Woodburner warms the home...and the heart
ON A cold winter’s night there is nothing quite so appealing as huddling around the welcoming flames of a crackling log fire.
Fire has been at the heart of civilisation since the dawn of time. These days we have largely forgotten the essential role it has played in mankind’s survival.
Yet it still holds a primitive allure that not only feeds the soul, but can also save you money.
According to stove manufacturer Charnwood, a woodburner can knock as much as 30 per cent off heating bills.
Jane Hannah, 38, from Long Stratton in Norfolk, has a small woodburner in the living room of her two-bedroom terraced cottage that she regularly uses in the winter to heat her home. She bought it second-hand for £300.
The England and Wales Cricket Board volunteer manager says: ‘My dad often finds wood when out in the countryside walking the dog – it means I have a free source of great winter fuel.’
The cost of installation was the biggest expense – £1,500 to line the chimney, fit a flue for the smoke and have a pot installed. Anyone wanting a woodburner will need a chimney. More than 200,000 woodburners were installed inside British homes last year. The average cost for purchase and installation was £3,000.
Modern woodburners are more efficient than many central heating systems. Burning wood costs 2.5p per kilowatt-hour compared with the 11p cost of electricity.
The cost is lower for those – like Jane – who forage for wood. But if you take wood from land owned by someone it is technically theft.
Buying wood can cost as much as £100 a cubic yard for seasoned hardwood logs. Freshly cut wood needs to be stored for at least a year so the sap can dry out sufficiently before being used for a fire.
Coal, peat and wood-burning pellets can all be used as alternatives to logs.
VERDICT: The pleasure a real fire brings is hard to put a price on – but it can save you £150 a year in heating bills. A new woodburner and flue might cost £3,000.