Woodburning for everything. Cooking, Heating and Hot Water

[bill1953]

I have a cottage in England as well. In the road where it is there were no wood burners four years ago. Now there are seven that I know of, possibly more. You couldn't walk in the woods across the road without tripping over a fallen branch four years ago, now you won't see a matchstick on the ground. Gangs with chainsaws illegally felling trees have been reported in all the local woods. The beaches are stripped of driftwood and a group of men were engaged in a brawl over a huge wooden ship's hatch which drifted in. I have seen a 700% increase in wood burning in four years, but this is only seven out of 120 homes. What does the future hold if they all burn wood? Did anyone see the advert from a well known kitchen manufacturer raising this point and linking it to increased prices for timber? I have to admit my comments concern an area of high density population ( 194.5 km2) whereas where my cottage in Ireland is the situation is totally different (22.17 km2) with enough wood lying about on a my own land alone to last a winter or two without even looking at the twelve huge trees

[demi]

bob, you could transport the wood by bike and trailor instead of by car to cut out the fule prices, plus you'd be getting some extra excercise which is allways benificial :) as long as its locally sourced so its not too far to cycle.

obviously its best to have your own sustainable wood source for free.
we have an orchard on which my husband just preformed a brutal mass pruning and there is enough wood there to do us most of next winter. we also have loads of left over wood from rennovating the house and my husband rekons that plus all the prunings will see us through the next few winters.

i think in relation to having hot water in summer a soler pannel is the best way to go instead of it being heated from your wood supply which should be saved for when the weather is colder.
i suppose it depends on what kind of wood burning cooker you have. ours radiates loads of heat and heats our whole living/kitchen space and it often gets too hot and the doors need to be opened into the rest of the house. it would be unbearable in the summer to have the fire on to cook lunch inside when its already so hot, thats why we also have an electric cooker.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I probably should qualify my statement, as you are right, wood is still cheaper, but it's probably worth reminding people that the price of logs is rising in line with rising energy costs and will continue to rise as more are installed, putting further strain on the supply chain.

Oddly, despite all the obvious advantages of wood, the cap I see on continuing expansion of log burning is the convenience factor.

Logs are a pain in the bum.

You have to chop them, stack them, carry them inside when you need them and then there is the ash to dispose of.... basically, wood burning doesn't fit well with the convenience culture. You need the right mindset, common enough on this august forum, but in the rest of the world?

Crazy as it might seem, wood around here hasn't increased in price for about 5 years. A lot of people who are looking for a more "eco" form of heating seem to be opting for heat pumps for space heating, and solar for water is becoming the norm. Which is good.

[Thomzo]

Demi - I suspect you are right but I've only ever used Rayburns. You do get some heat out of them but they are pretty efficient and if you close them right down, very little heat escapes into the kitchen. Of course it helps if you have a cold, damp, draughty, North-facing, semi-basement kitchen which never got any natural light or heat.

Zoe