[Closed] Log burner accessories?

Dog?
Slippers?
Armchair?
Pipe?
Craft Beer/Real Ale?

In fairness though you seem to have everything covered.
Only thing I might add is a mat/rug to go on the floor in front of the fire as ours occasionally spits when the door is opened. We've just got a bit of old carpet which we roll up and hide behind the sofa when the fire isn't in.

A good set of fire-tools will be useful too, I use the poker and the tongs of ours the most.
I think ours cost about £15 from a second-hand shop in town, so don't spend masses

R

A wee axe for kindling. No need for flue thermometer if you have a fan, if you're up to temp the fan rattles round.

I dont use a gauge to tell how dry wood is, as I cut and stack my own, but if I was buying I would.

Companion set.

poker, hatchet and a small brush to sweep up is all we have. Oh and I have a magnet to pull nails out of the ash - not required unless you are ghetto heating your house of course

Fireguard / cage if you have young children.. they get very hot and one touch or hand on the stove would result in a pretty serious burn.
Other required items...
A chopper for your wood.
Firelighters
lighter
kindling

How big is the room?
We have a nominally 5Kw stove (Hunter Herald 5) in a 16x14x9ft room & it gets extremely warm with the stove going, a fan would be pointless here.
One thing I would say is make sure your log basket is lined, otherwise you will leak sawdust/chips everywhere!

Welding gloves

If you live near a beach, a big blue ikea bag for collecting the kindling blown into dunes or against the sea wall.

Welding Gauntlets, for those occasions when you are having a bit of a faff with unusual shaped logs, or just generally craving a bit of controlled pyromania.
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Ikea bag +1, i use one to collect kindling.

Aldi do bbq gloves from time to time, black suede and only a fiver. Brilliant

Welding gloves. A snip from Screwfix, and useful when the handle is too hot to hold.

A poker of some sort, and perhaps a set of long tongs.

My current stove toy is a set of eBay bellows which cost about a fiver. Not often needed, but rather useful if you have left it slightly too long between log loads. Also rather fun to huff at the dog...

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selection box of inhalers, maybe a home oxygen service - for your neighbours ?

😉

As above, I suppose a cheapy moisture meter, it will however become pretty obvious if logs are dry enough or not, but to start the nerd in you might want to moisture test by splitting samples, at least for the first dozen or so fires and first few deliveries. Maybe you'll continue using it, maybe you won't, so don't spend much on one, Stihl do one for £15-ish.

maybe one of those electronic gas fire lighters, you can buy ones specifically for fires/stoves. Those expensive extra long matches can just be for decoration.

Stove top baked potato cooker FTW

Arm chair
Whisky

Matches

*drops the mike*

Glass cleaner stuff, I like the one by Stovax. I tried an aerosol by someone else, it seemed to eat the glass sealer.

I little shovel, four or five inches across, to get to the ash in the back corners.

A galvanised bucket for the ash to cool down in. You won't want to put hot ash in your bin. And when you clean up, leave a half-inch or so of ash on the grating to be under your next fire.

Marshmallows.

Ash and a wet rag for dirty glass. Pointless using chemicals if you have no need for them.

No need for a thermometer, either. Someone linked to a well written* guide on the proper way to use a stove so as not to over or under work it. Can't remember the site but perhaps they'll be along any minute now...

* Better than I could explain or be bothered to explain at this time of night.

No need for glass cleaner. Just dip a damp cloth in the powdery ash then wipe the glass and the black staining comes straight off

3 seconds too late

🙂

A dog for lying in front of the fire

Damp rag?

Spit on a screwed up sheet of newspaper

Honestly

Kormoran +1

You're free to use ash and a wet cloth if you like. I'm wary of scratching the glass.

Welding gloves get another vote from me
Then a toasting fork for crumpets and something to hold your chestnuts (while roasting- not a euphemism)

Jesus, cheers guys. You lot certainly like your stoves.... well I kind of knew that already.

Two gloves came with the stove so that's another thing I've got.

Lined basket, good tip I'll make sure it's lined.

Unfortunately I don't live near the coast (near Manchester) so the Ikea bag will have to stay for those Ikea trips 😀

I'll look at a moisture meter and a poker and tongs but run it for a bit before spending money on a fan. Not convinced about not needing a thermometer as knowing me I'll burn it too hot or cold and knacker it.

Mostly all covered off but I'll just give you my list and reasoning.
-I do have a flue thermometer as they react far faster than a stove top....I have a stove top thermometer too. Consider one to be the speed, the other the rev counter.
- fan
- log store, large enough for 12 odd hours burning
- companion set, the poker, ash shovel and brush I use a lot, tongs rarely. Gloves are easier although my welding gauntlets haven't been used for months, a pair of standard soft sheep skin gloves suffice for most things....But NOT for attempting to adjust the log guard on a stove that's been lit several hours ..Oops and oouch.
- cloth bag for kindling
- old pg tips tin. It keeps the matches safe
-Large enamel roasting tin with lid. I empty the ash pan into it, it's large enough that I don't trek off to the compost bin to dispose of ashes more than weekly.
- hatchet ( I process all my own so have numerous splitting tools!)
- multi purpose cart thing from B and Q, one of those wheeled things. I was given it and initially scoffed but now love it. It brings the logs in very nicely, contains the dust and involves no lifting.
- large pile of newspapers.... Firelighting and when rolled are great for swatting queen wasps brought in to the house in your wood, I've had 18 this year!

I also agree, paper, spit and soft wood ash ( soft papery ash from wood as opposed to the grainier coal ash) is perfectly safe and brilliant for glass cleaning.

We have no tools whatsoever.
Paper and wood ash to clean the glass.
Vacuum cleaner only essential item…. [b]= ;87) [/b]

Not convinced about not needing a thermometer as knowing me I'll burn it too hot or cold and knacker it.

Doubt you'd knacker it but here's that site I mentioned...

http://woodheat.org/thermometers.html

's easy. Honest. 🙂

Thanks for the advice. Helps anyone got any advice for an axe for splitting Kindling? The Friskars X11 seems to fit the bill, just want to make sure 😀 I'll be using it to split Pallet wood after I've taken the pallets apart.

Henry hoover, X11 and a metal poker.

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This is all you need. Taken 5 min ago 🙂

How often do people empty the stove to require a heat proof bucket to put it in? Our stove is on every night in the winter. It only gets emptied when the ash starts overflowing. Maybe once every week and a half. It goes in a carrier bag and gets emptied in the flower beds.

Coal is different. That gets emptied every 2 days as it produces lots more and thrown in the bin.

My wood burner above get some emptied every week or 2, and my ash bucket every 3-4 months. Why do i need a carrier bag?

Cleaning glass = a splash of vinegar on a bit of kitchen roll does it for me.

No need for a thermometer, either.

Personally I think this statement is wrong.

I have to assume you didn't follow that link I posted on the other page. If you did, can you elaborate as to why you think they're necessary. I've got by for over 20 years without one and had no issues whatsoever. Keen to hear of what issues you had before opting to buy one.

kormoran »

Damp rag?

Spit on a screwed up sheet of newspaper

But...what if I ain't got no spit...?

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I'm amazed we're two pages in and no-one's suggested logs.

Trying to make your system conform to someone else's idea of a suitable temperature range only tends to confuse the issue.

Someone elses idea? It's physics, low temps and creosote condenses in the flue. At the other end, you are just wasting logs sending heat up the flue to warm the pigeons sat on the pot.

Yes each install is different I agree, so you need to learn what works for yours. A thermometer is not essential but costs about £4 and can be very helpful.

My latest toy arrived today, ir thermometer. I expect to be bored of it in a week, but right now I'm amazed at how much the temp drops in the space of 10" of viscous enamel flue pipe.

Ash volume varies a lot with wood type but I tend to empty the tray after about 15-18 hours burning of soft wood, it can do 24 but it's then brimming. It's only emptied when cold.

Tippy ash buckets are pretty good. Available in various sizes to fit your ash tray. http://www.tippyash.co.uk/ash-carriers.php

Someone elses idea? It's physics, low temps and creosote condenses in the flue. At the other end, you are just wasting logs sending heat up the flue to warm the pigeons sat on the pot.

😀

I quoted the last line of the funny article.

A cheap rug for your pets, hob coffee pot, a favourite stick as a poker, container to keep the ash for your garden, set of sweep brushes and fire cement.

The main one will be whatever log store you have at the moment, plan to double it, then double it again 😉

"It's only emptied when cold." - is good advice.
I dropped the bottom out of my Henry hoover with still warm compacted brick things the morning after. Bodged up with wood and no-nails and now relegated to garage hoover.

2 pages and no one has suggested Audi?

Anybody got any suggestions of where to buy nice but cheap fireproof rugs?
I like the one in the pic above^

If you mean my one at the top, it was from Ikea! Not sure on fireproof, but I've managed not to set it on fire yet!

After reading this I spunked up some money on an Ecofan ...
Boy, does it make a difference. I am actually stunned about how much heat it distributes - in the large kitchen it is in it puck heat up by 2-3 degrees ... and also pumps heat into the hallway

Very happy

Having had smoke back out into the lounge due to poor draw on the flue, on the advice of someone on here, I use a chefs blowtorch to heat the flue before lighting and then to go at the firefighters.

Works like a charm and good for creme brûlée too.

I use a chefs blowtorch... to go at the firefighters.

That's harsh, man. Just cos they wear fireproof clothing it doesn't mean they can't sense your hate.

They do a fine job - let them be...

Fans do seem to work to even heat up and get a room warm faster. Using my IR thermometer i found the stove top just infront of my fan is around 30-40C cooler than the same place on the stove top but the other side of the flue. Checked several times so not due to a hot spot in the firebox. I'm amazed at that. That fan is the cheapest I could find at about £28. Can't from warrior stoves i think. A month later i got a 1 year old valiant fan on eBay which looks identical but it doesn't shift as much air. The valiant is £75 new i think, it seems to spin faster so I'm happy the teg is in good order, but the blades have slightly less twist to them so it doesn't shift quite as much air as the cheap fan.

Getting heat into the flue early is important to get a good draw going and hence a good clean fire. The 2 then combine to ensure you aren't smoking and cresoting the flue. I use plenty of newspaper and a good stack of kindling to get things roaring.