[egglady]

currently we have oil fired central heating.  cost of running it has doubled since we put it in 4 years ago and doesnt seem to be at all sustainable for us.

so we are looking to replace with a log burner type system....we think!

my question are:

• should we go for a back boiler so we can dispense with the oil totally?
  should we go for multi fuel or single fuel?
  or should we stick with the oil and simply put the log burner in as an additional source of heat when we (inevitably) lose electricity as part of the joys of country life?

any other comments/advice/thoughts always welcomed - many thanks

[sausagesandcash]

We put in a 30 kw multi-fuel stove this winter....I will never use oil again. It has paid for itself already. The key is a nice mix of nuggets and wood (or turf). It paid for itself in two months.

[HappyHippy]

I'd always say multi-fuel as being able to use coal really boosts the heat output, I find it takes a lot of wood to keep the temp up when it's really cold. Get something with a flat top and you can slow-cook soups and stews on top overnight.
Go for the back boiler option too - no sense in doing all the work associated with running it and only getting the benefit in one room - depending on what you choose you can easily run radiators and heat water. I bought one which runs 7 rads and does the water for less than £500.
And as a last point (talking from experience here  ) if you get lots of power cuts think about either installing a gravity fed system (you'll need a good old fashioned plumber to advise you and a 2 story house or loft space) or install a generator to power the pump for the system - the last thing you want in a mid-winter power cut is to have to turn the fire down or run a hot tap to save blowing the hot water cylinder 
Hope that helps,
Karen x

[egglady]

thanks guys.
karen where did you get yours and what make and model is it please?

[Anke]

If you only put in your boiler four years ago I would be surprised if it was cost-economic to already replace it, it must be quite a new one?!. We put ours on 5 years ago (new built house) and it is 95% efficient, I think you cannot get better than that. Yes our oil costs have gone up too, but spending large amounts of money again so soon would not be justifyable (for us). But we also put in a multifuel burner in our large living/dining/kitchen area (I think it's 8kW), and that does us for heating most of the year. We also use coal on it when it is about -20 outside. (Central only goes on for a couple of hours first thing in the morning, again for an hour at noon and maybe for an hour pm, but I usually switch that off as the fire will be on.)

We are thinking of putting some solar water heaters onto our south facing roof, so we can stop using oil from March to September. (and not have cold showers...)

Maybe you want to look into ways of reducing your oil use rather than completely change the system?

[egglady]

thanks anke, good suggestions.

our problem is that we cant afford the oil and know it will only get worse.  whereas we can find wood and already have a good log pile started, so heeating with wood would cost nothing at all - so much better in the long run.  we need to do it now while hubby is still working or else we wont be able to afford it once he's retired.  ideally we'd like to keep the oil boiler so we can at least have the option of using one or the other - not sure if this is feasible or not.

we only have the one chimney in the house and the oil boiler uses that, otherwsie we would just put a log burner in our livingroom but cant as we need the chimney...so it seemed sensible to just bite the bullet and go for it.  if we could put a log burner in, then i would be happy to keep the oil but i think it's either/or with only having the one chimney.  going to see someone at the weekend so hoping for a bit of advice at that point too.

solar water heaters sound good too.....any more info on that anke?

and we use our oil as little as poss, but we (stupidly) only have that as our heating and cant even heat hot water without using it

[Glentarki]

I wouldn't go past a good log burner well one that takes logs and coal actually. I've had many over the years but not with a back boiler….. We were in our last house for 20 years and it was a constant worry with the price of oil increasing each year (8.5p the first year there) hence the log burner was always on and the oil OFF!….Over the years we upgraded our log burners always the make was Charnwood and eventually had a 12kw stove that heated our 4 bed house comfortably providing it was kept going……Our oil system kicked in via a timer just for hot water.

When we moved into this place at Christmas we arrived with a new Charnwood 12kw log burner in the car, it was a priority as no heat source in the new place and we toasted all winter……….Now with our cottage restoration looming and a considerable increase in the size were looking into a variety of heating options but definitely wouldn't go back to oil as a personal choice and the log burner will also still have its place………I can thoroughly recommend the Perth based company The Burning Question…www.burningquestion.co.uk….. may be worth a trip up and have a nosey loads of working models on display I've used them for 25 years and wouldn't go past them as they know their stuff.
Good luck.

Sausagesandcash that's some stove any web links to the model?

Dave

[HappyHippy]

thanks guys.
karen where did you get yours and what make and model is it please?

Hiya,
It was from these guys http://www.naturalheating.co.uk/titan-wraparound-boiler-stove-22kw-limited-stocks-p-1058.html and this is a similar style to the one I got (mine was an end of line I think as they don't have it listed anymore  )
Hope that helps,
Karen x

[egglady]

soooooo much to think about - thanks everyone.

and dave, think a wee visit to perth is on the cards for the weekend

[Glentarki]

Def worth a visit to Perth I think your be well impressed at all the options......Ask for Douglas (owner) and explain to him what your looking to achieve in performance from a possible purchase........Have to say were the same as you collect wood all the time all shapes and sizes doesn't realy matter but very rewarding to know its all free .

Your not far along the road so if you fancy a demo and more info your more than welcome to come over.

Dave

[lachlanandmarcus]

we use an esse ironheart for winter heating, but also kept the oil boiler so we didnt have to be roasting hot all summer. The ironheart comes with or without a back boiler and we put one in and it is gravity fed into our heating system so it def can be done to have both feeding in. Gravity feed was so that we could use it in powercuts.

The ironheart is also a fully working range cooker so may not be what you are after but I liked it as unlike most ranges it is (i) pretty rather than just solid (ii) it has a clear window to the firebox which means you can watch the flames flickering and also monitor it easier (iii) made in Britain. But it is really only wood burning.

We would have gone fully down the wood burning bit for the heating but (i) the underfloor heating is toasty (ii) we are v exposed and only have 5 trees so I cant bear to chop any of them down!

good luck with the search!

[Anke]

WE also have two Charnwoods, the big one downstairs, and a wee 5kW upstairs, but doesn't get used very much. OH prefers to just put his coat/thick socks on while working at the PC - his choice!

We haven't got very far down the road with the solar water heaters yet, too busy on the holding with all sorts atm.

[OldGaffer]

We have two multi-fuel stoves as our main source of heat, one is a range cooker that drives domestic hot water on gravity feed and a central heating circuit driving 12 radiators and cooks the dinner  The other source is a Little Wenlock, with the Wenlock like most multi-fuel stoves there is the option of removing the firebricks, if you are going to burn just wood. But like HappyHippy we prefer to have the option of burning coal / smokeless (tay-bright nuts) this keeps the heat in over night and boosts heat during the evening.

As an aside, the other modification we did to the stove was to replace the cracked fire bricks, with a sheet of vermiculite (mica) based fire brick. This comes in a sheet and you cut your own bricks. Found the result to be very good and as the vermiculite expands with the heat, it is not prone to cracking, but is prone to fracture if dropped when removing from the stove.

[waterhouse]

We have gas boilers for the central heating but only used them for the bedrooms 'cos in the lounge we have a lovely log burner which never cools in the winter and feeds heat into a huge fireplace in the centre.

Last winter I bought a pallet of briquettes from Liverpool wood pellets.  They produce loads of heat and no ash while staying in all night.  We also have a neighbour who sells planks cut to size for expensive houses so we get big bags of american oak off-cuts for £50 delivered on a pallet.  And then we collect logs, cut them to size, fill big bags and let them season for a couple of years. 

[HappyHippy]

The other source is a Little Wenlock, with the Wenlock like most multi-fuel stoves there is the option of removing the firebricks, if you are going to burn just wood. But like HappyHippy we prefer to have the option of burning coal / smokeless (tay-bright nuts) this keeps the heat in over night and boosts heat during the evening.

My first ever stove was a Little Wenlock  Wonderful little thing that it was - they just don't make them like that anymore  If I'd known at the time how good they were, I might have taken it with me when I moved house