Could you trim your energy bills with a log burner?

Families have turned to burning wood to cut spiralling energy costs, as the gas crisis continues to push up household outgoings.

Gas and electricity bills climbed 12pc this winter, but will rocket by a further 54pc from April when the energy price cap rises to £1,971.

The Stove Industry Alliance said more households had turned to burning wood to keep their homes warm as a result. The trade body’s Andy Hill said: “There was a strong upturn in sales last year as home owners faced escalating energy bills, along with a growing awareness of the shortfalls of grid dependency during power cuts.”

DO THEY PAY THEIR WAY? Those making the switch could potentially save hundreds of pounds a year. However, the upfront costs of the devices could still take years to pay off.

Wood- burning stoves, including insulation costs, are around £2,950, according to Checkatrade, a tradesman comparison website.

Heating makes up around half of energy bills, according to Look After My Bills, a comparison site. From April, heating alone will cost the average household roughly £986 per year.

Fuel for a wood- burning stove is roughly £455 a year, according to the SIA. This means a wood-burning stove would cut bills by £531 if a household relied on it solely for heating. But the real difference would be smaller than this, as people are unlikely to rely only on a single stove to heat their home.

Given the near-£3,000 installation cost, at current energy prices a woodburning stove would take more than five years to pay for itself if it were the only device relied on for heating.

‘MY LOG BURNER REPLACES MY INEFFICIENT HEAT PUMP’ Chris Anstey, 68, from Shropshire, moved into a 10-year- old eco home two years ago, which is heated by an air source heat pump.

Although the house is well insulated and sealed off from any draughts, Mr Anstey said the heat pump is less efficient in colder conditions, when it is needed most. As a result, he uses a wood-burning stove to heat his house on cold nights.

“We tend to leave it burning from around 4 o’clock onwards and it probably saves us around 20kWh of electricity,” Mr Anstey said. “And of course if there’s a power cut, it provides us with a source of heat.”

Mr Anstey buys wood directly from the National Trust and dries it himself on his property. “You have to use seasoned wood,” he said. “Kiln-dried wood is quite expensive these days.

“At the moment, with energy prices so high, someone buying it to heat their home will still save a bit of money.”

Mr Anstey added that soaring bills had forced him to change his energy habits. “We are definitely using less electricity,” he said. “We have an Economy 7 meter, which charges less for the energy we use at night, so we are using as much as we can off-peak.”

Jenny Holden, 47, from Lichfield,

Staffordshire, bought her wood-burning stove six months ago as heating bills began to rise. She said that burning wood had helped keep her energy usage low.

“Previously, we didn’t really think twice about turning the thermostat up. But with rising costs, we have made a family adjustment to light the fire in the morning and at night to help heat the house.”

Ms Holden said her family had turned to creative ways to reduce their heating bill besides switching to the stove. “We also have cosy blankets in the living room for the kids,” she said. “We’re only filling the kettle for the drinks we need, and I open the oven after cooking to utilise that heat. They are small changes that we hope will make a bit of a difference.”

SHOULD YOU BUY A LOG BURNER? There are environmental and health considerations to wood-burning stoves, although newer models release significantly less harmful particles into a home than older burners.

The energy efficiency of a burner will depend on its age and design. An “Ecodesign Ready” stove is one which meets European standards on air pollution and particle emission. The SIA estimates an Ecodesign burner using quality wood emits up to 90pc less PM2.5 – tiny harmful particles – than an open fire, and up to 80pc less than a stove which is 10 years old or more. Around 200,000 are now sold in Britain each year despite tightening government regulations.

Meanwhile, households which rely on oil, rather than gas or electricity, to heat their homes could save hundreds of pounds this year.

The average oil- reliant home uses between 1,700 and 1,800 litres of heating oil per year, according to supplier Certas Energy. This would cost roughly £ 979, according to BoilerJuice, a firm that tracks consumer energy prices.

When accounting for electricity, the total energy bill for these home owners will be around £1,806 per year, compared with £1,971 for those on a traditional dual-fuel bill.

Homes that rely on liquefied petroleum gas could also save money. However, some have been left without heating or hot water in recent months due to delays in deliveries.