Anyone replaced a gas fire with a log burner

Where are you going to get wood from? Wood is cheap if you can get it free or cheap if you are buying it from an artisan log purveyor it’s expensive, messy, time consuming but nice to sit in front of.
I get some free or cheap and some I pay for at whatever market rate is at the time. You get what you pay for most of the time. Kiln dried is often worth the added cost and burns hot and clean. Free to collector lillandi on Facebook market place is junk.

Should just add that we had our second log burner installed in the spring.

Where are you going to get wood from?

And keep it?

Free or cheap is very rarely ready or good to burn, so you'll need to store and dry it. Ready to burn isn't free or cheap but isn't crazily expensive in moderate to large quantities. Small quantities are expensive, even by the current standards of gas.

Kiln dried is often worth the added cost

Only if you do not know where your woods coming from and your buying to burn immediately.... The cost premium doesn't make sense over other heating methods - then there's the provenance of it....often the cheaper end of that market is imported from Eastern European sites which makes a mockery of any green credentials that are touted with renewable source etc.

Only plus is it comes as a known %age moisture.

I see folk selling what is clearly last winters windfall harvest as seasoned ready to burn and asking big money all over Facebook .... It's been 6 months. Not a chance thats ready to burn.

Ive not bought wood for 5-6 years. It's taken a while but now folks just call when they have wood needing removed and I turn up with the trailer. Just scavenge what's going when it's available and leave it season. Today's core workout involves splitting this for future burn.

Don't forget to factor in the cost of the chimney sweep

If your swapping out the gas stove you'll need the liner changing and the hearth will likely need extending to meet part J.

But how ever pro wood burner I am .... If you live in an urban area - and have mains gas then I would reconsider.....DEFRA or not.

Thanks for the replies.

I do have storage for the wood, which I'd intend to be kiln dried from a local supplier (which I think is imported). The hearth looks to fit with the part J regs, although this would need to be checked. I am in an suburban area, so this is of some concern but there is a house on the street with one and it is not invasive for me, others may differ. Another option may be to get a more efficient gas replacement, but I don't know how that would compare to the current one and I am still concerned by the potential cost of gas.

Get rid completely.
Get better CH/bigger radiators.
Get an ASHP.
Better double glazing.
More insulation.
Replace with a modern gas fire.

All a better option than going wood burner in an urban area.

I have a log burner but I live in the middle of a forest.

Just done exactly what you are proposing.
Did it all on the cheap and it came in around £480. Burner and chimney at 200, resy was sweep, hearth, tiles, flue connectors, mantelpiece and chimney pot.
Access to tonnes of free wood so thats one reason i changed it out. I dont care about the pollution as my flat only gets brassic when the wind is nw through ne so thats offshore and no neighbours to smoke out.
Also not in smoke free zone so could source older burner.
You need one with a 12mm hearth rating. You still need 250mm base in the hearth of brick or concrete in case someone reverts it back to a coal fire.
I have done it all myself, including changing the chimney pot and flaunching on a newer taller one, fitting liner, removing chimney gathers, removing alll wood from the chimney above the burner and fitting cement board onto angle iron. Reference plate fitted, flue bracket, closure detailer and hanging cowl.

I've got one in a standard builders aperture. Wouldn't bother again and haven't lit mine in about 5 years, maybe more. IME the approved ones work by reducing how much you can close them down - more ferocious burn = reduced smoke but also = higher fuel use and heat output. Mine's 15 years old now so perhaps they've got smarter about it. It's a lot of faff though.

A decent cassette style burner that has secondary burn will set you back 500 - 800 plus installation. If you get any change from 2k you're probably doing alright.

If you're having to use the fire every night I'd be looking at your insulation before replacing whatever you're heating with. That sounds of greater concern and likely to lower your fuel bills more than the efficiency of whatever you're burning (how does a gas fire get more efficient anyway?).

Also second Trail_rat and Mert, they're a pain in the arse in housing schemes and you have no way of knowing just how dry your wood will be before it's delivered (unless you want to check it yourself).

As already noted, check your cost of supply. Assuming you're in England, supply will probably have to factor in New 'ready to burn' standards, there is a marked increase in demand this year already and it's not even autumn, fuel costs push the source, processing and delivery. Aim for over 2m³ of storage to get into whole loads.
There is also a loophole for loads over 2m³ in ready to burn for those that don't want to pay out nearly a grand for a sticker on their pickup.

We have replaced gas and electric fires with woodburners, but as you may guess, I don't have log supply issues 😂

If you've access to free wood great, and the space to stack and season (I assume you'll get green wood) great, a lot of space great, and the tools and PPE to cut and split great, and the time to scrounge and process the wood great. You'll not be burning any green wood not already processed now this winter, at least not cleanly or to get much warmth. Softwood in good conditions one summer is fine, hardwoods 2 summers.

A decent stove I'd trust to last probably starts at £8+900 threat days. A liner, chimney cowl, flue pipe and various other bits you'll need will be £5-800 probably.
If you need the tools to process the wood then Chaimsaw, spare chain, file, splitting axe, hatchet, PPE about £400+. Start now, and next winter's saving on gas will pay a good chunk of those costs back.

Be warned, everything about processing and heating with wood is hard work and takes time. However I enjoy it, you may too.

Please don't fit a stove now and burn green wood this winter. It'll be an unrewarding experience anyway.

Our windows aren't great90's wooden double glazing efforts, but I don't have enough to replace them. There is also the slight issue with the boss liking it to be 300 degrees...

A quick estimate was £2k for the swap, so not ridiculous compared to the expected increase in gas, although there is obviously the cost of fuel. A point of note is that one of the local suppliers seems to be sold out at the moment too, so this may be a new issue.

Thought about it a couple of years back and decided in our mains gas centrally heated house it would be crazy. It would be massively hypocritical of me to moan at drivers leaving there engines running outside the local Tesco express and then go home and light a wood burner because the flames look nice.

We got a nice gas inset fire fitted.

Our windows aren’t great90’s wooden double glazing efforts, but I don’t have enough to replace them.

2k will go a fair way towards replacing some/all.

There is also the slight issue with the boss liking it to be 300 degrees…

Sit down and explain how much it costs to keep the place at 300 degrees. Some people just don't get it.

How can you afford £2k for a stove but not windows? Okay, you're probably looking at double that but even still, if they're draughty 90s shite you'll make the money back in savings.

I'd also have words with "the boss" and suggest maybe a cardigan would be a good idea.

We got a woodburner a few years ago and loved it. Then a very good friend - who works as an air quality consultant - pointed out the levels of PM2.5s that are produced by woodburners; even DEFRA-approved ones. Not used any more...

BMJ says that woodburners in the UK produce 2.4 times as much PM2.5 pollution as traffic; a study from Sheffield University found that woodburners release dangerous levels (compared to WHO limits) of PM2.5 and PM1 (that's the really nasty sh!t that can cross cell walls) into the home.

Lived with log/coal burners for a good few years. No mains gas for me though.

You'd be crazy to go for a wood burner in an urban area with gas available. Wood as a fuel for regular heating is neither cheap nor easy to deal with. For occasional users they are just middle class bling. Full time users are either hobbyist chainsaw drivers, or stuck with it for one reason or another. You might get a few fires out of windfall but by the time you're heating the place with 5+ cubic metres of oak per winter its gone beyond that...

I do have storage for the wood, which I’d intend to be kiln dried from a local supplier (which I think is imported).

The instant you stack it outdoors it will absorb moisture and cease to be kiln dried.

Sort the windows first.
Then get a decent size rad fitted to the room and use the CH.

Please don't put a woodburner in a clean air zone. ****in stinks the rest of us out. Sorry.

Our neighbour (100 metres away) shoved his own in (no building regs) and just stinks the road out when he burns it - he's no reason to have one as we live in modern heat efficient houses. Plus the stainless flue on the side of his house looks horrendous.

As long as you only burn kiln dried wood you and your neighbours will be fine. Problem with acrid smoke pouring out of chimneys is down to the wood being wet / under seasoned.

I’ve got a wood burner and kiln dried doesn’t get wet when stored and the chimney barely needs sweeping. Cost wise prices for kiln dried have only gone up locally due to transport costs while gas by %200 so you may save a bit of money as well.

Put a jumper on
Sort the windows first.
Then get a decent size rad fitted to the room and use the CH.

FTFY. But I agree with everything else you said.

Problem with acrid smoke pouring out of chimneys is down to the wood being wet / under seasoned.

Yeah, but, not the only problem. From that BMJ link posted above:

Few people who install wood stoves are likely to understand that a single log-burning stove permitted in smokeless zones emits more PM2.5 per year than 1,000 petrol cars and has estimated health costs in urban areas of thousands of pounds per year.[6]

Burning mains gas in condensing CH/HW boilers is a process that is very heavily optimised and controlled.

Me, burning some sticks I found in the field over the road, or even "seasoned" wood from facebook randoms? Not so very much.

Yeah, that's my concern, PM emissions in the home.

So i've got a large air/waste heat reclamation thingie in the attic (with two massive filters) which is connected throughout the house to circulate the air and replenish with fresh from outside, whilst reclaiming a good proportion of the heat (~90% according to the specs). And then a smaller unit on the wall near the fire, which just extracts particulates.
I've also added a sterling cycle fan to the fire so i can use it less, basically means i can get the fire started, run it up to full power and then let it go out after an hour or so and the whole upper floor of the house is at between 20 and 25. Rather than running the fire hot and hard all evening and ending up with a massive imbalance in temperatures, 40+ degrees next to the fire, 16 degrees in the office at the other end of the corridor.

My other heat source is GSHP, which is ideal for 7-8 months of the year, but rubbish once outdoor temps drop below -10/12, and the log burner gets pressed into service.

I replaced a rarely used catalytic gas fire for a wide burning stove 2 years ago.
Lots of wood available near me be there is a fair but of effort involved in collecting and processing it.
I bought a ton of compressed wood briquettes last year which will hopefully get me through to spring 2023.
The wood burner cut my gas bill down a fair amount last year. I made it through the winter without having to top up the direct debit amount.
For this year I have bought 2 infra red panels for localised heating when I don't want to light the fire or turn on the CH. I have fitted a ceiling fan which when the fire is lit should do a better job of mixing the air temperatures and cold spots that occur in the room.
I have also insulated the bay window which was a huge heat sink.

Yeah, that’s my concern, PM emissions in the home.

Make sure you don't burn candles, make toast, make crispy bacon etc, etc in that case!

As long as you only burn kiln dried wood you and your neighbours will be fine.

Properly dried wood in a DEFRA approved stove is still grossly polluting.

make crispy bacon etc

You know PM doesn't mean Pork Meat don't you?

Properly dried wood in a DEFRA approved stove is still grossly polluting.

Yep, unfortunately though people en masse would rather burn tyres if they were cheap and it meant they could wear shorts instead jumpers in January.

Don't do it if you value the health of anyone who will ever use that room.

Frankly, just don't do it, because other people near you actually might value their health and prefer to avoid your pollution.

Just get an electric blanket, toasty AF and cheap as chips.plus you can get rude together.

All of the windows are on our list to do in the near future, but we'd rather do them all at once. One thing that has been pointed out is the larger rad, hadn't thought of that so that's probably a good start, along with the electric blanket too.... 🙂

Thanks all.