Log burner question
 

Hi,
I've recently had a log burner fitted. I'd like to know what is the best type of wood to burn.
Which is best for heat, lemon, olive, orange logs etc.?
Which type burns for longer?
Thanks in advance.
Lic

Re: Log burner question
 

Orange gets it going fast, olive keeps it going longer.

Re: Log burner question
 

You will get more heat out of Olive wood but fruit woods are nearly as calorific.

Re: Log burner question
 

All woods have much the same calorific value per tonne.

The difference is in the density of the wood. The higher the density, the more heat you will get out of a given volume of wood.

If you buy your wood by weight, then they will all be the same, but you will require less bulk of olive wood compared to pine.

From my experience, wood is normally sold by the cubic meter and if it is sold by the tonne it is often an approximation - very few wood sellers have weighing machines that large and won't pay to use a weighbridge.

That's why olive is always more expensive per M3 than lighter woods.

Re: Log burner question
 

Also it's best to buy it in and let it stand outside for the Summer at least, or longer if possible, well in advance of using it, as it is often fresh cut with a high moisture content which does not burn well until properly seasoned.

Re: Log burner question
 

When you get your logs they will be a mixture of different sizes (thickness of branch or trunk)

Remember the thinner the girth the quicker and hotter they will burn, best used to get the log burner going.

The thicker they are the slower and cooler they will burn so best put on later as they are difficult to get going.

We've found that once the burner is going, we alternate between thick and thin. The thick ones go in and really smoulder away rather then burn so the temperature drops in the room but remains warm. If it gets too chilly just put in a few of the thin ones, they catch alight and burn and bring the temperature back up, also adding heat to the remains of the big one and letting it burn again.

Of course you can always take an axe and split the big ones down the centre to cut them in half. In this area logs are sold by the ton, you can get all olive or a mixture of olive and fruit- of course being spain you have no idea which is which or if you have been fiddled or not!

Re: Log burner question
 

Does anyone use one of these and do they works?

Heat Powered Fans | Valiant Stoves

Cheers

Re: Log burner question
 

Does anyone use one of these and do they works?

Heat Powered Fans | Valiant Stoves

Cheers

Re: Log burner question
 

I'm not sure if thats a gimmick or not. However our friends have a log burner that has a fan built into it, they say it is useless in blowing out any more heat. They had far better results having it converted to a metal chimney pipe rather than it being built into a brick chimney. The pipe gives out ambient heat that was lost up the brick chimney.

Re: Log burner question
 

Yes, Flue Pipe is better and I think they must have misunderstood the concept. If you have a fan, the idea is heat redistribution into other rooms.
Maybe the stove is too small?

Re: Log burner question
 

I get olive - but handpick my own to ensure i get good quality dry pieces - the place i get it has a weigh bridge so fill the car hop on pay the difference and away I got. Pay 12c a kilo for olive

Re: Log burner question
 

Our log burner has a built in fan. It pumps out a huge amount of heat and is pretty useless with the fan switched off.

Re: Log burner question
 

A good stove wouldn't really need a fan, unless it's too small for the room. If you have a built in fan, it's really just meant to heat up the room quicker when the stove is first lit.

Re: Log burner question
 

Sorry, I don't agree. All the "cassette" built in log burners I looked at have fans. Free standing ones may not need them.

If we didn't have a fan, the room would never heat up - It has very high ceilings and taking that into account the area to be heated is equivalent to about 100m2 in a normal room.

Re: Log burner question
 

OLIVE WOOD its harder and denser burns for longer eg for overnight burning.

Re: Log burner question
 

I had a look at these and will certainly be getting one if we get a wood burner. They do appear to help with free standing wood burners that don't have their own fans. Spoke to guy on a narrow boat who uses one and he says that they make a massive difference in spreading the heat.
Before anyone asks - no I'm not going to parking a narrowboat in the campo!