Dazza95

Merry Christmas all. Have a great day.

Exactly this, although I have a Clearview Pioneer 400.

Very nice Rich, does your ‘air system’ incorporate heat recovery?

I was sad enough to take a couple of videos last year of my stove burning slowly with blue flames, I think I was burning yew but can't say for certain. For me this seems to be the sweet spot for the air setitng in terms of heat output, longevity no visible smoke/soot etc. Similar video but with different wood and the air set slightly higher.

That’s a decent sized stove, has it got a back boiler! How much wood do you go through on an average winter? Yes the type of wood definitely makes a difference. Whilst I’m not fussy about what I burn, I do save short chunky pieces of hardwood which I can pack tightly in the stove for when longer burns are needed.

That looks very smart. We have a Clearview Pioneer which was here when we moved in and it does seem to work quite well and is very controllable. I’d be interested to see how it compares to some of the more modern stoves as it would appear that Clearview haven’t altered the design in many years.

What a nightmare, hope the new install goes smoothly. What new stove have you gone for?

Interesting replies. I feel that the heat from a stove is just so much nicer than central heating and it’s possible to get the house to temperatures I could only dream of with CH. It’s also nice not having to rely on energy suppliers too much, although we’ve been a bit more lavish with oil this year as it’s half of what is was last year.

Just wondering if anyone here uses a wood burning stove as their main source of heating? We live in a poorly insulated barn conversion and have oil central heating, it’s OK but not a very well designed system and with the insulation not being to modern standards, you start feeling cold moments after the thermostat clicks off. However, it’s useful to take the chill off in the morning when there’s no time to light a fire. We tend to leave the stat set to 15c which stops the house getting too cold when we’re out working all day. The stove in the living room is much better for comfort and also keeps the hall and bedrooms leading off it upstairs at a nice temperature. I’m sure if the house was better insulated it would reach other areas too. Cost isn’t an issue as I don’t buy in seasoned wood. If you do use your stove for all of the heating, how do you find it works around your routine? Just curious if folk who heat with wood exclusively have a fire going all day if they’re not home. We burn round the clock in cold weather if we’re home but I can’t do it if we’re both out working. I’m not really looking to change anything as we will probably be moving in a couple of years and the current arrangement works fine most of the time. I’m self-isolating and bored so thought it would be an interesting discussion. Cheers all ?

I used to use the 6lb Roughneck maul and grenade from Screwfix, the grenade was useless but I thought the maul was OK until I had some large and knotty field maple to split. After a bit of reading on here, I now have a Ochsenkopf Big Ox splitting maul which is absolutely fantastic, although it might be a bit overkill/tiring for lighter strain grained stuff. I also have a Stihl rotating splitting wedge which is much better than the grenade. I believe the Ochsenkopf maul is the same as the Sihl Pro Splitting maul which was only available in the US when I last checked.

Leave it in the pile another year or two, the sap goes hard eventually. I have some leylandii - some that’s been in the stacks from last summer and some which I got in March. There was little to no sap at all when I was working with it, does the amount of sap depend on when it was cut or could I have a different species altogether?

I did read about the X27 splitting axe when I was first starting but thought I ought to get something a little cheaper in case it ended up being a fad. The maul was part of the Roughneck set from Screwfix which came with a log grenade and a hatchet. The grenade isn't amazing but to be honest I've not had any problems with the maul. I might put an X27 on the Christmas list this year.

I'm 25 and relatively new to processing my own firewood and whilst it is hard work, I enjoy it and find it very rewarding. As well as putting yourself on the tip site, I would definitely ring/email a few local tree surgeons as others have said and ask if they will sell you any wood. I did this and now have a great arrangement with a local firm (run by husband and wife); they let me know when they have some wood and will drop it off on their way home. I do pay for it and always give them some wine but it still works out cheaper than buying seasoned wood in. I've been browsing on this forum for a long time now and have learnt lots of useful things, such as, softwood is absolutely fine to burn. Here's a photo of some field maple I had dropped off recently - I've nearly finished splitting all of it by hand with a 6lb maul. I must admit that I found it pretty daunting at first but soon got used to it. Good luck!