In article ,
R D S wrote:
I am toying with a log burning stove which can do hot water and CH.

I would be interested to hear from anyone burning logs as to whether
they find it economical or not and any other input.

We have one which is room heat only - up to 8.5KW output by the book.
Cost us about £1200 to have it all installed including the stove. (A
Stovax one) Just about to get a 2nd one installed - again room heat
only in my office (I work from home), but in the future we're looking
at replacing our conventional gas back-boiler with a 3rd stove with a
back boiler fitted.

You need a modern stove with an efficient air circulation / pre-heat
system to get the most out of the wood and not chuck most of it up the
chimney. (In a pub last night with a log-fire and I was convinced all
it was doing was sucking cold air into the room rather than heating it!!!)

However, we have an easy supply of wood, relatively cheap, our own
chainsaw and a gert big axe to split them with... (And for now, the
physical abiltiy to cope with it!)

So your source of wood is something to consider - and note that the
Forrestry Commi$$ion have just deicded that for Elfin Safety reasons
(ie. we get more moeny out of the commercial people) they can't let
mere mortals collect firewood anymore (at least in Wales - we just got
a 6-month permit where we are this year, who knows about next)

The one thing that concerns me is coming home to a cold house in the
middle of winter, so to that end what I want is a big thermal store
and if I need to, then I can dump this into the radiators until the
fire gets going - well that's a plan anyway. (Store being replenished
by anything to hand - solar[1], cooker (which has a small back boiler)
and the wood stove.

Gordon

[1] and I don't give a hoot about the cost-return on solar water - as long
as it reduces my bills to the money grabbing utility rip-off merchants,
I'll be happy!