With an open fire you cant control the rate of burn. Been there done that. Now got a woodburner & in time you learn to control it to burn slowly. I burn mainly pallets, floor boards & 4x2 joists. Basically whatever is free. Open fires do look, sound & smell great but boy can you get through some wood & coal in one evening...... Its not illegal to collect fallen wood from your local woods you know. Your supposed to get a permit from your local council & if granted will be free.
Trying to control the draw helps a bit when burning logs. My fireplace has a flap in the chimney just above the fireplace which you can close to stop draughts when the fire is not lit, I can partially close it by wedging a bolt in near the hinge. Also closing the door to the room stops it drawing too much and keeps more heat in the room. Only do this once its going well though otherwise it might die down, if it does this open the door slightly ajar to let more air in. I'd have a wood burner if I could, but it would mean ripping out the existing victorian fireplace and I dont think the good lady would like that much. Modern wood burners can be very efficient, theres one in a pub I go in, the smoke is drawn back though the fire and it burns very efficiently heating the whole pub up and producing loads of heat.
Great poem Diddy....not seen that version before. This is the log poem I know... Logs to burn, logs to burn, Logs to save the coal a turn, Here's a word to make you wise, When you hear the woodsman cry. Beechwood fires burn bright and clear, Hornbeam blazes too, If the logs are kept a year, to season through and through. Oaken logs will warm you well, if they're old and dry, Larch logs of pinewood smell but the sparks will fly. Pine is good and so is Yew for warmth through wintry days, The Poplar and the Willow too, they take too long to blaze. Birch logs will burn too fast, Alder scarce at all, Chestnut logs are good to last, cut them in the fall. Holly logs will burn like wax, you should burn them green, Elm logs like smouldering flax, no flames with them are seen. Pear logs and Apple logs, they will scent your room, Cherry logs, across the dogs, they smell like flowers in bloom. Ash logs, so smooth and gray, burn them green or old, Buy up all that come your way they're worth their weight in gold. Basically the same though............get some Ash!
I agree with zed, burning just logs you'll shift tons of the stuff over winter. If you don't fancy coal, you could try something like the waste product logs such as heat logs or ekologs which you can get delivered in bulk for better prices. They burn hotter and slower than logs but have apparently been tested to prove that they are as enviromentally friendly. The big advantage is that the are packed and easy and clean to store and use. I use them in my burner and have had no problems.
If you can afford it get a wood burner installed As others have said an open fire will eat logs compared to coal i tend to burn a base of coal with seasoned hardwod over the top I normally drop a dead standing hardwood tree that nature has seasoned for me but this year ive had no land i can take one from So ive been collecting up the dead limbs that snap of in the high winds and recently ive been burning soft wood fence posts that got left behind when the river flooded
Yup wood burners are a hell of a lot more efficient Its bad enough processing the amount of wood you need to burn on an open fire id hate to have to buy it in Its true wood warms you more than once but after a while it starts to take up a lot of space
we need this much wood the last the winter 10m4... Someone has to cut it all into three sections to fit it in the logburner.... It does keep the whole house warm... I read a article on burning pallets ,something about the preservatives used cannot do you any good.
Pallets nothing wrong with them I just picked up 14 last night from a shop being fitted out. I don't burn the chipboard blocks you get in some but the hardwood ones are great. Its estimated that 90 million pallets are in the UK alone so that means plenty still to brun.
Definitely coal mate, we have an open fire and went for logs first...coal is so much cheaper and burns for so much longer. its a no brained really!
