Some people are going to get a shock after the expensive purchase and installation costs. The shock is actually buying the wood. Its very expensive. I've done a quick calculation and the cost of gas to heat the home is cheaper than a cubic meter of wood. So along with the installation costs some unfortunate people are in for a shock
Well, just to add a comparison number to this: I have an air quality monitor in my living room, and over the summer, when windows are open, I regularly saw it spike up to around 100 µg/cm³. The reason for that always being my neighbours working their charcoal barbeque on their balcony next door to mine. So while your oven was giving you values that would be critical over extended periods of time, using a barbeque on a regular basis without masks will also do that.
My tip being a pyromaniac. Always do a top down method of fire lighting. Large logs on the very bottom then a layer of slightly smaller logs, then kindling and then the lighting nest on top. Like a pyramid. The heat from the top makes the syn gasses come out from the wood underneath which are then ignited rather than loose the un-combusted gas out the chimney. You'll have a much more efficient burn that way. cheers J
I find doing that way to result in large amounts of " charcoal" being made as mine is a wood burner only and has no grate and the charcoal gets buried under ash that means an incomplete burn
@@pictlandpickers1171 it burns the most efficient way that a fire can burn. It is a slower burn and doesn't require as much fuel. If your house is poorly insulated then I can see why you wouldn't like that method.
@@joshuadelisle so you let the fire go out so you can start the process again? My stove is not like this one so wouldn't work. It certainly wouldn't give off heat which if you are only using a stove for heat not decoration it defeats the point. When I come home and want some heat I want a roaring fire the slow it down with bigger logs. I don't use the central heating.
@@pictlandpickers1171 my stove has fire bricks so you only need one burn and the heat radiates out all night with embers for the morning. To constantly feed the fire is work...
Have you tried putting the detector in your neighbours bedroom Keith, assuming you have them. We have a wood burner a few doors away and the stench of burning wood is terrible upstairs. I now try and make sure the windows are closed before they light their fire, but the smell still gets in if the winds blowing our way : all the best - Steve
@@RagnBoneBrown that’s not easy to determine, as they are rich but extremely antisocial. I might get a monitor and test it myself. However this is not my first experience of fumes from wood burners blowing into neighbouring upstairs windows. Especially from bungalows and it’s not nice
Whenever you open the door to put in wood, open a window just a little to let air into the room. If not, you can create a vacuum and pull smoke participles back into the room. I'm interested in a test to see if that changes your reading. Thank you for all the great content and I'll keep watching.
Hi Keith, My brother-in-law fitted a wood burner in the living room of his timber framed bungalow. Unfortunately, it produced so much heat that it cracked the external render! I think that the main advantage of a wood burner is the aesthetics, i.e. the visual appearance! My own personal opinion is that when I arrive home, I want an immediate and convenient heat source i.e., a gas/electric fire. I couldn't be bothered to faff on loading wood etc and waiting for the stove to heat up! Also, the fumes would be a major concern not only for humans (especially babies/children etc), but also for pets. I think anyone who fits a wood burner is turning the clock back 70 odd years to the 1950's when open fires were commonplace! Having said that, I accept that everyone has different views, and of course, as you say, being a wood worker, your fuel is free! Another great vid!
Hi Kevin, as the air quality readings show, pm2.5 particles are not an issue. I would expect with an open fire the readings would be much higher. Thanks, Keith
Why so much concern over log burners? Cars , buses, lorries, trains , planes, and so much more out there that pollutants are not addressed and so much worse and, more importantly, there is no ban on these.....strange isn't it!
Great video! I'd be really interested in seeing what your sensor picked up from having a couple of those horrible scented candles that people seem to be so keen on as a comparison 🤞
Hi Keith, I used to work in a stove shop (admin not installer!), just a couple of pointers/thoughts The skirting and door frame are wood, looks a bit close and breach of regs? The closeness to the curtains makes me a bit uneasy too! Storing wood outside is OK bu not ideal. Also kiln dried joinery wood gets wetter outside. Wood stored outside is not ideal to burn, it's still generally kind of wet. Wet wood = more deposits in chimney = more chance of fire. Kiln dried is optimal for efficiency and 'clean" burning. In all honesty I wouldn't burn anything else than kiln dried, but that's my preference. Don't burn any painted, ply, treated wood, mdf etc, recipe for a chimney fire due to deposits in the flue. The high particle reading I would suspect is from curing the paint, this is normal. When building the fire it's best to put more in than less, the more wood the slower and longer the burn. Warm chimneys are better for drawing smoke, as are longer ones. You are at a disadvantage in a bungalow unfortunately. Make sure to get it swept yearly to keep it as efficient as possible and reduce the chance of chimney fire. I don't mean to sound dramatic but I had all the above drilled into me. Stoves are fab but need to be treated with care which I know you will. Happy stoving!!
Hi, I'm not aware of the rules, sorry. I think our installer said a distance of 300mm from the curtains, which is ok. In the longer term though we're looking to replace the curtains with shutters anyway. Not sure re: architrave/skirtings though but not something I'm worried about - they installed and signed off so I'm trusting them. Cheers, Keith
Very interesting, and a little spooky. I had an identical stove installed recently in my bungalow. IIRC stove was £475 + vat. Flue was £950+vat and fitting was £720+vat £48 for Carbon monoxide alarm Data plate and Certificate. I had several quotes with wildly different prices before I got the above. One guy quoted £1900 for flue parts, another £1500 for fitting. It seems the energy crisis is bringing out the best in people!
This is really interesting, something I have wanted to look at for a few years. Please could you try the PM2.5 sensor with other normal household actions - e.g. candles, burnt toast, cooking bacon, hoovering carpet, incense stick. My feeling is that many normal actions cause an increase in PM2.5 particles, and having a well-fitted woodstove needs to be seen in context. I have been living with woodfires for 51 years now and believe in them, so would really appreciate a balanced view. Thanks for the good clear video. Vince
I've had one for ages, and the things in the house that cause the biggest increase are burning things on the stove and frying things. Also, seasoning cast iron pans seems to cause it to go through the roof.
I have yet to meet a single person who uses the correct type of wood in a wood burner. Old furniture, painted wood, skirting, of fence panels, treated timber etc.
I've had an Ecosy Hampton 5 Inset log burner fitted at beginning of Oct '22 and absolutely love it. It's in a regular 2 up 2 down terraced house ( mid 80s construction with cavity wall infill ) and after about 3 hours use it's raised the temp upstairs by about 2-3 degrees and the lounge it's sited in by 5 degrees even on a slow burn
When opening a stove to re fuel open the door 1/2 inch and wait a few seconds for the velocity to climb and clear the stove then open the door slowly not to drag smoke into the room , the stove will smell and produce smoke ( enough to set a smoke detectors off ) when you first commision it , ventilate first few fires .
Nice one, thanks. Hate to be a bore but feel it's worth pointing out that there is Air Quality Legislation to regulate what sort of wood you can/can't burn residentially. Cheers.
Dear Friend, i Love this! Regards from Rio De Janeiro, where only few áreas needs warm de ambient. Neighborwoods a nove 800 meters from sea level, besides the citiescin the mountains 60 km from Rio such is Petrópolis, Teresópolis and Friburg. Greatings from your friend. 🤜🤛 I try to watch each video you post.
If your stove allows it, consider fitting an external air intake pipe. The burner should then pull in cold air from outside instead of drawing in ready warmed air from the room to send back up the flue that you've just paid to heat up! It also helps with the draw up the flue if your house is newer/more airtight.
Yes, I thought this was a requirement. We had such a pipe installed even back in the late 90s. If I recall right the requirement depended on the size of the stove back then.
@@DeanJuvenal Thank. So that sounds like the regs in that respect have remained the same. Our stove is, if I recall right rated at 6 kW. Being an old place with solid stone walls it's basically impossible to heat anyway but the fire looks good and it gives me an excuse to keep planting more trees 🙂
@@ColinMill1 😀. Being the type of construction you describe, do you have to start heating up your house sized storage heater in the late summer so that it’s up to temp by early winter? Then ceases big burns so that the walls cool down enough so the house isn’t overheated in the spring and summer. I have a friend who lived in part of a Manor House constructed in around 1600 ACE. He adopted that type of practice. 👍🏻😀
@@DeanJuvenal Yes, our place is rumoured to date from about then. From the size of the ground-floor openings it would seem the cattle were a significant contributor to its early heating. As a tropical kid who's first introduction to the UK climate was the winter of 1962/3 spent in a Tudor house with but one small fire-place, I have developed a considerable tolerance for cold (it's 11.5 degrees in here at the moment) and a love of old houses. 🙂
If I would recommend anything it would be to put something on the wall behind the stove. Some reflective material, backed metal or tiles. Have you checked the temperature of the wall/wood/curtain behind the stove when it's lit yet? I also agree with others about the stove fan.
We are on our second burner in 25 years. We don’t burn timber off cuts as they burn way too fast. I get well seasoned wood locally from the bush (live in Australia) or from a reputable supplier. Our Fire stays in all night and like a previous comment, I use a burn down method as it warms the chimney quicker
Some good advice there Keith, we have had ours for 20 years with no issues, sweep the chimney every year, use DRY logs, they need to be under 20%, and leave the door ajar to start the fire for a couple of minutes to help warm the flue.
We have had our Contura stove a little under 4 years. It was installed by an approved installer and is fully HETAS certified. Our first few burns actually set the smoke alarm off unless the windows were open. Now it is nicely burned in we have no issues. Our installer did warn us this might happen because of the proximity of the smoke detector, so we were not awfully worried. Our sweep cleans the flue & sticks a camera up at the end of each burn season, and the soot removed is minimal. The beauty of the stove for us is our house was built in 1950 and originally had a coal fire. The chimney is in the centre of the house, and our installer filled the gap between the original fire-clay flue and the new stainless liner with a non-absorbent vermiculite alternative. The stove heats the rest of the house residually, cutting down on the amount of gas used. Even after the gas prices rocketing, our heating is costing less to run than before the stove was installed.
Hey Keith we fitted a multi fuel whole heat system in our 3 bed semi about 8 years ago. We took out the old open fire I was skeptical but honestly best move we ever made. Runs the whole house heat and hot water and like u I've always got off cuts and I cut and dry all my own firewood so really it's just smokeless coal we burn little bit that to get fire going. Ours was 8k all in for big stove all radiator system towel rail removal old fire all the plumbing and electric work and really we only use a tiny bit of electricity to power the pump that sends it round the radiators and I see allot of people are putting them in now. 👍🏴
Woodstove is a blessing in a home. I heat my apartment with AC and it is crap. It is never warm as with wood stove and it keeps air humid which in turn makes space feel more cold and also I have mildew problems so I have to vent quite often making heating very expensive. I have wood stove in my workshop and it is an absolute delight having it there. I find that it is warmer in my drafty old (400 years!) woodworking shop than my well insulated home. Like yourself, I use scraps in the workshop to heat it so it is basically free.
Thanks for the video, I’m just about to have one installed and I’m surprised how close it is to the wall. Our installers would not put it that close. 🤷♂️
Great video, sadly wood has really went up in price also! Crates of logs are now very costly also. I have solid fuel central heating, I only burn anthracite which the government says is okay, it has also jumped in price, it’s went from £18 for an open sack to £30, so it doesn’t really matter how you heat your home now, IT IS VERY COSTLY. Kind regards Johnny
Curious about the distance to combustible material. The curtains and door frame. We are having one installed and the guy said 18 inches from the stove to any combustible is the requirement. Yours look closer than that. Also, he said we can't have plasterboard on on our chimney breast either side for that reason so need to use cement board. Our burner will fit inside an old fireplace but will stick out an inch or two so the side distances come into play.
Hi Robert, I'm not aware of the rules, sorry. I think our installer said a distance of 300mm from the curtains, which is fine. In the longer term though we're looking to replace the curtains with shutters anyway. Not sure re: architrave/skirtings though but not something I'm worried about - they installed and signed off so I'm trusting them. Cheers, Keith
Interesting to watch this Keith. We only rent our house but have been here ten years and the landlord has let us put our own stamp on it. About 4 years ago I knocked through the plasterboard covering up the old fireplace, got in a tradesman who re-established an open fire. Best thing we ever done, it’s a totally different type of warmth and it’s kind of hypnotic just watching it. I will be checking the air quality in the lounge though as I expect an open fire to have a higher 2.5 rating than a wood burning stove. Also putting your Mirka day into practice 😀😀👍👍
Cheers Leo. Open fire sounds lovely. I'm sure you're right, higher reading probably, but most the bad stuff should be going up the chimney 👍interested to hear the readings you get
@@JohnColgan. It's a scam so that they can get you off UA-cam and into private messages so you can send someone cash for "shipping" your "free prize" or "gift" to you. There is no giveaway, there is no prize, and that reply was not even posted by this channel. A legit message from Keith (or any other YT channel) will look like the one you just replied to above, with highlighted channel name and a checkmark beside it. If you see this kind of message, report it as spam so it gets removed and move on. It's happening to all the good channels anymore, and UA-cam doesn't do jack about it.
Think it may have been said in earlier comments, I’d be concerned regards proximity to timber door frame and curtains also has fireboard been fitted to those walls, last point wondering why the chimney has been double skinned so low to stove, vast amounts of heat being lost.
I agree with what you have said Keith about the burn in period the only thing I would add is I would also open the window to do a rapid air change during the first few burns to clear the air. I have a wood burner which means the lounge is lovely and warm but the rest of the house has electric storage heaters so turning them on is a scary pass time for the pocket. A couple of things make sure you have a Carbon Monoxide alarm in the room and it works. Also I brought one of those fans you place on top to help push the heat about and this really helps.
@@rpaasse6453 interestingly the only time in over 20 years our CO alarm has gone off was when there was a fire up on the moor. It was not pleasant inside but outside was much worse.
When my neighbors got a new wood stove about a year ago my lungs 🫁 hurt and I have been coughing all the time when they are burning wood. It maybe great for them but not for me who probably breathes in more smoke than they do as it seeps into my house.
wood stoves have to be 'cured' to remove all the manufacturing oils and paint finishes. I have even seen stoves being burned outside, before installation, to make sure the stove is 'clean' when brought indoors. Love your set up but would consider something on the walls behind the stove. Consider one of the fans on top to distribute air better. Finally, you are right that it is like a vinyl record not streaming...and I love it.
Good video, there will be a smell each first burn if stove is left unused over summer as dust burns off. Dif used don't put fire lighters directly on the iron grate, it will corrode and distort them. Top down burn best to start. Buy from an established manufacturer, spares will be required long term. Don't over size fire, or you won't be able to run it at a temperature that will clean the glass.
We've had ours for a while now and love it. The first thing we did was buy a new turntable and dug out the Vinyls for a true throwback to the early 70's . I do get some looks from visitors to the home when they see my kindling bin full of segments and woodturning mistakes.
Ours was the same, fitted 2 years ago it was £3300 but our fire was £1k we too have a twin wall flue in a two story house. The first I would say 6 or 7 burns created smell and smoke from the paint curing, like a oil smell, it set of our fire alarm every time we used it during those first 6 burns, once it’s been used in anger and everything is cured it was absolutely fine, again heats up well, occasional smoke in the room when first lighting but that is usually the kindling some of it is a bit crap. We use kiln dried ash as the main fuel, I do make kindling myself from those logs and they never smell or smoke, just don’t always have the time to get the axe out so I buy in kindling as well. But brilliant piece of kit, very efficient and very warm house as a result.
When the door is shut my Mila air filter detects no particulates, but as soon as the door is open it does. I try to keep the door opening at short as possible, and rely on the Mila to suck out the particulates from the air :) I get higher readings frying bacon, or pancakes though.
We've got a Dyson air purifier and keep it on auto mode. It barely does anything when our woodburner is on. Made sauteed potatoes the other day and it went crazy. It supposedly filters down to PM0.1 as well
When refuelling I set the flue choke vertical (fully open) to increase draw, then open the doors slowly to avoid creating turbulence. Providing the fire is burning well and you are careful not to disturb the flow, nothing will eddy back into the room. Having said that I’m ordering one of those meters to check!
nice stove Keith I'd recommend an ecofan that uses the heat of the stove to generate power to spin the fan it helps circulate the heat through the room. I also use an hepa air purifier mostly for pollen in the spring/summer but it helps with the particles in the air
We have one of those ecofans, it has a piezoelectric panel on the bottom which generates a small current to drive the fan when the plate gets hot from sitting on the stove. Really helps with the convection flows that heat the room up. They're about £20-30 on eBay
We live on a smoke control zone so we have a defra approved tiger inset and only burn manufactured logs. I definitely noticed more of an odour the first few times we used it but now I feel like it doesn't create much of a smell in the room. Thankfully there seems to be a good flow of air up the chimney and our stove being defra approved means you can't actually close off the top vent completely, which I believe increases the efficiency
We've had our wood burner for a few years now and we love it, I collect pallets and any other scrap wood over the summer and once cut up they lasts us all winter, the only outgoing costs are paying for the annual service (less than £100) and the price of a few boxes of fire lighters. We also have oil fired central heating which we mainly use for the hot water but since we had a new condensing boiler fitted two years ago we are only using one 900L tank every 14 - 15 months.
Wood should be dried for a long time to reduce smoke rather than burned immediately, but if you have neighbours within 100m or so it's better to burn as little as possible to avoid filling the air they are breathing with PM2.5. Even the level of around 25 in the video is above the WHO limit and there is no "safe" level - any increase is bad for you and 25 is the equivalent of moving from the countryside to a city centre.
Pallets are treated wood which gives off some nasty stuff when burnt. You need to use properly dry non treated wood and even then you are polluting the local air.
Burning pallets is illegal and you are damaging the health of your family and neighbours to save a few pennies on your heating bill. The cost is far higher than using a modern heating system like gas or electric as you have one body in this life.
I bought a house with an old fireplace. 80% of the heat went straight up and out of the chimney. Only 20% went into heating the house. When I replaced it with a wood burner stove 20% of the heat was lost. I live in an area of the UK that has a lot of storms. I get power failures all the time. When it's -10 outside and there is a power cut my wood burner is a lifeline. However, saying that, I also installed underfloor heating and I mainly use that. It is rare when I use the wood burner. With the milder winters we are experiencing I only used my wood burner 20 times last Winter. This year has seen an even milder winter. Also I cook on my stove as well. I also heat water on it for washing dishes by hand or cleaning surfaces. It is also used on Christmas day simply because it's nice to have a real wood fire. So far this Winter I have used my stove 3 times and it is already the 26th of November. If the temperature keeps rising I could see it not getting used at all. I would estimate that more pollution is generated from people burning garden cuttings in Autumn or 5th of November bonfires and fireworks. As I do neither I am certain I produce less pollution than most. I also work from home which means less car exhaust pollution.
Hi Keith, I agree with the points you raised here. I can confirm that most of the pollutants/smell are from the curing process of the paint. I know this as we were unlucky enough to have a chimney fire a couple of years ago and after the fire brigade put water down the chimney to put out the fire, I needed to repaint the stove that rusted. This resulted in the same smell as on first burns, so like you we opened windows for these burns and stayed out of the room (IMO these burns only have to be short so no cause for concern). So just a word of caution on having your chimney swept, you need to do it at least once a year, we had,only gone 13 months when we had the chimney fire that was a scary experience. This will also be a little known clause on your insurance. Well maintained we absolutely love ours. We’ve had it for 10 years and wouldn’t be without it.
Darren - With the flue only so old curious to know what you think caused the fire? Was it an old chimney flue or did you have the chimney relined with metal tubing?
I find open fires especially in pubs with constant comings and goings make me cough fit to burst and my eyes sting. Woodburners the same. There's a road where i live that constantly smells of bonfires in the colder weather that has the same effect on me and i suspect some of the houses have wood burners . I grew up with open fires and my mother and husband smoked. We considered a wood burner years ago they do look lovely but not for me now, glad we didn't do it. And i have to say i've seen some filthy stuff coming out of house chimneys recently.
My cousin had to block the vent's at the back of his house because a neighbour's burner would smoke when starting his fire. £2500 would buy a year's supply of oil, and hot water.
Great video. Very informative. I think it might be best to get a wood burner installed during the late spring or summer so the breaking in can be done with all the windows open. 😃
Interesting and the opposite to what I thought would happen. With huge volumes of air going up the flue and being replaced with external air drawn in, l expected the air to be cleaner.
I hate to think what an old fashioned open coal fire would have created in the way of internal pollution, I’m guessing it’d be virtually off the scale, we live and learn! Well done for bringing this to peoples attention, the monitor you have should be supplied with the stoves I reckon! Cheers.👏👍😀
Great vid Keith! We've been testing this for a year or so and have some very interesting findings (vid coming soon). Any coating / oil on the stove will send emissions through the roof but that should stop after a few burns. Other than that PM2.5 readings have been negligible - we're in a 2 storey so I guess the chimney being higher could result in a better draw? Not sure 🤔. Lots of factors. Keep measuring and we'll have to compare results after the winter! 👍😎
Cheers Andy look forward to seeing your results! Since filming this video the pm2.5 readings have dropped even further, sometimes it barely even changes the readings from when the stove is not in use 👍
A conventional chimney stove ventilates the room by drawing air through it so reducing any pollution. I wonder if these "room sealed/direct air" stoves that draw outside air directly into the stove are a problem?
Installed a stovak multifuel burner years ago delighted with it Noticed your burner is Installed close to your walls obviously to regs but are they non combustible ? Also the wood your burning looked like it wasn't seasoned If you burn construction timber it can burn too hot and damage the inner flue Good informative vid tho 👍
My sister lives in rural Durham; in the Winter, a particularly cold & windy place. It’s a good job she has a cast iron duel fuel stove cuz during Storm Arwen, she had no electric for a week. Without it, she’d have frozen.
I'm a Heating Engineer, self employed, quite surprised at that cost of install tbh !! You won't believe how hard it is to close a sale for a new combi boiler, a product that is full of technical parts and knowhow, not to mention all the pipework and gas that's part of the install, and a 10 year parts and labour warranty with the premium brands .. and customers still wince at a 2500 install price !!! And a simple, old fashioned log burner with an open flue is pulling the same money ... I think I'll do my HETAS ticket and start offering log burners 😁👍
Very informative, thank you. We live in a small all electric 200+yr old stone in-fill/cob house in the south west. Oil or gas central heating isn't an option for us. We have a storage heater, small electric heaters and a stove. Last year we did without the stove and froze. This year we are not using the storage and other heaters and relying on the wood stove. We use wood from a 'wood sure' supplier (
Had a wood stove in my last home. Part way through a full solo renovation of my new home and have a wood stove (multi fuel) on the list of things to install. Everything about them is just magic, and after the collecting, chopping of wood and making the fire, you get to enjoy it. Glass of wine and Floyd on the turntable. Like you say if they are new, they do need to be burned in. Think of it like seasoning your wok, it’s a process.
Based on what the company said dunno if it helps but when we first got ours what the said was to heat the liner of the chimney first what they recommend was burn some newspaper etc etc very lightly first then put your fire on. Just a help. 👍🏴
Many thanks for linking to the air quality monitor. We're about to move into a bungalow that has an open fire and I'm really keen to get a reading on it when we get it up and running, hope to move in around January or February. It has a detatched garage so will be setting that up as my workshop.
And if you want to split logs safely to fit into your wood burning stove, I know a cool DIY tool that helps do it without the risk of chopping your hand off! Just thought I'd throw that in!
Haha. When I saw what you came up with, I kicked myself - my version was so overengineered. The notches in a 4x4 with aluminium L section was a stroke of genius!! I don't suppose you made a second one you want to sell did you?? :-)
yes, some of the wood used contains scrap wood, that has been pressure treated or plastic coated. The oil used in milling the wood contains a very large amount of benzine.
What about what is being pumped out of the chimney. I've read its equivalent to having 3 HGV's running right outside the house? I was looking at getting a stove but this just wasn't comfortable for me. I've heard bioethanol stoves produce no emmissions, so this is a possible route for me.
We had a major dust collection clog at work recently. A coworker set my PM2.5 monitor on the infeed table of the planer/drum sander and it reached 850!
You have air coming into the stove via the vents and air coming out of the stove only via the flue. You will get particulate matter in your room only if you a) have a leak b) open the door when the temperature inside is too low or c) have a poor draw or a flue restriction. I reckon you’ve sorted it by now but that thermometer is your friend. Mine lives on the flue and I know that if the temp drops below the green zone any new wood will be slow and possibly smokey to get going. As yours is on the side, you’d need to find at what point on that scale to try and keep above. Further to the comments on top down idea (kindling on top)… you'd only really want to use that method if you were in very cold conditions to warm the flue first; or if you had a poor draw. I stack the kindling around a fire lighter with the larger logs on top. I don't allow the kindling to start first, I load the logs on top and then light it. The trick is to use kindling pieces that are thicker at the front of the stove so that when they collapse the thicker ones at the front are the last to go. That way, any material on top will slump backwards and not against the door. Enjoy your stove mate. P.s. not convinced the architrave is a suitable distance away from it though. 🤔
7:45 "enjoy the process of making a fire..." Now, now. Tell the truth, you just like playing with the blowtorch. 0:30 Who wouldn't!! Love the video mate.
Thanks for the video. Would it better for the customer, if the company did the "break in burns"? If course, you purchase the stove, and the company does that part for the customer?
LOVE wood stoves. 🥰 And everything that comes with it, felling, cutting, splitting, stacking, getting a fire going, and maintaining it. The lovely warmth and ambience it gives me. It is just lovely.
Hi, very good video and I really like your new burner...Please don't think I'm asking a silly question as you've had it professionally installed and that means all will be well! When I installed mine, myself I had to have a fire board installed all the way up to the ceiling and all around the back of the stove...I can understand not having a fire board protection around the wall behind twin insulated pipe as it progresses up the wall but...not to have the fire board around the wood burner itself does seem odd unless they have moved on with new types of woodburner?...I did my own install over 10 yrs ago and was extremely thorough with the install and had HETA check the whole install once completed and signed off. Costing for our essential utilities has become impossible and even though Electricity has become over 3 x more expensive than Gas trying to keep homes warm racks up just as much per month as using the electric...I'm now in the process of installing new Solar panels which are designed for the poor UK weather...Batteries are a bit expensive at around £4000 so it will take a bit of time to get our money back:) Please let me know about the fireboard question as it's would be very interesting to know the answer:)
We live in Spain and up in the mountains so it gets cold and snowy, we actually have 2 logburners, one downstairs ( Bronpi cast iron, cost €600 ,3 years ago) which is downstairs in the front room, and a second hand metal one purchased from friends which is actually a better one..I fitted them myself and couldn't believe how much you had to pay someone for fitting it ?
Question- because I'm currently installing my own. How did the fitters get away with the distance to combustible materials (55cm to the sides on this model) with the skirting boards, architrave and curtains? I thought I'd have to remove my skirting boards and replaster but if there's a workaround I'd love the hear it before building control come round.
Hi Cozzy, I'm not aware of the rules, sorry. I think our installer said a distance of 300mm from the curtains, which is fine. In the longer term though we're looking to replace the curtains with shutters anyway. Not sure re: architrave/skirtings though but not something I'm worried about - they installed and signed off so I'm trusting them. Cheers, Keith
I have a stove on my narrowboat and after applying the blacking to the flue and stove you have to burn it off with the windows and doors open. Once it has cured it's fine. I have had asthma all my life and my stove causes me no issues.
Just a bit of advice. We had a wire mesh put around the top of the flue (like the chicken wire you used recently) as during spring in to summer birds looking for nesting areas get caught down the flue and the only way out is through the house. Had heaps ofstarlings until we put the mesh up.
@@RagnBoneBrown I guess the proof will be in the pudding. At least you know what to do if you get a bird down the flue. I had to get a tradesman in to do mine as I don't like hieghts.
Interesting information. We have one existing wood burning stove and ate just about to fit a second one in the kitchen area. I have a particle meter so will start measuring and see if we get similar alarming readings.
I have the Hampton 5. Cost approx £600 with delivery and £1000 to have it installed / commissioned. For such a small stove, the room gets extremely toasty. Burn Pine on it that has a moisture level of about 10% and it keeps the downstairs toasty and the upstairs "keeping the living room door open" at about 21 - 22 c. get wood free from work so winner winner.
Here in the Normandy countryside, wood is the fuel of choice. There is no shortage of oak or beech - the most popular for firewood here. A third of mainland France is covered by forest. Personally I love ash too. Our main living area is 12 x 6 metres, with an open staircase up to the first floor. We installed a 14kw stove 20 odd years ago (Efel) and it does a fantastic job of heating the entire house. The key is good, dry wood. Most of my neighbours cut, split and stack outdoors (covered by a tarp) and leave it for two years, followed by a year in a well ventilated outhouse. Then it comes into the house. You get into the rhythm! Prices? You think oil is expensive in the UK - 1000 litres here will currently cost you around 1450€ - say £1250 or £1.25/litre, but drifting down. Last lot I bought was 1.67€ (£1.45) back in July. Ave UK price seems to be around £0.85/litre. Firewood here will cost you, at present, delivered from 50-55€ per stere (loose stacked cubic metre). It will cost you a lot more in town. Lot less if you are cutting your own trees of course. You can also cut and buy wood from state or private forests. Last time I did that it cost about 25€/stere I think. I'm out of touch with today's prices. Felling, bucking, transporting, splitting, stacking and moving is hard work. It's a young man's game. At 68, paying 50€ delivered is money well spent!
I have had a couple of woodstoves in different houses and could still smell something "off" from them even after curing time. So with the more recent one I had it shot blasted to remove all the paint and residues. This worked, but you obviously have to accept the varied patina of heated bare metal. I do find though, that with long evenings of stove use I end up with a dry, slightly irritated throat. I think these kind of stoves work best in older, leaky houses. Even though I provided a local external air supply to the stove, my draught free living space can feel a bit airless with it burning. My future plan is to have a masonry style burner that has low surface temperatures. This avoids over heating the air and dust particles being burned on the stove body and circulated by convection. They are more costly and complicated to install though.
Interesting video as this was also a concern for us having read the recent negative reports. We have an old but recently serviced Morso wood stove, new door seals etc., heating a large open plan area and have never seen the air quality PM2.5 meter go above 4ug/m3. When it is off our reading is 0 to 2ug/m3 - we're in rural Scotland. I think the quality of the wood/logs is important and keeping the stove hot. Also, with the stove drawing in air from outside, it's worth remembering that it can pull its own smoke back into the property depending on wind conditions, location of the chimney and air leakage/ventilation points. So even if you have no emissions into the room directly from the stove you might be drawing particulates in from outside, including from other peoples fires! We will certainly continue to use ours 😊
Hi, The top down method is good ( see two comments down), but in my opinion the big mistake is going for such a budget stove. There is a reason these are less than half the price of the market leading Pure Vision range. On Pure vision stoves the thick stainless steel baffle automatically opens to stop minor smoke emissions on refueling, and even has an ignition setting that warms the flue quicker again to reduce the emissions. They also use a much more expensive low odour paint. Your fitters are right about getting heat into the flue quickly by the way.
Hi Keith, interesting video. I have the same monitor (and I’m in a bungalow in Norfolk) so I decided to check our wood burner. It do appear to affect the air quality at all, the reading hovers around 3-5 whether the burner is alight or not. I am currently burning kiln dried logs as my supplier didn’t have any air dried left and even with the doors open the reading stays below 10.
Good looking and practical woostove, strong 👍and could say as long as electricity is not a lowest heating source with both hands yes for fireplace(where possible to fit). If i not wrong, firewood is still on lowest cost, comparing to gas etc. Electricity costs gor heating was on highest rate. Goverment can wish to avoid them, but in reality too early, to say no to them. Same as cars, fuel vs electric🤷♂️
Some people are going to get a shock after the expensive purchase and installation costs. The shock is actually buying the wood. Its very expensive. I've done a quick calculation and the cost of gas to heat the home is cheaper than a cubic meter of wood. So along with the installation costs some unfortunate people are in for a shock
That's why they are burning any old bits of wood.
Well, just to add a comparison number to this: I have an air quality monitor in my living room, and over the summer, when windows are open, I regularly saw it spike up to around 100 µg/cm³. The reason for that always being my neighbours working their charcoal barbeque on their balcony next door to mine.
So while your oven was giving you values that would be critical over extended periods of time, using a barbeque on a regular basis without masks will also do that.
My tip being a pyromaniac. Always do a top down method of fire lighting. Large logs on the very bottom then a layer of slightly smaller logs, then kindling and then the lighting nest on top. Like a pyramid. The heat from the top makes the syn gasses come out from the wood underneath which are then ignited rather than loose the un-combusted gas out the chimney. You'll have a much more efficient burn that way. cheers J
I find doing that way to result in large amounts of " charcoal" being made as mine is a wood burner only and has no grate and the charcoal gets buried under ash that means an incomplete burn
Stupid method if you actually want to get warm.
@@pictlandpickers1171 it burns the most efficient way that a fire can burn. It is a slower burn and doesn't require as much fuel. If your house is poorly insulated then I can see why you wouldn't like that method.
@@joshuadelisle so you let the fire go out so you can start the process again? My stove is not like this one so wouldn't work. It certainly wouldn't give off heat which if you are only using a stove for heat not decoration it defeats the point. When I come home and want some heat I want a roaring fire the slow it down with bigger logs. I don't use the central heating.
@@pictlandpickers1171 my stove has fire bricks so you only need one burn and the heat radiates out all night with embers for the morning. To constantly feed the fire is work...
Have you tried putting the detector in your neighbours bedroom Keith, assuming you have them. We have a wood burner a few doors away and the stench of burning wood is terrible upstairs. I now try and make sure the windows are closed before they light their fire, but the smell still gets in if the winds blowing our way : all the best - Steve
Sounds like your neighbour is burning things they shouldn't be then
@@RagnBoneBrown that’s not easy to determine, as they are rich but extremely antisocial. I might get a monitor and test it myself. However this is not my first experience of fumes from wood burners blowing into neighbouring upstairs windows. Especially from bungalows and it’s not nice
Neighbour has one, makes inside my house smell like a bonfire when they use it
Mine too, horrendous smell, I swear people burn anything they can . That's the biggest issue, not burning the right wood.
@@kimstockwell721definitely. The temptation to burn anything for free. I've done it before and it can get bloody smokey.
Whenever you open the door to put in wood, open a window just a little to let air into the room. If not, you can create a vacuum and pull smoke participles back into the room. I'm interested in a test to see if that changes your reading. Thank you for all the great content and I'll keep watching.
Hi Keith,
My brother-in-law fitted a wood burner in the living room of his timber framed bungalow. Unfortunately, it produced so much heat that it cracked the external render!
I think that the main advantage of a wood burner is the aesthetics, i.e. the visual appearance! My own personal opinion is that when I arrive home, I want an immediate and convenient heat source i.e., a gas/electric fire. I couldn't be bothered to faff on loading wood etc and waiting for the stove to heat up! Also, the fumes would be a major concern not only for humans (especially babies/children etc), but also for pets. I think anyone who fits a wood burner is turning the clock back 70 odd years to the 1950's when open fires were commonplace!
Having said that, I accept that everyone has different views, and of course, as you say, being a wood worker, your fuel is free! Another great vid!
Hi Kevin, as the air quality readings show, pm2.5 particles are not an issue. I would expect with an open fire the readings would be much higher. Thanks, Keith
Why so much concern over log burners? Cars , buses, lorries, trains , planes, and so much more out there that pollutants are not addressed and so much worse and, more importantly, there is no ban on these.....strange isn't it!
Great video! I'd be really interested in seeing what your sensor picked up from having a couple of those horrible scented candles that people seem to be so keen on as a comparison 🤞
Yeah my mother loves those things they smell awful after ten minutes and contain god knows what
I watched another video about these wood burners, having exactly the same monitor and had a joss stick lit and it went up to 80.
Hi Keith,
I used to work in a stove shop (admin not installer!), just a couple of pointers/thoughts
The skirting and door frame are wood, looks a bit close and breach of regs? The closeness to the curtains makes me a bit uneasy too!
Storing wood outside is OK bu not ideal. Also kiln dried joinery wood gets wetter outside.
Wood stored outside is not ideal to burn, it's still generally kind of wet.
Wet wood = more deposits in chimney = more chance of fire. Kiln dried is optimal for efficiency and 'clean" burning. In all honesty I wouldn't burn anything else than kiln dried, but that's my preference.
Don't burn any painted, ply, treated wood, mdf etc, recipe for a chimney fire due to deposits in the flue.
The high particle reading I would suspect is from curing the paint, this is normal.
When building the fire it's best to put more in than less, the more wood the slower and longer the burn.
Warm chimneys are better for drawing smoke, as are longer ones. You are at a disadvantage in a bungalow unfortunately.
Make sure to get it swept yearly to keep it as efficient as possible and reduce the chance of chimney fire.
I don't mean to sound dramatic but I had all the above drilled into me. Stoves are fab but need to be treated with care which I know you will. Happy stoving!!
Hi, I'm not aware of the rules, sorry. I think our installer said a distance of 300mm from the curtains, which is ok. In the longer term though we're looking to replace the curtains with shutters anyway. Not sure re: architrave/skirtings though but not something I'm worried about - they installed and signed off so I'm trusting them. Cheers, Keith
Very interesting, and a little spooky. I had an identical stove installed recently in my bungalow. IIRC stove was £475 + vat. Flue was £950+vat and fitting was £720+vat £48 for Carbon monoxide alarm Data plate and Certificate. I had several quotes with wildly different prices before I got the above. One guy quoted £1900 for flue parts, another £1500 for fitting. It seems the energy crisis is bringing out the best in people!
Indeed......nothing like human greed
This is really interesting, something I have wanted to look at for a few years. Please could you try the PM2.5 sensor with other normal household actions - e.g. candles, burnt toast, cooking bacon, hoovering carpet, incense stick. My feeling is that many normal actions cause an increase in PM2.5 particles, and having a well-fitted woodstove needs to be seen in context. I have been living with woodfires for 51 years now and believe in them, so would really appreciate a balanced view. Thanks for the good clear video. Vince
I've had one for ages, and the things in the house that cause the biggest increase are burning things on the stove and frying things. Also, seasoning cast iron pans seems to cause it to go through the roof.
I have yet to meet a single person who uses the correct type of wood in a wood burner. Old furniture, painted wood, skirting, of fence panels, treated timber etc.
Same here, know for sure around here people are not burning the right wood.
I've had an Ecosy Hampton 5 Inset log burner fitted at beginning of Oct '22 and absolutely love it. It's in a regular 2 up 2 down terraced house ( mid 80s construction with cavity wall infill ) and after about 3 hours use it's raised the temp upstairs by about 2-3 degrees and the lounge it's sited in by 5 degrees even on a slow burn
When opening a stove to re fuel open the door 1/2 inch and wait a few seconds for the velocity to climb and clear the stove then open the door slowly not to drag smoke into the room , the stove will smell and produce smoke ( enough to set a smoke detectors off ) when you first commision it , ventilate first few fires .
Great video thank you for sharing! Do you continue to monitor PM2.5? I’m very interested to hear what range of concentrations you have observed
Nice one, thanks. Hate to be a bore but feel it's worth pointing out that there is Air Quality Legislation to regulate what sort of wood you can/can't burn residentially. Cheers.
Dear Friend, i Love this!
Regards from Rio De Janeiro, where only few áreas needs warm de ambient. Neighborwoods a nove 800 meters from sea level, besides the citiescin the mountains 60 km from Rio such is Petrópolis, Teresópolis and Friburg.
Greatings from your friend. 🤜🤛 I try to watch each video you post.
Thank you!
If your stove allows it, consider fitting an external air intake pipe. The burner should then pull in cold air from outside instead of drawing in ready warmed air from the room to send back up the flue that you've just paid to heat up! It also helps with the draw up the flue if your house is newer/more airtight.
Yes, I thought this was a requirement. We had such a pipe installed even back in the late 90s. If I recall right the requirement depended on the size of the stove back then.
@@ColinMill1 < 5kw and an external air feed is not required. That’s why “5kw” stoves are actually 4.9 or lower.
@@DeanJuvenal Thank. So that sounds like the regs in that respect have remained the same. Our stove is, if I recall right rated at 6 kW. Being an old place with solid stone walls it's basically impossible to heat anyway but the fire looks good and it gives me an excuse to keep planting more trees 🙂
@@ColinMill1 😀. Being the type of construction you describe, do you have to start heating up your house sized storage heater in the late summer so that it’s up to temp by early winter? Then ceases big burns so that the walls cool down enough so the house isn’t overheated in the spring and summer. I have a friend who lived in part of a Manor House constructed in around 1600 ACE. He adopted that type of practice. 👍🏻😀
@@DeanJuvenal Yes, our place is rumoured to date from about then. From the size of the ground-floor openings it would seem the cattle were a significant contributor to its early heating. As a tropical kid who's first introduction to the UK climate was the winter of 1962/3 spent in a Tudor house with but one small fire-place, I have developed a considerable tolerance for cold (it's 11.5 degrees in here at the moment) and a love of old houses. 🙂
If I would recommend anything it would be to put something on the wall behind the stove. Some reflective material, backed metal or tiles. Have you checked the temperature of the wall/wood/curtain behind the stove when it's lit yet? I also agree with others about the stove fan.
Bet it’s red hot
We are on our second burner in 25 years. We don’t burn timber off cuts as they burn way too fast. I get well seasoned wood locally from the bush (live in Australia) or from a reputable supplier. Our Fire stays in all night and like a previous comment, I use a burn down method as it warms the chimney quicker
I think I'd be more worried about the long-term health effects of main road you live by than the log burner tbh. Enjoy the fire!
Some good advice there Keith, we have had ours for 20 years with no issues, sweep the chimney every year, use DRY logs, they need to be under 20%, and leave the door ajar to start the fire for a couple of minutes to help warm the flue.
We have had our Contura stove a little under 4 years. It was installed by an approved installer and is fully HETAS certified. Our first few burns actually set the smoke alarm off unless the windows were open. Now it is nicely burned in we have no issues. Our installer did warn us this might happen because of the proximity of the smoke detector, so we were not awfully worried. Our sweep cleans the flue & sticks a camera up at the end of each burn season, and the soot removed is minimal.
The beauty of the stove for us is our house was built in 1950 and originally had a coal fire. The chimney is in the centre of the house, and our installer filled the gap between the original fire-clay flue and the new stainless liner with a non-absorbent vermiculite alternative. The stove heats the rest of the house residually, cutting down on the amount of gas used. Even after the gas prices rocketing, our heating is costing less to run than before the stove was installed.
A stove so close to flowing curtains would be more of a worry to me!
Hey Keith we fitted a multi fuel whole heat system in our 3 bed semi about 8 years ago. We took out the old open fire I was skeptical but honestly best move we ever made. Runs the whole house heat and hot water and like u I've always got off cuts and I cut and dry all my own firewood so really it's just smokeless coal we burn little bit that to get fire going. Ours was 8k all in for big stove all radiator system towel rail removal old fire all the plumbing and electric work and really we only use a tiny bit of electricity to power the pump that sends it round the radiators and I see allot of people are putting them in now. 👍🏴
Great solution!
Woodstove is a blessing in a home. I heat my apartment with AC and it is crap. It is never warm as with wood stove and it keeps air humid which in turn makes space feel more cold and also I have mildew problems so I have to vent quite often making heating very expensive.
I have wood stove in my workshop and it is an absolute delight having it there. I find that it is warmer in my drafty old (400 years!) woodworking shop than my well insulated home. Like yourself, I use scraps in the workshop to heat it so it is basically free.
Thanks Andrea - I agree!
What about the extra pollution outside?
Thanks for the video, I’m just about to have one installed and I’m surprised how close it is to the wall. Our installers would not put it that close. 🤷♂️
Great video, sadly wood has really went up in price also! Crates of logs are now very costly also.
I have solid fuel central heating, I only burn anthracite which the government says is okay, it has also jumped in price, it’s went from £18 for an open sack to £30, so it doesn’t really matter how you heat your home now, IT IS VERY COSTLY.
Kind regards
Johnny
It's much more costly in terms of the damage it does for peoples' health.
Curious about the distance to combustible material. The curtains and door frame. We are having one installed and the guy said 18 inches from the stove to any combustible is the requirement. Yours look closer than that. Also, he said we can't have plasterboard on on our chimney breast either side for that reason so need to use cement board. Our burner will fit inside an old fireplace but will stick out an inch or two so the side distances come into play.
Hi Robert, I'm not aware of the rules, sorry. I think our installer said a distance of 300mm from the curtains, which is fine. In the longer term though we're looking to replace the curtains with shutters anyway. Not sure re: architrave/skirtings though but not something I'm worried about - they installed and signed off so I'm trusting them. Cheers, Keith
@@RagnBoneBrown if it wasn’t on a store stand the skirting’s would have to go.
Interesting to watch this Keith. We only rent our house but have been here ten years and the landlord has let us put our own stamp on it. About 4 years ago I knocked through the plasterboard covering up the old fireplace, got in a tradesman who re-established an open fire. Best thing we ever done, it’s a totally different type of warmth and it’s kind of hypnotic just watching it. I will be checking the air quality in the lounge though as I expect an open fire to have a higher 2.5 rating than a wood burning stove. Also putting your Mirka day into practice 😀😀👍👍
Cheers Leo. Open fire sounds lovely. I'm sure you're right, higher reading probably, but most the bad stuff should be going up the chimney 👍interested to hear the readings you get
@@RagnBoneBrown hi Keith, is the "T E L E G R A M" reply on my previous message genuinely you or a scam?
@@JohnColgan. It's a scam so that they can get you off UA-cam and into private messages so you can send someone cash for "shipping" your "free prize" or "gift" to you.
There is no giveaway, there is no prize, and that reply was not even posted by this channel.
A legit message from Keith (or any other YT channel) will look like the one you just replied to above, with highlighted channel name and a checkmark beside it.
If you see this kind of message, report it as spam so it gets removed and move on. It's happening to all the good channels anymore, and UA-cam doesn't do jack about it.
@@JohnColgan. scam, definitely.
Open fire will definitely be far higher and they're not even allowed in many parts of the UK
What about the pollutants coming out of the chimney?
Thanks for the information. How long was each burn? Did that take days to complete to become normal?
Perhaps the installation advice should be to complete the first few burns outdoors before the final installation?
Try the meter in your kitchen when your cooking. My pm 2.5 meter went higher in the kitchen than in the lounge with our woodburner on.
Little tip. When lighting a fire in a wood stove stack the tinder on top and large pieces on bottom
Think it may have been said in earlier comments, I’d be concerned regards proximity to timber door frame and curtains also has fireboard been fitted to those walls, last point wondering why the chimney has been double skinned so low to stove, vast amounts of heat being lost.
I agree with what you have said Keith about the burn in period the only thing I would add is I would also open the window to do a rapid air change during the first few burns to clear the air. I have a wood burner which means the lounge is lovely and warm but the rest of the house has electric storage heaters so turning them on is a scary pass time for the pocket.
A couple of things make sure you have a Carbon Monoxide alarm in the room and it works. Also I brought one of those fans you place on top to help push the heat about and this really helps.
Carbon Monoxide alarm Very important indeed!! Good advice. Saves lives.
Cheers Paul, the installer had installed the alarm, forgot to mention it in the video. I will look in to stove fan options! Thanks
@@rpaasse6453 interestingly the only time in over 20 years our CO alarm has gone off was when there was a fire up on the moor. It was not pleasant inside but outside was much worse.
When my neighbors got a new wood stove about a year ago my lungs 🫁 hurt and I have been coughing all the time when they are burning wood. It maybe great for them but not for me who probably breathes in more smoke than they do as it seeps into my house.
I’m not sure why Oregon is pushing this agenda onto people calling it the new green deal ❤
wood stoves have to be 'cured' to remove all the manufacturing oils and paint finishes. I have even seen stoves being burned outside, before installation, to make sure the stove is 'clean' when brought indoors.
Love your set up but would consider something on the walls behind the stove. Consider one of the fans on top to distribute air better.
Finally, you are right that it is like a vinyl record not streaming...and I love it.
That is really interesting. Well done for putting this together!
Thanks
Good video, there will be a smell each first burn if stove is left unused over summer as dust burns off.
Dif used don't put fire lighters directly on the iron grate, it will corrode and distort them.
Top down burn best to start.
Buy from an established manufacturer, spares will be required long term.
Don't over size fire, or you won't be able to run it at a temperature that will clean the glass.
We've had ours for a while now and love it. The first thing we did was buy a new turntable and dug out the Vinyls for a true throwback to the early 70's . I do get some looks from visitors to the home when they see my kindling bin full of segments and woodturning mistakes.
haha! thank you
Ours was the same, fitted 2 years ago it was £3300 but our fire was £1k we too have a twin wall flue in a two story house. The first I would say 6 or 7 burns created smell and smoke from the paint curing, like a oil smell, it set of our fire alarm every time we used it during those first 6 burns, once it’s been used in anger and everything is cured it was absolutely fine, again heats up well, occasional smoke in the room when first lighting but that is usually the kindling some of it is a bit crap. We use kiln dried ash as the main fuel, I do make kindling myself from those logs and they never smell or smoke, just don’t always have the time to get the axe out so I buy in kindling as well. But brilliant piece of kit, very efficient and very warm house as a result.
Another excellent video, thank you, I have only a wood burner for my heating,but thinking now of getting an air quality monitor, thanks for posting
When the door is shut my Mila air filter detects no particulates, but as soon as the door is open it does. I try to keep the door opening at short as possible, and rely on the Mila to suck out the particulates from the air :) I get higher readings frying bacon, or pancakes though.
We've got a Dyson air purifier and keep it on auto mode. It barely does anything when our woodburner is on. Made sauteed potatoes the other day and it went crazy. It supposedly filters down to PM0.1 as well
When refuelling I set the flue choke vertical (fully open) to increase draw, then open the doors slowly to avoid creating turbulence. Providing the fire is burning well and you are careful not to disturb the flow, nothing will eddy back into the room. Having said that I’m ordering one of those meters to check!
Great approach. We do same and never see smoke enter the room. We also don't keep the door open for refueling longer than 20-30 seconds.
It's very close to your wall and curtains! Our installer has insisted on a meter between the log burner and any thing else in the room!
nice stove Keith I'd recommend an ecofan that uses the heat of the stove to generate power to spin the fan it helps circulate the heat through the room. I also use an hepa air purifier mostly for pollen in the spring/summer but it helps with the particles in the air
We have one of those ecofans, it has a piezoelectric panel on the bottom which generates a small current to drive the fan when the plate gets hot from sitting on the stove. Really helps with the convection flows that heat the room up. They're about £20-30 on eBay
Second the fan, we've got one and it distributes though more than one room, with zero running costs.
Thanks for the tip! We will get one
Where do you place your air purifier unit, plz?
We live on a smoke control zone so we have a defra approved tiger inset and only burn manufactured logs. I definitely noticed more of an odour the first few times we used it but now I feel like it doesn't create much of a smell in the room. Thankfully there seems to be a good flow of air up the chimney and our stove being defra approved means you can't actually close off the top vent completely, which I believe increases the efficiency
We've had our wood burner for a few years now and we love it, I collect pallets and any other scrap wood over the summer and once cut up they lasts us all winter, the only outgoing costs are paying for the annual service (less than £100) and the price of a few boxes of fire lighters. We also have oil fired central heating which we mainly use for the hot water but since we had a new condensing boiler fitted two years ago we are only using one 900L tank every 14 - 15 months.
thanks - I hope our usage will be low like that!
Wood should be dried for a long time to reduce smoke rather than burned immediately, but if you have neighbours within 100m or so it's better to burn as little as possible to avoid filling the air they are breathing with PM2.5. Even the level of around 25 in the video is above the WHO limit and there is no "safe" level - any increase is bad for you and 25 is the equivalent of moving from the countryside to a city centre.
Pallets are treated wood which gives off some nasty stuff when burnt. You need to use properly dry non treated wood and even then you are polluting the local air.
Burning pallets is illegal and you are damaging the health of your family and neighbours to save a few pennies on your heating bill. The cost is far higher than using a modern heating system like gas or electric as you have one body in this life.
I bought a house with an old fireplace. 80% of the heat went straight up and out of the chimney. Only 20% went into heating the house. When I replaced it with a wood burner stove 20% of the heat was lost. I live in an area of the UK that has a lot of storms. I get power failures all the time. When it's -10 outside and there is a power cut my wood burner is a lifeline. However, saying that, I also installed underfloor heating and I mainly use that. It is rare when I use the wood burner. With the milder winters we are experiencing I only used my wood burner 20 times last Winter. This year has seen an even milder winter. Also I cook on my stove as well. I also heat water on it for washing dishes by hand or cleaning surfaces. It is also used on Christmas day simply because it's nice to have a real wood fire. So far this Winter I have used my stove 3 times and it is already the 26th of November. If the temperature keeps rising I could see it not getting used at all. I would estimate that more pollution is generated from people burning garden cuttings in Autumn or 5th of November bonfires and fireworks. As I do neither I am certain I produce less pollution than most. I also work from home which means less car exhaust pollution.
Hi Keith, I agree with the points you raised here. I can confirm that most of the pollutants/smell are from the curing process of the paint. I know this as we were unlucky enough to have a chimney fire a couple of years ago and after the fire brigade put water down the chimney to put out the fire, I needed to repaint the stove that rusted. This resulted in the same smell as on first burns, so like you we opened windows for these burns and stayed out of the room (IMO these burns only have to be short so no cause for concern).
So just a word of caution on having your chimney swept, you need to do it at least once a year, we had,only gone 13 months when we had the chimney fire that was a scary experience. This will also be a little known clause on your insurance.
Well maintained we absolutely love ours. We’ve had it for 10 years and wouldn’t be without it.
Darren - With the flue only so old curious to know what you think caused the fire? Was it an old chimney flue or did you have the chimney relined with metal tubing?
I find open fires especially in pubs with constant comings and goings make me cough fit to burst and my eyes sting. Woodburners the same. There's a road where i live that constantly smells of bonfires in the colder weather that has the same effect on me and i suspect some of the houses have wood burners . I grew up with open fires and my mother and husband smoked. We considered a wood burner years ago they do look lovely but not for me now, glad we didn't do it. And i have to say i've seen some filthy stuff coming out of house chimneys recently.
Me too.
My cousin had to block the vent's at the back of his house because a neighbour's burner would smoke when starting his fire. £2500 would buy a year's supply of oil, and hot water.
Great video. Very informative. I think it might be best to get a wood burner installed during the late spring or summer so the breaking in can be done with all the windows open. 😃
Interesting and the opposite to what I thought would happen. With huge volumes of air going up the flue and being replaced with external air drawn in, l expected the air to be cleaner.
Love the record analogy!
I hate to think what an old fashioned open coal fire would have created in the way of internal pollution, I’m guessing it’d be virtually off the scale, we live and learn! Well done for bringing this to peoples attention, the monitor you have should be supplied with the stoves I reckon! Cheers.👏👍😀
Probably a lot during lighting but I think once the chimney is hot and drawing the smoke up it probably drops right down as long as the wood is dry 👍
We still use our open coal fire 🔥
Great vid Keith! We've been testing this for a year or so and have some very interesting findings (vid coming soon). Any coating / oil on the stove will send emissions through the roof but that should stop after a few burns. Other than that PM2.5 readings have been negligible - we're in a 2 storey so I guess the chimney being higher could result in a better draw? Not sure 🤔. Lots of factors. Keep measuring and we'll have to compare results after the winter! 👍😎
Cheers Andy look forward to seeing your results! Since filming this video the pm2.5 readings have dropped even further, sometimes it barely even changes the readings from when the stove is not in use 👍
Yes, our wood stove has been in for years. I tested today and the PM 2.5 meter shows 30 while lighting and settles down to 10.
A conventional chimney stove ventilates the room by drawing air through it so reducing any pollution.
I wonder if these "room sealed/direct air" stoves that draw outside air directly into the stove are a problem?
Installed a stovak multifuel burner years ago delighted with it Noticed your burner is Installed close to your walls obviously to regs but are they non combustible ? Also the wood your burning looked like it wasn't seasoned If you burn construction timber it can burn too hot and damage the inner flue Good informative vid tho 👍
My sister lives in rural Durham; in the Winter, a particularly cold & windy place. It’s a good job she has a cast iron duel fuel stove cuz during Storm Arwen, she had no electric for a week. Without it, she’d have frozen.
I'm a Heating Engineer, self employed, quite surprised at that cost of install tbh !! You won't believe how hard it is to close a sale for a new combi boiler, a product that is full of technical parts and knowhow, not to mention all the pipework and gas that's part of the install, and a 10 year parts and labour warranty with the premium brands .. and customers still wince at a 2500 install price !!! And a simple, old fashioned log burner with an open flue is pulling the same money ... I think I'll do my HETAS ticket and start offering log burners 😁👍
Very informative, thank you. We live in a small all electric 200+yr old stone in-fill/cob house in the south west. Oil or gas central heating isn't an option for us. We have a storage heater, small electric heaters and a stove. Last year we did without the stove and froze. This year we are not using the storage and other heaters and relying on the wood stove. We use wood from a 'wood sure' supplier (
That would be the dream!
Had a wood stove in my last home. Part way through a full solo renovation of my new home and have a wood stove (multi fuel) on the list of things to install. Everything about them is just magic, and after the collecting, chopping of wood and making the fire, you get to enjoy it. Glass of wine and Floyd on the turntable. Like you say if they are new, they do need to be burned in. Think of it like seasoning your wok, it’s a process.
Sounds great!
Based on what the company said dunno if it helps but when we first got ours what the said was to heat the liner of the chimney first what they recommend was burn some newspaper etc etc very lightly first then put your fire on. Just a help. 👍🏴
Many thanks for linking to the air quality monitor. We're about to move into a bungalow that has an open fire and I'm really keen to get a reading on it when we get it up and running, hope to move in around January or February. It has a detatched garage so will be setting that up as my workshop.
I seen a thing that said one small wood burner is worse than 18 small diesel cars for the environment.
And if you want to split logs safely to fit into your wood burning stove, I know a cool DIY tool that helps do it without the risk of chopping your hand off! Just thought I'd throw that in!
Haha. When I saw what you came up with, I kicked myself - my version was so overengineered. The notches in a 4x4 with aluminium L section was a stroke of genius!! I don't suppose you made a second one you want to sell did you?? :-)
I have a long-handled axe and a swedish log splitter. Prefer the axe.
yes, some of the wood used contains scrap wood, that has been pressure treated or plastic coated.
The oil used in milling the wood contains a very large amount of benzine.
What about what is being pumped out of the chimney. I've read its equivalent to having 3 HGV's running right outside the house?
I was looking at getting a stove but this just wasn't comfortable for me. I've heard bioethanol stoves produce no emmissions, so this is a possible route for me.
It depends what you burn. If you burn responsibly it's not a problem at all, see Gosforth handyman latest video
We had a major dust collection clog at work recently. A coworker set my PM2.5 monitor on the infeed table of the planer/drum sander and it reached 850!
Ouch!
Good Information, If I buy one, I'll burn some fires in it outside before install.
You have air coming into the stove via the vents and air coming out of the stove only via the flue. You will get particulate matter in your room only if you a) have a leak b) open the door when the temperature inside is too low or c) have a poor draw or a flue restriction. I reckon you’ve sorted it by now but that thermometer is your friend. Mine lives on the flue and I know that if the temp drops below the green zone any new wood will be slow and possibly smokey to get going. As yours is on the side, you’d need to find at what point on that scale to try and keep above.
Further to the comments on top down idea (kindling on top)… you'd only really want to use that method if you were in very cold conditions to warm the flue first; or if you had a poor draw.
I stack the kindling around a fire lighter with the larger logs on top. I don't allow the kindling to start first, I load the logs on top and then light it. The trick is to use kindling pieces that are thicker at the front of the stove so that when they collapse the thicker ones at the front are the last to go. That way, any material on top will slump backwards and not against the door.
Enjoy your stove mate.
P.s. not convinced the architrave is a suitable distance away from it though. 🤔
btw, these high readings aren't bad for a few times. They are only bad when being exposed to over and over again.
nice video. Be carefully with that curtain...it is very close to your stove
7:45 "enjoy the process of making a fire..." Now, now. Tell the truth, you just like playing with the blowtorch. 0:30 Who wouldn't!! Love the video mate.
😁👍 thank you
Thanks for the video. Would it better for the customer, if the company did the "break in burns"? If course, you purchase the stove, and the company does that part for the customer?
LOVE wood stoves. 🥰 And everything that comes with it, felling, cutting, splitting, stacking, getting a fire going, and maintaining it. The lovely warmth and ambience it gives me. It is just lovely.
But it’s 2024, not 1924.. 🥵🤮☠️
Thank you for the detailed information. i was not aware of it...
Hi, very good video and I really like your new burner...Please don't think I'm asking a silly question as you've had it professionally installed and that means all will be well! When I installed mine, myself I had to have a fire board installed all the way up to the ceiling and all around the back of the stove...I can understand not having a fire board protection around the wall behind twin insulated pipe as it progresses up the wall but...not to have the fire board around the wood burner itself does seem odd unless they have moved on with new types of woodburner?...I did my own install over 10 yrs ago and was extremely thorough with the install and had HETA check the whole install once completed and signed off. Costing for our essential utilities has become impossible and even though Electricity has become over 3 x more expensive than Gas trying to keep homes warm racks up just as much per month as using the electric...I'm now in the process of installing new Solar panels which are designed for the poor UK weather...Batteries are a bit expensive at around £4000 so it will take a bit of time to get our money back:) Please let me know about the fireboard question as it's would be very interesting to know the answer:)
We live in Spain and up in the mountains so it gets cold and snowy, we actually have 2 logburners, one downstairs ( Bronpi cast iron, cost €600 ,3 years ago) which is downstairs in the front room, and a second hand metal one purchased from friends which is actually a better one..I fitted them myself and couldn't believe how much you had to pay someone for fitting it ?
Question- because I'm currently installing my own. How did the fitters get away with the distance to combustible materials (55cm to the sides on this model) with the skirting boards, architrave and curtains? I thought I'd have to remove my skirting boards and replaster but if there's a workaround I'd love the hear it before building control come round.
Hi Cozzy, I'm not aware of the rules, sorry. I think our installer said a distance of 300mm from the curtains, which is fine. In the longer term though we're looking to replace the curtains with shutters anyway. Not sure re: architrave/skirtings though but not something I'm worried about - they installed and signed off so I'm trusting them. Cheers, Keith
@@RagnBoneBrown cheers, I'll leave the woodwork alone and wait for building control.
We were told 500mm minimum from a wall and if it is a timber stud wall it has to be lined to keep the heat off it.
I have a stove on my narrowboat and after applying the blacking to the flue and stove you have to burn it off with the windows and doors open. Once it has cured it's fine. I have had asthma all my life and my stove causes me no issues.
Hetas only required in England and Wales - legal to fit your own in Scotland still recommend a sign off even so
Just a bit of advice. We had a wire mesh put around the top of the flue (like the chicken wire you used recently) as during spring in to summer birds looking for nesting areas get caught down the flue and the only way out is through the house. Had heaps ofstarlings until we put the mesh up.
thanks, does that mean our "bird guard cowl" isn't necessarily effective?
@@RagnBoneBrown your bird cowl is fine.
@@RagnBoneBrown I guess the proof will be in the pudding. At least you know what to do if you get a bird down the flue. I had to get a tradesman in to do mine as I don't like hieghts.
Interesting information.
We have one existing wood burning stove and ate just about to fit a second one in the kitchen area.
I have a particle meter so will start measuring and see if we get similar alarming readings.
I have the Hampton 5. Cost approx £600 with delivery and £1000 to have it installed / commissioned. For such a small stove, the room gets extremely toasty. Burn Pine on it that has a moisture level of about 10% and it keeps the downstairs toasty and the upstairs "keeping the living room door open" at about 21 - 22 c. get wood free from work so winner winner.
Thanks Keith very helpful.
Here in the Normandy countryside, wood is the fuel of choice. There is no shortage of oak or beech - the most popular for firewood here. A third of mainland France is covered by forest. Personally I love ash too. Our main living area is 12 x 6 metres, with an open staircase up to the first floor. We installed a 14kw stove 20 odd years ago (Efel) and it does a fantastic job of heating the entire house. The key is good, dry wood. Most of my neighbours cut, split and stack outdoors (covered by a tarp) and leave it for two years, followed by a year in a well ventilated outhouse. Then it comes into the house. You get into the rhythm!
Prices? You think oil is expensive in the UK - 1000 litres here will currently cost you around 1450€ - say £1250 or £1.25/litre, but drifting down. Last lot I bought was 1.67€ (£1.45) back in July. Ave UK price seems to be around £0.85/litre. Firewood here will cost you, at present, delivered from 50-55€ per stere (loose stacked cubic metre). It will cost you a lot more in town. Lot less if you are cutting your own trees of course. You can also cut and buy wood from state or private forests. Last time I did that it cost about 25€/stere I think. I'm out of touch with today's prices.
Felling, bucking, transporting, splitting, stacking and moving is hard work. It's a young man's game. At 68, paying 50€ delivered is money well spent!
€1.40 a litre here in Ireland.
Thanks Ian. Wow. That's really interesting!
Pure gold. I'm in a similar situation, was looking for exactly this type of info. Thank You for finding a time to post this video. 🙏
Very interesting, it would also be useful to see if an internal chimney fan makes a difference
I nice bit of Caveman TV for your living room!
I have had a couple of woodstoves in different houses and could still smell something "off" from them even after curing time. So with the more recent one I had it shot blasted to remove all the paint and residues. This worked, but you obviously have to accept the varied patina of heated bare metal. I do find though, that with long evenings of stove use I end up with a dry, slightly irritated throat. I think these kind of stoves work best in older, leaky houses. Even though I provided a local external air supply to the stove, my draught free living space can feel a bit airless with it burning. My future plan is to have a masonry style burner that has low surface temperatures. This avoids over heating the air and dust particles being burned on the stove body and circulated by convection. They are more costly and complicated to install though.
Interesting video as this was also a concern for us having read the recent negative reports. We have an old but recently serviced Morso wood stove, new door seals etc., heating a large open plan area and have never seen the air quality PM2.5 meter go above 4ug/m3. When it is off our reading is 0 to 2ug/m3 - we're in rural Scotland. I think the quality of the wood/logs is important and keeping the stove hot. Also, with the stove drawing in air from outside, it's worth remembering that it can pull its own smoke back into the property depending on wind conditions, location of the chimney and air leakage/ventilation points. So even if you have no emissions into the room directly from the stove you might be drawing particulates in from outside, including from other peoples fires! We will certainly continue to use ours 😊
Hi, The top down method is good ( see two comments down), but in my opinion the big mistake is going for such a budget stove. There is a reason these are less than half the price of the market leading Pure Vision range. On Pure vision stoves the thick stainless steel baffle automatically opens to stop minor smoke emissions on refueling, and even has an ignition setting that warms the flue quicker again to reduce the emissions. They also use a much more expensive low odour paint. Your fitters are right about getting heat into the flue quickly by the way.
Hi Keith, interesting video. I have the same monitor (and I’m in a bungalow in Norfolk) so I decided to check our wood burner. It do appear to affect the air quality at all, the reading hovers around 3-5 whether the burner is alight or not. I am currently burning kiln dried logs as my supplier didn’t have any air dried left and even with the doors open the reading stays below 10.
Just had mines installed today and I was quite worried by the smell coming off it until I read about the first few burns
Good looking and practical woostove, strong 👍and could say as long as electricity is not a lowest heating source with both hands yes for fireplace(where possible to fit). If i not wrong, firewood is still on lowest cost, comparing to gas etc. Electricity costs gor heating was on highest rate. Goverment can wish to avoid them, but in reality too early, to say no to them. Same as cars, fuel vs electric🤷♂️