keep or ditch a wood burner?

2 years ago

Hi!

I’m buying this house and it currently has a wood burner. I don’t see the benefit of this as I don’t like the smoke smell they produce and they are environmentally bad

But on the other hand I’ve heard they increase the property price. Does anyone have a view of whether to get rid of it or keep it

A big part of me wants to change it to a hole in the wall - electric fireplace or a bio ethanol one.

Appreciate any thoughts!

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Comments (8)

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Naturally Allard
2 years ago
hi so im an eco friendly interior designer and your right these arent eco friendly you can reduce the impact to a point if you used locally sourced log and wood chippings but not enough to change that. If you swapped for an electric fireplace theyre more eco friendly and a lot more versatile in design so you have more choice to fit your style.
KP
Original Author
2 years ago
Thanks! I think I’ll go with electric - do you not like the bio ethanol?
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Hi there, It's always difficult working out the best place for a fireplace and indeed a tv but what I would ask is why have you opted for an L-Shaped extension? Have you got lots of constraints on the land or the garden? Long and thin extensions can always be a problem as they lack the width to create nice spaces without bottle necks or furniture blocking circulation and people movement. One of the things you will have to think about is the venting or flue / chimney and then there's the regulations about the stove being a minimum distance away from combustible materials. It would be nice to be able to look at the burner while you're facing into the garden so maybe a wall on the patio side to break up the glass doors and then add more light in from above to make it a little cosier. Sometimes too much glass can feel / look cold. The TV is always a problem but I suggest again to possible mount it on a wall but remember if you have the screen facing all that glass you will get reflection problems. Maybe you need to make a feature wall out of slate or stone that would have the wood burning stove against it and the TV offset a little on the same wall. Then have your glass doors either side so when you're sat on your sofa you can see the garden / patio all while sat in front of your stove and viewing the tv. Its a difficult one all in all but if you have the opportunity to alter the L shape and make at least one leg of it slightly wider it may give you a better option for the burner, sofa and the cosiness without the feel of a long thin room with not many passing places. Just a couple of suggestions but as I can see the design brief or land size / constraints etc I might be a little off the mark. Cheers. Simon www.scdc.biz
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Sonia
2 years ago
I’m totally on your side. Burners produce dangerous particles both in the house and outside and at the moment particles from burners are higher than those emitted by cars. There have been several articles recently written on this subject and have a read of this article from The Guardian. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are banned in the future. Horrible things.
KP
Original Author
2 years ago
Wow thanks for sharing that @sonia! I’m definitely going to ditch it now and get an electric or bio-ethanol one. Probably electric
Jonathan
2 years ago
I happily ripped a wood burner out of my last house as I didn’t think it suited the architecture….. in your (likely) Victorian house a cast iron fire surround would be a lovely feature. I also agree with the concerns about how they ruin the air quality in your house.

My current house is modern and I chose an electric fire instead. The flames are realistic and beautiful- I can enjoy them even on hot days…. And if my central heating ever went down I could switch the electric heater part of my fire on too.
VRP
2 years ago
We've got a bio ethanol burner. It can be converted into a log burner if we wanted.
Our living room is quite small and it's not our main source of heating but we love it.
We're going to do the same in our dining room.
KP
Original Author
2 years ago
Thanks @Jonathan! I’m going to be changing this wall to a media wall, so I don’t think the iron would fit well.

@VRP - that looks great! Do you feel the warmth from the bio-ethanol? I guess I could just get an insert for bio-ethanol without removing the whole system
VRP
2 years ago
@KP yes you do but no way near as much as a log burner! But I think a log burner would be too much for us.
We live in a village and as soon as you drive in or open the door you can smell everyone's fire and the smog!
It's our bit for the environment and don't think I would go back now!

keep or ditch a wood burner?

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Naturally Allard

KP
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Sonia

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keep or ditch a wood burner?

Comments (8)

Naturally Allard

KPOriginal Author

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Sonia

KPOriginal Author

Jonathan

VRP

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