Hi all,

We think we are going to buy a wood burner, to heat our family room.

I just wondered if someone could give us a rough idea of cost of wood per year to heat our family room. We will probably only really use it in the evenings. Is there a particular wood you have to use or cant use? where is the best place to buy fire wood from?

We are rather clueless as we have never had one before!

Thanks in advance

Daihla

HI Daihla
I know matured redgum is the best to use, long burning and hot too. Pine, burns much quicker and tends to spit a fair bit if it's fresh. Don't try and burn treated pine eg old fence posts as the fumes are poisonous.

As for costs, there's usually some ads in the trading post www.tradingpost.com.au to give you an idea.

I've only bought small bags for use on campfires but looking forward to having a woodburning stove one of these days - got my eye on one that's a bread oven too!

We are interested to read any replies since when we move out at the start of next year, we also wish to install a wood burner.
Does the council require planning permission etc to install the metal flue? Can anyone recommend an installer to build the flue?
Paul

Buy only Red gum or Sugar Gum, for your best heat value , if you buy it in the Adelaide hills , you will pay top dollar, on the Adelaide plains i pay about $ 75 a tonne and supplement this with my own grown Biue Gum. ............mm ;)

Who do you get to service your woodburner - Jet did provide a number a while ago but we've been unable to get hold of him after numerous attempts.

ta

Jo

I've just bought a Nectre woodburner and it is brilliant. It cost just over $2,000 installed, including a new flue. No planning permission required - although it was a replacement for an old one.

It heats a big 4 bed house on about 3 logs every 12 hrs. You shouldn't burn softwoods like pine because the sap in them clogs up the flue. I burn a mix of redgum and Tasmanian bluegum, which seems to work well. It should be at least a year old before it's split, preferably two.

Apparently 2 or 3 tonnes will last a winter.

Hope that helps!

Lou (and John minus Dot & William!)

A tonne is $210 up in the Hills, delivered.

It's no big deal to install a wood burning heater yourself, if you just follow some simple instructions. . . . like changing your car tyre.
No special permit needed.
Just install it with at least 5 inches clearance between the outside of the heater and any wall . . . . or your wall will heat the house in one big blaze!
Put a double flue thro' the ceiling right up to the top of the flue poking a metre above the top of apex (summit) of your roof. YOu get better "draught" for your fire if the flue projects above the apex of the roof and the smoke dissipates in any breeze without obstruction from a rooftop.
Use a stainless steel flue that won't burn out like an ordinary steel flue is prone to do after a couple of years. You should get at least 10 to 20 years from a stainless flue.
Wipe it down with meths AFTER you have finished installing it to get all the fingerprints and hand marks off it. Do this BEFORE you light up for the first time, or you will "bake" all the fingerprints on your flue and it will show something awful.
Put zinc . . . . not lead . . . flashing on the roof to seal the roof off from the elements, or rain will cascade down the side of your flue as a sign that it's raining outside while you're watching "The Bill" inside.
If you use lead flashing, don't drink the rain water off your roof for obvious reasons.
Put tiles on the floor to sit your heater on, extending about a couple of feet beyond the heater to catch any hot coals if they tumble out accidentally. You don't want to burn your nice Persian carpet???
Burn eucalyptus ("Gum" trees) because they are heavier wood with more grain and substance to fuel your heater. A log of Gum will burn for hours.
Softwoods, like pine, burn well but have a lot of sap that coats the flue and can cause a flue fire if coated too thick after prolonged continuous burning of pine.
No "servicing" is needed. You just get a wire brush that you drag down the flue after chucking a rope down first and tying it to the end of the brush, then go the other way, dragging it up the flue.
A new heater should have a wire brush in the "kit"
All the last year's coating of soot will fall in the heater, so get ready to dump it by sprinkling it lightly on your garden all over the place.
You'll save $$$$ by not needing a "professional" to "service" your heater that way!
Leave about an inch or so of ash in the bottom of the heater to help the fire kick along all night. A bare heater seems to be hard to light for some reason??
The ash, cleaned out each week, is really good sprinkled on your lawn or garden . . . but don't overdo it in one spot. It looks unsightly and is alkaline for plants.

Thanks everyone for all your replies, lots of very good information,

Thanks again

Daihla

where abouts do you get your wood for only $75 a tonne ? and do they deliver? as its bloody expensive up here in the Barossa :(

Hi Jo,

Sorry you have been unable to get in touch with the chap I passed on the details of. I know he is employed by a company called Heat n Tint so why not give them a call direct if you have not had any luck as yet. Their details can be found via this link

http://www.yellowpages.com.au/onlineSoluti...97106ea2b&st=bn

Jet :)

We have a new slow-combustion stove and we get 1 tonne of wood sometime in autumn (ours was delivered yesterday) and this lasts the entire winter. We burn redgum only and usually only use the fire in the evenings. (No one is in during the day). The stove is small (only takes 3 medium sized logs) but heats our entire 4 bed's home. If you are thinking of installing one, I'd advise you to ensure the ceiling is insulated and have an overhead fan in the room with the fire. Then you run the fan on winter setting and it pushes the warm air back down into the room. It makes a big difference, especially if you have high ceilings.

And we get wood delivered from Blackwood Timber (in Coromandel Valley) for $240 a tonne.