Originally Posted by ugly

Ok so opinion is yes I can and should do. I split a couple of ton an hour by hand you puffters. That said thanks anyway, chimney was from a fireplace 1960's build Ex Stab has been there and I have a all bar a blanking plate. sounds good!
Thanks arrse again, oh unfortunately i cant find out the maker yet as its still in Lewes and also is very old so may be obsolete!

As from oct 2011 you are required to have a CO detector

If you are in 'sorting the woodburner out' mode it might be worth your while getting some kind of multi-fuel grate. You could get one lashed up out of mild steel for occasional use.

I find that when it's proper brass monkeys it takes a while for a woodie to warm up properly and belt the heat out - half a scuttle of coal sets it off like a rocket and then it's back to the wood.

Originally Posted by ugly

I have found new ones for under 250 but apparently you dont need to line the chimney if it was built properly?
I have beenn told that mine will have a lightweight ally flue for the gas fire installed which will need to come out otherwise it could melt. It needs the angle pipes and blanking plates which it has apparently and that should be enough!
Not sure how the council would look at this but its my house not theirs!

How the council regards it is that any heat producing appliance should be installed by a self-certifying installer (a Hetas bloke in this case) or you should pay their building control people to inspect and certify it (which usually costs more than getting a Hetas bloke to install it). They occasionally prosecute people, usually when someone does something very daft that they can't ignore. There was someone convicted recently for a dangerous installation (flue in contact with timbers, etc.).

However, you do need to be very careful with solid fuel stuff because of the numerous hazards involved. They work by pyrolizing the fuel (heating it to drive off vapours and gases) and burning the resulting gases; a major component of the gas is carbon monoxide, which is seriously nasty shite.

The twin-wall flexible flue liners are not regarded as a permanent installation, but are much easier to install than anything else unless your chimney goes straight up.

The fatal back boiler explosion was in a housing association property where some contractors capped the pipes, leaving water sealed in the boiler. There were bits of shrapnel embedded in walls and in granny. If it's not sealed, it should run safely; the advice for redundant boilers was to drill them and fill with sand. I'd be more concerned about the heat distorting the boiler, since there won't be any water cooling, and it may be knackered by the time you come to fill it. My in-laws used to have a back boiler connected to a feed & expansion tank, but nothing else. The tank was dry the first time I saw it, so I filled it. It eventually boiled dry again and ran dry thereafter, apparently without any ill effects.

If you've got 70 acres, you may want to look into RHI payments. The government pays you, every year for 20 years, for each kW of renewable heating you install. People have been using this like a pension scheme because there's a better return than on most other investments. This involves an approved appliance (usually a very expensive Austrian log burner) and an approved installer.

Originally Posted by Micawber

If you are in 'sorting the woodburner out' mode it might be worth your while getting some kind of multi-fuel grate. You could get one lashed up out of mild steel for occasional use.

Some of the dog-basket type grates have a negative efficiency, i.e., they blow more heat up the chimney than they radiate into the room. A stove would minimze the amount of cutting and chopping required.

Wood fuelled heating - biofuels, biomass boilers & systems - benefits & costs
FAQs | RH Incentive
Eligible biomass fuels | RH Incentive
Onetap, cheers, the links are quite useful when I searched, many thanks.

Originally Posted by ugly

I suppose I could take the back boiler out and replace with a fire brick!
Or if I am lucky it may be one I can blank off?

It may be just as cheap to couple up to your central heating and domestic hot water? Pity not to utalise all that cheap efficient energy.

Id go with creating a temporary grate, and installing the back boiler properly when its warmer. With a continuous free supply of timber, its a damn shame not to make best use of it.

You can have log burners with the back boiler feeding your hot water tank coil, radiators, whatever really. In winter I remember my mum getting in a panic and running hot water as the back boiler was kettling. Sounds like something is going to blow up.

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Originally Posted by Bollock-chops

Id go with creating a temporary grate, and installing the back boiler properly when its warmer. With a continuous free supply of timber, its a damn shame not to make best use of it.

You can have log burners with the back boiler feeding your hot water tank coil, radiators, whatever really. In winter I remember my mum getting in a panic and running hot water as the back boiler was kettling. Sounds like something is going to blow up.

Log burning stoves , backboiler logs burning stove, log burners back boilers

Up in Cumbria, I used to have a big old Franco Belge that would burn anything at all..amazing amount of heating and hot water. A bonus was that it had a wonderful side oven that was great for baking and could easily accommodate two large turkeys.

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Ugly mind and keep ahold of the sawdust for a steady fire. Frog sheet metal woodburner bought from Mull picked up in Oban lasted five years as the heat eventually burnt it out. Cast Iron lasts longer.