New Forest DEAN

That may be true, but many are rubbish with money. The OP essentially wants the seller to extend credit to him without asking. To be properly honest, you have to say that you can't pay before you load up and make sure the seller is happy with that. That avoids placing him in a difficult position - why should he have to stress about how honest you are, whether you are going to pay, where you live etc etc. As the buyer, its your responsibility. His reaction may be a bit OTT, but how would you react if he made you unload it all again? I don't even think its fair to say you shouldn't do future business - just respect his terms, or agree terms in advance (I would bet he's been stung a few times?). Of course - if the OP was the only person who wanted the wood, then the seller may have to take the risk....

That is definately the route that things will take (failing a sudden scientific breakthrough - but then we really are screwed...). The relatively small scale push for individual energy supply, such as PV, solar thermal, solid fuel, as well as localised stuff like wind and hydro is just the start to relieve the burden as fossil fuels start to run down. On top of which, we need to adjust back to how our grandparents lived - switching lights off and not having every corner at 21 deg C all day, every day! It is not normal to have just a t-shirt on in winter. The 20th century oil energy 'blip', that led to our increased standard of living, obviously can't last forever. One problem is that everyone seems to think that they can just install a wood burner to get round it.... DEAN

Rob I work extensively with NFDC and NFNPA and can put you in touch with Planning Consultants to help, if necessary? They can clarify what Planning Enforcement can / cannot pursue and recommend how to deal with them. But, it is a pain - I've had a few clients who have been made jump through hoops by Planning only to be told that everything complied in the first place.... If you own a pony round here then its open doors, but try developing an agricultural business and its an uphill battle - the Planners seem to forget it was a working forest. PM me if you want any details. DEAN.

Sorry to hijack this thread, but hopefully its relevant... Woodworks - that's interesting because I'm just about to start building our second wood shed to alternate every two winters, thus allowing split wood to have about 18 months seasoning. But the only place I can put it is on a low area of damp ground, not boggy, but definately moist underfoot. This area is also a bit sheltered as it sits about 10 foot below the adjacent paddock, against trees. So, its going to be humid. The new wood shed was also going to be 2 - 2.4m deep, but I was worried about air getting to the middle. But if it works for you... Do you find stacking the wood by species is a good idea? (if possible?). DEAN.

Just out of curiosity, how deep is your woodstore (in the picture) Woodworks? Front to back? I've kept mine to about 1m or three logs deep, accepting that the inner logs probably won't season as well. DEAN.

Bolt a saw to the tips of the rotors. It be self-determining then...... This might help as well: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5aMT9MBfZI]Helicopter Crashes - Original HD footage - YouTube[/ame]

Hi All Despite having about 15 tonnes of oak slowing seasoning in my garden, I need something to get us through this winter. Can anyone give a quote for a bulk delivery of seasoned hardwood (or mixed?), I reckon around 10m cube. Still not sure how much I will use - I have a Clearview 650 plumbed into the rads, but we don't run the heating much? Anyone interested? or any suggestions? Cheers - DEAN. Location - Lymington, Hampshire SO41 8--

Get a box 1m x 1m x 1m. See how much of the wood goes in it..... Moisture meter - Amazon.

You're going to have to provide more info - size, top view, sex etc (I'm kidding with the last one...). I'm not an expert but googling British beetles was a minefield. But, it doesn't look like Death Watch (which produce the larger sized holes) in the pictures - try this link to an ID chart: http://www.safeguardeurope.com/pdf_datasheets/woodworm_guide.pdf I do know that most boring beetles don't like finished timber - paint, varnish etc (treated wood obviously), so they need access to untreated wood. How old is your house? do you have any un-finished furniture? etc Hope this helps. DEAN.

I've looked at polytunnels and the real cheapo ones are less than £100 (and look quite flimsy) - but the field is on the road side in a sensitive Conservation area, so the Planners will be onto me in no time. Some of the cordwood has already been down a year (oak & beech) and the chain saw seems to get through it Ok - I did all of the stuff in the photo before sharpening the chain (split with a maul). Looks like pallets and tarp in the field and a bit of double handling to the log store. Cheers - DEAN.

Likewise with coal / anthracite - I've been advised to place it around the outside, not pile it in the middle, when mixing with wood. I've had a few engineer's look at the installation and they all say that the 650 is undersized for the job, although one went so far as to calculate for whole house heating / hot water load etc and say that the 650 should be OK most of the time, except for really cold spells, but it is still at the top end of its abilities, thus fuel quality will be important. They all say that some form of load unit / valves should have been installed to control effective flow to the thermal store tank. And the pipes are too horizontal. So, not the best installation from the local 'professionals'. Cheers all - DEAN.

Cheers - £160 in timber from SCATS Country store (fence posts, arris rails etc) plus some old decking, but its going to cost another £150 to clad the roof:thumbdown: It faces south, so catches all the sun, and wind due to the buildings, and has a 2 foot gap at the back and 6" gap below to encourage air movement. Also obscures the neighbours fence. But I can't afford to do two of them, so the pallet / tarp / extra labour thing may have to be the way forward. Do you loose much through mould or rotting with a tarp though? I've noticed that white mould occurs even when well ventilated or dry stacked. Doesn't oak need a year or two? Finally, I've still got a huge stack of cordwood - is it a good idea to throw a tarp over this during winter as well? Cheers - DEAN.

G'Day This is a stupid question (as usual...) - assuming I get through, say, 5 tonnes of firewood a year, and my stack of oak / beech cordwood needs a good 18 months seasoning after chopping, do I need 10 tonnes of chopped wood storage? (5 for this winter / 5 for next winter) If I rotate the ready wood, I will need my 'pretty' (pic attached) covered 5 tonne store next to the house (ready to use), plus another 'temporary' store in the field for rotating after winter (double handling I know). And so on... I don't want to have to build two woodstores 'cos the 'pretty' one was expensive - so any suggestions on the 'temporary' storage? can I just keep it chopped up under tarp until spring? (rotting / mould?) or as rings ready for chopping? In short, any suggestions on temporary (say 6 months over winter) storage options? Cheers - DEAN.

Notmegov - that's great info', very helpful. Your set-up does sound very similar (although we have a 250 ltr thermal heat store tank, also served by solar hot water on the roof - we are still getting a tank full of hot water every day, not bad for September) - we have 10 rads (4 doubles, 4 singles and a couple of small ones). I'm guessing that with 14 rads, you have a 3 / 4 bed house? does it have a modern level of insulation? (mine is 1930's with no insulation bar a wee bit in the roof, no double glazing). I wasn't expecting to have to run the wood burner all day in the winter (ideally only for 4 -5 hours in the evening), so it sounds like you are running it quite hard? Wood - difficult question, but roughly how much do you get through a day? (I'm going to have to mix a bit of coal because my oak pile has only about 6 months seasoning). Sorry for the questioning, but first hand experience is very helpful. Thanks again - DEAN.

Just thought I'd update my electric versus petrol thread: I've been using my new Husky 445 petrol saw to work my way through a 13 tonne pile of cord wood (9 - 18" diameter). I've realised that trying to climb all over this pile and do safe cuts / part cuts whilst trailing an extension lead would be bloomin' difficult (if not dangerous) and time consuming. On the ground, or with logs about 6" in diameter, the electric might be OK. However, the 80 quid ALDI petrol saw is tempting..... DEAN.

Thanks again. NotmeGov - Can you give me a bit more info for comparison? how many rads does your 650 feed?, rough house size? thermal store or standard tank? How do you run it - all day, part time etc? Calculations and theory aside, its good to speak to someone with practical, hands on experience. Cheers - DEAN.

I've been asking all sorts of people - other HETAS engineers, other stove manufacturer's etc etc and the general consensus is that the Clearview 650 with wraparound boiler (which puts about 2 KW into the room and 10KW into the tank) is not big enough for the job, irrespective of how the pipes are set up. Which is not what I was expecting, given that the engineer is supposed to have designed to system complete..... A couple of people have said that it might work, but on more of a trickle basis, with rads turned down and on for a longer period and cooler upstairs. I may also need to take a rad out, leaving 9 rads. To make matters worse, the flue liner installed is for wood only, not coal, so I can't 'boost' it. Thanks again - all feedback welcomed - DEAN.

We have 10 rads (not 14), which I have roughly calculated to approx' 40,000 BTU / 11.5 KW. The Clearview 650 and wraparound boiler is rated at 40,000 BTU / 12 KW (actual), of which they inform me that about 2 KW goes to the room - at face value, that looks like only 10 KW going to the store / rads...(assuming it runs at 12 KW). But this doesn't allow for bathing water from the tank?? But I really can't work out how the thermal store affects this basic equation. Marko - your point may be correct about 'dripping' the heating out having loaded / continuing to load the store?? (I doubt the solar will have much input mid-winter). I have spoken to Clearview, Stoves on-line and another HETAS engineer, but keep getting conflicting answers. Cheers - DEAN. PS - Charnwood burners recommend a 14 - 18 KW system for 10 rads...

The woodburner and back boiler were selected by the plumber to suit the existing radiators etc - they were responsible for designing the whole system, which includes a Gledhill Torrent thermal heat store (250 ltr), solar hot water to match tank size and the Clearview / boiler. This was connected into the existing radiator system, which has 10 rads (its a 3 bed semi) and baths etc. The Clearview is rated at 12 KW actual. The solar is working great at the moment and may help a little bit in the winter? I'm not expecting any heat directly into the room from the burner, but it will obviously give it out. It primary function is to heat the thermal store (and look nice). Thus I would bloomin' well hope that the plumber has got the right size stove / boiler for the needs otherwise we are in for a miserable winter..... DEAN

ESSE Boiler Control: Stupid question - does this not empty / part empty the boiler? Laddomat: Good - I can box that in the Lounge. I understand that it shuts off when the right temp has been reached. This has been a great help - cheers all. I was slightly worried that I'd paid a shed load of money for a duff set-up. Looks like its fixable.... DEAN.

The Clearview instructions say that coal is OK although I was only intending to mix it with the wood, which Clearview also recommend (say, for not fully seasoned wood, which I may need to do this winter as my oak / beech pile has only had about 6 months seasoning. The wood I tested the burner with was fully seasoned). I will double check with the coal man though, so thanks for heads up. If it is explosive, I'll get wife to open the burner doors..... Anymore experience on the Laddomat or load valves? DEAN.

That's all good info - a big help. So..... It looks like we need to turn the solar heating off ( which today has produced a 250 ltr thermals store tank of 73 deg C water!) and let the tank cool. Then I will test the burner with well seasoned wood / coal to see how the system performs (even though its 20 deg C outside!) and see how long it takes to heat the thermal heat store, and if it eventually allows the temperature to build (it didn't before though...). This should tell me if the gravity system is working as well? Irrespective of the outcome - I think a Laddomat or load valve would be a good idea as they should help the burner achieve clean burn - we are getting tar and soot as well as low temperatures. Has anyone else noticed an improvement by using a Laddomat? are they too loud? (it would be in the Lounge). The system has been signed off as safe by the plumber (who is MCS registered), but I still can't understand why it doesn't need a heat dump radiator? - he tells me the tank acts as heat dump in the event that the CH pump fails, power cut etc. Looks like the cool burner a common problem. Cheers again - will keep you posted if anyone's interested. DEAN.

Cheers Guys I've been looking at a LADDOMAT heat charger, which does what you said - puts the water into a loop near the boiler until it reaches 72 deg C before it goes up to the tank, thus keeping the boiler up to temp. Not sure if they are any good though? Clearview have recommended that I do a test with 'heat logs' (sawdust logs?) - I was going to try a bit of coal anyway. Lastly, its possible that the plumbers have put too much horizontal pipework on the gravity feed to the tank (80% horiz / 20% vert - should be the other way round). Incidentally, I have read on a website that two small woodburners (without boilers) are often better and more efficient than one large burner / boiler. Good in theory, but no hot water..... Thanks again - DEAN.

Hi All Not sure if this is the right section to ask..... I've just had a Clearview 650 stove with the wraparound back boiler (the biggest for that range at 40,000 BTU) serving a thermal heat store and then onto radiators - no other heat source (no gas or oil) apart from solar hot water. I know the best operating temp for the wood burners is 250 - 350, but I can't get it even close. Stacked up and flat out with good seasoned wood it only sits at 150 degrees C, which is a poor burn. I suspect this is because the boiler is sucking so much heat off (although the tank doesn't seem to heat up very well either!). Anyone else had similar problems? you guys seem to know a lot about burning stuff Any advice welcomed. Cheers - DEAN.

It was two months after the recce' before my mates outboard was stolen - the thieves claimed to be doing a 'fridge recall' at the recce! I don't let anyone in the property now (not even TV inspectors) even if they are 'officially' appointed they have the barest of background checks and can still have dodgy mates. I know one or two coppers I wouldn't let in.... DEAN.