Steven P

Had one of them once...

I'm going to need a bigger car jack then. So... coffee didn't work,. and sawdust didn't work in that set up, going to put it down to an interesting experiment - worthwhile I think to record it here because I wasn't the first to wonder if it would work and no doubt won't be the last. Not viable for the expense of a real machine either. Interesting stuff about how real briquet and pellet machines work and the physics of how the pellets are stuck together. Experiment 2 then, I wonder if this will work...... I have a car scissor jack, and a load of saw dust...... Inside the mould from before the dust was quite compacted as you'd expect, so bean tin, dowel down the middle, filled with saw dust and compressed with the jack to make better sawdust burner - should contain more sawdust than just hand filling, should burn for longer, and the kids might be able to make them to play with.... but that is for another day.

7k purchase, I would probably spare the extra hundred or so to go and see it, might be that hiring a suitable self drive vehicle to take it back would be similar to the transport quotes thr seller found if you have nothing suitable to take it home with. Of course, if you suggest this option the seller would be accomodating for you to do this - saves them the hassle of waiting in for somen to collct it

Coming back to this again, I've seen and made the sawdust burners (last years experiments), and they work well, barrel of some sort, even a bean tin sort of works (for the kids!), a hole down the middle, and off it goes (got in trouble for this one when I tried that in the garage and it still smelt of smoke in the morning). Wax, or used oil, yes, seen that and I reckon that would all work nicely. Been making lard/seed bird feeders with The Boys this week, wonder if melted lard would work too, then decide which is cheapest. Back to what I was doing this week, dried coffee grounds are no good, crumbles, so now trying the same with wet coffee grounds see if a bit of water helps (thinking back to coffee shops having to smack the coffee holder to get the pressed coffee out after making a brew, though this might be a factor of it being heated up with the hot water / steam). Wet coffee went in last night, 24 hours later - tonight - will see how it goes.

You're right of course, far better ways to spend my time, had an hour to kill yesterday though. It is never going to be mass production, sweep up the sawdust and work out where to put it - compost, paths, or see if I can burn it. Yes about a carrier bag an hour - this time next year, I'll be a millionaire? (confession time, I would have been using the saw but going to sharpen it Friday with my glasses on I saw how knackered that chain is! New chain on order for Monday, didn't fancy the bigger saw for the amount I have to cut this week)

So dry sawdust didn't work, in the die it looked and felt nice and solid but coming out it just crumbled and had shown no interest in sticking together. Not giving up yet, it must have taken an hour to put the mould together, I might try the coffee grounds - this idea has been in my head a couple of weeks and have enough damp coffee to have a go with now. Want to make a small change to the mould, adding a double layer to the liner, when I pulled the single layer out it pulled the edge of the sawdust apart, can cure that and try again with a different mix. The 2 ton jack was just to see if the idea works at all before buying something with a bit more ooomph. Though understanding what you are all saying above, sweeping all the sawdust and putting it on the compost and cutting those couple of extra logs to make up for that looks easier... but experiment started now!

As background to my thoughts, over the year processing my own firewood I create sawdust, and typically this goes onto the paths in the woods or onto the compost. Can I use this as heat tidily - I can throw it on the fire but typically sawdust will spill onto the hearth. I can put it into a card box (think food box such as half a cereal box) outside and just throw a box full on, also a bit of spillage. Yesterday I made up an open box (as an experiment), 5 pieces of old decking, a loose inner liner (5 pieces of pallet), and a 'piston'. Filling the inside of this with sawdust, put the piston on top and then compressing it all with a car scissor jack (I have a spare one in the garage - just trying tis out so not spending money yet). I think the scissor jack is about 2 tonnes strength. Hoping that this will produce a sawdust briquet for me. Also assuming here that the paper briquet makers won't have the power to compress sawdust nicely. Tried this out yesterday with dry sawdust, I haven't opened it yet (figuring that the longer it is compressed the more likely to make what I want). I am expecting it to fail on my first attempts. I reckon that 1 log would be an afternoon sawing (in between household chores, family time, and so on, I don't get long cutting wood at the weekend), it can sit in there for 24 hours. Commercial machines are not viable for domestic firewood. So the question, has anyone done anything like this before and are there any top tips to make a decent enough briquet. Seeing the 'coffee logs' if this works with sawdust then will use my own coffee ground and recycle them onto the fire (they are expensive!) (not admitting to a coffee habit by the way, about 13kg a year all going onto the compost) (note also I am not interested in paper ones, the advertising is good "free fuel" but in reality every time I burn papers (old bank statements and so on) it just kills the fire) Right so any tips, and I'll update with the results of my first log later

Hydro - look to 'old fashioned' water wheels and the race to get water to the wheel - a pool upstream with a weir and a sluice gate to one side - open the sluice, water flows to the wheel. If you own 1 river bank, is there anything to stop you creating a pool / widen the stream on your side dug down a bit and take water off from that (pipe or a 'race') - hydro is all about the head of water, don't need so much water if you take off the supply high enough and pipe it to your turbine. Hydro like this is good, as long as your pool is a big enough store for the dry spells then it is constant, day and night There are digesters out there that will harvest methane from slurry and silage I believe, not sure of their costs though

Likewise.. though twice a year if I can get a weekend morning with no fire in mid winter... and same again, will do it about mow ready for next year. Maybe tomorrow morning I got fibreglass 'super flexible' (or something like that) rods, purely that the I was struggling to get the thicker ones to bend through the stove door and up the chimney (paranoia perhaps that it would be too powerful and push the fittings apart), plus a suitable brush head for the liner. Didn't go for power sweep but looking at how much soot the manual brush gets out it does the job

I'd agree with that but most people will be paying for installers and the relative small cost of a sweep as peace of mind to do a check I think is worth it. Not sure of minimum quantities for things but might be that a smoke 'grenade' has a minimum order of say 10 (at retail prices) (when OP only wants 1), plus the cost of a set of brushes for the brick flue... plus the extra for smaller brush for liner, and if OP wants to send a camera along it, that hire cost - all adds up and getting a professional in to do it might not be a lot more. So yes I would do a quick check first - assumed most people here at a minimum would chine a torch up to have a look and perhaps a -small- newspaper fire (smelly smoke) to see if the chimney draws - maybe that is just me and what I would do assuming others would do the same.

If you haven't used the chimney before and not sure when it was last used I would get a professional in to sweep, smoke test and inspect it - mine wasn't that much more than just a basic sweep, They should be able to spot potential problems. if you are getting a stove in I would get a liner in the chimney too, so the inspection might sound pointless however it might also show any serious problems you might miss doing it yourself. if using a liner then the flue is more than likely to be OK for that.

Much better!

I'll repeat what I said earlier.. what is in these posts is not really bad compared to a lot of forums, a lot of opinions based on different experiences and expectations, and a couple of lighter hearted comments that have been taken the wrong way. Experience teaches me not to rise to the bait on many occasions and the internet is better for it. Ivy is a subjective subject, looks like you want a scientific based answer though then opinions, which you are not likely to get given the diverse forum membership here. I think one of the earlier comments nearly summarises it.... Like marmite, you either love it or hate it (other yeast extract based spreads are available).

So I have read through the posts - all the ivy ones - and as far as I can tell there is little malice in them from the members, no real name calling (really - you should see some forums!), and the OP seams to be very quick to jump that the members here are being unfair with their comments, which they are not really. You'll always get a difference of opinion and always get curious members asking the reason for a post here or there and if you have an opinion ask what your background in the post subject is - might be you are curious, might be you are a renowned professor so we know the depth of your knowledge. Nothing wrong with knowing nothing and asking so you learn, nothing wrong with passing on the knowledge of a lifetime study and work. So as far as I can see, the discussion is no worse than many I have seen. Just the OP appears to have a chip on their shoulder that we are all out to get him - we're not, just voicing an opinion (like this first paragraph) Have a sit back, listen to what people say without shouting that they are all trolling you (and long term members of a forum rarely troll people). So ivy, you like it, some don't and we all have a reason for our opinions - a climber will hate it with a vengeance on a job for example, an ecologist will love it for birds nests and so on, a gardener might be 50-50, a farmer might not like it but will live with it or add it as yet another job to do... all valid reasons. Me, I am no big fan of it purely for aesthetic reasons - doesn't look good - and I associate it with older woodlands that could do with some care and attention. On a house - never, roots into all the mortar and pulls it apart.,

Sensible answer again for a moment, not sure there is ivy -underground- but above it, it could do with serious consideration.... But I guess it would have to be drained (petrol is banned I think - fire risk), and e-scooters are banned due to the lithium batteries, so I guess a chainsaw battery isn't technically allowed either. You might consider each tooth as a blade and carrying one of them in the open isn't so good, so a scabbard probably required. There is an archaic rule that you can't be scruffy, so best arb trousers, but a clean saw as well. However I think there is defence that you can carry the tools to do your job uness a specific underground bylaw stops you (like a carpet fitter on the way to a job on the bus could carry hammers, and a stanley knife, a teenager on a night out can't) Now you have started me, tonights google "Things I can't do on the unerground"

Reading through the contents list and I appreciate we all might be a bit late with the comments if you are nearly ready to publish but here we go anyway. No comment on your writing style, people will pick up the book in the shop and read a bit, if they like your style will buy it, if not will buy someone else. I wouldn't be too hung up on species of logs, most wood burner owners will phone up their supplier and ask for a 'load' of logs, some will specify hardwood or softwood, a small number might specify a species and an even smaller number will get the reply "Almond you say, yup I'll drop that off this afternoon". Most will be happy to get hard or soft. I'd be tempted to put that all in an appendix. I would then aim that at those who collect or produce their own firewood and split the types as worthwhile to process and not worth the time, perhaps with a suffix (H) or (S) after each type. Again if you are getting it free, not too fussy on species. You have 3 pages about the ready to burn scheme... which might last, or it might change next year, so to future proof your book and make it international-ish maybe this could be a very generic description, else you could have an out of date book next year (think gas fitters, was once Corgi, now Gas-Safe, things change). Then the main question I want to know, how much wood will I need takes a page - particularly if you are looking to install a stove want to see what the costs are likely to be rather than the ins and outs of a trade scheme. A final comment from me is that there is quite a large section on free firewood, but not a lot about what to do with this log you dragged back to the house and how to turn it into 18% moisture content logs roaring away on Christmas morning.... Maybe a note about tools you will need, I reckon most of us will want or need a hatchet for kindling or splitting the occasional big log, perhaps a saw, and then you might comment on a splitting axe or 2, or a maul, splitting wedges and saws - there is another book in tools and producing your own firewood but a chapter might not be a bad thing, remembering all the relevant safety kit too.

I'll read the sample pages later, but... my mum has an almond tree stump at hers (north east England), would burn for a couple of hours, however she wants to use it for climbing plants to grow up it (probably ivy or something nice) so I am not allowed to try it... this week. Never come across it before though

Take the bark off to make it dry quicker.....I tend to put the bigger pieces on top of my log piles as roof tiles, keeps it drier and of course, once dry the bark burns quite well too. Little pieces are in a pile by the tiny pond in the wood for the toad to live in

.. and if you are really carefull taing te pallets apart you can re-use the nails too... Mind I don't even do that, just stack the logs up to dry but for the winter I store them in the garage.

Just asking where you got the smokeless from? A petrol station forecourt / DIY warehouse / supermarket smokeless is priced to compete with the people who buy 10kg of fuel at a time, for the occasional fire that looks nice in the evening (same as petrol station logs at £1 a piece), not priced to supply those who heat their houses with solid fuels. The quality doesn't have to be high either (see my comment above of sand filled briquettes) (and similarly 'kiln dried logs' that were stored outside the petrol station kiosk all winter. and are not 'kiln dried' any more, or even dried). If you didn't try it already, might try phoning your local coal merchant and get them to deliver a sack of coal - in my experience better quality and bit cheaper. Quality can be seen by the amount of ash it produces - 10kg shop coal needs the ash pan emptying every 10kg bag, but coalman (mine is a man before anyone jumps on me for not being PC), coalman coal produces a lot less ash, every 2 days to empty the ash pan. As for logs / coal being more efficient, in my mind coal is a bit cheaper for the heat, the fire isn't as hot but it burns at a consistent heat for longer (irrelevant for me now, got a good supply for now, just need to collect the logs, chop, split and dry - but not everyone can do that)

Back of my mind says that some smokeless coal is an anthracite dusk and brown coal is made from house coal dust. I used to get PET coke (my coalman can't get that now) which is petroleum and has a feint smell of oil if you sniff it (it also eats through fire bricks but does burn quite hot). Might be the cheaper stuff is oil based, but looking at the ash I suspect it is mixed with a lot of sand too. Cheaper living is kind of enforced with an open fire which says that don't run the heating when you are asleep and out the house - can't with a wood burner, it goes out. The theory is that heat loss isn't a linear thing, that 20 degrees above the outside temperature loses more than double the heat energy as a 10 degree difference would lose. Ice on the windows? Yup, been there. Had my desk by the chimney breast in my room so I could keep my feet warm in the evenings too. I agree with the above posts, insulate and insulate again, checking every ones favourite warehouse DIY shop just now the prices are about what they have been for the last few years, loft insulation is a simple job to top up just lay it on top and roll it out for 'wool' insulation (the common ones), go above the recommended minimum if you can (think it is 270mm now?). I think about about 360mm though the return on your outlay reduces, like the heat loss thicker and thicker insulation doesn't correspond to the same saving (so 200mm will save '1' lot of heat loss, 400mm will not save '2' heat losses, more like '1.5' heat losses). Better to spend the money somewhere else. Next simplest job I did was a pain in the butt, under the suspended floor, using the holes cut when the house was rewired I can access the whole under floor without lifting floorboards, got some of that orange barrier plastic you see on building sites, held up the insulation with one hand, the barrier with another hand, the torch with my spare hand and stapled it to the joists.. but it also worked... and pain but possible. (100mm, the depth of the joist, there just now, going to work out how to go to 200mm). There are still offers out there to get insulation done and for free. Final thought on energy saving, your biggest costs are anything that makes heat - so tumble drier is going off soon to use the line outside, kettle only has enough for what I need to use (Mrs Steven doesn't, boils a full 3 litres for a half cup), shower a minute quicker (it costs me about 4p a minute to shower at 30p a kWH and 9kw shower) (or more, internet reckons on 5 minute showers), baths... yeah they eat up the heat.. little changes. One I haven't done is switch to 30deg C laundry, I have a feeling in the back of my mind that the energy savings for that will be eaten up by more expensive detergent. Similarly lighting doesn't worry me - all LEDs now - for any savings made against the stress of running round the house chasing The Boys. Me? Not a Yorkshire man (by nearly a mile), but just as tight at times.

Cables are generally either 70 deg C or 90, the first result I saw, and then quoted suggested twin and earth (house wires) are 70deg C... which is the maximum operating temperature including the effects of current heating things up from the inside. After that the insulation can begin to break down quicker. Noting that if a cable is regularly run hot then its insulation will break down quicker with a shorter life. You might also note that despite the intention to only run an energy efficient TV from the power cables in the chimney got to account for people doing otherwise. For example, might be that you get a decorator in (you're not doing the work) who wants to strip back the oak beam, with an electric heat gun... handy TV power supply so uses that while the fire is on.... cable over heats..... Like I said though if you can ensure that the cables don't get too hot, like Rob the Sparky suggests and run the chimney outside then not a problem (however my chimney gets hot all the way up, you'll be loosing that heat to outside if you do)

Not wanting to get too technical on you... but if you are installing cables around the chimney better make sure that they are suitable for the temperature. The worlds best DIY shop (just a very quick google search) suggests that twin and earth is rated for up to 70deg C. Now the plaster on my chimney is a comfortable 40-ish just now without the fire running too hot, the brickwork behind it will be maybe another 10? (maybe I should check this out one day).. could be 50 deg C which is quite close to the max for a cable.... Then there might be an effect on the TV with regular heat and cool cycles - check the operating temperatures for the TV also? So... nice idea, I wouldn't do it but it would make our TV more of a centre piece. I would also consider the route of the flue and if you can put insulation between there and the wiring and gadgets. If you can insulate it all from the heat of the flue then why not? The heat isn't so much coming upwards in mine as coming through the brickwork from behind. As for cables to the TV and gadgets, yup you can put them all in a conduit in the wall or you might just mount a couple of double sockets in wall be the TV mounts, have the cables buried in the wall like all the others are. Conduits so you can take out the cables, but most people get their houses rewired every 25, 40, never years, it is not going to be a problem and you'd need to fix up all the other walls in 25 years time when you get that far. Coms cables? Run them in when you are dong the power if you want them. I got a wall plate from our favourite DIY shop with removeable panels, small hole drilled in that and the telephone extension cable was hidden in the wall, popping out at the wall box at router and BT socket (since changed that so that BT is terminated right next to the router)

For my stove I have over time replaced all the internal parts, a phone call to the manufacturer and the spare comes my way (apart from fire bricks, I make my own now). Might be you just take a chance, do the same, and order the multifuel grate as a spare part and see if it fits? Fire Bricks: The only differences I can think of that would be specific for wood or for multifuel would be thickness, my multifuel stove are 25mm thick, and height to suit the firebox. The materials are the same generally, vermiculite. So if yours are about that thick I would leave them as they are for now. Baffle plate... not sure why there would be a difference here either really, and again leave it as it is till you see if the grate works. The only important thing is the grate and having enough air flow through it to keep it cool and you don't burn it out, and a little also so that the coal burns. If the manufacturer can't supply then Stovax are a big brand and there should be a lot of after market spares out there which you wouldn't get with a smaller brand. So.. if you can spare the cash, get one, try it and see. If it all fails, one of the members here, Bowland stoves I think he is, is a supplier... guess what his business is called, and if he sees this can probably advise you better - he appears to do spares for this

So.. he's a good lad, you can work with him and he works hard enough, done the sums and you can pay him for 3 days work (factoring in the supervision he needs for a while till you know he is safe) and done the sums to pay for courses once a month. Sounds like the finances are there to pay for him, also sounds like you need a hand 3 days a week (else you wouldn't be considering him at all). Should also have added up the relevant PPE, kit and insurances etc. If you have an accountant I would run the figures past them and and let them tell you what you have missed (pensions, holidays and so on). For a first employee you are going to have to take a bit of a hit to set it up with some proper advice, contracts and so on, but... over time if he is as good as you think, gets the tickets you need then that will pay off. Do accountants also do employment contract advice (I don't know these things). Finally write into his employment contract a 3, 6 and 12 month review and continued employment should he be performing satisfactorily then and passing the relevant courses. After 12 months he should be pulling his weight and making a decent profit too. Sadly I don't think you can add in a clause for continued employment so long as the business is running well. So plus points - hard worker, you need a hand, he should make you a profit after a year and training, might be cheaper than contractors, you'll be all set up as an employer should you need to take on more staff later too,0 Minus points, it's an expense to set up being an employer (I think), staff are more expensive than you think, if the business takes a down turn you have to make him redundant with a pay off, might need to put some cash to one side just in case.