Posted: Sun Feb 9, 2020 2:50pm
Hi Alex
We'll be keeping ours.
In my (very) limited experience, the effectiveness of the log burner depends on the layout of the house.
Our house is a detached bungalow. The log burner/chimney is in the middle. It heats the sitting room and the bathroom (which is immediately the other side of the wall with the fire-breast). The rest of the house doesn't get much benefit.
I would think that 2 or 3 storey houses derive much more benefit from log burners - smaller floor plans and exposure of the chimney to the upper floors.
Our wood burner is only rated at 4.5kw. We have a neighbour who installed an 8kw burner, and he can't get near it ! It isn't very controllable.
We obtained our wood from a yard that sold oak, as well as olive and lemon etc. We soon learnt what worked best for us. Oak lasts longer and provides a slow, steady heat. But you can't light a fire with oak.
Pine doesn't make good burning wood. It flares quickly and coats the chimney with deposits.
We put in propane central heating. A typical appliance (e.g. a combi-boiler, a gas fire, a cooker hob) only needs an 8mm or 10mm propane pipe, and these pipes can be surface-installed in your house and painted-in. You barely notice them.
There are some rules about storing propane, which are addressed by the attached thread.
Gas Central heating
Propane is better suited than butane to heating applications, due to the lower evaporating temperature range of the liquefied gas, although I do know someone who has a butane coal-effect fire. I presume the storage rules are similar, although I think butane is only available in bottles.
Best wishes, whichever solution you choose
Kelvin
ps .... Our 4.5kw burner is a cassette type. Our predecessors built a masonry chimney breast (maybe half a ton of thermal storage), which warms up. So we get gentle heat.
My neighbour's 8kw burner is s freestanding steel box with a raging fire inside it. The surface gets so hot, he could cook on it. I think it is hazardous.