Stove Advice

I have an Esse Ironheart and a Woodwarm stove. If the stoves have been out for a while or it has been raining and I know the chimney will be cold and damp I always try to warm the flue first by screwing up newspaper and burning it, usually a whole broadsheet. This helps the chimney to draw and makes lighting easier.

Before I open the stove door to reload with logs I always open the air controls to send any smoke up the chimney, then I always just open the door a jar for a second before fully opening it. Otherwise I get smoke in the room.

Last year I bought a flue pipe thermometer, its magnetised and sticks to the flue pipe. It shows the ideal temperature for the flue gasses. If your stove gasses are under about 200C then you are likely to make dangerous creosote in the chimney. Over 400C you are sending heat up the chimney and wasting fuel. A very useful device and slightly addictive.

Great website, will try some fuel at some point(fortunately have a huge stock at present)
We run a Moderator 10kw waste wood boiler which heats our home and hot water easily. it requires feeding about 3 times a day and generally will stay in through the night. Brilliant!
We burn a sawn up pallet a day.

We have had our Scan 4-5 multi fuel stove from Sandpits Heating Centre in Curry Rivel for just over a year now. At first we were burning nets of logs from garage forecourts (lack of storage space at home) until we discovered Woof! I'll never burn the 'wet' logs again that sooted up the glass and gave little heat in comparison to Woof!'s kiln dried logs. The other great thing about Woof! is the range of things to burn. We have tried Heat Logs, Heatabix, Leaf logs, Kiln Dried Logs, Bark Logs, Rastafire and Blazers. Next up is Straw Logs!

It's great fun burning all this stuff and trying different combinations to get the best fire. My personal favourite at the moment is a structured (ordered, criss-cross layers of kiln dried kindling, about 11 sticks) 2 Zip Natural Fire Lighters or 2 Flamers, 2 Heat Logs or Heatabix on top of the kindling and a good sized Kiln Dried Log on top of that. The Heat Logs/Heatabix provide a good, hot, slow burning base to the fire with good flame from the log. Very little smoke and a lot of heat! I keep this topped up with another Kiln Dried Log and then a Blazer or Bark Log for an overnight burn.

Alternatively if the fire has died down I might throw on a Leaf Log, which catches light really quickly.

Happy burning!

Use a small wood burner. During the day, it is fed a diet of Blazers, with the burner air inlets throttled back, after intially getting them going. Blazers, the name says it all. Usually breaking a log in two. Just carefully drop one on another only from about half a metre hight, at the half way point. This is important because they expand inside the burner. With a small burner, depending upon how the log sits inside, it can expand into the flue pipe blocking the exit for the hot exhaust gases. As it says on the bag, little ash, and what is left over can be used on the garden, ash contains minerals.

Bark logs at night, again breaking the logs up into smaller lengths. They don't burn as hot, but they do keep the fire in overnight. It is rare to have to resort to starting the fire a fresh. Clean out the ash in the morning, which should be done with great care as it can still be very hot. Watch out for hot sparks and coals (fire hazard). Then leave it in the ash tray to cool down most of the day before emptying.

Wood burners are great because the fire is enclosed, and neither the Bark logs or the Blazers pop like ordinary logs can. However one spark, maybe when cleaning out the ash, could get out of control. Always have a fire extinguisher and fire blanket in the house.

On a lighter note: If you have a flat top on your wood burner. Might not work on all wood burners, but a baking cooling wire tray on top, makes a great baked potato stand. Turn the potatoes regularly, beware very hot, use oven gloves. It can take a bit of balancing, or put potatoes in a group, sort of like mobile phones or hand bags at a party! Propping each other up, so all sides have been browned, sometimes a bit carbonised (blackened). If you like spicy, a heaped teaspoon of paprika, about a third of ground chillies, add a drop of cold pressed organic oil, stir and then mix into the potato.

Again ontop of the baking cooling wire tray, it is possible if a bit slow, to heat water using a Crusader mess tin. This mess tin has quite a tight fitting lid so there is less chance of spilling hot boiling water. There may be some leakage onto the top of the burner, it will steam off but might leave a mark. You can also warm soup up in the winter, for a nice cozy fireside snack.

Usual quantites per year are a couple of pallets of blazers and a pallet of Bark logs.

Many thanks to Woof Wood Fuels for their excellent service.

Hi Will,


Thanks for this delivery and the pack of bark logs. I have to admit I had my doubts about the bark logs. Particularly as we don't run a stove overnight, I was not sure they would be any use to us. However, after starting our wood burning stove with kindling and burning a few blazers, which quickly heated up, I stuck a bark log on to try. To my astonishment this one log continued to kick out heat, maintaining a nice even warmth, for the rest of the evening. It was still going strong when I went to bed nearly three hours later. Admittedly it is not yet very cold, but I was very impressed. I can now see that the bark logs will work very well alongside the blazers, so I will be putting in another order for a batch of these. But I can see that they will save me money in the long run, because of the long slow burn, so thanks for giving me a chance to try them. One day we might even switch over to some form of wood-fired heating for the whole house, as we don't like having to use oil for the main heating, although I don't think we are quite ready just yet.


Best wishes


Simon

Dear Will

Can you give me any advice on pellet stoves (not boilers). We would like to put a small (5-7KW) pellet stove in our large hall to provide space heating.

We are a bit confused on the best stove - some people say buy Austrian, others Italian or Scandanavian

It needs to look fairly good - we like to look of the Ravelli Lisa plus, Extraflame Rosie or Rika como.

We also need a good installer in south west.

Kind regards

Tasha

I have recently moved and the cottage has a Jotul 8 woodburner, unfortunately no manual or advice was left by the previous owner. Can you please tell me what the best wood is for me to burn.

Thank you

Hi, i have a rayburn nouvelle that heats my water, and 12 radiators throughout a large house. And does the cooking. At the moment i'm using phurnacite at a cost of about �40 a week. I'm starting to think burning banknotes would be a cheaper option. What product/s of yours would work in my system and save me money. I've tried using wood in the rayburn but it doesn.t seem to get as hot. I'm out at work all day so it needs to be something that will stay in all day. I also have an open fire and woodburning stove so if you had something that would work on all 3 that would be great. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated
many thanks
susie

Hi Susie,
At WOOF!WOODFUEL We do have quite a few customers who have Rayburn�s and the clear favourite is our Heatabix product mainly I think because the rectangular shape suits the Rayburn firebox.With woodfuel you will be very impressed with heating up times and the kettle will boil really quickly after lighting up. A few years ago Rayburn did do a promotion with Blazers fuel logs (When you bought a new Rayburn you go a pallet of Blazers) Blazers are very good for rapid heat especially on boiler and central heating stoves and will suit your other fires.The National trust even use them to power the boiler of their steam boat,Gondala,on Coniston water. Many of our customers are now using these in combination with Bark logs, because the Bark logs will burn for a long time very slowly, and the Blazers or Heatabix for high heat. I think if you are spending �40.00 per week then our products would work out cheaper and you could use them on all multi fuel and wood burning stoves. Another advantage is the much lower and substantially cleaner ash content of our Fuel logs, and you can use it on the garden.
The most cost effective way to buy the Blazers, Heatabix or Bark logs is by the full pallet and I would be happy to supply mixed pallets. I would suggest starting with a sample order to find out which will work best for your Rayburn as all wood burning appliances have different charateristics,depending on geographical location,the height of the flue and prevailing winds.
I do think you will enjoy the Cleanliness and convinience compared to coal.

Regards Will, 01297 639288

Jotul is a really good quality stove and the 8 applies to the Kw output. You should be able to download the operating instructions from the Jotul UK website or ask a local stove centre as they will also be able to provide maintenance and spares. In particular I would check the door rope, as the way this seals makes a huge difference to the efficiency and safety of the stove.
In terms of the WOOF! WOODFUEL range, I would suggest Kiln Dried Logs (Hardwood) 35cm if it will take that size. I would also suggest for an 8 Kw stove the Blazers Fuel Logs for fantastic heat and flame. Not to mention ease of use and convenience. Once again if you are wanting to keep the stove in overnight you could use the Bark logs as they burn for up to 10 hours. Some of our customers find that the WOOFERS are a good halfway house and will stay in at night as well. With all Fuel logs or Briquettes you will find there is far less ash (around 1%) than with normal logs. As a guide Kiln Dried Logs at under 20% moisture give around 4.5kw,and most Briquettes will give around 4.8-5kw at less that 10% moisture content. Blazers however are rated at 5.5Kw and great when heating water in boiler models.
After making some cursory checks that the stove has been installed correctly and the chimney has been recently swept. I would suggest making a small fire with kindling and just letting the flue warm up and dry out in case the stove has not been used for a while. This will help with the draw when adding more fuel.

Will of the Woof.

I've just been browsing your website with interest.
For 2 years we've been running a big Morso woodburner using 12 and 18 inch logs. It's been a real struggle getting reliable seasoned wood and having just taken delivery of supposedly 18 month old hardwood which is still damp and not burning well I've decided to explore alternatives.
I'm interested in the kiln dried logs and eco fuel logs but can't decide which would be best.
Our aim has been to keen the woodburner ticking over 24 hrs a day during the winter as the main heat source for the home. This winter we'll have used about 4 tons of "seasoned" wood I reckon.

Thank you for your enquiry, yours is a familiar story,(You are not alone) and in many ways is also my personal experience of the firewood market.

The Joiners nut�s and Heatabix will be too small for your stove (but you might like them for lighting) and it will gobble them up.The Verdo logs are good,and very good for your pocket.The Woofers are not quite as hot as Blazers but slightly out-last them in a medium sized stove, kiln dried logs are very good,and we do sell a 35cm and sometimes a 33cm one, BUT at the tail end of winter even the kiln dried wood is not as good as it can be and I think you might be disappointed.I would recommend waiting to get some kiln dried from August onwards when it will be excellent again,and you will notice the difference.

So at the moment I am suggesting Eco fuel logs,for a big stove like yours I would suggest you start with Blazers fuel Logs, pricewise the way I compare them is that a 1.2m3 bulk bag of Kiln Dried logs weights in at approx. 335kg at say 20% moisture content with a heat output of about 4.5 kw that�s hours per Kg.The full pallet of Blazers weights 1080 kg, 5.5 kw and less than 10% moisture content.
I have a big Hunter Herald 14 kw central heating burner and I use blazers and bark logs to keep it going.I put two blazers and one bark log on at a time.
In terms of your other wood you might find that you can get the stove really hot with a few blazers and then get the other logs burning nicely because of the heat from the Blazers and get through the rest of the winter by mixing them.
My suggestion is to start with Blazers and Bark logs as samples,if you like them I think you will find the price on full pallets not too bad compared to �Seasoned� logs because of the heat benefits and you soon get to like the convenience and ease of use.

We've just had a wood burning pizza oven built in our garden and we are struggling to get good, enduring fires going - the newspaper burns out and the wood hardly catches. We've been told not to use firelighters or any other chemical product (since we'll be cooking in the oven). I think part of the problem is our kindling seems damp. Any advice on which of your products are appropriate for wood burning pizza oven? I'm hoping we'll get lots of use out of it so would love to find reliable delivery company

The quick answer is use our kiln dried kindling,our natural fire lighting Tindersticks, and then Heatabix, and then Kiln dried logs and send me some Pizza round afterwards!

I love wood fired pizza ovens,and I think we can provide some help in getting the oven really nice and hot.Obviously I am not sure exactly how yours is designed but most are a refractory dome with an outlet for the chimney just above the door of the stove,some have actual chimneys and some not,I also assume you are lighting the fire in the oven as per normal wood fired ovens.
Being in North West London you might also encounter some smoke control issues but our products should keep you out of trouble.The main overriding principle is that you need ultra dry wood,apart from the fact that it will get hotter more quickly it will also give you a virtually smoke free fire within a few minuets of lighting up.The difference with getting a fire going in a Pizza oven as compared to a Wood burning stove or open fire in a house is that there tends to be very little �draw� from a chimney.So you need to start a very small fire and build it up as it burns,the hotter it gets the more efficient and hotter the fire will be,the hotter it is, the more it can burn and so on.If the fire is Smokey it tends to mean over fuelling in the early stages.

I would use some a �Tinderstick� to light a handfull of Kiln dried kindling to start with,once that is burning nicely I would add another handfull of kindling as required and even another one so it is burning nicely with a small bed of coals on the floor of the oven.I would then add some small kiln dried logs to the fire just one or two and make sure they are really burning before adding more.You could at this stage also use our Heatabix product as this is easy lighting just one or two at a time,then when nice and hot add the kiln dried logs.

During the lighting up process the inside of the dome will blacken but once up to temperature all the soot will burn off and it will be fantastically clean,as a rule of thumb you are then ready to cook.Just to slightly contradict myself,once up to temperature and you have pushed the fire back you could roll in some of our �Joiners Nuts� as they are pure Oak and will give a nice Smokey aroma to meat and fish dishes.

WL.

Thank you so much for your reply! I needed all of that advice. I would like to order everything you mentioned. We feel so pathetic not being able to light a proper fire!

we are about to have a norpias bergen fitted can you advise me on the best fuel to use. it is not our main source of heat but we intend to turn off the gas when ever possible in the winter, any advise would be gratefully received.

Hi Melvyn,
Norpeis is a Norwegian company and relatively new maker of stoves having been established in 1984. The Bergen is a 5 kw stove with nice big glass viewing area and is highly efficient with all the modern attributes required for a clean burning stove.
In terms of fuel it is a pure Wood Burner so will have a flat floor, no grate and only Burnswood. I think the Bergen is rated by DEFRA for use in smoke control areas.

I would suggest in the first instance some kiln dried logs; they should be all Hardwood, and perhaps a mix of Ash, Beech. I would also suggest a look at the WOOF! Eco Fuel logs range, perhaps starting off with Blazers Fuel logs, and some Joiners Nuts to get the fire going. The great advantage of Eco � Fuels is consistency in that they are always less than 10% moisture content and give less ash and more heat. The higher burn leaves fewer residues in the chimney and you burn less wood for more heat.
As with any new stove you might find it takes a few small fires to burn of all the factory processes and that the room should be well ventilated as it can be a bit smelly.
I have found that many modern stoves with secondary burn need the fire box to get really hot before they start to operate correctly, as they are designed to inject hot air back into the fire box to re-burn the gases, and this is heated by the fire. There also seems to be a cultural difference between our attitude to wood burning and that of the Scandinavian country�s in that we traditionally expect to burn long and slow, but you might find it works better burning at a higher rate for shorter periods of time.
I hope this help and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Will.

We have dunsley heat smokeles multi-fuel stove with back boiler which we have been burning kiln dried logs on but would like to change to the eco-logs, could you advise which would be the best and which would stay the night as at present we have to use smokeless coal at night as logs dont last Thanks Ivan

We do not have a central heating system but rely on 2 stoves:
(A) Jotul 3kw wood-burner; used occasionally spring and autumn as a 'top-up' heat source
(B) Villager 'Bayswater' 8kw multifuel burner. This stove is lit permanently November-March as primary heat source. We previously used high quality anthracite as fuel.

We're looking at alternative fuel sources and would be grateful if you could advise which of your products would be most suitable for each stove. Also, any approximate idea on 'consumption rate' for the Villager stove using the recommended product would be very helpful.

Thanks!

We have a cheap log burner that we brought back from Turkey complete wıth extra 5ın dıameter bends and straıght sectıons .We have set the burner up ın our lounge here ın Cornwall just the same as ıt was ın Turkey .We cant even try to lıght ıt wıthout fıllıng the house wıth smoke .Draught seems to be cımıng back down the flue pıpe .Any ıdeas .ps.we dont have any kınd of cowl

Hi Steve,
Firstly you must get your stove installed by a HETAS registered engineer or have the installation passed by your local building control officer. As it is with smoke coming in to the room this is highly dangerous, and you should cease to use it immediately.Once this is done,a simple tip is to make sure the flue is warm and dry otherwise it will not draw properly,I would suggest burning some small amounts of Kiln Dried Kindling for an hour or so then just a very small fire with some of our Hotties Heat Logs. The smoke is also caused by wet wood not combusting properly.Atmospheric weather conditions such as low pressure can also cause even the best fires to be problematic.

we have occasional problems getting the draw up the chimney before smoke starts pouring into the sitting room. is it the type of newspaper we use? once the draw is going its perfect. (we have an external metal chimney)

I would have thought it very unlikely that it is the type of newspaper you are using, although it is tempting to make a witty (not) comment about the political affiliations of said newspapers and their affect upon the chimney.
The most likely cause is that being and external chimney and I assume metal, that in common with all solid fuel flues, until it is sufficiently warm it will not draw properly. The smoke is probably worst when the fire creates a dew point in the flue and the warm gases rising from the fire condense on the metal and produce water vapour, this in effect causes a temporary blockage and the smoke comes back down in to the room.
There are a number of ways to combat this but the simplest is to just start a really small fire with just screwed up balls of news paper, then just one or two pieces of Kiln dried Kindling which will burn without smoking, then some very dry wood fuel ,like an Eco fuel log. Hotties Heat Logs would be good as they are very low in moisture at 5%.
The other way is to try and keep the chimney warm all the time, this is where our Shredded Heat Bark logs come in, they will gently glow away for up to 10 hours just keeping the stove and most importantly the flue warm.
It might be worth signing up to our free guide how to get more “Heat happiness comfort and joy from your stove” on the Woof wood fuel home page.

Hello
I have trouble with my multi-fuel Merlin stove as i cant seem to stop the glass going black. I am burning kiln dried wood specifically to stop this but it is still happening. I now think it must be the way i am setting the fire. Is there a sequence i could try to see if i can keep my glass clean? it does have an airwash system but in face the worst of the black on the glass is at the top!
many thanks for any help you can give

Hi Steve and Maxine,
I am not familiar with MERLIN stoves and I would suggest contacting them directly. It is also worth just checking how
dry the kiln dried logs are and that they are Hardwood Ash and Beech,as Oak can give problems when lighting.

The best tips I can give is to clean the glass so you can check the results and then try this. Most stove glass blackening is caused by the fuel (but
not in your case as you are using Kiln Dried Logs) or the stove not being sufficiently hot before reducing the air supply. Try a very low fire for
quite some time with balls of newspaper and small pieces of Kiln dried kindling,then add just one small kiln dried log,and do not add another one until it has at least half burned away.Just do this to slowly build up the fire without over loading the fire and keeping the air vents open.Once you have a nice even fire established with hot embers spread across the grate add
again only one or two logs and ensure they are burning well with flames
before attempting to reduce the air supply to control the rate of burn.

You may find that Wood briquettes give better results as they are even drier
at around 5-10% moisture content.

I would suggest trying to light the stove using our Certainly Wood Kiln Dried logs or Hotties Heat logs.We also have a new product called Firemagic (on the web site soon) that is a brilliant new fire starter without the need
for fire lighters or kindling.

I hope this helps,please let me know how you get on it helps with our
knowledge base.

I would also suggest signing up for our free guide "Get more heat happiness
comfort and joy from your stove" on the WOOF home page.

Best wishes Will.

Hello,



I was told by the guy who fitted my wood burning stove that I should not burn paper briquettes because the newsprint will damage the chimney liner.



Is there any truth in this?



Regards,





Chris

Truth be told I have absolutely no idea. I have never really
thought about this before,I assume we are talking about the paper briquettes
you make by soaking the newspaper and then squashing in to blocks.It is hard
to imagine there is sufficient acid residue in the newsprint to damage a
good quality stainless steel chimney flue liner.Might be worth contacting
the flue supplier if your really concerned.
I should of course mention some of the many excellent wood based super dry
wood briquettes,heat logs and eco fuels we supply which are excellent in a
modern wood stove. Verdo logs for the budget conscious consumer, Hotties
heat logs for the smaller stove,Blazers fuel logs for the ultimate in
heat,great for large stoves and back boilers and finally our two own brand
products Heatabix and Shredded Heat the overnighter.There is as i understand it a theoretical possibility of damaging the stove and liner when burning wood and coal together,and I would advise avoiding that.

Thanks for the question. I would be interested to know what the supplier
says you could try Specflue

Hi we have a Lilyking Multifuel Iron Stove with back boiler and this will be our first winter using the stove. Could you recommend the fuel please? At the moment we are using the compressed paper (which is good), seasoned logs and wood cuts from my brother in laws factory but I would like to know which solution you sell/recommend?

Many thanks

Hi,

Can you tell me the best over night burner.
You have 2 on line, which one burns longer.

I would say the Shredded Heat bark logs are the best quality and longest burning of the two.The aptly named "Wood Briquettes" are very good for full high heat and also can do some overnight burning if required.
The "wood briquettes" are also one of the few briquettes I have found that perform as well on an open fire as in a stove.

We have recently purchased a loveholme multi-stove 5kw and we burn well-seasoned wood, but we have to top it up every hour. The room for logs seems to be quite small, although I’m not sure as we never had a multi-stove before. The only way we can get a burn overnight is by using smokeless coal and that seems to generate too much ash for the pan. I do like to see a flame, but then on cold nights heat has to be more important.
I love the fact you offer sample bags, which products do you recommend that I should give a try?

Hi Victoria,
Slender, sleek, with Danish styling: the Løvenholm makes a great centrepiece for any room. With it’s huge glass window, this stove provides a stunning display of dancing flames.Makes me sound like Bruno Tonioli!
As this is a DEFRA approved stove you wil have trouble keeping it going at night with wood.
I would reccomend you try our Shredded Heat Bark logs which will burn for up to ten hours in most stoves,and or you could try our "Wood Briquettes" product that are a slightly budget version of the Bark logs, they will leave more ash but are great in full multi fuel stover and open fires.

How do I keep my wood burner (Clearview Vision 500 with back boiler) from gobbling up the logs? I understand that you should keep the temperature around 400 F to ensure clean burning but this seems to use up about 1 or two logs every hour. If I slide in the airwash knob and close the damper then the temperature goes down to around 200F if I don't keep putting logs on. We need to use the burner as a heat source during the day/evening and eventually would like to run it overnight as we have a very cold kitchen. Can you help as, at the moment, the logs are costing almost as much as using the oil!!
Thanks for any advice.

Hi

Thank you for such a quick response. I ordered some of your sample packs late Monday night, because of your quick response to my post on here. I couldn’t believe it as they arrived on Wednesday. We put one blazer on and WOW what a lot of heat…it also burnt for two and half hours. One Verdo Wood Briquettes also burnt for around hour and half. They just seem so much easier to use and great to stack in the garage. Thank you for offering the sample packs it’s a great way to try what works for your fire. Using the different types also offers greater versatility when it comes to needing quick heat or long burn. …just come in from watching my son play football and stuck half of a blazer on (axed in half, because it got too hot in the room before)… we have all warmed up lovely…Looking forward to trying a Shredded Heat tonight as they have forecast snow .. I will be coming back when I’ve tried all my samples.
Thanks once again
Victoria

Hi, this is our first winter in our new home where we have inherited a Coalbrookdale Severn multi fuel stove as our only heat source for our water and 7 radiators. I like the idea of using wood and am currently using briquettes that I purchased elsewhere before finding your site. They are wonderfully convenient but do not burn particularly hot, and struggle to heat the radiators or water above warm. They also don't burn very long, which is a pain when I work shifts and hate the cold! Ideally, I would like hotter days and enough warmth for comfort at night. I am really hoping that you can suggest a solution!

This is a reply to Anne from 13th Dec,I should just add that any questions etc with out an obvoius answer have been replied to privately.
It is hard to comment on the Clearview 500 as I have never owened one,but I have many many customers with cleatrview's and they are clearly exellent. As a general comment boiler stoves do have their own advantages and equal draw backs and in many ways there are two main schools of thought.One is that they are a big nonsence,they rob the heat from the stove giving it to the water in the boiler and cause firing problems by reducing the temperature of the fire box to the extent of dis-allowing an effiecient burn causing flue and chimney problems. The other side of the coin is that they soak up excess heat in an efficient manner and translate it in to free hot water,making the solid fuel appliance very efficient indeed.I agree with the later provided they are installed and managed correctly.You need to have the flow and return water temperature managed correctly and with a big boiler stove consider a thermal store to balance the load during heavy demand.
For anyone wishing to heat water in ther boiler model stove I would always reccoment using BLAZERS fuel logs as they give huge amounts of heat and therefor masses of hot water. Try them and see the difference.