View Full Version : Question for the Energy Experts
I am the new proud owner of a wood-burning (or peat or coal whatever) stove. It's a "designer" stove in the living room - i.e., it doesn't heat the house or the water but only provides Cosy Welcoming Focal Point and replaces the hideous electric fire we acquired with the house and it actually makes the room too hot. We burn "fallen down wood" we've chopped up on it.
Should I be burning as much paper as possible on it? (If so, can it cause chimney fires? Ours was swept couple of months ago and will be done yearly.) Or should I still take all our paper not used for starting a fire to the nearest paper recycling point?
Does it make any difference whatsoever?
Helppppppppppppppp...................
The important thing here is only to burn well seasoned dry wood. Having your flue well insulated will also help. Don't be tempted to burn wood that is green. Wood should be stacked in a dry place allowing for a drying wind for at least 16 months. Papers should not present a problem and should help heat the flue in advance of your main burn.
Regards David
ywindythesecond
29-Feb-08, 23:17
I am the new proud owner of a wood-burning (or peat or coal whatever) stove. It's a "designer" stove in the living room - i.e., it doesn't heat the house or the water but only provides Cosy Welcoming Focal Point and replaces the hideous electric fire we acquired with the house and it actually makes the room too hot. We burn "fallen down wood" we've chopped up on it.
Should I be burning as much paper as possible on it? (If so, can it cause chimney fires? Ours was swept couple of months ago and will be done yearly.) Or should I still take all our paper not used for starting a fire to the nearest paper recycling point?
Does it make any difference whatsoever?
Helppppppppppppppp...................
Strikes me Tilter that these are questions you should have asked before you bought it.
ywy2
Inlaws have a 'multifuel' stove that heats just one room. They use newspaper and kindling to start the fire then burn quartered dry logs along with coal (smokeless I presume).
The only time they use newspaper is to start it. I have seen devices which takes sheets of newspaper and after wetting (I think) the paper is compressed into brick sized blocks which you can then burn in place of logs.
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2007/12/fireplace_brick_maker.html
Paper is after all just processed wood...
Strikes me Tilter that these are questions you should have asked before you bought it.
ywy2
And pray why is that YWindII? I'm into Cosy Welcoming Focal Point here not save the blasted planet, which I'll have a shot at while I'm at it.
Meanwhile, I had a sensible answer from David, for which I thank him.
I have seen devices which takes sheets of newspaper and after wetting (I think) the paper is compressed into brick sized blocks which you can then burn in place of logs.
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2007/12/fireplace_brick_maker.html
Paper is after all just processed wood...
I've seen those too in catalogues for octagenarians you see in the Sunday papers but I could probably do that and will get one the next time I see an ad, because all this paper is upsetting me. However, can I just take it to the recycling bank monster and be done with it and thus benefit the planet? (Please say yes)
Yes.
Newspapers can be recycled and often is pulped and treated with fire retardent and used as insulation in buildings. So, if you burn it, it will keep you warm and if you recycle it, it may keep someone else warm :)
http://www.lowimpact.org/acatalog/warmcel_recycled_newspaper_insulation.html
Its a win win situation.......
Newspapers can be recycled and often is pulped and treated with fire retardent and used as insulation in buildings. So, if you burn it, it will keep you warm and if you recycle it, it may keep someone else warm :)
http://www.lowimpact.org/acatalog/warmcel_recycled_newspaper_insulation.html
MP, I like this. I just can't lose, can I? Positive result!!!!
I am the new proud owner of a wood-burning (or peat or coal whatever) stove. It's a "designer" stove in the living room - i.e., it doesn't heat the house or the water but only provides Cosy Welcoming Focal Point and replaces the hideous electric fire we acquired with the house and it actually makes the room too hot. We burn "fallen down wood" we've chopped up on it.
Should I be burning as much paper as possible on it? (If so, can it cause chimney fires? Ours was swept couple of months ago and will be done yearly.) Or should I still take all our paper not used for starting a fire to the nearest paper recycling point?
Does it make any difference whatsoever?
Helppppppppppppppp...................
We just have a woodburning stove to heat the whole house. We have no boiler/radiators at all and the stove does a fine job of space heating the whole house.. Burning paper is ok if you only burn odds and sods of paper and keep on top of the amounting pile but it tends to put our fire out if I put a load in as the ash tends to clog up the air intake thing.
Burning wet logs are a pain but can dry out surprisingly quickly if you have a covered woodstore and a good air flow through it. A month is all I need to dry out wet logs to be able to burn them.
I haven't tried those machines that make logs out of newspapers (anyone got one?) and I am unsure of the merits of the burning or recycling debate of newspapers but both must be better than landfill?
I suppose when we get charged for our rubbish collections then more will end up in the fire to save money.
If you enjoy your fire as much I do then you are in for a real treat. :)
We have used the compressed woodchip logs on our chiminea and they burn quite well so compressed newspaper bricks should burn just as well.
The merits of recycling newspapers must be good? Especially if the final product helps reduce the energy you expend heating your home?
I suspect that if rubbish rates come in then there will be an increase in bonfires as people try to burn the garbage they would be charged for. Then the air pollution will get worse...
ywindythesecond
01-Mar-08, 00:31
I've seen those too in catalogues for octagenarians you see in the Sunday papers but I could probably do that and will get one the next time I see an ad, because all this paper is upsetting me. However, can I just take it to the recycling bank monster and be done with it and thus benefit the planet? (Please say yes)
When I was a MOD, as opposed to a ROCKER, in the days before time began, I used two Daily Expresses to keep the wind out of the spaces between buttons in my black pvc construction site jacket while I raced round the country on a 14th-hand Vespa scooter.
At 37mph max.
Those were the days.
I was a beatnik before then, and didn't need newspapers.
ywy2
We have no boiler/radiators at all and the stove does a fine job of space heating the whole house..
Rheg, I don't believe you. That's the sort of thing my husband says.
Burning wet logs are a pain but can dry out surprisingly quickly if you have a covered woodstore and a good air flow through it. A month is all I need to dry out wet logs to be able to burn them.
Since my stove is designer only, I don't need a lot of wood. It goes in the coal hole outside and then in small amounts to the airing cupboard, then to hearth in an artistic display before going on fire.
I haven't tried those machines that make logs out of newspapers (anyone got one?)
No, they all became nonagenarians and are now dead
and I am unsure of the merits of the burning or recycling debate of newspapers but both must be better than landfill?
Yes. It can't matter too much can it? So I can do either. No worries.
I suppose when we get charged for our rubbish collections.
I think we should all be charged, but then I suppose it would lead to fly tipping.
If you enjoy your fire as much I do then you are in for a real treat. :)
It actually gets too hot for me, but no way would I ever admit this.
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.