It's a while since I last updated this blog, but I have been working towards a more sustainable household.

This month I completed the installation of a wood fired stove with back boiler - returning a solid fuel heatsource to a previously abandonned fireplace.

The stove provides heat for the living-room - the most often occupied room, and heat from the boiler is conveyed upstairs to warm the bedrooms and the hot water tank.

The stoves burns about 1kg of well seasoned wood per hour, so a good armful of logs will keep it going all evening. We have been fortunate enough to obtain several tonnes of firewood from a fallen oak tree which should keep us going for a while.

The woodstove and boiler is a self contained system and needs no electricity to operate, unlike the gas boiler which needs power for it's control board, ignition, fan and circulation pump.

Once lit, it gets the room comfortable within about 20 minutes, and needs no more than adding a couple of logs per hour to mantain it.

It's just another element in my design for household sustainability. The cost of gas can go through the roof, and the electricty can go off but we will still be cosy in winter. The installation was designed to allow the stove to contribute to the existing central heating system, yet operate independently if necessary.

The cost of the complete system, including a stainless steel liner for the chimney, plumbing, plus a new stone hearth and brick fire surround was about £1600.