advertisement


Log burner

Clear View stoves need a mention here.
We use a 'smoke control' version as we live in a region that requires that by law.
This makes 'keeping the fire in' all night is not so easy as it does keep a minimum air flow higher than a full close down.
https://www.clearviewstoves.com
 
Being relatively new to the wood burner fraternity I am finding seasoned wood of,say, four years vintage splits very readily using the maul, this suggests to me it is ready for use this coming autumn...
 
Being relatively new to the wood burner fraternity I am finding seasoned wood of,say, four years vintage splits very readily using the maul, this suggests to me it is ready for use this coming autumn...

I would say so. Is it softwood or hardwood?
 
very pleased with our Morso

20167525465_a59275708a_c.jpg


puts out a surprising amount of heat for something quite small, heats our big lounge very nicely and looks pretty cool.

You can shut it down and it'll stay alight overnight, but the glass goes sooty and although it will burn off again, we tend not to use it. (MVV, does the Warmwood glass go sooty when shut down overnight?).
 
  • Like
Reactions: koi
I would say so. Is it softwood or hardwood?

Softwood.

I started off using kiln dried but now the earliest seasoned wood is looking good now. I have been adding to the seasoned wood such that there should be a regular flow in the future such that there should be a continous cycle of using the seasoned wood.
 
If you’re getting a lot of soot or black glass then the fire is either burning too slowly with not enough air or your wood is damp. Modern stoves are not really designed to be kept on low over night. You’re not getting any secondary burn from wood with a very low fire which is a real waste of it’s potential heat output.

I have never seen the point of heating your lounge burning wood when you’re upstairs in bed.
 
Discussion around which is better, seasoned wood or kiln dried is a not a straightforward one. For me, the moisture content of the wood trumps how it was dried.

Seasoning your own wood is a great idea and far less expensive but requires the necessary time (anything from six months to over two years) and storage space. You’re also working a year behind or two with oak which reqires careful planning and good wood store management. Things get even trickier when seasoning different varieties of wood in the same store. All depends how much effort you want to invest in it.
 
very pleased with our Morso

20167525465_a59275708a_c.jpg


puts out a surprising amount of heat for something quite small, heats our big lounge very nicely and looks pretty cool.

You can shut it down and it'll stay alight overnight, but the glass goes sooty and although it will burn off again, we tend not to use it. (MVV, does the Warmwood glass go sooty when shut down overnight?).

Took a bit of time to get sooty but yes. Then it was in for the whole winter. As Tiger says worse if the wood is damp. At the time it was in the living kitchen of a big house and did most of the heating duties.

Now it is in the living room of a smaller house and I light it daily if needed.

I like softwood too but be careful about keeping a softwood fired stove in overnight. The resin will build up in the flue, then one day you may have a chimney fire.

There is a nice and vaguely dangerous cheat you can do with a Woodwarm. If you open the ash pan door keeping the main firebox closed the super draft will light an apparently out stove from the tinyist spark. However if you load it up and forget you’ve left the ash pan door open it gets red hot and you will melt the telly.
 
I use a Clarke Wentworth 5KW stove. I know these Machine Mart stoves get criticised a bit, but generally by non-owners. ;)

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-wentworth-cast-iron-stove-defra-appro/

I must say though, that am much happier using Excel smokeless coal than logs. Once it's on, then it'll run all day with a few top ups... I have a few logs lying around to chuck on top if I want the flame effect.

I also use a stove thermocouple fan, highly recommended, just plonk it on top of your stove & when it hits the right temp, it'll start spinning.
 
I've had a small owl Morso for the past 12 years. Brilliant little stove, no issues whatsoever. I will eventually have to replace the firebricks as they have been slowly cracking, but that's it.
I'm quite fussy about the wood I burn. For about the first eight years, I had a reliable and trusted source of good properly seasoned local hardwood from a forestry guy, and then sadly he retired. The demand for firewood seems to have grown enormously in recent years with the growing popularity of wood burning stoves, and now there are lots of places around where I live selling kiln-dried wood. I wonder where the wood comes from. It can't all be from sustainable sources.
 
I also use a stove thermocouple fan, highly recommended, just plonk it on top of your stove & when it hits the right temp, it'll start spinning.

As the OP says he is now sorted, I hope a minor thread crap is OK - which one have you got?
 
Looks like I’m going for a Jøtul F145 got a good deal.

Good choice. Now come the more tricky decisions. IMO, use 904 grade liner (or Selkirk twin wall if freestanding chimney), it’s worth the extra to ensure you won’t have to replace. Use a Vedette cowl, which is anti-downdraft. They are not the most attractive things in the world but are the best I’ve used. I’ve got one on a Rayburn 345W / Selkirk and it pulls like a train even in the worst wind conditions. Far better than anything else I’ve tried. I’ve bought liner and cowl stuff from fluesystems, very good quality and price.

Finally, the wood. Get yourself a moisture meter. Don’t burn anything higher than 20% moisture content. If you are buying it in, find a good supplier and test the moisture content before taking delivery. If they are selling as seasoned firewood, anything more than 20%, send it back. I burn about 6T a year but have my own land. This winter I’ll be burning stuff I coppiced 3 years ago, stacked and seasoned in a barn. Not too fussed about the wood type (although ash is the best), moisture content is the most important factor. Have a read of Norwegian Wood by Lars Mytting, will tell you all you need to know when it comes to wood!
 
On the subject of cowls, get a bird proof one. We had birds in our stove regularly until we changed it, and changing it was a pain (external Flue a mile high and half a mile out from the roof)
 
  • Like
Reactions: koi
Good choice. Now come the more tricky decisions. IMO, use 904 grade liner (or Selkirk twin wall if freestanding chimney), it’s worth the extra to ensure you won’t have to replace. Use a Vedette cowl, which is anti-downdraft. They are not the most attractive things in the world but are the best I’ve used. I’ve got one on a Rayburn 345W / Selkirk and it pulls like a train even in the worst wind conditions. Far better than anything else I’ve tried. I’ve bought liner and cowl stuff from fluesystems, very good quality and price.

Finally, the wood. Get yourself a moisture meter. Don’t burn anything higher than 20% moisture content. If you are buying it in, find a good supplier and test the moisture content before taking delivery. If they are selling as seasoned firewood, anything more than 20%, send it back. I burn about 6T a year but have my own land. This winter I’ll be burning stuff I coppiced 3 years ago, stacked and seasoned in a barn. Not too fussed about the wood type (although ash is the best), moisture content is the most important factor. Have a read of Norwegian Wood by Lars Mytting, will tell you all you need to know when it comes to wood!


Cheers
 


advertisement


Back
Top