I agree Colin - the warm air circulation systems are great - it might be possible also to plug an air source heat pump somewhere in the same system - warm air even when the fire is not lit.
There’s also the environmental cost of changing the fire - if it indeed works well - just for aesthetic reasons; I would simply refurbish it, eg paint the brickwork.
I also think pine is fine to burn by the way - it is indeed the staple heating fuel in some areas - especially very cold places! I know many French people strongly prefer oak, ash, etc - and on balance they are indeed probably best - if I have to buy wood I buy oak or ash - but I question whether there is much evidence behind the preference. I burn pretty much any wood if it’s free - our garden has oaks and ash, but also a lot of hazel and various other trees that have to be managed; and in terms of calories-per-weight almost all woods are in fact very similar - you use more pine for the same heat output only in terms of volume, not weight.
Read Norwegian Wood and talk to a chimney sweep - that has convinced me to change my ways. At 20% moisture beech and oak have about 25% more calorific value than pine per volume - and you generally buy wood by volume here so if the wood I buy has more than a smidgen of pine in it I protest.
Yes, I know Norwegian Wood well Jane - it’s a good book, especially the photography.
I also have The Wood Fire Handbook by Vincent Thurkettle, which I recommend - it actually has far more detail on burning different types of wood - and interestingly the same types in different places (pine, for example, is often preferred in cold and mountain regions not only because it is readily available there, but because it really is a lot different from pine in warmer climes, where it grows much faster, and is therefore less dense). But it is at pains to point out that each wood has its own character and use - and that how you burn it, rather than what you burn is usually the main factor in smoke, chimney deposits, etc.
If you are buying wood calories per volume is obviously important, and as I said I buy ash or oak (and wouldn’t mind buying beech if I could get any - though ash is actually my preference) BUT of course other woods are cheaper, so it’s swings and roundabouts. And the thread is about free wood - which for me is wood from my own land - where believe me it’s nice to have the occasional lighter load! - and it’s interesting experimenting with different types (holly, by the way, being the one to challenge the calorific value by volume hierarchy: statistically, it ought to be far better than any of ash, beech or oak - but it isn’t!).
Same here. I’ll burn anything on the land that falls down, or I decide is ripe for culling, or the neighbours give me. Mix and match, including pine, depending on why I’m lighting the fire.
1 Like