For many people, the biggest single advantage to installing or owning a wood burning stove is simply the eye-catching look and cosy feel of a real fire, but with none of the hassle, smell, soot or risk. Installing a wood burner is a completely valid lifestyle choice that pushes the right buttons for a great many and effortlessly evokes deep-rooted associations with the basic human desire to feel warm and safe.
It’s also worth bearing mind that what looks good and feels good generally also sells well. There is a body of anecdotal evidence from estate agents and others that homeowners who make improvements such as installing a wood-burning stove in the living area find life very much easier when they later come to sell their property. That’s not to say that heating features such as these will make your house worth more on the market, but it will help you achieve your asking price and sell your house more quickly.
The second biggest reason that many people are installing wood burning stoves and biomass boilers is that wood burners are highly efficient and much cheaper to run than conventional gas, oil or electric heating systems; we’re talking well over three times cheaper in most cases, and quite a bit more in some situations. At present, there are few more easy ways to save money than to switch to wood burning as a domestic heating solution, but before you rush out (or logon) to buy yourself a wood burning stove you would do well to check over this basic checklist before installing a wood burning stove, because wood burners are not the answer for all people, for all manner of reasons.
Thirdly, we are all becoming much more environmentally aware these days; every amateur gardener knows that the climate is already changing and every gas or electric bill is a reminder that the way things have been up till now is no longer sustainable for the future. Which is where wood burning comes in; because although you are indeed releasing carbon into the atmosphere when you burn logs or wood pellets, this forms part of a more or less balanced carbon cycle.
The carbon released by a wood burner was taken from the atmosphere in the first place by the tree that provided the wood – that’s how trees make themselves; carbon dioxide plus solar energy (sunlight). When grown and harvested as a renewable resource, the trees planted today to replace the ones used as biofuel in wood burning stoves will again absorb exactly the same amount of carbon dioxide as is released by the burning process. This can be managed as an endlessly sustainable, balanced cycle that produces almost zero excess CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) by contrast are not in the slightest renewable or sustainable and are a one way street as far as CO2 is concerned.
Carron stove with an 8kw rating was installed into a 2 Bedroom Bungalow in Spittal during August. The building is timber frame with timber floor. The stove is flued with a twin wall system and the stove sits on a black lime stone base surrounded in black tiles with white grout.
The property is served with gas central heating (Combi boiler). With the occupants only using the stove for evening heating, they reduced their gas bill by 20% for the quarter August – November.
GMC Building Contractor - The Workshop, Billendean Road, Spittal, Berwick upon Tweed. TD15 1QS Tel: 01289 304409
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