Gas or Wood stove

[Petemcb]

Hi all, I'm in the situation where I could have either and I'm unsure what to buy. I have lots of friends who all have wood burners and love them but I know nobody who's has a gas burner. What's the pros and cons and what's best. 

[Woodworks]

Hi Pete. A natural flame in the living room is lovely but wood burners are a lot of hassle as well. Storing and handling of logs takes time and space. They are messy when loading and cleaning as is all the dust and bits that tend to fall off the logs. When it comes to cost if you are paying market rate for logs the gas fire per kWh will be cheaper to run. This is from someone who sells logs for a living 😂

 

Over the next two seasons legislation is coming in on how dry logs have to be for sale and this will inevitably push log prices up further. 

 

 

[Paul in the woods]

I agree, they are a bit messy to run. I don't mind the mess from the logs but the ash can make the room a bit dusty.

 

I use a wood burner as I like them but also have access to cheap wood, plenty of room to season the wood and I don't mind processing it myself. We also get a few power cuts so need something that runs without electricity. I also don't have mains gas so I'd need a tank.

[Stere]

Take it you are on mains gas so a one gas will be cheaper ans less hassle unless you can get wood cheap?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JaySmith]

I’ve got a Rayburn that does my heating and hot water, in the summer an immersion heater kicks in for the water. In the lounge I’ve also got a stand alone log burner that isn’t connected to the heating system and be used to take the chill off if we don’t need the central heating running. As others have said logs can be messy and require a bit of work in terms of processing and storage. For example if we go away for a few days or a weeks holiday the temperature in the house nose dives as the Rayburn isn’t in action so no hot water or heating is produced. Also be prepared to burn a lot of wood, I get mine for free through work and have a yard to process it and a few log stores at home to store the timber. If I had to buy the wood then gas would probably be cheaper. Our main reason for going for wood was that we aren’t on the gas mainline so would need a tank or burn oil which has its own issues in terms of price fluctuations. If you can get timber for free and don’t mind processing the wood then it can work. My house is 24 degrees at the mo, if I had to pay for the gas then I probably wouldn’t have the house so warm!

[coppice cutter]

The fact that you need to ask the questions strongly implies that in your case the answer is gas.

[Rob_the_Sparky]

I was asking myself this question a few years ago.  Went for a wood burner and the chopping/drying of the logs keeps me fit/occupied.  Happy I went for a wood burner...

[Witterings]

Used to have a gas coal effect fire and recently went to a wood burner ... personally for me it's chalk and cheese I love the real flame and quite enjoy the cutting up of wood as well and setting / tending the fire.

 

In some ways I'd prefer an open fire (had one in the previous house 20 years ago) but wood burners are so much more practical and 70% of the heat goes into the room as opposed to up the chimney with an open fire and you don't have to worry about leaving them unattended if you're not in the room.

 

It really is personal preference and  how strong are your cave man instincts are 😄 although gas is so convenient in comparison