I have a Godin that takes 50cm lengths of wood. It was installed by a "reputable" company, yet a couple of years later my builders were looking at it and advised that the entire flue was substandard and could have caused a fire. As the builders are English and reliable, I believed them. Everything had to be replaced with a stainless steel flue and there was no comeback on the original installers who'd by then gone out of business...
If I regret anything at all, it's that my stove is on an outside wall. I have friends who've theirs on internal walls which are more efficient in terms of heating more of the house If I had the means to do any building work at present, it would be to install another stove in a more central position in the house.
Several years ago some friends renovated a house and installed an enormous Godin with a rather unsighly flue which crossed a couple of rooms. It heated the whole house. As he worked shifts, they managed to keep it alight all winter by ensuring that they each filled it when coming in and going out.
The wood ash goes onto the compost heap.
One hint: keep a bowl of water at the back of your stove, otherwise you'll find the atmosphere becomes very dry.
Jacquie
For the first 3 years we were burning 200l a year in fioul, at the time it was 48c/l. Plus a 2m wide open fire. The heat went straight up the chimney.
in 2009 we went for geothermal heating and spent less per year than we did with fioul but still had the massive chimney.
January 2012 we installed a woodburner and closed the chimney. The difference was instantaneous and were in shorts and t-shirts for the rest of the winter, although we still had a few draught spots from ill-fitting [character] doors and windows.
This year we invested in an "Ecofan" which on top of the burner and silently spins away distributing warm air into the room and not drifting up to the ceiling. we also use less wood.
Love my geothermal for the other rooms, love my wood burner and love my "Ecofan" and, after 6 years in this 1850 farmhouse, I finally love my house in Winter.
Hope that helps!!
Hi Chris
My last two homes have had wood buners.
In both cases the burners had their own idiosynchracies but the common factor was a powerful heat but a very localised heat. If I was installing one from scratch I would be interested in throwing in a heat distribution system that takes heat from the fire and dumps it into remote rooms via a ducting system.
My current burner does not have much of a "low setting" - I think this boils down to a fairly high minimum air flow rate or a strong pull on the flue. I have learnt to only split the starter logs, the rest go in whole, the more you split a log the higher the surface area and so the faster the burn. These days I cut logs into short sections and these go in whole - in short I control heat output as much by the way I cut the wood as I do using the 'controls' (air vents).
I always remember by Nan saying how much work coal fires were in her day, strangely I have never found the wood burner much work. The ash tray only needs emptying once every four days ( find model with a reasonable capacity ) and we just throw it from whence the wood came so the minerals get back into the soil originally (we are self sustaining in wood).
Jon
We shelled out once on a 4,000 euro Canadian logburner (price included installation). It heated practically the whole house and we never once regretted the money spent. at the moment we have a Godin which cost 800 euros, 12kw. and we hardly ever use our central heating. Just get old oak - a year old min. make sure its cut to lengths to fit your logburner and you will have wonderful heating and something lovely to look at. You can install it yourself if you have simple diy skills, and just make sure you buy the better -and more expensive- flu. Yes you can put the flu out through the wall and take it up, make sure it goes well over the roofline, but if you do this you will probably get quite a lot of black goo running down the flu in the really cold winter months which doesn't look too nice but if its at the back of the house for example it doesn't really matter too much. I would never, ever use electric radiators after one very expensive winter with them!
We imported a Rayburn for the kitchen-central heating for house. It was worth the extra few quid for transport here. All of the fitments are available in France. There is little saved by importing a flue liner, in fact it was a bit cheaper here three years ago and nothing much in the other bits and pieces. The only tricky bit might be if you need any double-walled/insulated sections that are harder to find and much more expensive here but whoever supplies your burner should have.
Thanks for that info. Sounds as though we would be best to buy one in England didn't know if the attachments were different in France.
We will get incontact with a French installer I think and take it from there.
Thanks very much for all your information.
Whatever, but the story tells EDF's little white one about wanting to use the extra income for alternative energies whereas the Guardian reported the same money raising caper being for 40 projected new nuclear power stations... Don't you just love them?
You should get one of this English wood-burners in the kitchen, - at least there, but then another in the sittingroom (if you don't want to build the fireplace). If you really want to get something for the house that is efficient you can buy one of this Austrian or Swiss "Kachelofen" you can find on ebay. good installed, they will give you enough heat for a 4 room house.
Careful Nick. Don't start a panic. The timescale is three years.
http://www.connexionfrance.com/news_articles.php?id=4489
Firstly a log-burner is so much nicer to have as a focal point in the room as well as being an efficient heater. Our lounge is about 18m. by 12m. and we have an 11 kw poêle, which is ample. Secondly it uses about one and a half cords of ready-to-burn logs for a long winter which costs about €330. Ensure logs are from reliable source (ie decent ready-to-burn wood cut to the size of your poêl doors), then there is no problem over little beasties creeping into your house; therefore enabling you to house the logs close to house access, rather than having to carry it in the snow from an abri at the bottom of the garden. Finally, the poêle must be cleaned by an authorised chimney sweep who provides your annual certificate for insurance purposes should your house burn down.
It's worth mentioning that according to the "Connexion" newspaper, electricity prices are going up by about 30% over the next year.
We also installed a wood pellet stove two years ago and are extremely happy with it. Cost wise, initially it was expensive as it is a top end stove and attaches to our central heating radiators. However we now have a warm house all winter and have saved much in terms of gas which previously heated the house. It is cosy, with a lovely flame, little messs, bags easy to store and the stove is programmable so can be set to come on an hour or so before coming home. Much recommended. Our installer is French, owns a small business specialising in these stoves and gives excellent service.
I can imagine your concerns very well.
Thanks for input.
Thanks for the reply very useful.
Thanks Andrew this has given me a lot to think about ......I agree, we need to get someone who is a specialist heating engineer in, to survey the house and to give us our options.
The house is indeed a second home and plan to live in it about 6 months of the year eventually. We are planning to stay over Christmas this year and hence to sort out more options for heating in the house as the electric works out quite expensive if we were in it over the very cold months of the year.
The fireplace has been completey removed by the previous owners so would need options.
We want a safe secure option and have plenty of room for storage of wood or other materials.
The house is in Argenton Les Vallees.
Thanks again for your advice.
Chris
They are pretty and cosy but are hard work and I am sure it wont be long before some eco tax comes along for those using them in the future. We were always running out of firelighters (perhaps a hidden cost because you can get through a fair amount depending on the quality of the wood, which isn't always apparent).
It is perhaps fortunate that you are looking to build on an external wall as a friend had a "professional builder" install their chimney and almost lost their house due to a fire where the beam closest to the flue ignited. We also had a chimney fire which was pretty scary and I was particularly pleased that my husband was there at the time.
We are all electric now and there are some very good radiateurs now which are much more efficient and low cost. I do miss the pôele but don't miss going out in the cold to get the wood.
I have a Jotul woodburning stove, AND an Esse woodburning cuisiniere, and love them both. Yes, it's hard work, but it's good exercise, and something to do during the cold winter days!
I get through about 6 cords of wood each year - the range is kept going 24/7 between the end of October, and the end of March - the kitchen's always warm, cooking is a doddle with two ovens always hot, never need to use the microwave, electric kettle, or gas hob, and the food (especially baked potatoes, casseroles and roasts) are to die for.
The stove in the salon is usually lit late afternoon, and allowed to go out when I go to bed.
As far as the "hard work" is concerned, yes the deliveries have to be stacked, but I put ALL the wood in the barn initially, then take it to the house, when required, in enough quantity to fill the woodshed (which is indoors) so the wood never gets wet, and nor do I. If you have the right tools, the labour is reduced considerably - the Jotul takes 50cm logs, and the Esse kitchen range 40cm logs - I can order some of each, but I can always cut down the larger ones to fit the range. I use an electric log sawbench (which came from the brico) for this, and any hefty logs which need splitting, I use a log hydraulic splitter. Both tools worth their weight in gold, and the saving of effort justifies the expenditure.
Woodburning is fun, healthy (for me) and enjoyable - most of the time.
You don’t have to be French just resident. You don’t even have to pay tax in France just file an annual tax form.
If you want a log burner just go for it. So much better than looking at a metal radiator hung on the wall.
You'll get pleasure from it, a focal point in the room, and a conversation piece every time you go to light it or have visitors round. And most of all, you'll get a nice warm glow.
Sure, it's not easy getting started, but nothing worth doing ever is.
We wanted to install a high end, high efficiency wood burning monster in our house. The local guys came, quoted and we agreed. Then they never came back. A french thing? We finally went for a very inexpensive model from a Brico Depot, had it installed inexpensively and since it is a townhouse (no storage) we use compressed logs.
All works like a charm, heats a nice area of the house and gives us that fuzzy feeling only a wood burner can give you.
Did I mention we saved thousands? Check the attached image.
Thanks for this advice........electric wall heaters looking good at the moment!