No chimney!

[Timelord]

(12 May 2013, 12:24)Timelord Wrote:

(12 May 2013, 09:37)bigpaul Wrote: modern English houses are quite small, you dont need a wopping big woodstove that puts out 7KW or whatever in a smaller space, you'd never be able to get in the room for the heat, you need something thats puts out about 1KW per hour.

True for a small house but there are as many older large/tall roomed houses in the UK also. open plan is even worse :-(

Although with open plan over multiple levels, you can use the chimney effect of the staircase to lift the temperature throughout the house. Now notice I did not say "warm" the house as it will not do this far beyond the heat source for a larger design house - but I have found it most definitely does make a difference over multiple floors. Whilst you may still need layers of clothing if working at upper levels, it makes a big difference between the outside freezing temperatures and those indoors. This means a secondary localised heat source is all that is needed if on the upper chillier levels. Also it helps to stop the house from becoming damp. Used this way in the depths of Winter it makes sense to keep it going most of the time. Seasoned wood for when you want it full on and use green or half seasoned wood for keeping it ticking over during the day. A hefty greenish log will see it run overnight and with red coals left by the next midday to relight the fresh load. Running it this way keeps the metalwork of the stove and the surrounding brick/stonework chimney warm continuously. This is also an advantage of a stove, as the chimney/hearth structure acts as a storage radiator and continues to keep the temperature from dropping rapidly if the stove is out. This is great, especially throughout the night while the stove is on overnight low burn. many older designed houses were built with the intention of being heated by a fireplace and the chimney structure. It is also good for maintaining the structure of the building, rather than letting it get really cold & damp between bouts of modern style heat sources , ie, central heating on just a few hours every day - as many people can not afford to keep it on continuously. that is all very well for a modern insulated house, but not an older poorly insulated one or just if there is a lot of air space to heat.

I find if running purely on wood, then it goes through the wood pile at quite a rate and needs a lot more feeding, which means more wood to be acquired & cut etc. By using a bed of smokeless coal (the oval briquettes are designed for multifuel burners and burn hotter and longer than other fuels), then the improved efficiency and reduced labour time and its associated costs, actually works out cheaper for me. Now if I lived in the middle of a wooded area that would be different. I wish. lol.

BP, I do like my large old house, but for heat purposes, it is a real pain and for those with modern insulated houses, then I am envious at times!!, especially WINTER - AAARGH.... Also, a small multifuel burner is probably ideal for one of those smaller more modern houses, as a larger stove can be OTT. Another point this raises - is that running a larger stove and trying to keep it at only half heat or with reduced loads, is not as thermally efficient as running a smaller one at higher heat / fullish loads.

regards, TL.