Wood or gas fire

Electric?

Oops, Also, wood is expensive and becoming more so. To save some money son buys a palletful at a time, all kiln dried. This then has to be stored and basketfulls brought in. Whole process reminds me of when parents and then when I was married had coal fires. As to fumes etc, modern fires are supposedly less polluting indoors but still emit a lot of pollutants out the flue. Personally I wouldn't have one.

As I said in my earlier post, ours is a source of free heat, so unless anyone wants to pay me to remove it and then pay for an alternative source of heat, it'll be staying!

The amount of ash a log fire generates is largely down to the type of wood you are burning 4allweknow, so perhaps the wood on your sons is not seasoned enough? I definitely only need to empty mine twice a week, and I’ve perfected the technique to remove it without mess. A properly fitting ash container, and a tie top bin liner which I put over the ash container before I tip it, I use my very old Shark to suck out the last bits of ash, when I replaced it I saved the old one specifically for the fire. It takes me less than five minutes.
It is cheaper to buy your wood from your local farmer, I’m lucky to live in the country though - and I keep it for at least two years before I burn it.

We had one which was already in the house we bought, DH loved it playing with the logs and putting more on, I hated it as I found it messy and causing to much dust.
So we had it taken out and replaced with a marble fireplace and built in real flame electric fire, I like log burners just not in my house

We have a holiday home which can get very damp and chilly between visits as the thermostat is set to a low temperature. There's gas fire that looks like a log burner in the house, and once lit it gives off a lot of heat pretty quickly as well as pulling damp air up the chimney.
I don't think that we could be bothered with a "real" fire now, we had one in our last house which was lovely but there was space to store the logs there.
Our current home has no fireplace which I find a little souless, I wondered about having a stove-type heater which worked on electricity but we don't really need the extra heat so it seems a bit pointless.

I would have a log burner tomorrow, we’ve had quotes, it would involve a new flu, electric sockets moved and a lot of upheaval.
My hankering to recreate the one we had in our French house doesn’t justify the cost sadly.

I LOVE our woodburner. There’s nothing like it on a cold winters day. Flames dancing, wood crackling and the warmth like no other.
If you have the physical strength to carry logs and clear the ash etc, then nothing beats it.
But if you are compromised in any way, the ‘flick of a switch’ gas fire will be better……but soulless!

We have a wood burner .love it. Had it put in by a reputable company who also sweep it and clean it regularly. Wood is also important. No old cheap rubbish but well seasoned.

We had a wood burner installed overwrite years ago. We keep it well maintained by having it checked over and swept every year. I am 78 with extremely bad inflammatory arthritis but I can still do the fire. Our burner is a multi burner that burns coal and wood and we tend to use a fair bit of smokeless coal. It makes using less logs and gives out a lovely heat. Don’t tend to get much ash so not much of a faff to clean. I would say go for it.

My neighbours have put a log burner in their coservatory with the chimney venting through the roof. They burn allsorts of "wood" and the terrible smoke blows over my property. I cant go outside to the bin without coughing, and cant hang washing out when that fire is in use. They are pleasant people and I have spoken to the husband about the awful stinking smoke but nothing has been done.don't want any upset ,but whats being burnt could be toxic.

Andrea67 this shouldn’t happen. Either they are burning treated wood or their flue hasn’t been installed correctly or even had it swept maybe by the right qualified people. We have never had smoke pouring from our roof.

andrea67 you need to report this to the Environmental Health department at your council offices.
They can look into it for you and advise your neighbours.
If they are repeat offenders they can be fined.

Walk past my place when the logs are burning and you wouldn't know I had a wood burner going. No fumes, no smoke.

Stinking smoke means someone is burning varnished wood, old furniture, preservative treated wood, wood washed up on the beach, damp and unseasoned wood and some burn tyres! The [very stupid] person responsible needs reporting to the council and educating.

We had a Woodburn installed a couple of years ago. It is a morning chore to get it ready to light later. It was worth having it installed and needs a regular service and chimney sweep. We have a recirculating ventilation system which takes the hot air around the house as well as getting rid of stale air. We no longer have central heating as the log burner is so efficient.
If you don't want to be chopping wood and cleaning it out every day then a gas fire is a nice alternative as long as you have another form of heating to keep the rest of the house warm.

Good morning and thanks for all your tips and advice.

Yesterday we ordered a real log stove and we’re booked in for installation on 7th November.

So no gas !
I think I would have always hankered after the real one.
Very excited and can’t wait to have a warm, cheery winter around the fire.🪵🔥.
Thanks again ladies

I love my woodburner. I chose for style, rather than size so it heats my sitting room and if I open the floors, the conservatory. I buy kiln dried wood locally, they deliver and stack it for me.
I enjoy the warmth and the light. Cleaning and relaying takes a few minutes.

Installing a log burner may involve more complex work, including flue installation and compliance with local regulations. This sports games az might require hiring professionals, which can add to the cost.

I think anyone buying a wood burner knows that in the UK a stove must be installed by a HETAS-registered installer, or self-installed with prior notification and inspection by your local Building Control department and that means all the rules relating to flues, ventilation and everything else need to be met.

That done, it is up to the stove owner to burn an approved fuel, and if anyone thinks someone is not doing this they have the option of reporting the stove owner to the local authority.

Also, burning inappropriate stuff means smoke and does the chimney no good

An annual chimney sweep is essential and many insurance companies insist on it.

Yes, our sweep contacts me in April and as I’m a regular, I pay the same as I did four years ago

Wood is a renewal source of heat, and is not dependent on any other country.
I hope that you enjoy your new stove, Gingster.

We've lived hee 49 years and have a multi fuel stove with a back boiler.
I loathe it with a passion. Filthy things, loads of work and you need large quantities of logs kept dry.
No gas here. I'd have gas tomorrow if I could.

I was sad to lose my wood burner, but as I felt I’d have problems getting logs, carrying them in, storing them, I changed to an electric look-alike. I haven’t had an electricity bill yet, but so far I’m very pleased with my electric stove. It’s exactly the same size as the iron one, I keep some logs next to it for the look, the heat is instant, I can’t hear the fan, nothing to complain about. It hasn’t been very cold here, so I haven’t had to put it above the lowest heat setting, often I just have the flame effect. I loved my wood burner, I also love not worrying about fumes, getting the chimney swept, etc. If we have a power cut, I’ll have to camp next to the gas cooker.