Hi everyone,
Wondered if any other CDers have experience wiht Mulitfuel stoves?  Mine was installed just in time for Christmas, and it is hte first time I have had to deal wiht a real fire in about 15 years!  Last time I had one, we had solid fuel Central Heating too, so jsut used the same coke on the stove as in the boiler.  However with  my new one I was planning to burn logs (seems to be an ample supply of them round here) but have found they don't burn too well or give out a lot of heat.  My builder has told me to use a bed of coal first, and then top up with logs, which is working fine but is much messier than jsut logs, both for storing and cleaning out the stove.  I have bought some "Eco logs" which are fantastic, burn hot and cleanly, but cost almost £5 per bag.  Any advise or suggesitons from experienced stove users? I have seen "log makers" advertised which you sue to make fake logs from  old newspapers - anyone tried them?
bye
Gwen

Hello gwen,
We have to have a stove as OH hates gas fires. Are you sitting your logs on the raised rails for coal burning, or directly on the flat bottomed floor? I ask because you cannot burn logs well if you are using the raised rails, they need to sit in their own ash bed. Coal needs a draugh from underneath and logs do not, they will just roar away and not burn hot if you do. I also rarely clean out the fire, maybe once a week and only the ashes that have dropped into the pan underneath. The deeper the ash bed, the better the fire. We also keep our stove going 24/7. Stock up with as many logs as you can get in and shut the fire down as tight as you can, that's vent and damper, so no air can get in. In the morning open the bottom vent and do not open the main door and poke around. It will go up again and you'll be amazed.
Wood burns the best on a stove and a couple of good sized, dry logs should last a couple of hours at least. The trick is, get those vents and dampers closed to a minimum and get to know your stove as they all burn differently.

hi,
well we move into what seemed to be an ideal house in september,12 acres of land lovely views and open fires that heat the radiators as we dont get gas here, well after only a few months i  am definately not converted to it all, the fire i find is a nightmare logs don't kick out enough heat so we like you use coal which does get very hot but the mess all around the house is a full time job the dust and soot is everywhere, i too have seen the log maker you are on about i wonder if they work, sometimes i buy the instant fire log  but at £2 a go on top of the price of coal it gets very expensive.

Do you know any Landscape gardeners???
We store all the logs at the lock up and people who need logs come and pick them up!!!!
I know someone who puts all his shreddings in water to soak and then squashes them into block work (made himself) and left to dry. I presume they are the same as fire logs :)
Lea :)

You do need to burn logs on the floor of the stove, on a bed of ash. Good advice from Viv. I use my wood-burner in preference to using the oil -fired central heating - much cheaper!  I have a couple of ton brought to me by a local farmer and it costs me £50- my last del of oil in Oct was 42p litre, my friend has just paid 46p. Once you get the hang of your stoves, you will love them!

Best wishes
Linda

we have 2 woodburners and no other heaing atall and ours are absolutley throwing out heat on logs. Main thing is to use seasoned dry logs....not ones that are cut in the season you want to burn them. Thats most peoples basic mistake.

Hi everyone, thanks for all the great advice and tips.  I don't seem to have any option but to burn the logs on top of the "bars" as all that is underneath is the ashpan.  Will experiment with leaving ash in, as suggested.  When it is going well, with coal, or coal log mix, it heats up the whole cottage beautifully - don't have central heating yet as waiting for the plumber to come and install the new combi boiler.  The old fireplace/hearth operated a back boiler which heated the radiators, but had to take it out to uncover my lovely Inglenook fireplace and have the Stove fitted.I think it must be a long learning curve, as I have not managed to get it stoked right up and burn through the night, although I am now managing to light it first go without any trouble.

Wish I did know some landscapers to get logs from, but at least there are lots of places roudn here selling them, although they are all recently cut I think, so perhaps I should buy some extra and store them for next year.
Thanks again, and any more tips will be gratefully received
bye
Gwen

Gwen, if it is a multi-fuel stove, you need to take out the bars (grate part) and the ash pan so that you just use the floor of the stove, usually it will have  a grid-type front which stops the fuel falling out when the door is open. It should have been supplied with a hand-book which will tell you how to burn both fuels.

Best wishes
Linda

Good tip by Bestdogs. What is the name of your stove, it'll be on it somewhere?

We have a multi fuel stove in the lounge and only burn wood (OH a builder!) we also collect road kill, ie the fallen branches by the road side and store it, our wood heap is huge and we use the oldest first. Sometimes a couple of years old. It has been lit now for about eight weeks non stop and I just clear away the ash that falls onto the hearth the fire burns best, as said, on a good bed of ash. Read your instructions, it should tell you how to convert to just wood. Oh and it's best to have some small and large logs together, the little ones keep the big 'uns going great!

If only I had an instruction book to refer to!  The stove was delivered on a very windy day, the lorry could not get inot my rather narrow lane due to cars parked on the corner, so had to go along in car and pick up from where lorry was parked on main road.  AS the taillist was lowered, with the sotve on it, a big gust of wind came along and blew away the paperwork,inlcudign delivery note, fitting instrucitons and manual!  I managed to get copy of fitting instructions from the supplier, who emailed them so my builder could install, but have not yet received the manual - fingers crossed they will get a copy to me sometime!

Meanwhile, this weekend I have a whole supply of very well seasoned wood to use - the adjoining cottage is going through a much bigger revovation job than my cottage, and the builder popped round to ask if I wanted some timber for my stove, and to find out what size it was, since then he has dropped armful after armful of cut to size bits of wood over the fence.  Could have cried when I saw some of them - they were from the upstairs floorboards, which are identical to mine, and I need to replace a few which have been chopped about over the years, these ones would have been perfect, if only they were not sliced into lovely 8" lumps!
bye
Gwen

>these ones would have been perfect, if only they were not sliced into lovely 8" lumps!

Aaaarrrrggghh! Have you dropped him a hint that if there are any more going, can you please have them as they are?

Am going to BEG him, next time I see him.  The builders had gone home by the time I collected the wood and saw what they had dumped for me.
bye
Gwen