2*5kw stoves and my gas use is just under half what it was.  All my wood is scrounged for free, ARB waste from a local tree guy, I cut, split and season for 2-3 years myself.  I also supply wood fire my parents.  House is 3-4 C Warner downstairs too than if only using the central heating.  Because I get the wood free I burn as much as I can.  2 stoves, 2 installs including flue lining, 2 chainsaws, numerous splitting axes, PPE cost comes to £3k or a little more but I'll be in profit in 5-7 years.  Good job I enjoy the hard work though, else I'd never do it.

[neiln]

Forgot to say, I'm finding a m³ of mixed hard/soft seems to cut about £60 from my mains gas bill, factor in the warmer house and it must be worth £80-£100 readily enough if not more, it's hard to estimate. ,so heat from wood bought would be a similar cost to mains gas heat is my finding.

Cutting and splitting scrounged ARB waste saves lots of money but is time consuming, I reckon I save myself about £8/ hour, give or take a pound.   You have to enjoy saws and axes to do it for fun, and consider the saving a lovely bonus.

[Will Heal]

I have no idea how much I’m going to save. I’m moving from a bungalow with underfloor heating which I hate as the house is too hot, never got the hang of programming the individual room thermostats, that is included in the rent along with electric water and and council tax to a cottage with a wood burner and Rayburn and storage heaters and a immersion hot water system. Not going to run the storage heaters at all and only the immersion if desperate all my heating and hot water will come from my own logs. Yea my rent and bills will be higher but so looking forward to having a burner and a Rayburn again

[BowlandStoves]

The general consensus seems to be that installing a wood burning stove is not all about saving money - its also the ambience and the different type of deep seated heat they provide. Fair comment?

[neiln]

Yes that is fair I think.  You need to 'want' the stove as very few people 'need' one financially.  Those that do will have heating bills that are uncomfortable!