Heat in the home

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My central heating is set for what range?

I don't have central heating
8
13%
below 18
22
37%
18-20
23
38%
21-22
2
3%
23-25
2
3%
25-plus
3
5%
 
Total votes: 60

PDQ Mobile
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by PDQ Mobile »

Mick F wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 6:08pm
PDQ Mobile wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 2:35pm
Mick F wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 2:30pm I understand that people round here who buy logs, buy them by weight or "load" but never by volume.
Yep.
There's one born every minute.

My local quarry even sells sand by weight!!
That's not the point.

When people buy wood round here, it's described by the wood - soft or hard ........ never hear of soft .............. and described by the price.
People buy a ton, or a tractor load, or a part-load.
Chat to our local farmer down the road from here, and you either get a good deal, or you won't use him again. If you don't use him again, he wouldn't have a log business.

So many damned trees round here, the farmer can't cut them down enough ............ and neither can I and we only a have a couple of acres of woodland.
The farmer has hundreds of acres, and people ask him to cut down their damned trees as well.
What's not the point?

That someone is paying good money for a load of water and a non standardised amount of a product?
It's like a charter for conmen really.
And wet wood is crap as a fuel on all sorts of levels.

Still if you're happy for them, far be it for me to criticise.
........
I am like you, do my own, as long as I still can!
My years supply, and beyond, is nice and dry and under cover. It was a very good summer for that.
I just keep the "cycle" topped up.
Less work all round in the end.

And other benefits.
Significantly less wood used, lighter to bring in, cleaner burning, no damp in the house etc etc.

You should have a look at the "all wood" French (and elsewhere) way.
It's a long and beneficial tradition.
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Mick F
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by Mick F »

The farmer dries it.
He has piles and piles and piles of it. Tons and tons. Sells it by word of mouth, no adverts.

The wood I tend to cut is dead wood.
Also, if the wood needs drying, bring it into the house and put it on the hearth next to the fire. Rotate the stock so you burn the dry stuff. I rarely need to cut a living tree, but I have done.
They all die eventually, so all you need is to pick the one you want.

The birch has fed the fire this evening, only logged up on Sunday and dry as a bone. The tree was dead and had been for a year or more, and only came down during the winds. Saved me dropping it, but there's another birch dead and it hasn't been blown down, so I'll have to cut it down. Maybe 24" diameter at the bottom, so it's not a small tree.
Mick F. Cornwall
Psamathe
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by Psamathe »

Mick F wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 9:15pm .....
The birch has fed the fire this evening, only logged up on Sunday and dry as a bone. The tree was dead and had been for a year or more, and only came down during the winds. Saved me dropping it, but there's another birch dead and it hasn't been blown down, so I'll have to cut it down. Maybe 24" diameter at the bottom, so it's not a small tree.
Makes me feel sorry for all the wildlife that is so dependent on dead trees.

Ian
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by PDQ Mobile »

Psamathe wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 9:28pm
Mick F wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 9:15pm .....
The birch has fed the fire this evening, only logged up on Sunday and dry as a bone. The tree was dead and had been for a year or more, and only came down during the winds. Saved me dropping it, but there's another birch dead and it hasn't been blown down, so I'll have to cut it down. Maybe 24" diameter at the bottom, so it's not a small tree.
Makes me feel sorry for all the wildlife that is so dependent on dead trees.

Ian
In my case around 80% of my fuel wood comes from forestry waste. So it's dead but usually pretty insect free.
A modern harvester makes a lot of bark damaged smallish wastage.
It's quite a tough environment to work in amongst the tangle. Only a fraction of it near road access is accessible.


I take the point though, about a certain amount of dead wood being beneficial to the woodland ecosystem.
Generally, here in Wales at least, in the steeper native (oak dominant) woodlands there is a great deal of fallen and standing dead wood in various stages of decomposition, access is simply too difficult to extract it.
Sheep preventing regeneration have been a bigger problem for healthy woodlands, IMV, though somewhat improved in latter years through grant incentives (where they are adhered to!).
So fear not your often beautiful and interesting beetles etc are safe.

Did you see the the fungi mapping article?
https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... first-time
francovendee
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by francovendee »

I won't be lighting the woodburner until this evening. Warmer today and teperature indoors is 16.1 deg.
Off to the Nags Head (I kid you not, it's the real name, a pub/ restaurant run by two Brits) with 5 friends for a pint or two and fish and chips!!!
Lovely food and every French person we know who's tried it like it.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by al_yrpal »

Dont encourage the French to try Fish and Chips. They already hoover up too much of our fish as it is! :lol:

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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Hellhound
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by Hellhound »

Mick F wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 6:08pm So many damned trees round here, the farmer can't cut them down enough ............ and neither can I and we only a have a couple of acres of woodland.
The farmer has hundreds of acres, and people ask him to cut down their damned trees as well.
Why do you dislike trees so much?
Without them life on this planet would die.
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Mick F
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by Mick F »

When we moved to this place, we had lovely views across the valley. 20odd years later, all we can see are trees.
People used to cultivate the land, cut the trees for fuel and timber to build with, as well as pit-props for the mining industry.
We had flower-growing fields, soft fruit produce ............. all gone. Some tired scrubby unused orchards can still be seen, but are rapidly being overgrown.

Trees grow a yard a year (or thereabouts). Thats a yard higher, and a yard wider in radius. It's a constant thing until they die or are pulled over by the incessant ivy. The winds help too. The trees haven't been planted, just seeded from hedgerows and wind-blown seeds.

Across in Devon, the valley side is ruined by the pine forests planted in the 1970s. 30odd years ago, we could walk through them, but now it's an impenetrable jungle but with tracks through for the forestry vehicles that they've opened to the public to walk and cycle along. No views to speak of along the tracks over what was a beautiful valley. Every now and again, you can see views, but you have to pick your vantage point.

I'm not the only one saying to cut them all down.
Better, would be to manage the woodland. Clear it of debris and cut out the sick and dying trees. Farm the woodlands, use the wood.
Mick F. Cornwall
Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Jdsk »

Public Accounts Committee report on the Green Homes Grant scheme:
https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1 ... med-badly/

“It cost the taxpayer £50 million just to administer the pointlessly rushed through Green Homes Grant scheme, which delivered a small fraction of its objectives, either in environmental benefits or the promised new jobs. We heard it can take 48 months - 4 years - to train the specialists required to implement key parts of a scheme that was dreamed up to be rolled out in 12 weeks. It was never going to work at this time, in this way, and that should have been blindingly obvious to the Department. That it was not is a serious worry. I am afraid there is no escaping the conclusion that this scheme was a slam dunk fail.

"We will need this massive, step change in the way our homes and public buildings are heated, but the way this was devised and run was just a terrible waste of money and opportunity at a time when we can least afford it.”


Jonathan
axel_knutt
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by axel_knutt »

PDQ Mobile wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 1:48pm Wood, in France, is a very important and sustainable, low carbon energy source in many rural areas.
Don't worry your devices are here to stay.
"Domestic wood burning has become the single biggest source of small particle air pollution in the UK, producing three times more than road traffic, government data shows. Just 8% of the population cause this pollution by burning wood indoors"
“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”
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PDQ Mobile
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by PDQ Mobile »

axel_knutt wrote: 1 Dec 2021, 11:46am
PDQ Mobile wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 1:48pm Wood, in France, is a very important and sustainable, low carbon energy source in many rural areas.
Don't worry your devices are here to stay.
"Domestic wood burning has become the single biggest source of small particle air pollution in the UK, producing three times more than road traffic, government data shows. Just 8% of the population cause this pollution by burning wood indoors"
I understand the points.

It's one reason I bang on about getting fuel wood really dry or as dry as possible - it burns much cleaner (and hotter).
There are other ways of reducing the particle emissions too, like giving sufficient air supply especially in the initial phase.

As a rural fuel I really think wood has a future. It is low carbon and totally sustainable. Energy that grows!
Burned correctly and with the right appliance it is pretty efficient too.
As an urban fuel, unless done really well, I would agree not so suitable.

There are other even better ways to use wood as a fuel of course.
Woodchip and pellet burners are, when used correctly, very clean- the combustion temps are high. (Though outlay and fuel costs are higher.)
Certainly comparing pretty favourably to an oil fired boiler especially older ones.
I live past a small 80's housing estate which all had oil fired heating fitted. As I cycle past up the hill the air really smells of burnt oil.
I prefer the faint smell of wood smoke but I guess we are all different

For myself there is an economic factor too.
My heating costs are really small. Think unbelievably tiny!
And I can't afford to use anything else.
Ll
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mjr
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by mjr »

pwa wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 8:19am One small technical point that occurred to me a while back is that preparing a house for AS Heat Pump heating may make that house unable to support a wood burner at the same time. The reason I say this is that when I read about Heat Pumps I see advice about making the home highly insulated and draught-free first. Which must mean blocking ventilating air bricks that are a legal and safety necessity if using a wood burner in a room.
Please check before posting such misinformation. There are two big reasons why it's wrong:
1. small (<5kW) wood burners require much less air than an open fire (definitely no draught need be felt!) and almost all houses built before 2008 will be difficult to make so airtight that there's not enough for such a stove.
2. wood burners can be connected to their own air inlet, so you don't need that air coming through the house.

It's still a good idea to have a carbon monoxide monitor and keep an eye on the burn efficiency, though.

I remain of the opinion that much of the real-world air pollution from wood burners is due to bad advice about overloading the chamber and making the burn last for hours/days by starving it of air, resulting in smoky yellow flames. Making it last by restricting fuel supply gets hotter and smokes less.
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francovendee
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by francovendee »

al_yrpal wrote: 1 Dec 2021, 9:17am Dont encourage the French to try Fish and Chips. They already hoover up too much of our fish as it is! :lol:

Al
Not the shellfish, caught from B grade waters. :D
I'd give the fish and chips 7 from 10. Not bad for France.
We have a favourite in the UK and it's far far better.
pwa
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by pwa »

mjr wrote: 1 Dec 2021, 1:36pm
pwa wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 8:19am One small technical point that occurred to me a while back is that preparing a house for AS Heat Pump heating may make that house unable to support a wood burner at the same time. The reason I say this is that when I read about Heat Pumps I see advice about making the home highly insulated and draught-free first. Which must mean blocking ventilating air bricks that are a legal and safety necessity if using a wood burner in a room.
Please check before posting such misinformation. There are two big reasons why it's wrong:
1. small (<5kW) wood burners require much less air than an open fire (definitely no draught need be felt!) and almost all houses built before 2008 will be difficult to make so airtight that there's not enough for such a stove.
2. wood burners can be connected to their own air inlet, so you don't need that air coming through the house.

It's still a good idea to have a carbon monoxide monitor and keep an eye on the burn efficiency, though.

I remain of the opinion that much of the real-world air pollution from wood burners is due to bad advice about overloading the chamber and making the burn last for hours/days by starving it of air, resulting in smoky yellow flames. Making it last by restricting fuel supply gets hotter and smokes less.
I raised the point because I know that wood burners require that there be air coming into the property, the bigger the burner the bigger the requirement. And I have seen new builds where draught exclusion is extreme. If one lived in a totally draught-free home, the air requirements of the wood burner would need to be addressed. So I think this is an issue that needs raising. I must admit I had not heard of feeding outside air directly to the wood burner.

Our own burner is classed as under 5Kw, which (as you say) means it is too small to have a legal requirement for an air brick. But air bricks were recommended when we had it installed, which must be getting on for 15 years ago. Our home is virtually draught-free, except for the air brick. That is the one spot in the house where you can feel a bit of a draught. Food for thought.

I burn wood with a clear conscience because I burn very dry wood and don't reduce the air flow too much. We get a relatively clean burn, which is confirmed when we have the chimney swept and the sweep tells us there wasn't much soot / tar to remove. And sustainably sourced wood from the UK is a pretty low carbon fuel when you take into account that the timber is a crop, grown, harvested, and burned, with harvested trees constantly being replaced by replanting. It is a circle of carbon capture and release. We live close to Welsh forestry so see the whole cycle. Our own supplier sells firewood as a side line, his main business being making things from large diameter conifer. He needs to get rid of the offcuts when he squares the trunks off and cuts them to length. And his workshop is about three miles away, so reasonably local.
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by francovendee »

Our woodburner is rated at 10kw.
We don't have any airbricks (old installation) but the gaps in doors and windows means I'm certain we're not at any risk.
I sweep the stainless flue every year and get less than a kilo of soot.
I think more soot is generated if the fire is allowed to just smoulder. We normally light it late in the afternoon and it's then run quite hard until time for bed. By then only glowing embers are left.
A friend always burnt unseasoned logs and never had the flue swept. One morning he lit the stove as usual and the room filled with smoke. The flue was blocked with resinous soot. It was very difficult to fully get rid of it.
I make sure our wood has had at least 3 years under cover before I use it.
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