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adam2 Site Admin

Joined: 02 Jul 2007 Posts: 6463 Location: North Somerset
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 4:02 pm Post subject: Mother now has a wood stove ! |
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Mothers home, which is otherwise all electric, now has a small woodstove to heat the main living room.
For some while I have been by concerned by Mothers reliance on electricity.
I fitted a large UPS in order to supply lighting and low power appliances, but of course that does not supply heating.
I keep a number of parrafin lamps for long term power cuts, and these produce a lot of heat, but are not ideal for heating.
No natural gas is available.
No suitable space for an oil tank.
So that only left solid fuel.
Initialy Mother was not keen on a wood stove owing to the amount of work involved.
The room is fairly well insulated, but retains heat or cold for a long while due to stone walls. Electric storage heating works fine but is increasingly expensive and vulnerable to any prolonged power cut.
The new stove has seen seen very limited use so far, since the installation caused the hottest April for years, with no need for heating.
The stove can burn wood or coal. The intention is to burn wood normally but to keep a ton or two of coal for emergencies.
The heat output was ample, and easily boiled a large pot of water, or toasted hot cross buns.
I have a local source of fire wood, and have enough stocked to last throughout the coming winter. _________________ "Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more" |
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RenewableCandy

Joined: 12 Sep 2007 Posts: 12550 Location: York
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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Hey congrats on talking her 'round! My mum loves her woodburning stove...and it's been vital during their many power cuts. _________________ Soyez réaliste. Demandez l'impossible.
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biffvernon

Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 18551 Location: Lincolnshire
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 9:39 pm Post subject: Re: Mother now has a wood stove ! |
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adam2 wrote: | the installation caused the hottest April for years, | Don't stop there; let's blame mother for the whole global warming thing
I posted my mother in law's electricity bill this morning. She's in a sheltered accommodation that's all electric. No choice.  _________________ http://biffvernon.blogspot.co.uk/ |
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JohnB

Joined: 22 May 2006 Posts: 6457 Location: Beautiful sunny West Wales!
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 10:33 pm Post subject: Re: Mother now has a wood stove ! |
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biffvernon wrote: | I posted my mother in law's electricity bill this morning. She's in a sheltered accommodation that's all electric. No choice.  |
Obviously not sheltered enough then . _________________ John
Eco-Hamlets UK - Small sustainable neighbourhoods |
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adam2 Site Admin

Joined: 02 Jul 2007 Posts: 6463 Location: North Somerset
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 9:35 pm Post subject: |
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Anyone know how much wood Mother might expect to use over a winter ?
It is a small stove, nominal output 4.5KW. The intention is to use it every day in winter for perhaps an average of 12 hours a day.
The very limited use so far suggests up to about 1KG of wood an hour, but the use was too limited for this to be very accurate.
I have stocked about a ton so far, and have room for about another ton.
It is mixed wood but largely silver birch, from a long neglected wood that is now being managed to produce fence posts, small building timber, and fire wood. _________________ "Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more" |
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biffvernon

Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 18551 Location: Lincolnshire
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 10:10 pm Post subject: |
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Hmmm, silver birch lights easily when dry but is probably amongst the lowest calorific values per volume of our hardwoods.
If you've got the space, buy more. The price goes up and the wood gets drier. _________________ http://biffvernon.blogspot.co.uk/ |
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adam2 Site Admin

Joined: 02 Jul 2007 Posts: 6463 Location: North Somerset
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Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 12:58 pm Post subject: |
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Ive got room for about another ton so will get that much.
Otherwise, it means outdoor storage which I would prefer to avoid on account of the risk of theft. _________________ "Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more" |
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RenewableCandy

Joined: 12 Sep 2007 Posts: 12550 Location: York
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 10:19 pm Post subject: |
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1 kg of dry wood has between 3.5 and 5 kWh of energy in. Thus, on a 4 or 5 kW stove, your burn rate makes perfect sense.
10 kg per evening by 100 evenings a year is a good start. _________________ Soyez réaliste. Demandez l'impossible.
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snow hope
Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 4104 Location: outside Belfast, N Ireland
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 11:09 pm Post subject: |
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At least a chord I would think, maybe up to 2 chords. 12 hours a day is quite a lot of burning. 1 chord = 4ft x 4ft x 8ft.
This seems quite a good link and it gives calorific values of various woods as well as dry and Green weights (in pounds).
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/heating_cooling/firewood.html _________________ Real money is gold and silver |
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JohnB

Joined: 22 May 2006 Posts: 6457 Location: Beautiful sunny West Wales!
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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snow hope wrote: | At least a chord I would think, maybe up to 2 chords. 12 hours a day is quite a lot of burning. 1 chord = 4ft x 4ft x 8ft. |
Wow, that's a big instrument. It must make a hell of a noise
Here's one of my cords (or at least it was, as it was burned last winter)
We've created quite a few new ones, with more to go. _________________ John
Eco-Hamlets UK - Small sustainable neighbourhoods |
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RenewableCandy

Joined: 12 Sep 2007 Posts: 12550 Location: York
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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Too gaddamned American...how many kg are there in a cord?? (thinks...roughly 2 tonnes assuming wood's 1/2 as dense as water?) _________________ Soyez réaliste. Demandez l'impossible.
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JohnB

Joined: 22 May 2006 Posts: 6457 Location: Beautiful sunny West Wales!
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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RenewableCandy wrote: | Too gaddamned American...how many kg are there in a cord?? (thinks...roughly 2 tonnes assuming wood's 1/2 as dense as water?) |
If you fancy a holiday in Wales, you can build some, and weigh the wood while you're doing it . _________________ John
Eco-Hamlets UK - Small sustainable neighbourhoods |
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goslow
Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 705
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 7:30 pm Post subject: |
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As well as logs I'm burning briquettes made out of wood shavings produced by a joiners yard. Maybe that's worth looking into as well for your mum - though some of the commercial briquettes are quite expensive unless got in 1 tonne pallets. |
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adam2 Site Admin

Joined: 02 Jul 2007 Posts: 6463 Location: North Somerset
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Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 9:11 am Post subject: |
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goslow wrote: | As well as logs I'm burning briquettes made out of wood shavings produced by a joiners yard. Maybe that's worth looking into as well for your mum - though some of the commercial briquettes are quite expensive unless got in 1 tonne pallets. |
Ive bought some "artificial logs" very cheaply indeed.
These burn well but dont light easily, the supplier does not know from what they are made, but it looks like waste wood, small pieces of coal, and some sticky material, or perhaps wax
Said to be rejects, certainly cheap, but probably a "one off" not something regularly available. _________________ "Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more" |
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goslow
Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 705
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Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 9:46 am Post subject: |
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I tried several suppliers. Different materials, mostly wood wastes, most quite expensive though meant to be cheaper than wood when you compare heat output etc. The supply I have now is simply sawdust from a joiners pressed together by themselves, without any wax. So they look a bit amateurish and break apart quite easily, but do the job and are not expensive. I burn them in combination with a log or two. |
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