With energy price hikes round the corner is it time to open

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With energy price hikes round the corner is it time to open

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nasher1

Joined: 07 Oct 2013
Posts: 9
Location: SSE of Lincoln

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 13 7:46 pm Post subject: With energy price hikes round the corner is it time to open

My gas bill is ï¿½7.50 per month, itï¿½s hard to believe when according to British gas in my post code area the average monthly cost is ï¿½80 per month, thatï¿½s before the predicted price rise, (according to this weekï¿½s latest email from money supermarket)

We cook with gas all year round, and the hot water is heated in the summer months.

Ten years ago I put a multi-fuel burner in, it has a wrap around built in boiler capable of producing 44,000 Btu, this should heat up to ten radiators and heat a tank of hot water.
I do not run it flat out even in the coldest winter, currently it runs eleven radiators, under floor heating in the bathroom and heats two hot water tanks.
Expensive to buy wood burner, can be but mine was ï¿½400 second hand off the net, on top of that a small budget each year for improvement.
Expensive to install, I donï¿½t know as I did it myself.
Logs can be expensive, true but I do not buy them I just burn what is available, fallen, given, I also collect waste from a small local joiners shop.
I do not live in a smokeless zone, however wood burners can be used in smokeless areas, Defra has an approved wood burner list for smokeless areas try this https://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/.
In the last three years, five properties around me have had wood burners fitted.
At the end of the day itï¿½s carbon neutral and save money.
It takes a little investment to get started but I hope this has helped anyone who was thinking of doing it.

oldish chris

Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 4148
Location: Comfortably Wet Southport

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 13 9:09 pm Post subject:

I did it. I bought this house from a joiner. He had installed an amazing multi-fuel boiler.

It worked out that once a week I would drive to a nearby joinery and filled a Mondeo estate with wood, drive home, empty the car, cut the wood into short lengths (hard-wood doesn't half blunt saw blades) and stack it. About 6 hours hard work in total.

6 hours @ minimum pay (ï¿½6.31) = ï¿½37.86, or ï¿½164 per calender month.

I installed a gas boiler, went to work an extra day each week and ended up about ï¿½20 a week better off.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 13 9:20 pm Post subject:
Been running a multi fuel burner on off cuts from a local roof truss manufacturer for almost 8 years, the savings run in to the thousands by now.

Piggyphile

Joined: 02 Apr 2009
Posts: 891
Location: Galicia

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 13 9:04 am Post subject:

Quote:

6 hours @ minimum pay (ï¿½6.31) = ï¿½37.86, or ï¿½164 per calender month.

I buy in my wood pre split which costs 300 euros for a small lorry load which lasts me all winter. It is the only heating in the house and I get to cook on the stove top when it is on (evenings only).

For me it is a no brainer, I have enough work to do on the small holding as it is.

Sometimes there is satisfaction from doing it yourself but if you prefer doing your work to sawing wood you are with the majority of people make that choice. I am not sure if costing your time doing household chores is the best measure though. I am sure catching Macdonalds on the way home from work for a 99p burger is cheaper than cooking your own dinner but one option is much more satisfying than the other.

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 13 9:06 am Post subject:
I would love a woodburner, i have the firelplace and chimney there but just dont have the money, not sure we could put in one to run the radiators as well but its an interesting idea but living in the edge of london finding, cutting and storimg firewood may well take up a lot of time.

gorbut

Joined: 03 Sep 2006
Posts: 137
Location: Border of London and Essex

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 13 4:20 pm Post subject:
You are probably in a smokeless zone too so may not be able to burn wood anyway ( although as I can't afford a wood burner I haven't actually checked so quite prepared to admit I am wrong).

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 13 4:24 pm Post subject:
You're wrong.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 13 4:38 pm Post subject:
the defra exemption rules are a bit complicated but for about ï¿½1500 there are stoves that can burn dry hard or soft wood that is without preservatives,paint etc in cleanair zones if you have a chimney and fireplace the liner and bits will be about another grand based on york prices.making good the fireplace reveal will be extra

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 13 5:07 pm Post subject:
https://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/appliances.php?country=e Not complicated.

oldish chris

Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 4148
Location: Comfortably Wet Southport

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 13 8:13 pm Post subject:

There is no doubt, for some people it is a good idea, e.g. a joiner. The joinery where I got my supplies was always keen to see me - it cost (a few years ago now) ï¿½120 to get a skip emptied - at a guess it is a lot, lot more now. A factor that started to discourage me was that there were others beginning to use the wood. (So Nasher - keep schtum!)

My point really is that it is more of a life-style thing than simply avoiding a gas bill. There are costs and effort involved. Splitting a mahogany block takes some doing. I needed a new Sandvic blade for my bow-saw about once a month. A winter's supply of wood would fill a 6'x8' shed to the roof.

Now I'm a bit decrepit, it would be beyond me.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15967

Posted: Sun Oct 13, 13 3:00 pm Post subject:

We sell firewood, and we are getting a lot of new customers, including a lot who have just had a fire or closed stove installed. Even buying firewood can work out cheaper than using some other forms of heating. We have one customer who buys 10-12 loads a year, and with that he heats two adjoining cottages which used to be very cold and damp. Heating them with gas or electricity would cost a lot more I suspect.

I use the top of our woodburner for things that take a long time to cook, like cassoulet, Bolognese sauce and stews. Also ideal for melting beeswax for candles in a water bath.

If you can get joinery offcuts, great for both you and the joiner, and a use for otherwise useless wood.

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