Wood or gas fire

Well I was so glad to not have to light our wood burner when we moved house . My daughter lights hers but she is 30 years younger, she made me put one in when we were building , it is an expensive ornament
It does give fantastic heat from little fuel , Karmalady loves hers

I had a real wood/multifuel stove for many years as my main heating source. Gravity feed to central heating. It was really lovely. But the work of emptying the ashes twice a day was tedious especially in the winter when it was windy outside and the hot ashes get blown back at you. The dust got everywhere. It was impossible to have a good stereo system or tv due to the dust in the air.
I now have a gas fire that looks like a wood burner and the instant heat without the faff is great.

I agree ladies,. If I were a few years younger the ‘work’ wouldn’t bother me.

My daughter has stopped using hers because of the risk from the fumes.

We have an electric log effect fire which we can use with or without heat and swear the room gets warmer from the log effect.

Modern efficiency means that there is very little wood ash to empty and that would only be every week or so. Correct burning is key, I have a thermometer on my flue, magnetic back, about 12 inches up. I get no glass blackening if it stays in the optimum temperature range

Setting the fire is key too, top down burning to warm the flue first, no smoke comes into my room. Yesterday I used just 3 small logs and 4 pieces of kindling and 4 pieces of eco fire lighters. Once the fire dies down, the stove remains warm for hours and makes a considerable difference to my comfort

Properly seasoned logs, I bought and stacked a tonne, mostly in a keter storage unit outside, some in my garage. This is my third season of burning them and I have enough for several more seasons. I got a 5kw stovax multi-fuel fire and it sits on a stovax plinth. A very nice moden clean-looking design

Multi fuel because I wanted the option to burn smokeless eggs, I have an electric firelighter to get those going and they simmer heat all through the night

Work is not really work as it is so minimal

I have a big blueair air cleaner in that room. The air stays very clean with this fire and the colours on the blueair do not change from an excellent blue, whereas cooking in the next room triggers red, which is polluted. Modern fires have the bells and whistles to be clean burning, not like the old stoves and maybe defective flues in older houses

The latest DEFRA approved stoves burn clearly without fumes. Our wood burners, one multifuel, only require the ash being removed once, usually before relighting. We have an oblong canister which the ash tray fits into without allowing ash dust to spread, it is emptied outside.
I guess like most things it’s down to personal preference.

OP get the flue checked first, it should be done by any reputable installer and my fire would look so good in your inglenook

Fireplace

We have an electric log effect wood burner. It is very pretty and looks like the real thing. Google electric effect wood burners and you will be amazed at what is available.
We had too many issues with the chimney in our Edwardian house which didn't apparently meet modern building standards. Im still not sure how previous occupants over the decades coped with the various coal fires and gas fires that used this chimney!

I don’t have gas, and hate electric fires, the fan noise drives me quietly mad. I’ve got a log burner, when the weather is cold it runs overnight damped down, and I empty the ash twice a week, so it’s really not a lot of bother. My only issue with it is that it’s harder to regulate, when I first had it, it was too hot in the lounge - there is an art to maintaining the best temperature for comfort.

We love our wood burner - free source of heat for us - and there's very little mess involved. Wouldn't be without it now.

The advantage of wood is that it is independent of grids and pipework.We were very glad a of a wood burner when we were without gas for two weeks in November and had a winter of intermittent ssupply.

We could have used electric heaters but electricity is expensive and it was a house with big rooms. As it was we used the wood burner. We have moved, and are going to install aanother wood burner for the same reasons, guaranteed heaat if the gas or electricity go down.

However, we normally just light the wood burner on Sundays and holidays, so the cleaning and sorting, which only takes 10 minutes or so, isn't really a problem - and the wood ash is good for the garden. I wouldn't want a wood burner as my sole means of heating.

We get very little ash when burning well-seasoned or kiln-dried logs.

We have a log burning stove. It is set in to the fireplace. I don't find it a hassle at all. I empty the ashes every other day, it's easy to light with a firelighter and a few kindling sticks and it heats our living room well. The heat radiating from the chimney helps to heat the landing also.

Wow gingster. Here’s mine!
Separated at birth?

I have a wood burning stove [Defra approved] and burn kiln dried wood throughout the winter evenings. I've no central heating.

I'm in a bungalow and with it burning well I can leave the door ajar and the heat can lift the temperature throughout the home.

It's one of the best items I've ever bought. I get in the wood from the garage every 4-5 days and empty ash once a week. No problem.

Yes do it! ! I’m 80 and sort our log burner and it’s really no bother….easier than open fire I think. I’ve also got air purifier which reads air quality and if you burn kiln dried logs the air quality is perfect. Cooking is far worst than a log burner…. shows on our purifier.

Thanks everyone for your input. It’s good to get different views. We have a real woodburner at our seaside cottage, so I’m fairly used to it but it is smaller than the one we would have here.
Dh doesn’t mind one way or the other (no help there);. The ac say definitely a real log stove.,
Still getting quotes so I’ll let you know the outcome. 🙏

Couldn't be a*sed cleaning out a wood burner. Gas every time.

Does anyone else have a stove fan? I have an ecofan and leave all the doors open, the fan sits at the back and gently wafts the warm air towards the door. The stove is in an inglenook, I have a new build

My ch gas boiler will be repaired tomorrow so I won`t be using the stove every day from tomorrow but honestly it has been a godsend

Do you often get power cuts? Aside from the cosiness of a real fire, it’s an asset when the electricity goes off as you still have warmth. My friends in north east Scotland use it to heat water, milk or soup if the power is off, as it very often is in their neck of the woods.

J52

The latest DEFRA approved stoves burn clearly without fumes. Our wood burners, one multifuel, only require the ash being removed once, usually before relighting. We have an oblong canister which the ash tray fits into without allowing ash dust to spread, it is emptied outside.
I guess like most things it’s down to personal preference.

Yes we have a new one and it is really clean - we only burn wood and empty it every few days never daily. We have always had log burners as ‘commoners’ in our deeds we are allowed free wood from fallen trees.

My son has a very modern, log burner fire and when I am in charge eg fir holidays I can assure you it needs cleaned out every day in winter. They have a covered tray type container for the ashes but when emptying in the bin there is dust.