[Moorf]

Many of us have come here and are using solid fuel / woodburners for the first time... it's easy to forget life without them now!

So, have you got a woodburner and, if so, do you love it or loathe it?

[benandclare]

Hey until I moved in with Clare prior to our nuptials the only form of heating I'd had since leaving home was powered by wood/multifuel burners so guess I'm in the love them camp. House we're looking at has one :p Have promised Clare a masterclass

[wilson182]

We don't have one now, but we had one in all the rentals we lived in and I would fall into the love them catagory. (voted don't have one though)

[Kate D]

I had one in the UK with a back boiler. Lasted about two weeks before back boiler was replaced by gas central heating when I was coming back to a cold house every night. It looked fab when it was alight (gorgeous solid cast iron burner that was on a reinforced floor) and was great for guests as a feature, but as a regular, temperature controlled source of heating, no.

I know, a UK central heating, flick of a switch, softie me, and my rental here has it too. I've not been here long enough to be Kiwified yet...

Visually I love 'em.
Rely on heating my house with one? No....

Kate
(a pariah)

[Sam B]

Love them, and it will be the only real source of heating in our brand new house when it's built - just as it was the only source of heating in our house in Cornwall. It's going to be the biggest one ever, with one of those distribution thingies, and lashings of lovely insulation.

[Jo Jo]

I've got one, and I love it. I'm not a big fan of central heating - just as well, really!

[M&J]

We have two and love them. We had them in the UK too, I just want an Aga now!!!

[jubjub]

I love the warmth it puts out and seeing the flames flicker, I just dont like the work stacking the logs and humphing them around...

[nippa&pippa]

Love it and Kids love to sit in the front of logburner after had bath. Just say one word "logburner", they will jump out of the bath naked and ran to the lounge so quick. (yes we got huge fireguard ;)) without any bath towels!!:laugh

[Debbie]

Love it. I love the look and the economy of it. I pay for my wood up front at the beginning of autumn and know what my heating bill will be. I don't have to worry about having the fire on all day (and night) if I want and I would never do that with a gas or electric heater. The worry of a huge bill coming through the post would put me off. I just wish we had a loft so we could fit ducting and heat the whole house.
Debbie

[Tia Maria]

Is a pellet burner similar to a woodburner?

Do woodburners have any downsides?

Cheers

Tia

[mossum]

don't have one but I love the heat off them but totally hate the smoke ... all my neighbors seem to have one & their smell invades my house & makes my washing stink grrrrrr !:mad:

Vic

[Familyofmonkeys]

We have two and love them. We had them in the UK too, I just want an Aga now!!!

F L Bone are one of the NZ importers of Agas....and they are not as expensive as we thought they would be either.

[KerryS]

I so want a woodburner. We have an open fire at the moment, which just isn't the same.

[benhila]

We will have a woodburner in our new home and we are utterly terrified of the practicalities. Please prepare for a barrage of stupid questions once we actually move in...

[nippa&pippa]

We will have a woodburner in our new home and we are utterly terrified of the practicalities. Please prepare for a barrage of stupid questions once we actually move in...

No problem! as Moorf did help us with woodburner questions ie how to keep fires last long time without keep adding woods so often...now we know how to do it :D

[jackie m]

We have one & I love it. Kids favourite spot after a bath huddled the other side of the fire guard. The puppy seems to have made it her spot in the evenings when its on aswell.:D

Jackie

[mgbridges]

We had one in the rental we were in and boy did we need it! Don't have one in our current home as we have a (horribly expensive) Daikin reverse cycle air con system. At the moment all we've got is a great looking mantelpiece and surround around a hideous electric fire that we never use and is hidden by a fire screen my Mum embroidered.

I'd still really like a woodburning stove though as a focal point, I find real fires so soothing to look at. It would also be a great thing for the dog (retired greyhound) we are one day going to have (no matter what my OH says!)

Anneliese

[Nettie 2]

Still getting to grips with mine. Some days it burns brilliantly others it doesn't want to know. We have also got quite a large house with the lounge behind the dining room with a window between and 5 steps up to it so the heat doesn't always get up there. The one good thing about it is we get our logs free as my brother in law clears land of fallen trees so we just go up there with a chain saw and help ourselves. Excellent! :D

[jubjub]

No problem! as Moorf did help us with woodburner questions ie how to keep fires last long time without keep adding woods so often...now we know how to do it :D

pretty good at it aint she?? Helped us master ours too! :clap

[vixxann]

ok - don't need it now obviously but trying to get some info so we are prepared for the winter.. house we have just moved into has a very old woodburner which we were advised to change/update. Where/how/what etc etc. trying to find some websites for woodburner selling companies in Waikato and not having much look - do I have to go further afield - or do I need to get out visiting shops? What am I looking for? (it is to be our only source of heating) Will they come and fit? (and take out old fire?)

and any other general advice welcome :D

(think I am thinking about log fires etc with the slight twinge of a christmas mood coming on! - then i remember we are in middle of summer!)

[Paul]

Interestingly there is a roaring (exuse the pun) trade on them here in the UK as people increasingly look to alternatives from reliance on ever increasing gas and oil prices

Downside is most modern houses (60's and newer) often don;t have flues or chimneys, so the cost is much greater having have a flue installed (internal or external).
Its something we are looking at probably for next year due to finances as we will need an twin wall external flue which are hideously expensive as they are stainless steel. We will then get a multi fuel burner (not just a woodburner)

They certainly add character but wouldn't like to have it as my only source of heating. Sorry another UK central heating softie here!

[CJ22]

Love them, when they're backed up by gas central heating.

[Philip10]

Love them, when they're backed up by gas central heating.

I don't have a wood burner but if I did that's the type I would go for. :laugh

[Moorf]

vixxxan, you could try contacting your local council, I know ours have lots of information on hand regarding woodburners.

We've been quoted around $3-4k for a largish burner including flue kit and installation. You also need to check with your council in case you need any kind of resource consent, althought that shouldn't be necessary if you're replacing an existing one.

Not sure you if you have the same restrictions of being able to stop-down a woodburner up there in the Waikato. In some areas of Canterbury they need to be of a particular kind. The Ministry for the Environment have a website about this and also list authorised woodburners: http://www.mfe.govt.nz/laws/standards/woodburners/index.html

[seattle]

Is a pellet burner similar to a woodburner?

Do woodburners have any downsides?

Cheers

Tia

Isn't the smoke/fumes from these unhealthy? I've been avoiding rentals with these b/c someone told me they weren't good for you? We don't really have these in the U.S. so we're totally unfamiliar with them...

[BkyMonster]

AFAIK pellet stoves are pretty much the same as wood burners they just have a hopper that dispenses the pellet fuel into the fire at a steady rate. Several members of my family have them to heat their whole houses (They are common in some areas of the US) and I've never heard anything about fumes.

As for wood burners, like them. The one we have now is newly installed into the old fireplace slot and when we start it up it seems to leak a bit :( Sets off the smoke alarms!
I'd rather have a stand alone one or other kind of potbellied stove rather than a wood burner insert or fireplace.--though we did have a lovely gas fireplace at the house we owned and that was very nice.

[Jo Jo]

and any other general advice welcome :D


consumer.org.nz has got a great article on wood burners (http://www.consumer.org.nz/topic.asp?category=Appliances&docid=198&subcategory=Heating%20%26%20ventilation&topic=Woodburners), though you might have to be a member to read it. PM me if you can't read it and I'll summarise the main points for you.

As you're in the Waikato, you might find this from Environment Waikato (http://www.ew.govt.nz/environmental-information/All-about-air/Air-quality/Home-fires/) useful, too.

[Sam B]

Vixxann - we went to Rotorua Heating Solutions on fairy Springs Road in Rotorua. Really good selection of woodburners and they do all installation.

[talisker]

The advantages of pellet burners (I believe..) are that the stoves are more efficient, pellets are eco-friendly as they are made from sawdust, wood shavings etc which would otherwise be waste products, and they come in plastic bags so don't need any drying out and can be stored anywhere outside.

[Tomsk]

Vixxann - we went to Rotorua Heating Solutions on fairy Springs Road in Rotorua. Really good selection of woodburners and they do all installation.

Hey Vixxan I know nothing at all about woodburners sorry, but if you're tempted to check out Sam B's recommendation and visit Rotorua Heating Solutions give me a nudge....maybe we could do a coffee?
Good luck with the woodburner research.

[PeteS]

The advantages of pellet burners (I believe..) are that the stoves are more efficient, pellets are eco-friendly as they are made from sawdust, wood shavings etc which would otherwise be waste products, and they come in plastic bags so don't need any drying out and can be stored anywhere outside.

The log burner we are installing in our new house will be carbon neutral. We grew the firewood on site, we burned it on site. Neutral......

[WANZLittles]

We had one in our last house Loved it. My wife grow up with one. Loved it. We have thought about installing one in our current house, But might sell it so we won't, But we surely would look for one in NZ.

[jandk]

I have a gas fire with a big fan which heats my large lounge within 5 mins then for 2nd lounge a heat pump/air con which has timer so in winter wake up to warm house and come home to warm house. Thats how we like it all with no fussing about!