Wood burners

[Julie]

Over the last months, there has been much talk of wood burners, so has anyone who bought one, used theirs yet? if so what do you think about them now?

[pentaqua-new]

Bronpi - Granada or Lucena - brill.

[Rogue]

I've had two for years and friends have bought on the strength of mine. We and they all love them. they heat the whole house, are fun, warm (as in family) friendly and economical. Don't hesitate. I don't know anyone who has one that doesn't use it all day everyday. Yes I agree Brill and yes Brompi

[poppylou]

We have had ours 3 years now and love it. It heats all of our 130 sq m house that needs heating (i.e unused rooms are shut off). If it gets too hot, we just open an internal door or two. It produces heat very quickly when lighting up, and is economical to run - only 1 or 2 m3 of wood per winter. One of the reasons we chose it is because we wanted an option vs electricity as power cuts used to be fairly frequent.

Our house does seem to retain its heat well - although we are 2000 ft up in the hills it usually needs to be on in the evenings only in the winter. I love the smell of woodsmoke (outside!). And it makes a great plate warmer - there is a shelf in the top to keep things warm. It cost about 300 euros and we installed it ourselves.

[alba]

for pentaqua-new. did bronpi install it for you? we are coming out late December and would like to get one fitted in a relatively short space of time i.e 6days. we live in the Coin area. anyone know of reputable suppliers who will also fit.
Alba

[Bandy]

We've got a large Hergom [aka the beast ] and a smaller Dovre.
Both are excellent, look good,easy to use and maintain and punch out the heat.

[costapacket]

We have one in the UK and love it. You do need a big room for a woodburner. It is not something you would sit near too as the heat they throw off can be quite ferocious. Great focal point and easy to clean too Our friends have one in their hall and it warms up the whole house.

[karandjon]

we have Bronpi too.

Can anyone tell me, after having the fire roaring all evening, is it okay to unplug the electric fan to stop the noise, before going to bed? Does it damage it at all?
(It kicks out loads of heat, so we tend to let it die down in the last hour, so no flames, but still kicking out the heat.)
Thanks
karen

[katy]

Wood-burners vary, quite happy with mine but it heats the ROOM not the rest of the house I often visit other peoples houses and at the best their burners are background heating the room, I wouldn't be satisfied with them. These are always the people who seem to be wearing ugly sweaters or baggy cardigans!

[karandjon]

Katy, have you thought it may be the type of friends you keep, not the fact they have a wood burning stove? I also visit people with wood burning stoves and not one of them wears ugly sweaters or baggy cardigans! They are like most people, if they´re cold they put on a fleece or jumper - it doesnt have to be "baggy" or "ugly" - Merry Christmas!

[costapacket]

I don't know anyone who has a wood burner as their sole form of heating but compare it to one of those living flame gas fires etc no contest. There are different outputs for different sizes of woodburners so when you choose one you need to take this into consideration.

[katy]

Didn't think the heat from a woodburner is judged by the type of company you keep. Just saying (again) that many houses I visit that have wood-burners aren't very warm,or maybe they just pretend that they don't feel the cold....clear enough

[Wicksey]

We have an 'insert' Rodi and Rofer woodburner in our current home but I prefer the free-standing cast-iron ones we've had before. Even though this one vents hot air into the bedroom, it seems that the chimney breast absorbs quite a bit of heat. It also does not close down as well as other fires we've had so I don't think we'll be able to keep it in overnight, but it's very cosy and wouldn't like to be without a 'proper' fire.

The best ever was a Clearview woodburner we had in France. It was like a furnace and we would keep it going non-stop for weeks on end. I think the quality does vary and some don't seem to give out the heat that others do. Of course, the type and dryness of the wood used effects the heat output enormously too.

[Lavanda]

We bought a Brompi for the kitchen (big) and another one for the hall (big). They are about to be installed. We don't imagine they will heat the whole house but they will certainly help and they are 'welcoming'. They also make sense with the amount oof wood our finca generates. They were reasonably priced. Less than the cost of the ugliest and baggiest exclusive designer cardigan-jumper I could find.

[tjtops]

economical to run - only 1 or 2 m3 of wood per winter

I wish I could get away with this little wood...mine is extremely inefficient and east the stuff wholesale. Inherited it with the house, no brand name that I can see....what are the (approx) costs for a medium sized one which would really work properly?? And how easy/difficult are they to install? Current one is in a proper recessed fireplace with chimney etc....

[Alan-LaCala]

My experience is that free standing woodburners give out more heat than "inserts".

We are lucky in that the layout of our house is such that it heats most of downstairs and goes up the stairwell to heat upstairs as well.

Who was it who said that you know you are getting old when you found yourself looking in the shop window and saying "That's a nice cardigan!"

Alan

[jennyshaw]

Anyone have any ideas on installing one of these in a second floor apartment with one floor above, we would love one as our apartment is freezing cold, we have to have a calor gas fire and as you know they throw off loads of condensation.
Do all these fires need a chimney/flue? can the flue go horizontal or do they have to go straight up?

[juliesteve&joe]

In our 1st house we bought and installed a "Nordica" from Bronpi, and it was brilliant. We moved recently to a house with an insert woodburner, and I agree- not as good as the freestanding ones. We have now been and bought another Nordica and its installed and working brilliantly! Love it!
Intersetingly though, the two same fires work very differently. In the last house, we went through much more wood than we do in this one. Is it something to do with the pull of the flu??

[Lavanda]

Jennyshaw - You CAN get it installed. Just a few tips. Choose one that's not too heavy. The one we originally wanted weighted 16 stone!!! Think also about moving wood up and down each day or storing the wood somewhere - but I guess you have a lift and a garage? Also flues CAN go anywhere. Some come straight out of the top and go up and bend at various angles in various directions. Some go straight out of the back. These can be handy as they can go through a wall and the flue can have a bend and can go up along the neighbouring room wall thus heating (a bit) that room as well. They don't need to look ugly, either.

Casa y Campo did a great feature on all this a couple of years ago ... If my internest connection wasn't so rubbish I'd e-mail you some photos from the feature ...

[jennyshaw]

Thanks for the Lavanda, the problem is that the only place the flue can go out is where the bedrooms/kitchen/bathroom is located, at the front is ours and the neighbours balconies, just don't know where to put it without pulling walls down.