fitting a used wood burner

[dannyp]

i have a plan to test the heat output, ive grabbed every electric heater i can lay my grubby littel mits on, im not going to be abel to plug them all in but the plan is to drag the workshop genny down to run them and do an expriment.

how meany kw of electric heaters before im watching TV in my pants the difficult bit is going to be finding something to watch, i realise this crude test is going to be about as much of a guide as the output figures of stoves but im curious now and its relativly easy to do.

 

[badabec]

how meany kw of electric heaters before im watching TV in my pants the difficult bit is going to be finding something to watch, i realise this crude test is going to be about as much of a guide as the output figures of stoves but im curious now and its relativly easy to do.

Have SWMBO in the room with you. I spend all winter in T shirt and shorts indoors sweating while my wife is complaining she is cold. Then she has a hot flush and all the windows open as she tries to heat up Essex.
Tea lights are about 50 watts, make a romantic evening of it and buy a 100 from Ikea for about £3 (glimma). Twenty tea lights is about 1KW

 

[minimutly]

Have SWMBO in the room with you. I spend all winter in T shirt and shorts indoors sweating while my wife is complaining she is cold. Then she has a hot flush and all the windows open as she tries to heat up Essex.
Tea lights are about 50 watts, make a romantic evening of it and buy a 100 from Ikea for about £3 (glimma). Twenty tea lights is about 1KW

999 ask for the fire service....

 

[badabec]

999 ask for the fire service....

If my son, ex Royal Marine now fire fighter, turns up, he'll go in through the roof, flood the house with foam and water then cut the roof off your car on his way back to the pump.

 

[Gritineye]

I fitted a few Clearviews, super efficient, wouldn't fit anything else cos they're the best and never had an unhappy customer.

With them the only time the glass gets black is if you try to keep very a low fire going for a long time, or overnight, which also soots up the flue.

Over night just put a few logs on when you go to bed and let it burn down at the same rate to keep the room warm, don't disturb the ash in the morning, put on a couple of sticks and open it up and it'll be away again.

Never use the front air wheel for wood, and don't empty the ash pan, just take some of the ash off the grate when it builds up, that way you will quickly get a hot bed to the fire at all times.

Our own is same as Armalites, small stove running hot, way to go!

 

[julianf]

Our own is same as Armalites, small stove running hot, way to go!

As above, some of the combustible elements don't burn so well at low temperatures.

So end up going up the stack without releasing their energy into the room.

A fire burning hot will generate more output from a fixed quantity of fuel as all elements are burnt, not just the more volitile ones.


With some attention a fire can be monstrously hot, with very little air flow (so not much heat going up the stack) but it's not so easy to regulate it like that.


Our fires never stay in overnight. But then I only ever burn softwoods. They are easy enough to fire up in the morning again though.

Clear view is getting a lot of mention. We have a woodwarm which are also well regarded.

I would have liked a burley holywell, but the woodwarm came up cheap second hand.

We have a morso squirrel also, but I've not installed it yet. I wouldn't have one as a main stove at all, and they're cast iron, which I would always suggest to stay away from, but for a small, cute stove in an office or somthing they are nice. And the parts (which, being cast, will be required!) are readily availible on the used markets.

Woodwarm and burley holywell are both welded steel, not cast (well, the bits that break anyway)

 

[Gritineye]

I found that the simplicity of the one control (close and ignore the wheel for wood) on a Clearview meant easy learning and no customer confusion.

Ours must be 20 yrs old, and still on it's original liners and glass, a neighbour who won't listen and burns a mixture of coal briquettes and wood, had one glass go opaque and is working on another, has also done in a couple of sets of liners.

 

[Wozzaaah]

The instructions for ours say to open the airwheel when lighting then close it fully when it’s established and regulate the output with the airwash control.

 

[Gareth J]

I fitted a few Clearviews, super efficient, wouldn't fit anything else cos they're the best and never had an unhappy customer.

With them the only time the glass gets black is if you try to keep very a low fire going for a long time, or overnight, which also soots up the flue.

Over night just put a few logs on when you go to bed and let it burn down at the same rate to keep the room warm, don't disturb the ash in the morning, put on a couple of sticks and open it up and it'll be away again.

Never use the front air wheel for wood, and don't empty the ash pan, just take some of the ash off the grate when it builds up, that way you will quickly get a hot bed to the fire at all times.

Our own is same as Armalites, small stove running hot, way to go!

As someone who's fitted a few clear views, have a question.

My folks have the 8kw version. Which is massively overkill for the slightly larger than average but not massive, well insulated living room.

Ideally we'd swop it for a 5kw but until that happens, what about....double lining the firebox to make it smaller/loose less heat and be able to sustain a smaller hot fire? Madness....?

 

[bricol]

I've got a Morso Squirrel - still working well, all original after 10 years. Only reason I bought it was due to my grandad having one simply sat in the hearth 30 yrs ago - he'd fished it out of a skip!

 

[armalites]

I fitted a few Clearviews, super efficient, wouldn't fit anything else cos they're the best and never had an unhappy customer.

With them the only time the glass gets black is if you try to keep very a low fire going for a long time, or overnight, which also soots up the flue.

Over night just put a few logs on when you go to bed and let it burn down at the same rate to keep the room warm, don't disturb the ash in the morning, put on a couple of sticks and open it up and it'll be away again.

Never use the front air wheel for wood, and don't empty the ash pan, just take some of the ash off the grate when it builds up, that way you will quickly get a hot bed to the fire at all times.

Our own is same as Armalites, small stove running hot, way to go!

Where we are only about 25 minutes from the home of Clearview, their showroom in Ludlow is something worth seeing in itself. Massive detached town house/mansion in the shadow of the castle. They have wood burners on display and running in every room.

Out here they are something people aspire too, we know several people who've had other wood burners and then eventually get a Clearview and never look back. One of our friends eventually decided to get one, the installer was a friend of theirs. He said from a profit point of view every other stove would make him more money because there is no margin on Clearviews but he will always steer people to one because he says it's only brand where never gets any issues with customer sat. Our friend couldn't believe it, he gone to smaller stove, the house was warmer, he was using less wood and only having to empty it once a week/fortnight.

 

[J1nx]

Another Clearview owner here, have the 400 in our living room. It’s a fantastic stove and we have had a few.
Wheel open to light as per instructions and then close with the bar for control. As mentioned earlier the newer DEFRA exempt stoves will not control as well, they will not allow low burning.

In the dining room we have an upgrade on the Clearview, it’s the Woodwarm firebug 8kw it’s a real powerhouse and heats the room nicely even with the 6m ceiling height that sucked all the heat from the old Villager that the Woodwarm replaced.

 

[armalites]

The Pioneer 400 is listed as 1-5kw and the only time ours is running full chat is when we light it or when we need to get it warmed up after low running. The problem is people look at them and think they are small. You really need to have a big open space to heat if you for anything above a 500. I'm talking about the sort of houses where the sofa is 12-15' from the fire. If ours is flat out you cannot stand closer than a few feet and you have to turn your head when you open the door because it's so hot. I've seen the thermometer that they provide showing 300c on the top plate, that's only when I've put wood on,opened it up and then gone and done something else and forgotten about it.

We have a friend who has a 650 in room that doesn't need it, it looks nice but they also have a chimney with a really good draw so it eats wood and they struggle to keep it down.

 

[Gritineye]

As someone who's fitted a few clear views, have a question.

My folks have the 8kw version. Which is massively overkill for the slightly larger than average but not massive, well insulated living room.

Ideally we'd swop it for a 5kw but until that happens, what about....double lining the firebox to make it smaller/loose less heat and be able to sustain a smaller hot fire? Madness....?

That could work, not sure how to hold it in place though, maybe talk to Clearview?

 

[Gritineye]

The instructions for ours say to open the airwheel when lighting then close it fully when it’s established and regulate the output with the airwash control.

Yes, but 1st time wood burning customers get confused, I like to keep it simple, just have the door ajar whilst it gets going, then shut it.

 

[gaz1]

for those that put there stoves in low or very low settings has anyone of you checked your chimney for its output ?

is there smoke coming out of your chimney or is it clean smoke

best to check during the day than at night

ive played with mine and yes i do use a different stove but even on low settings mine remains smokeless compared to many stoves that dont

 

[Gareth J]

I'm a bit fussy with our glass. Gets cleaned before every use. But it's just a squirt with water and wipe off with cotton rag, no elbow grease required.

To that end, I don't bother trying to keep it in. I deliberately wait until it's all charcoal/embers. No flames at all. Then shut it right down. Kill it. The stove is well sealed enough to do that.

Next day it's out but the glass is very nearly clean. The best bit though is that you're also left with charcoal, to be used as kindling for the next firing. No more chopping kindling. If pushed, you can light it with just a couple sheets of newspaper, some of last night's charcoal and full sized logs.

 

[MCKDAVID]

Here's my workshop heating, picked it up for scrap price, good part of the rear end was rotted out. Bizzarely it was just the steel casing that was gone, the internal cast iron liner plates were ok, a half day with grinder and welding new steel in, she was as good as new, been in 5 years now...

14kW, or so it says??? doubt it's that much in real terms.. heats the workshop fine, I put a wee fan behind it which makes a huge difference to the temperature gradient throughout the workshop. (ok Parm, a guard is on the list hehehehe - it's slow running and there's only me here).

We have a plentiful supply of wood from the farm, but I keep the good oak etc (which doesn't spit) for the house open fires, and I keep all the poorer grade stuff for here, so this fire sees more of all the odd sizes, branches, soft wood off cuts, chipboard etc, all the rubbish that here makes no difference.. Lum has a really good draw, so still get a good clean hot burn though, lum only smokes on start up generally. It definitely depends on the quality of the wood though, no doubt.

Like Johnser, I shut it in at night, it goes out leaving a nice easy starter for the morning. Brush over the ash which drops into the pan, leaving the charcoal. I throw some fresh kindling in, a couple of logs, air vents wide open, with a wee firestarter cube it soon gets started, by the time the kettle's boiled and tea's up, there's a decent roar from it, gag in the air to about a quarter and she'll sit at that all day.. Generally the glass stays clean, but if I burn a lot of the poorer quality stick, it can soot up a bit. Throw in a few decent logs, get a good burn going, and that soon disapears. Must admit I like seeing the flames when I'm sitting besides it at tea time.. I could sit there for hours watching it, sometimes difficult to leave it, especially on the colder mornings....

 

[dannyp]

sounds like i may have to go and have a look at clearview as they arnt that far away really. just been haveing a bit of a work out this evening how to do the lineing ect

 

[Gareth J]

Worth checking prices at your local suppliers too, mine were able to offer a small discount on the clearview web price. Maybe clearview will at their showroom too but I didn't have that option.