Slow Combustion Wood Heater?

[AndrewT]

Hi Evvvveeerrryyoone,

Sorry, I can't type properly because I am sooo cold!!!

So a bit of an overview. We currently live in an old 1950/60's fibro home that is off the ground on piers (max 1.8m) with high 12ft ceilings. So lately I have been putting underfloor insulation in to stop the draft that comes through the floor boards, this has worked well and I'm almost finished but the house is still freezing!

I put in a gas line to the lounge room and we are running an old gas heater, this seems to work well for that room but the rest of the house doesn't seem to heat up at all - maybe it's too inefficient? I checked out the insulation in the roof and it doesn't look tooo old. We have decided that we should bite the bullet and get either a new gas heater or get a slow combustion heater.

One of the front rooms actually already have a corner slab where we believe there used to be a wood fire, no idea why they would have taken it out. So there is a place for one if we get it. I have a trailer and etc so I don't mind going out and getting wood, there is a place that supplies a full trailer load for $100 just down the road from us.

It would be roughly:
Gas - $1000
Woodfire - $2000+

Just after people opinions and experiences to what they think is better. Is our problem the insulation in the roof? Maybe we need to look at replacing both? I'ld rather spend more to be sure the whole house will be warm.

At the end of the day, I know a wood fire probably isn't going to increase the rent but we need to solve this heating issue. When we rent it out later, we don't want tenants leaving every year because it's too cold in winter! Some days it feels colder inside then out!!!

Cheeeeeeeerrsrsss,
Andrewwwe.

 

[AndrewT]

Just had a bit of a look around.

Our house is 165sqm. Gas heaters would only go up to around the 100sqm for unflued and they were 1k. We can pick up a Jindara Kimberley that heats 200sqm for $2500 with everything needed.

Decisions decisions...

 

[Fourex]

Hi AndrewT,

I have been in you position over the last couple of years (old style Queenslander with many open spaces for the wind to blow into over winter). The last few years we have had to put up with the cold. This winter however it is a different story, was able to pick up a nice size slow combustion heater from someone who no longer wanted it in their house for free (we had to remove it ourselves and replace the iron on the roof where the hole used to be). It has been fantastic. The other half loves the ambience, I however love the heat it creates, we have ours placed at the end of the house near the dinning area and heats the kitchen, dinning area and lounge room nicely (if kept on for a while will filter down the hallway and knock some of the edge off for the bedrooms).

We source locally 1.5 tonne of firewood delivered pre split hardwood for $ 130 (am happy to pay extra not to have to swing an axe in winter) and at present have been running it all day and night over the last month and have plenty of timber left to go (would estimate you would use about 3 tonne over winter if using it fairly non stop).

I have used a gas heater in the past at a different address and my preference would be the slow combusiton heater (if room and sytle of the house permits).

Cheers,

Fourex.

 

[batgirl]

Was thinking about a gas fireplace, flued for my new (old!) PPOR - as its been freezing in Newcastle of late! Do people think a wood heater is more or less efficient in delivering heat? What about cost to run cos wood seems pretty pricy. How much wood would (ha ha sorry that just sounds funny) you get though in a day?

Just supping on a nice pinot noir so maybe that sounded funnier than it was!!

 

[Pecan]

Just put some more wood on the slow combustion oven a few minutes ago, it is wonderful and a lovely part of winter. A large tree fell down here last year and we have been burning that. Get the oven, you won't regret it!

 

[Nards]

We love, love, love our slow combustion wood heater. Provided you dont mind lighting it and sourcing wood then they produce lovely heat. Another thing to consider, is that they can be a little messy - the ash tends to fall out a bit at the front of the stove, and you will tend to get little bits of wood fall as you carry it. Nothing that bothers us, but i know people who have go rid of their wood fires for those reasons.

The best thing about a wood heater is that you can put a big log on at the end of the night and get up in the morning and the house is still cosy and warm, and the fire just needs stoking up a little to get it going again.

I remember reading an article about that wood combustion heaters are one of the more expensive heaters to run - but that would only be if you are paying a premium for wood (I've some exorbitant prices on bundle of wood). We buy a permit each year and cut our own wood - works out at less then $40 a tonne, and some sweat labour.

If its a rental, consider a child-proof barrier also, if your house would attract tenants with little one.

Hope that help,
Nadia

 

[RumpledElf]

I have a large slow combustion heater at my old house, which is solid stone and about 150sqm. It is the best thing EVER. Cost about $2000 but I was getting winter electricity bills of over $1000 and this thing dropped them to $400 so it paid for itself very fast. It heats the entire house. I think I have the second largest 'ultimate' brand wood heater they had available.

It is in a massive chimney breast - maybe 6 foot wide, 10m to the top of the chimney, close to 5 foot total depth as it spans two rooms. If you leave the fire running the entire chimney breast as far as I can reach up it gets warm and keeps radiating when the fire is off, but it is best left burning continuously.

The tenants in the house now love it to bits

Kind of missing the warmth in this new house, we have reverse cycle airconditioning here but it went well below zero last night and reverse cycle doesn't work below about 5 degrees.

Our new house will be weatherboard not stone, so whatever heating system we get in it won't have to contend with tonnes and tonnes of freezing cold thermal mass so we're either getting a sunlizard and/or gas heating.

 

[Pa1nter]

I have just fitted two wood heaters in our PPOR,
One inside and one outside on the patio.
Not that we really needed to as we have already 3 split reverse air cons in the house.
I was raised with a wood stove for many years and for me it is just the nicest thing to light the stove up.

On the patio I purchased the wood heater on ebay that has two cooking lids for my job on sundays cooking breakfast for everyone.(Cooks the best toast)
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEWPORT-wood...tem&pt=AU_Home_Appliances&hash=item255b3e2b01

Inside the house i purchased a Vogue Pintel Delux that has an ash box under it.
http://www.mrstoves.com.au/pdf/pinback.pdf

I fitted them both myself and could see if you were not handy,there could be a danger factor involved in it,both from falling off the roof or setting your house alight.

So far this winter we have not needed to use the aircons or oil heaters at night and this stove has been going non stop.

Wood would probably be the biggest problem for someone who lives in the city and does not have access to it easily.It could quickly outweigh the cost of running an electric or gas heater.

I have just purchased two tonne of split hardwood off a tree lopper for $90 cash delivered

 

[AndrewT]

painter, what did you Vodue Pintel Deluxe cost if you dont mind me asking?

My parents have been saying that we shouldn't get one because they are messy, I think we can put up with having to clean a bit extra when we have a nice toasty house!

Not sure whether to get a 2nd hand one off ebay now or to get a brand new one. Don't want to get one and find it doesn't do the job!

 

[Pa1nter]

painter, what did you Vodue Pintel Deluxe cost if you dont mind me asking?

My parents have been saying that we shouldn't get one because they are messy, I think we can put up with having to clean a bit extra when we have a nice toasty house!

Not sure whether to get a 2nd hand one off ebay now or to get a brand new one. Don't want to get one and find it doesn't do the job!

They are about 2000 with flue kit brand new,however you have to buy hearth as well(around 400) or you can make one out of tiles,This model won heater of the year as it has its own ash box,very easy to clean
I got mine off gumtree for $650 with everything,he had it advertised for $800,he could have got 1500 off ebay
Only prob is delivery cost,however I was able to pick mine up.Delivery for the other one on the patio was around $200 from Vic to Toowoomba Qld depot.

The new ones on Ebay look good as long as you can pick them up yourself.
The ones with fans seem to have a better resale value.

 

[chrispy]

If I was renting a house and had a choice between two houses and one had a combustion heater and the other a reverse cycle airconditioner, I would be going for the aircon.

In the city if you are renting the chances are you are working long hours, get home when its cold and dark and the last thing you want to do is clean out the heater, chop the wood and get the fire going. Far easier to set the temperature and turn on the heater.

PLus you have cooling in the summer.

Its horses for courses as usual

Chris

 

[Pa1nter]

If I was renting a house and had a choice between two houses and one had a combustion heater and the other a reverse cycle airconditioner, I would be going for the aircon.

In the city if you are renting the chances are you are working long hours, get home when its cold and dark and the last thing you want to do is clean out the heater, chop the wood and get the fire going. Far easier to set the temperature and turn on the heater.

PLus you have cooling in the summer.

Its horses for courses as usual

Chris

I totally agree,nothing easier than turning on an AC.
However most of us old folk like the smell of wood burning as it is something in our past we want to recreate,same as having an old FJ or something

 

[lizzie]

having had gas, aircon and wood heater .... and i am busting to get back to my ppor with the slow combustion wood heater.

as others have said , you can keep it ticking over so that the house never gets cold, whereas with gas and aircon once they are turned off the house quickly gets chill, especially overnight - and it would be hideously expensive to keep aircon or gas running full time to get the same effect.

wood cost me around $250/winter which i reckon is way cheaper than the same effect from electicity or gas - bottled gas was costing me $160/mth! mains gas is around $40/mth but this is only evening heating, not all day/night.

i also like the smell of woodsmoke and the sound of a fire.

 

[wylie]

We have a Yotul box set into a traditional timber fireplace and the kids have loved having it, roasting marshmellows and spuds in alfoil, and it is great but pushing the button on the ducted is quick and easy, so we tend to do that more often.

Mind you, Brisbane winters are not exactly that cold, and 20 minutes of ducted heating is enough to take the chill off the air. I have to turn it off or I start to feel too hot and dry. I cannot even start to imagine living somewhere really cold where a fire or "serious" heating is essential, rather than a bit of fun for a month or two in winter.