Steven P

Reading the recent answers - it sounds like you are running the stove well and as you can see, thinking about the installation. Has it always done this? If it is intermittent are there weather conditions that make it worse (noting that we had quite a windy weekend, and then you asked the question....) Chimney height shouldn't make much difference - you get them on narrow boats with a much shorter chimney, but clearance from things around it does (air vortexes and stuff). One thing that came up a few months ago but not applicable here is if you have the room doors shut there night be enough draughts to allow the fire to burn but it is working hard to suck the air in - if the room is sealed, the right weather then the pressure differential can b a problem. So last question for now, do you keep the room door shut?

Apart from that bit of course

Just so much wrong... On the plus side I guess that most will be discarded once the chain gets blunt

This is true, we only have the photos to look at, I guess the OP could come back again with a couple more details and perhaps a couple of closer photos (perhaps the rings that have split). As above, I don't think they have been ripped off based on it being poplar / willow, probably cheaper than running the house on electric heating. If it is something denser / more energy dense then it becomes better value.... however from the photos in the doc. I'm not so sure.

Never read it but the paper says it was forced to engage legal representation defending itself from her threats after they exposed her (is that the right term?).. so want that money back now it has been shown that she is a liar

Primary air is for the wood itself, secondary air lets the fumes combust above and should be open at least a bit too. I don't think you can fully close either of these though. Airwash sends air over the glass to stop it getting so dirty. -Edit, missed this bit- So starting the fire, use primary air when you want the fire to be at the wood to get it going and then you want to burn the volatile combustibles - the secondary air and air wash do that. You can shut down the primary air then. How much smoke comes into the room and what is your fire like? If mine is smouldering then sometimes smoke escapes. However if your flue is generally clear (not sure how much you use the stove) than I guess you burn it reasonably well. Does it do the same regardless of the fire size you have? Big fire or small fire?

Cube would be about 1m3, could be that thrown in the back of a transit, could be a 'builder bag' (0.6m3?). A smaller supply like this would be loose filled in the bag - not stacked in. A larger like 1.8m3 above probably stacked into a cage and you get a bit more that way, or 'IBC cage' quantity the same. Firewood is great with their standard units: (Petrol station grab bag - not sure who would ever buy one though) Builders bag Dumpy bag Ton / Ton bag m3 Cube Cord IBC 'Load' .. dry wood is rarely sold be weight since that depends on how dry it is and then xT (from the tree surgeon) - which is usually a full tree straight off the job - or large portions of one

You should warn me about these things, just watched that on the works computer....

I'd be suspicious of this, probably not oak, possibly poplar - not sure it is willow though (oak bark has more 'aggressive' wrinkles, poplar and willow softer but poplar has a darker core to the wood - from the wood I have been given anyway) 'Partially dry' I'd read as 'not as wet as it was (last week) when it fell down' - the wood looks very fresh, hasn't faded or darkened, the bark is still quite green looking. Can't tell but perhaps if you chopped into the bark with an axe a little, bet it would still be green underneath. Second thing to consider, does it smell of wood or is the smell faded a bit? You have to store this till next season, paying a mortgage for the storage area, could be used for flowers or another shed (we all need another shed). My next thought on this is that it is very clean wood, no sticks, not a lot of sawdust or chipping, no small branches and twigs - is your tree surgeon a very diligent chipper I wonder? Or has this wood been taken from site somewhere, tipped and then loaded again to be punted on to you? That's about the only way I can think of why there isn't a lot of stuff with it. I feel lucky if I only get 1 empty pop bottle in a load.... but here, not even a stray leaf.... Suspect you your tree surgeon was mistaken with what he told you it was. However whether it is good value or not depends on the cost. You now have to split it, some handyman time and a portion to pay for the splitter. I reckon 4m3, not sure it will reach the 6 suggested above, with a splitter say 1/2 day chopping the logs to size, 1/2 day to split it and half day to stack and clean up, with tea breaks (my handyman is 87% tea, 5% biscuits and 7% BS). The value depends on the species, in numbers (had to just check these), poplar is 450kg/m3, willow about 500kg/m3 and oak 740kg/m3 density, this correlated roughly to how good each species is. Willow will give about 10% more heat than the same quantity of poplar. T'Internet reckons an average UK house would use 4m3 of firewood in a year - I assume this is hardwood, or about 7m3 of softwood. and also reckons space heating is about £1000 a year for gas (both for average houses)..... 2 handyman days, + £300: £700? If you get about 5m3 out of this pile than it is sort of on a par with mains gas heating. If you have other heating types (electric, LPG, oil) then it is better value, if you have a cheap handyman or the pictures don't show the true picture again better value. Do the splitting work yourself and I think you are ahead with the fuel bill. Personally I think the tree surgeon has done well, but you haven't been ripped off.

Allegedly and only partly.

Yup, a few comments I saw around the internets was leave them to it, none of our business (same with Ukraine and a lot of other conflicts), but they are never just contained in a nice package, Gaza and Israel, but tend to spill over into the wider world - whether it is people fleeing the conflict, shipping detouring the area, or in Ukraine food exports being cancelled, they affect us all. In that area it doesn't take much for some of the other nations to think they will also have a go.

If you are struggling with a Christmas gift idea why not? All I'd say is go quality whatever you go for, reckon I am too long in the tooth for posing pants, my pant demands are fairly simple, no holes, elastic still works and good to go. After that it is just styling I think - some of us will want to be snug, and some will like a dangle, if saw dust wants to get in, it will get in. Mesh panel along the side? Going to make a massive difference underneath work trousers I think

Just spent the afternoon taking photos of a few things, doubt the photos will do them full justice but that is another aspect, nice things in a shop and people can pick them up, turn them around, see them, but a good photo is needed online - a great photo even better (got plans to make a case with lights for better photos... after the new year now though)

Etsy, I have sold a couple of hundred ££ worth this year - all firewood turned into stuff. By the way does anyone want to buy any stuff? No? Oh well, asking on Arbtalk if people wanted wood is a waste of time? What I have found is that fees, they take a flat 10%, plus a listing fee, plus if they feature it on an advert (at their discretion) and it sell there is another 10%... so I count on them taking 20%. What I make is small stuff, Royal Mail small parcels at £4 a time, which can be another 10 to 20%. Then there are incidental costs to me - wood finishes (varnish, oil, wax), packing and so on which are harder to cost per item, and of course tools (got to count for them, they will need to be replaced). So finances, I think taking 50% of the sales price as cash into my pocket is reasonable. E-Bay is similar, a bit cheaper but not a lot. The platforms do advertise, so you don't need to do that so much. What I do is just for fun. They are a congested market, got to find a niche, but a niche market isn't popular. My gran isn't going to want a hand cart, be tricky Christmas present too (however the owl should sell?). A niche market can be more profitable (I have 2 similar lines, one is a niche, one competes with mass produced from India and China, niche adds 25% extra just because). Last word from my experience is I am avoiding international sales like the plague just now. Wooden projects and have to check each country import laws (US for example needs heat treated certified wood... apparently), but for what I have sold, 4 international orders, one got as far as the front door and delivery driver just gave up and went home, 1 was lost completely and replaced (FOC) - a £25 product gone, plus another lot of postage and the last I screwed myself with the postage (made 20p in a £35 order!). So I am going to stick with it, make projects for fun, and if they sell they sell but I am not banking on paying the mortgage off it.

So the vermiculite chips around the chimney are to keep the liner hot, the tar won't cool and condense as much and leads to a cleaner chimney (plus fewer nasty chemicals on the liner it could last longer). Often seams to me that the stove industry tells us a lot how to burn wood efficiently and send that heat straight up and out (insulated bricks, heat stays in fire box, insulated chimney, heat stays in that). Insulated chimney doesn't do a lot for house heating. Our master bedroom has the chimney breast and uninsulated chimney it can get nice and warm - never had a problem with that room being cold. I think heat going through the register plate will help heat the chimney brickwork so you get benefit higher up, and noting that I think both ends should be reasonably sealed - so convection currents don't go straight up and out. It is a thought I had before, was going to put a lower plate in nearer the base of the lintel to reduce that void a bit but as above the hot air there is a bit of a heat sink for late evenings, and the fan helps too. Insulation... one test I did once was throw a load into the fire - solid (polystyrene and phenolic type), sheeps wool, rockwool and glass fibre. The Rockwool was fairly stable, then glass fibre which melted quicker, sheeps wool burnt and the solid type burn quite nice. Probably OK to use Rockwool near the liner, might leave a gap though just in case. The reason for burning it? Traditional layout semi- house with 1 stair case, insulating under the suspended floors, and I didn't want anything that would be a raging fire in case of a problem - we still need to escape. We have rock wool under the house, and no solid insulation below the bedroom ceilings height. So might be you can pour vermiculite down the chimney if you want some insulation there?

I've had a few insects in the past and think Moth would probably be best in a mix rather than neat, furry bellies might not be so good (spiced ants are good by the way - think ant + smoked paprika)

I thought that national defence is still under control of the individual countries involved? So all is good with the EU and Italy (and would have been good also if we were still in and collaborating with that the Commonwealth - Canada, Australia et al)

A tip I learnt from steam engine boilers... never touch the handles! I'll use the poker for that

Oh, no, I can do 5 a day.... (6 and emptying the whole box would just be greedy)

Always been my way of thinking about it too. If I can easily identify the source, it is good "xyz comes from abc" (Beef comes from a Cow, flour from wheat, sugar from sugar beat, Aspartame comes from the errr....errr....)

Vegetarian and vegan food isn't always brilliant for you, can still have the same fats, sugars, salts, and so on, and can be a lot more processed than a lump of meat

Did you look under the sofa, when my boys lose something it is often there. Apart from the TV remote, I'm looking for my TV remote in the Glasgow area anyone? What you might do is give a hint what type of wood and where in Essex, collection, delivery, how many cords, you know, the other little details that stop others asking these same questions. I assume for firewood purposes, but maybe not?

Likewise, I prefer to have a few kinds of wood.

Because it has worked so well for smokers for the past few decades...... Can't fix it, tax it.

If it is wet ground I would consider that more than the species perhaps, 100 middle ground trees not thriving or 100 fast growing water loving trees thriving? Wet loving trees - Alder, silver birch as above, and if willow and hazel are going well why not stick to what you know does well?