[spandit]

... if times get hard you can burn twigs , driftwood...

Don't burn driftwood from the sea - gives off some VERY dangerous chemicals

"Burning driftwood can produce polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), also known as the misnomer "dioxins", which are carcinogenic. For this reason burning driftwood is not recommended.[1] The formation of PCDDs is well documented when organic compounds are combusted in the presence of chlorine, which is present in driftwood as a result of soaking in seawater"

[happygolucky]

Don't burn driftwood from the sea - gives off some VERY dangerous chemicals

  I had heard that before but forgot
I also see people advertise old fences and sheds for fire wood, they have treatments on too and are often Toxic......some years ago my husband lit a fire as we always have an open fire at weekends...well nearly always, we had a guest and it was cosy until he put some old fence on the fire and stunk us all out...he has no idea but is learning fast!!

[downtoearth]

I have insulated the loft and the walls are now cavity filled so that has helped I'm sure.  Wondered about puting in a double sided woodburner maybe? It would then heat the hall, if the connecting doors are left open would filter through to bedrooms possibly, then also other side would heat the sitting room maybe stretch to kitchen area too.
Would need approx 12 radiators in system if put in central heating, bungalow, 25 years old. Know what you mean about car and caravan, its clearly not an easy question to answer! Thanks.

[AnnS]

We moved last year to this cottage, storage heaters in every room, no gas but still had original chimney at one end of sitting room. Anyway we installed a multi fuel stove which has made a huge difference. We didn't remove the storage heaters as they are there as a back up should we need them. In the kitchen we're going to put in a plinth heater for as and when we need additional heat. I wedge open the 2 unused bedroom doors to let them get some heat in. I'll continue ordering coal through the summer so I've stocked up for the winter.


AnnS

[downtoearth]

Thanks Ann, I ve been away this last week or so and took my electric reading.  EDF have just told me my bill, how they manage to make it the same as last month I've no idea.  Dont understand as I switched everything off apart from the fridge/freezer.  So think that they decide what they are going to charge you regardless.  Would hate to leave storage heaters in if they continue to charge me when I dont use them.

[Fleecewife]

Another tip is not to heat the whole house, just those rooms in daily use, if you are using radiators, then keep doors closed to keep the heat in.   We don't usually heat our bedroom, unless someone is ill, as we prefer a thick duvet and cold air to breathe.  Our house is very small so we don't have rooms we never use, but in a larger house you may have.
We also only turn the heating on to deal with a bit of chill (otherwise we light the wood burner) rather than running them continuously. We have found though that it's cheaper to have the water on a thermostat and keep it at the same temp all the time (our water heating is linked to the oil-fired central heating, not a back boiler with the wood burner).
 
Then of course there's wool - you would expect me to mention this  .  Wear as many natural wool garments as you comfortably can, so the temp you need your rooms to be at is lower ie you can set your heating thermostat a couple of degrees less, or pile less wood on the fire.   It seems to be that many people now wear summer weight garments in winter and rely on their heating systems to keep them warm indoors - very wasteful.  Wool is wonderful stuff, you can't match it with synthetics and if you keep sheep then it's FREE 

[MAK]

As others have said INSULATION INSULATION.
If you have a free or cheap supply of wood then there are several types of stoves you can buy that will run a central heating system. It gets complicated if you want hot water and a dual fuel system that will heat your water when the fire is not lit.
I must show you how much wood you will need for a winter - to run 8 rads over 3 floors in a stone building that we have insulated with double glazed windows and a few dry linned exterior walls. It is very hard work to cut, split and move this ammount of wood but then we do not have to pay for it.

[Stellan Vert]

Hi from Shropshire

Interesting stream of comments, can I add my bit,

Our previous house had an open fire, this ventilated the house beuatifully, full blaze in grate and you struggled to keep lounge door shut (howling gale round door).  We had to close all the upstairs doors to try and keep the heat downstairs.

So we fitted an 8Kw logburner, complete reversal of situation, we had to open all the upstairs doors to vent the heat. We could warm the whole house from the log burner. Then I got clever     too clever. Fitted a boiler to logburner and installed a complete hot water system (under guidance from plumber) learnt a lot very quickly. However the perfomance of the logburner changed completely; the boiler absorbed a lot of energy so that we no longer heated the house.

Our present house has a dual fuel stove which heats the house beautifully, I have no intention of making changes to it.

I agree with MAK, a winters firewood is about 8 tons of seasoned timber, however you can build this up over the summer by collecting pallets, dipping skips, being on good terms with local tree surgeons.


SV.

[spandit]

Remember, you have to have somewhere to store all this wood as it takes time to dry and doesn't appear regularly (best to have too much than too little!)

MAK - you're going to have to stop posting that picture... making me feel very inadequate!

[colliewobbles]

Will add my two-penneth too.

We have a large 4 bed ex-council house in the middle of the countryside - it is the end one of 6 with single skin walls (no cavity) and big windows which at least are double glazed.  We inherited ancient storage heaters which were more or less useless, a firred up water tank with immersion and a rayburn which only worked as an open fire.  To put it bluntly the house was freezing in winter except for the lounge and the electric cost us a fortune.  No gas in our village and reluctant to install oil due to costs and upheaval.  Downstairs is open kitchen/diner/lounge.  We went for the following solution.

1. Small central heating system upstairs with an electric central heating unit which runs up to 8 radiators.  We have radiators on landing, hall, 4 bedrooms and bathroom plus one in dining room.

2. A highly efficient water tank which is linked to the heating unit -  this currently comes on for a hour between 6-7am 4 days a week and this provides enough water for 2 of us to shower all week.  We usually need a couple of extra hours when my son is home from university.  The water-tank can also heat directly from the electric with an immersion in the tank and it also has the option to connect to a solar panel later if we decide to invest in one.

2. 10.5KW Hunter wood burner with door on both ends - we opened up the chimney breast on both sides so that the burner faces into dining room and lounge thereby heating our entire ground floor living rooms.  We looked into having a back-boiler for the heating but this would have meant we couldn't open up the chimney breast on both sides. 

Also - we were advised that if we had a back-boiler the first hour or two of heat generated when we lit the wood burner after work would be diverted into warming the central heating system so the effects of the wood burner in the living rooms would take a while to work.  With an independent wood burner the heat pumps straight into the room - which it certainly does!  It seems that back-boilers are good if you can keep the wood-burner fed over longer periods of time - but if like us you get in from work about 6pm most evenings it would feel like the room just got warm before we headed for bed!

We are also lucky that my hubby is a gardener and all wood that he removes from gardens make it back to ours for our wood pile - we managed to get through all of last winter without actually purchasing any logs!  However, the heat output is not always as good as with well seasoned logs - but it's free so who's complaining?   
Donna

[MAK]

A good stove will be losing its heat to the room or it's water jacket.
A water jacket ( central heating system) is essentially a cooling system for the stove so this means that less heat is given out to the room that the stove is sat in. I think of temperature as I do water trying to find a level or run down hill.  If you reduce the temp' gradient then you can retain heat for example in a closed room - but as soon as you open the door the massive temp gradient between a warm and cold room will cool down the heated room. We heat the house so that heat is absorbed into the fabric of the house. The stone floors and thick stone walls act like a heat sink and we seem to use less fuel by doing this. If we go away for a few days then it will take several days to warm up the house and get some heat back into the stone walls etc
     

[MAK]

Sorry Spandit !
I'll take a new picture once we have got all the wood for next year brought back. I have piles of logs all over the soddin place. My neighbours have strips of land and woods all over the area and keep telling me of a tree that fell in 1997 or 2002 etc that is hung up on other trees and that I can cut down. The rain has preveted us from collecting the logs this last 3 weeks and the forecast is of more to come. Watch out for the "new log pile" photo - it will be a big un ! ( juts hope I can stack some away for future years).

[happygolucky]

MAK,  my husband has pile envey too

[spandit]

You just wait in 6 years time when I harvest my alder (that isn't planted yet)

[downtoearth]

I wondered, when you say you have electric heating upstairs if it is on a day and night tarriff Donna? Also I cannot control my immersion at it goes on at 11.30 in the evening and stays on till 7.30am.  Unless I physically get up and turn it off.  This is so wastefull as there is now only me in the house.  I like the idea of a double doored woodburner, what make did you go for?

I do wear layers and find having to wear 3 jumpers all year round is so annoying, in the highlands, we are still getting late frosts!