Woodburner Questionnaire - please help

I am doing a bit of research for a paper on Biomass for Domestic use in the UK, and would be very grateful if any woodburner users on the forum could help me out with the answers to a few questions.

Please feel free to PM replies or post them in the thread, as you prefer.

Many thanks in advance for your help .

QUESTIONS:
How long have you had your current woodburner?
-How long have you been using a woodburner, if different from above?
- Does your woodburner provide primary or secondary heat? (ie do you have central heating as well)
- How many days a week do you have it lit?
- How many hours a day?
- What date did you start and finish this season? (or anticipate finisihing)
- Is this typical usage for you or has the cold weather around Christmas been a significant factor in your consumption?
- How much wood do you burn in a given period (day/week/month/season – what ever is easiest)?
- Where do you source your wood?
- Do you burn coal as well as wood? if so how much, how often?
- Has the price of the wood you source changed over the past few years?
- Do you have mains gas?
- Are you an Urban/Suburban/Rural dweller? (please do not answer "Yes")
- Does your woodburner provide anything other than direct heat (eg cooking, back boiler)?
- What is your prime reason for having a woodburner? (Have access to cheap/free wood; Had one when we moved in; Just enjoy the feel of it; Reducing carbon footprint; Voices in my head told me to get one; or whatever...)

UK only? Or would you like input from Europe!

How long have you had your current woodburner?

Since we moved in, 13 years ago.

-How long have you been using a woodburner, if different from above?

- Does your woodburner provide primary or secondary heat? (ie do you have central heating as well)

Hmm sometimes primary, sometimes secondary...if we have got it really going well then the oil boiler does not come on at all, as CM has made a clever bit of control kit and zoned the CH so if the woodburner zone is warm then the heating doesn't come on.

Obviousl;y if the Oil fired Aga is on, then that has an effect as well, but that is only on in the very depth of winter during the very coldest weather.

This last week it was off and the CH did not come on , as the woodburner was going well.

Also the chimneys for the Aga and the woodburner are up the middle of the house so we get residual heat soak from that upstairs. The improved insulation CM has done over the last 10 years has made a huge difference as well, such that rooms stay at a comfortable 18 or so with no extra heat input, just warmth from the central woodburner/aga and solar gain from the daytime through the S facing windows and the porch area ( which we open up to get the maximum benifit from the sunshine.

I also go around shutting blinds and curtains to keep heat in and maximise the warmth..

- How many days a week do you have it lit?

Every day from about Oct to about April plus other cold days if needed. Sometimes even in June!

- How many hours a day?

We use the woodburner from (usually) late October until April, but at the beginning and end of our season it may not be lit until 5 or 6 pm...and goes out overnight. In the depths of winter we have it going 24/7 and get it going from the ashes in the morning.

- What date did you start and finish this season? (or anticipate finishing)

Started End Oct and will finish probably mid April

- Is this typical usage for you or has the cold weather around Christmas been a significant factor in your consumption?

Used more and had fire stoked more during very cold spell but apart from that normal useage

- How much wood do you burn in a given period (day/week/month/season – what ever is easiest)?

1.5 – 2 cords of 2 year old plus dried mixed broadleaf wood over an average winter season some coppiced faggots in there as well for kindling, also renovation of house generated lots of woodwormy 100 year old floorboards which are really good as kindling…!

- Where do you source your wood?

From our own woodland

- Do you burn coal as well as wood? if so how much, how often?

No

- Has the price of the wood you source changed over the past few years?

N/A

- Do you have mains gas?

No

- Are you an Urban/Suburban/Rural dweller? (please do not answer "Yes")

Rural

- Does your woodburner provide anything other than direct heat (eg cooking, back boiler)?

Cooking, it used to run CH system but had too useless a boiler to do it properly so we disconnected it to get a better heating effect in the room it is in. We are going to install more efficient modern system in 2010 with back boiler and possibly also a wood burning stove in the kitchen for cooking and hot water.

- What is your prime reason for having a woodburner? (Have access to cheap/free wood; Had one when we moved in; Just enjoy the feel of it; Reducing carbon footprint; Voices in my head told me to get one; or whatever...)

Have access to free wood; Had one when we moved in; Just enjoy the feel of it; Reducing carbon footprint;

And I LOVE lighting fires....

How long have you had your current woodburner? - since we moved in 4 years ago
-How long have you been using a woodburner, if different from above? see above
- Does your woodburner provide primary or secondary heat? (ie do you have central heating as well) Primary - we have a wood furnace as well for back up
- How many days a week do you have it lit? - 7 days a week from Nov to Mar
- How many hours a day? 24
- What date did you start and finish this season? (or anticipate finisihing) Around Late Oct to Late March/Apr
- Is this typical usage for you or has the cold weather around Christmas been a significant factor in your consumption? pretty typical
- How much wood do you burn in a given period (day/week/month/season – what ever is easiest)? about 7-9 cords a year
- Where do you source your wood? some from our wood lot, some from a neighbour supplier
- Do you burn coal as well as wood? if so how much, how often?nope
- Has the price of the wood you source changed over the past few years? yes, $5 a cord last year, reflect the fluctuations in Gas
- Do you have mains gas? nope
- Are you an Urban/Suburban/Rural dweller? (please do not answer "Yes") Rural
- Does your woodburner provide anything other than direct heat (eg cooking, back boiler)? no
- What is your prime reason for having a woodburner? (Have access to cheap/free wood; Had one when we moved in; Just enjoy the feel of it; Reducing carbon footprint; Voices in my head told me to get one; or whatever...) It was there when we moved in - we plan to replace it with a Rayburn when we can afford it

A picture of our woodburner, its a Woodmann, now a defunct firm, not very good but it does the job...will be replacing it probably this year , as part of the sitting room rip out , dry line and insulate and rebuild...

Then I guess we will use less wood for the same effect...especially if we do get a Clearview..!

How long have you had your current woodburner?
Not precisely sure. 30 years?
-How long have you been using a woodburner, if different from above?
31 years
- Does your woodburner provide primary or secondary heat? (ie do you have central heating as well)
No operational central heating during that time.
- How many days a week do you have it lit?
- How many hours a day?
- What date did you start and finish this season? (or anticipate finisihing)
Seasonal. Approximately 7x24 December through February. Fires likely every night November and March and through the day if not a sunny, unusually warm day. Most nights October and April. Any cold nasty days the rest of the year might get a fire to "take the chill off".
(no other way to answer those three questons except combined)
- Is this typical usage for you or has the cold weather around Christmas been a significant factor in your consumption?
Typical. There was no cold snap around Christmas and in fact no cold snap (by our standards) the entire winter.
- How much wood do you burn in a given period (day/week/month/season – what ever is easiest)?
For the year, a touch under 7 cords. Say 20 stere if you do wood meteric.
- Where do you source your wood?
We buy it from a local farmer. In our area the cost of firewood is 90-95% in the falling, the bucking, the splitting, and the haulage with standing firewood costing only 5-10$US per cord. We could of course harvest from our own land but would need tractor to haul, etc.
- Do you burn coal as well as wood? if so how much, how often?
No
- Has the price of the wood you source changed over the past few years?
Yes, risen fairly substanitally with the skyrocket in fuel cost, etc. The wood itself hasn't gotten much more expensive (the "stumpage" price) but fule, labor, etc. have)
- Do you have mains gas?
Mains gas? Heck, we don't have mains water, mains sewage, high speed phones lines. See next answer;
- Are you an Urban/Suburban/Rural dweller? (please do not answer "Yes")
Rural by local standards. Probably "wilderness" by UK standards. If going by the size of the smallest "block" which could driven around by a car and I don't know how many 5-10K acre forest blocks over there.
- Does your woodburner provide anything other than direct heat (eg cooking, back boiler)?
It has a cook plate but we normally have a raised grating holding a couple "ducks" full of water to keep the air from getting too dry in the house. A few times a winter make a soup or stew.
- What is your prime reason for having a woodburner? (Have access to cheap/free wood; Had one when we moved in; Just enjoy the feel of it; Reducing carbon footprint; Voices in my head told me to get one; or whatever...)
Ecological balance in our local ecosystem. Wood grows here, no surface coal, no oil wells, etc. From our own land could obtain more than enough wood on a truly sustainable basis. Wouldn't even have to cut down any live trees (enough natural falls from >80 acres of woods)