Thinking of getting a log burner. Any advice on makes and models, the good the band and the ugly?
Not looking to connect it up to the heating.
I have had so much conflicting advice from places I have been too. The room is 7m x 4m. Some say 5kw is plenty others say a 5kw will be working too hard. Cast iron V steel and on and on it goes etc..

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No advice on actual burners (except check the insurance implications!) but as a rough rule of thumb the amount of heating required for a given space is:

Room volume (m3) x temperature rise x insulation factor = BTU required.

3214BTU = 1KW.
Insulation factor = 1.5 for good insulation, 2.5 for medium, 3.5 for none (useful for workshops)

So, 7x4 room with 2.5mtr height = 70 cubic metres.
Assuming good insulation, and a 15° temperature rise...

70 x 15 x 1.5 = 6300BTU
6300/3214 = 1.96kW

So a 5kW burner would be ample.

Note that I am not a heating engineer and this equation comes straight off the internet, but has done me well so far!

Ed.

A few questions:

How much do you want to spend?
Do you only want to be able to burn wood?
Modern look or traditional?

I am currently just doing the install of a liner and hearth ahead of getting the stove (going through building control to get it all signed off), so I have done a lot of reading up and visiting shops!
- 5kW should be perfect for that size room - if you go too large, you will be needing to turn it down the whole time, which makes them burn inefficiently and your chimney/liner will clog up with deposits much quicker. Far better to burn a stove at its rated capacity for as much time as possible.
- Cast vs steel is tricky. The steel woodburner is likely to make more noise as it heats up and cool down, and will be lighter to lift (if you are installing). They are also cheaper. But a cast would likely last longer - but to be honest I think you would do well to wear either type out!
- A lot of stoves come with features, such as air wash which will help keep your glass clean - again these only work if you burn at full chat.
- A great comparison site/review site is available where you can search by stove type etc -
WhatStove
- If you can afford it, look for a brand called Clearview. They are the bees knees, and even second hand, they hold 80% of their value for a long time. The downside is that a 5kW will set you back £1100.
- If you are on a tighter budget, the Charnwood range of stoves has impressed me and I know several people who are very happy with them (I am planning to get a Charnwood C4)
- At the lower end of the price range, expect an inefficient burn, and a higher chance of poor build/design quality. You get what you pay for!
- As a final point, you may also want to consider what spares are available, e.g. glass, sealing rope etc. They dont last forever!

I hope this helps.

Can't agree more with clear view recommendation. My little pioneer is wonderful and is OK in smokeless zones

My folks were buying a new stove every couple of years unless I could cut them open (the stoves, not my parents), patch/plate them then re-weld together in which case they'd get another year or so out of them. They've been doing this for the past 30-odd years. They burn anything on them from sleepers full of pitch/tar/diesel, to garden rubbish and whatever else they choose to feed them with. Because of the sort of stuff they burn, the insides of the stoves suffer as does the water tank (not that you want a water-jacket). They've had the cheapy ones and they usually struggle to last more than one season and they've had very expensive ones and some of those also struggle to see a second season!! Until they discovered the Dowlings.
The stying may not be to everyones taste but Ma and Pa have had one of the big ones (Sumo) for almost ten years and it's still as good as the day they fitted it. They were so impressed they replaced a smaller woodburner in another part of the house with a 'Little Devil'. These stoves are very controllable and both will stay in all night if you stoke them up and close the vents. In the morning, open the vents and they're off again! And they can get exceedingly hot!! During the frequent power cuts they experience in the winter months, they have used them for cooking on and boiling kettles.
I should be a sales rep for Dowling....
Anyhoo, have a looksy here;
http://www.dowlingstoves.com/

[Edited on 6/11/12 by owelly]

I made my own from a sheet of 4mm steel ( a bit on the thin side, it was all I could afford at the time) and only expected it to last a season, still going strong 8yrs later and all I have had to do is replace the door seal and re-weld one seam after I heated it up too quickly at the start of the second season (war m it up slowly on the first start up of the season and it will be okay). Sides have bowed a little as I do get it really hot sometimes as I cook on it and boil water with it occasionally , great for doing toast if its hot enough you can do a piece in about 1 min.
Not a bad investment for £40.
If you don't fancy making one these look fairly cheap but I have no experience of them or their quality.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Stove-World-UK-Ltd?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

[Edited on 7/11/12 by spiderman]

I have a Westfire 21 in my flat. The room is about the same size as your. If its going full pelt I have to open windows, doors and lie on the floor. I have also had the privilege of discussing stoves/fires with Jeremy Vine on radio 2!

I bought it off ebay only on its looks. With hind sight this was a massive gamble. Which has paid off. I have since looked at Hwam stoves which are poor quality. they are tiny and poor fitting panels and the door handle is not engineered like the Westfire.

I think its one of the best engineered stoves on the market

I have been able to keep it going for 7 days continuously.

HTH

Hall

Windy smithy makes great stoves

or as spiderman said, make your own Here's one I made earlier:

We have a little Hunter Hawk which is 5kw burning wood or 4kw burning coal. It's solid and we like it but it was only bought as an evening thing for in the front room watching telly however it does a good job of warming the room. It has the airwash facility to keep glass a bit cleaner and a rattler for the grate to clean it out.

Clearview stoves are good - I have one of their 4KW jobs in my living room. Running it at mid-range in the recommended temperature band it heats the room quite quickly, and when it gets too hot we open the door into the hall and let some of the excess filter through the house. It doesn't get the upstairs warm, but does make it comfortable for bedtime. Yes, they are expensive, but they really do keep the glass clean if you follow instructions and they're quite efficient burners. The down-side is that Clearview don't encourage coal burning, only wood - it can be burnt if you really want to, though.

Important thing to remember - 4KW is the largest stove you can have indoors without an air vent in the wall - anything above that and external air is compulsory under building regs. You can use ducting straight from the outside into the stove though, to prevent draughts, if the stove has a ducting kit available.

[Edited on 7/11/12 by David Jenkins]

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/wood_burning_stoves/Franco-Belge-Stoves.html

I used to have a Franco-Belge one. NEVER a problem and didn't cost an arm and a leg.

Installed myself and had the chimney checked/smoke tested before installing it. Removal access panel in chimney ducting helped for cleaning. Here is the chimney after I finished... ...well worth it. Beats gas anytime!


chimney

I have just fitted an aarrow ecoburn multifuel (www.aarrowwfilres.com) and it seems to be very well made. Good customer service too, and made in the UK. It was a bit cheaper than some of the other 'good' makes and with a lifetime warranty (excluding the glass and ceramic lining). The only problem seems to be that the door handle gets red hot, so I may make one to replace the standard one.
Regards
Hugh

quote:

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Originally posted by David Jenkins
Clearview stoves are good - I have one of their 4KW jobs in my living room. Running it at mid-range in the recommended temperature band it heats the room quite quickly, and when it gets too hot we open the door into the hall and let some of the excess filter through the house. It doesn't get the upstairs warm, but does make it comfortable for bedtime. Yes, they are expensive, but they really do keep the glass clean if you follow instructions and they're quite efficient burners. The down-side is that Clearview don't encourage coal burning, only wood - it can be burnt if you really want to, though.

Important thing to remember - 4KW is the largest stove you can have indoors without an air vent in the wall - anything above that and external air is compulsory under building regs. You can use ducting straight from the outside into the stove though, to prevent draughts, if the stove has a ducting kit available.

[Edited on 7/11/12 by David Jenkins]

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quote:

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Originally posted by twybrow
The rules are acutally 5kW or less... I know this as I have been studying the building regs very hard as I am currently doing a DIY installation under building control! That only applies to 'traditional houses' and not recent builds where they aim to seal the house completely.

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5 kw will be fine, you'll be surprised how much heat they give out! You will need to check the condition of your chimney and decide whether you need to just sweep it and use or line it - check local regs. Also, careful what and how you burn things. deposits left inside the chimney from wood that is not dried enough or other things that are burned, can lead to chimney fires.

Cheers, Nick

[Edited on 7/11/12 by Nick DV]

I bought a 50" plasma tv about 5 years ago thats enough to heat my room :-)

Ok only joking but I will hold the temperature for hours.