Advise on a Solid Fuel Stove

bennyc

Thinking of putting in a solid fuel stove and heading 4 rooms off it any advise good or bad on any brands. Currently looking at a waterford stanley bit pricey but I would go for it if it was worth it

Cheers

kadman

Hi,

I suppose the most eco friendly option at the moment are pellet burning stoves. Some tf builds that I have recently surveyed were fitted with these type of stoves, and they definitely are impressive.

Definitely the waterford stanley was indeed an excellent stove, but unless you have an endless supply of turf, which wont be allowed in the near future, a pellet stove might be the answer.

http://www.ecostoves.net/index.html


kadman:)

JohnBoy

Benny

It's a great idea for supplementary heating, we had a back boiler behind a stanley fire front back in our old house at home. this was basically the front half of a stove built in front of a normal open fireplace, gave basically the same effect.

when the fire was lit there was generally no need for any other central heating to be on for a good few rads, plus the room with the fire was obviously toasty. however, you really still need some other heat source for those nights when you just couldn't be bothered lighting the fire, or if you want to heat water in the morning.

The stanley stuff is good quality, not cheap as you say, but they build their stuff to last it has to be said.

Kadman, why so because the end of turf? emissions from burning or damage to the bogs?

we at home traditionally have burnt a lot more timber than turf, but then we're in the happy situation that my dad has a couple of siblings/cousins with farms who call us when a tree falls in a storm, labour intesive fuel, but it's good work, makes you feel alive. (until the following day when your shoulders seize up)

CJhaughey

When we went to buy our stove we asked why they didn't stock Stanley , the woman explained that Stanley are now made in China and there have been a lot of problems with Cracking due to substandard cast iron.
I was dubious about this but if you look around there are a lot of stanley copies around which would suggest that there is some sort of manufacturing in China going on.
I can't state if this is true or not but just something to be aware of.

bennyc

I got some prices for the waterford stoves 1700 not as bad as expected but the eco stoves look good so going to research them some.
What I will be doing is having several zones so the stove should heat the rads in four bedrooms and hallway at let the oil run the rest, then have the option of the oil running all zones. A bog would be the way I was thinking no harm to get out doing a bit a few days over the summer. But as stated that will not last.

noby

I have a Stanley. It's just a 'stand-alone', ie no back boiler. The house is kind of open plan, and it easily heats the sittingroom/kitchen/dining area. We burn mainly logs. Nothing like a fire on cold winter nights.

kadman

[QUOTE=.

Kadman, why so because the end of turf? emissions from burning or damage to the bogs?

we at home traditionally have burnt a lot more timber than turf, but then we're in the happy situation that my dad has a couple of siblings/cousins with farms who call us when a tree falls in a storm, labour intesive fuel, but it's good work, makes you feel alive. (until the following day when your shoulders seize up)[/QUOTE]

Where have you been, as I understand it , turf cutting will not be allowed after 2012, according to relatives who own a bog. Maybe I'm wrong.

And as for burning wind blown trees, ...gggrrrhhhhh.

Why not preserve the beauty of your windblown, oak, ash, beech ect, and get it slabbed, dried , and make furniture from it. Irish oak will probably cost you 65 euros a cubic foot, if you needed a piece for something. Apart from that using it for wood work is more eco friendly.:D

kadman:)

rooferPete

Hi CJ,

It doesn't surprise me that Stanley is being copied, the same is happening to Franco Belge, La Nordica had a similar problem, it appears that the good brand names are being targeted.

I was offered what appear to be nice stoves at a price too good to believe, they are still on offer around the country but there are also a few that have cracked and I only hear about the very few when people are desperate looking for parts.

It is another case of buyer beware.

John Boy

The news on turf is it's like gold bars this year I used to buy from Balivor but they stopped supplying a few years ago, they told me there is a bigger return from selling the gardening products.

How long do you leave the timber to dry before burning it ? on the Continent they store their firewood for two years before using it for the fire, logs start out with over 40% moisture.

They take their fuel very seriously, I picked up a log ready for the stove and couldn't believe the weight, it was like a feather.

They are so serious we took delivery of a stove with a front like a television screen, it is controlled by a timer and thermostat to keep even heat in the room.

Now all I have to do is find a customer with a big enough room to jusify the technology and of course the price, another one has a screen both sides for the large open plan house.

Hi Benny,

There are a few stoves that can be linked to your existing system that might be worth looking at, the new fuel for stoves is wood briquettes they are made from waste timber and give out great heat with very little ash, even the ash can be used in the garden.

Hi Kadman,

What do you do with the waste from your work with timber ? I know looking at some of your pieces that you have more than saw dust on your floor.

When will you start selling the fruits of your labour ? emmm your not supposed to fall in love with each finished piece

.

Manuel

Hi folks,
I'm confused. Why can't wood pellets be burned in a regular solid fuel stove? We're about to splash out 1600 squids on a Stanley Erin, and I don't want it to be obsolete in 10 years, or less! Pete, I presume those wood briquettes could be burned in my Erin, though I never heard of them 'til now?
Thanks,
/M.

bennyc

It was the Erin I was looking at also, got a quote for 1550 for the black and 1750 for the enamel. Am told it will heat 9 Rads
How much is the wood pellets per bag and what is consumption like.

karltimber

was also changing to an Ashling with the back boiler.

Further info on the wood briquettes rooferpete would be great.

Was going to use the Ashling to heat a 36m2 room (without rads) plus about 7 rads off it also.

Rooferpete - I usually recycle my woodturning shavings at my local amenities centre. I wonder could they be used without a binding substance.

If one of these Ecostoves was at the corner of a room -- does the hob for the pellets need to be behind the stove ??

thx

tcoen

Look at the efficiency of the stove. Good ones will be up to 80%.
A jotul http://www.jotul.us/Content/StartPage____2373.aspx are good as are the firebox brand. Some stoves also have air which circulates on the front glass to keep it clean.

rooferPete

Hi,

I am using wood briquettes in a Franco Belge at home, it's supposed to be a 5 KW stove, honestly I would defy anyone to load that stove and stay in the room in comfort with the door closed.

The heat return is so good I will be using them in the front section of the showroom in a La Nordica Giulietta, it is probably one of the coldest parts of the building and I have no doubt any visitors will be impressed.

The briquettes are like a big pellet, made from compressed saw dust, they leave very little ash which can be used directly on the garden.

Manuel,

I don't see why your choice of a Stanley Erin should be obsolete within ten years, Stanley make nice stoves with the Airwash for the glass tcoen posted about.

You can use wood or briquettes, I'm not sure if it's a multi fuel but that shouldn't really matter as long as you have logs or the new version wood briquettes.

Benny,

I don't recommend buying wood pellet by the bag because it's the most expensive way to buy, for example 1 tonne of bagged pellet fuel is about 280.00 euro, 1 tonne loose (bulk) is about 155.00 euro.

The pellet fuel stoves and boilers will not burn anything except compressed pellets, it's hard to explain and much easier to see one working to understand the way they work.

A pellet stove with an output of 22 kw, 4.5 to the room and 17.5 to the heating uses from 1 > 5 KG per hour of pellet fuel depending on the demand from the heating which is set by the home owner.

KarlTimber,

Most pellet stoves have the fuel storage tank at the back to allow the auger to bring the fuel to the burn pot at the front because the heat settings are largely dependent on the speed the auger delivers the fuel.

The tank holds 45 kg on the stove I am thinking about, the size of the tank usually depends on the size of the stove and the output expected.

Unfortunatley you would need a very expensive set up to compress the wood shavings to the point where they would burn at the correct temperature to get value from a pellet stove.

All stoves with boilers regardless of the fuel they use will only give an output equal to the fuel being used, that is why many of the stoves and cookers used to burn antricite to keep the radiators warm.

There are a good number of retailers supplying both wood and pellet burning stoves, I would recommend calling in to see them working before buying because that will explain so much about the differences between the systems.

I remember building a chimney and fitting the only Tirolia cooker that worked properly in a housing estate 25 years ago, the customer sang at our wedding ( not sure if he was getting his own back )

To heat a 4 bed semi with a garage conversion he was using 25 bags of coal a week, any less and he was turning off radiators, he did say that he preferred that to the trouble his neighbours were having, smoking cookers and very little heat.

.

JohnBoy

On turf..... I see, knew there were ructions in galway last year, but thought that was about a road or summat.

On Windblown trees....... ash, sycamore, larch, poplar, and thorns (black, white, haw) never chopped up much/any oak, I think the english cut it all down centuries ago to make ships from, oh and some elm years ago, now I'll admit the elm sooooo shouldn't have been used for firewood, but I was young and innocent.

I'll also admit to being curious as to the costs of converting a tree to planks on many occasions in the past alright, and now that I'm buying a house (Oh yes folks, we are sale agreed) Its something that may happen alright.

As to how long before we burn it? not sure, It's often in lengths for a year+ and would nearly always be split for over a year too. not nessecarily under cover when in lengths. don't know for sure, my auld lad sort of takes care of such things, I'm just the labourer, I'm sure I'll learn more, I could have up to twenty young ash trees needing to be cut once I get my house, they're far too close for comfort along the bounds ditch so I'm sure I'll become well versed.

Idleater

rooferPete wrote:

Hi,

I am using wood briquettes in a Franco Belge at home, it's supposed to be a 5 KW stove, honestly I would defy anyone to load that stove and stay in the room in comfort with the door closed.

The heat return is so good I will be using them in the front section of the showroom in a La Nordica Giulietta, it is probably one of the coldest parts of the building and I have no doubt any visitors will be impressed.

The briquettes are like a big pellet, made from compressed saw dust, they leave very little ash which can be used directly on the garden.

Hello Pete,

Could you tell me where one can get the wood briquettes? I am very interested in them as I am using a solid (multi) fuel stove and I would love to give them a try.

many thanks,

L.

karltimber

was looking at hunter stoves today.

multifuel stove called Herald 8 and its a 7-11kw 35kbtu with 7 rads.
comes in at e1300 - have a look at
http://www.hunterstoves.co.uk/index.htm

there's a place just outside Navan that has a sale 5% off til end of next week.
They also have a Herald 14 which is bigger.

Question -- if I have an open heating syetem - can I (with plummer) add
in a multifuel boiler stove.
Can I make the stove heat both rads plus a hot water tank ?
Can this system be setup to be also be heated by mains Gas-but not toegther !! ?
Can the system be closed or does it need to stay as an open system ?

thx folks

rooferPete

Hi nereid,

We should have more briquettes coming in at the end of this week, PM your location there may be someone nearer to you stocking them I will be happy to forward you their info.

Karl,

Provided you have a gravity System (Not Pressurised) it should be possible to link into your existing system.

Yes there should be no problem heating both the radiators and the hot water cylinder, what you have to be careful about is not overloading the system, 35,00 btu's can only heat a limited amount.

Take care and have it checked out before you spend, the general rule is you link into the system very close to the existing boiler.

Also make sure it's done properly or you could end up heating the water in the stove as well as the rest of the system and that amounts to waste.

As a rule you can't change a multi fuel stove to gas, although you can buy a stove designed to run on gas alone, the seals and flues are usually very different.

For a Solid Fuel (wood / multi fuel) stove the system Must Remain as an open system, there can be a lot of variation in temperature provided by a wood stove.

The same applies to the output rating on any solid fuel appliance it can be rated as a 35,000 btu, however it can only achieve that level of heat if you use enough good quality fuel.

I have looked at Hunter Stoves but haven't made any decision on them as yet so I would appreciate any feed back.

.

kadman

JohnBoy wrote:

On turf..... I see, knew there were ructions in galway last year, but thought that was about a road or summat.

On Windblown trees....... ash, sycamore, larch, poplar, and thorns (black, white, haw) never chopped up much/any oak, I think the english cut it all down centuries ago to make ships from, oh and some elm years ago, now I'll admit the elm sooooo shouldn't have been used for firewood, but I was young and innocent.

I'll also admit to being curious as to the costs of converting a tree to planks on many occasions in the past alright, and now that I'm buying a house (Oh yes folks, we are sale agreed) Its something that may happen alright.

QUOTE]


Ash, well you wont find a more beautiful timber for furniture, woodturning and cabinet work. The larger trees, 36 +" diameter, will give you darker olive ash in the heartwood if you are lucky.

Sycamore, wavy patterns in the grain, are ideal for decorative cabinet work. pattern more commonly known as fiddleback sycamore, used for instrument construction. No doubt you have burnt some of this (GGGrrrhh...) More fool you its value would be somewhere between 80- 250 euros a cubic foot.
So a block 12" x 4" x 36 "=250 yo yo's.

Larch, hard wearing flooring, extremely durable for boatbuilding, and expensive.

Poplar, another under rated timber, terrific grain, used for furniture construction.

Elm....arrgghhhhh..... sell that f........ng chainsaw.:eek: :eek: :eek: The finest timber available for any project, from wood turning, carving, coffinmaking...everything. Far superior to oak, ash, cherry, second only to yew.

You criminal, I'm going to find out where you live. I'm gonna burn your barn down, I'm gonna shoot your horses, I'm even gonna shoot your dog...and then I'm gonna come looking for you....:p

End of rant.

Get eco friendly , QUICK

kadman:D

karltimber

yeah - so there !!!!:D

tell kadman he has to share the timber with me

CJhaughey

Ah ya have to admit theres great burning in that seasoned Oak and Ash though, lasts all night and gives massive heat:D
On a more serious note how about a large piece of Scots pine? about 4-4.5 ft in diameter would that be worth running through a woodmiser? I thought about doing that with trunk I have seen on a beach locally it is about 8-9ft long I would guess.

bennyc

just an update on this I ordered the Eirn form stanly got it local was close to 30 quid cheeper than the recommended reseller from the web. The plumber said he installed one on a new house a last year and altough it said 9 rads max he ran 15 of it and had no issues with heat loss. So i am running 14 off it (some very small). Hopefully will do the trick.

Time to hit the bog again :eek:

Evergreen

Hi Benny,

We are a small company that import and install wood pellet stoves, wood pellet central heating systems, log stoves and log central heating systems. If you need any advice on different types of systems or the availability and prices of fuel then please let me know.

Regards,
Ned

portsbruff

Dont know how to start a new thread:

(1) I have a straight chimney. I can buy 1 meter lengths of steal 5 inch dia flue liner cheaper than the flexi flue. Is this good idea?:confused.

(2) I have a 200 year old cottage with a massive chimney you could get a bed up there!! i was thinking of puting a wood stove and flue straight up chimney plus a copper water tank sitting on a shelf. So the stove will heat the water then the water will expand up into the tank feed the rads and give me hot water. what i am worried about is the chimney is like a radiator already is this against building regulations.

(3) My livingroom chimney turns right 1 meter from the top i cant get the 5 inch flue into this rectangle shaped slot which exits into the main chimney. At the momment the flue stops at this slot which works but when i go to clean the flue i will have problems.

(4) and lastly is there a site i can download a drawing of a open central heating system for a cottage with a huge chimney in the way

portsbruff

I have just sawn down a tree and today i am chopping them to size.
how long do i have to wait before i can use them (next year?) not sure
also i have been told that if i dont chop the wood into blocks within 3 weeks
it would be alot harder to chop. Is this true?

portsbruff

Wood Pellets are ok until the place you get them from goes bust. plus they are very expencive,then how do you know if its hard wood you are paying for it could be soft wood which would burn very quick with half the heat.:)

kadman wrote: »

Hi,

I suppose the most eco friendly option at the moment are pellet burning stoves. Some tf builds that I have recently surveyed were fitted with these type of stoves, and they definitely are impressive.

Definitely the waterford stanley was indeed an excellent stove, but unless you have an endless supply of turf, which wont be allowed in the near future, a pellet stove might be the answer.

http://www.ecostoves.net/index.html


kadman:)

fmcc

Hi Portsbruff, Ok i will try but the questions seem a little all over the place.

Are we talking about two chimneys as you say in Q1 you have a straight chimney but then you have a bend so that makes it not straight if you get me. Are there 2 chimneys?

Anyway on q1 you can use rigid steel pipe but ensure its for solid fuel. If the chimney is so big you may need to insulate around this flue pipe with vermiculite by sealing at the bottom and puring this down from the top than sealing at the top. You should do this with solid fuel flexi as well if you need this to get round the bend. the bend needs to be cleaned in any event so you need to allow for it.

Not sure what the question is in in Q2 what do you mean exactly againets the building regs? The chimney is fine once sealed correctly dont see how its a radiator.

Q3 I think I kind answered in Q1 but put another post to clairify if you can.

Q4 dont know of any dowloadable plans but a plumber should be able to do a simple design for you and most houses have a chimney in the way in any case.

Give me a shout to clarify the questions.

Wood should be split and stored in an area to dry with a lot of air circulation for at least 18 months maybe two years until moisture is around 20% or less. Shelater is nesesary in ireland and even then this can be hard to achieve.

pellets can be got all over ireland but the stoves/boilers themselves I agree you need to be careful where you get them as one well known manufacturer has gone to the wall.

portsbruff

fmcc wrote: »

Hi Portsbruff, Ok i will try but the questions seem a little all over the place.

Are we talking about two chimneys as you say in Q1 you have a straight chimney but then you have a bend so that makes it not straight if you get me. Are there 2 chimneys?

Anyway on q1 you can use rigid steel pipe but ensure its for solid fuel. If the chimney is so big you may need to insulate around this flue pipe with vermiculite by sealing at the bottom and puring this down from the top than sealing at the top. You should do this with solid fuel flexi as well if you need this to get round the bend. the bend needs to be cleaned in any event so you need to allow for it.

Not sure what the question is in in Q2 what do you mean exactly againets the building regs? The chimney is fine once sealed correctly dont see how its a radiator.

Q3 I think I kind answered in Q1 but put another post to clairify if you can.

Q4 dont know of any dowloadable plans but a plumber should be able to do a simple design for you and most houses have a chimney in the way in any case.

Give me a shout to clarify the questions.

Wood should be split and stored in an area to dry with a lot of air circulation for at least 18 months maybe two years until moisture is around 20% or less. Shelater is nesesary in ireland and even then this can be hard to achieve.

pellets can be got all over ireland but the stoves/boilers themselves I agree you need to be careful where you get them as one well known manufacturer has gone to the wall.

Hi there thanks for your reply. (Kitchen chimney 1) Straight very big could put a bed in side and smoke to death lol. Could i put a copper tank in this chimney which is above the stove which would feed hot water to the taps and radiators and can you explain in more detail (vermiculite by sealing at the bottom and puring this down from the top than sealing at the top. )
Dont quite understand. At the moment i have 6 meters of flexi straight up which is drawing very well.:D

(Livingroom Chimney 2) 1 meter from top this chimney has a bend Which goes from a square to a rectangle shape hole to the chimney pot (cant get the 5in flexy flu through this rectangle and i cant reach this hole from the top of the chimney) The only thing i can think of is a big job by taking down the chimney and rebuild:D No footy just have to watch Big Brother might see a bit of nookie lol lol