We have a newish Rayburn Heatranger and a wood stove and burn about a ton of wood a month in the winter. All our heating, cooking and hot water come from it when it is running. At other times we use an immersion heater, an electric oven and gas hob.

During the winter we normally top up with the immersion and some electric heating (the house is a draughty 16th century cottage) but not this year: we will burn wood and radically reduce our electricity and propane consumption.

Anyway, the Rayburn has been lit on and off since mid September. 

How much do you spend on wood to cover all that heating?

We currently only have electric heating and it is so expensive. I'm considering a heat pump system but had also thought of a wood burner with a back boiler.

 

We have resisted putting the heating on so far, just had the woodburner going three or four times. We were away for the weekend and the house did feel chilly when we got home last night, but the woodburner had it cosy pretty quickly..

 

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Ours has been on for a while. We compromise with the house between 19c and 20c (my wife would have warmer), so generally the rule is:

June: Some sporadic heating required
July: Generally no heating required
August: Generally no heating required
September: Sporadic heating required.

Since we returned from holiday on 25th September it has been on most days.

If we set to 17c like many people seem to, it would hardly have been on. But that just seems too cool.

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How much do you spend on wood to cover all that heating?

We currently only have electric heating and it is so expensive. I'm considering a heat pump system but had also thought of a wood burner with a back boiler.

 

We have resisted putting the heating on so far, just had the woodburner going three or four times. We were away for the weekend and the house did feel chilly when we got home last night, but the woodburner had it cosy pretty quickly..

 

 

Hi Rob. We source a lot of it ourselves but it is very labour intensive. We do have deliveries from a local farmer and spend about £500 over the course of the winter.

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Central heating not on yet. Living room temperature has been dropping steadily and now generally hovers between 17 and 18C. We do have a small tower electric fan which we use occasionally to take the edge off the cold - it's useful in my loft office. The most noticeable thing is that towels and drying clothes are staying damp for much longer now, even with sunny mild days. I think the central heating will come on this week some time as night temperatures are dropping now.

EDIT: Now 16.5C in the living room. Coolest so far this autumn.

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Out of curiosity, does anyone have any experience with Hive’s TRVs? I have TRVs on all my radiators already but was wondering if there was any benefit in getting Hive/smart ones.

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Out of curiosity, does anyone have any experience with Hive’s TRVs? I have TRVs on all my radiators already but was wondering if there was any benefit in getting Hive/smart ones.

Not a lot of benefit, if you already have thermostatic valves, probably rarely change the setting, once you have them at comfortable setting with each rooms temperature.

All you will gain is ability to change the temperature remotely, which is a feature you might rarely use.  There is a downside of cost and having it installed.

There are better things you can spend your money on, rather than this gimmick eg low power LED bulbs and some extra rolls of loft insulation.

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Not a lot of benefit, if you already have thermostatic valves, probably rarely change the setting, once you have them at comfortable setting with each rooms temperature.

All you will gain is ability to change the temperature remotely, which is a feature you might rarely use.  There is a downside of cost and having it installed.

There are better things you can spend your money on, rather than this gimmick eg low power LED bulbs and some extra rolls of loft insulation.

I already have those (in bold) as well as the TRVs I was just wondering if there was any added benefit at all. Installation wouldn’t be a problem as they would be a straightforward swap. With solid granite walls there is little more I can think of realistically/affordably doing to lower costs and increase efficiency, having just replaced our boiler with with as green as possible combi boiler.

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Mine’s set to come on if temperature drops below 19.5c so it’s been on and off for a while now.

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Seeing people talk about their "eyewatering" bills, we pay £191 a month year round for our electricity (everything is electric), and Bulb keep trying to persuade me to pay more. That's for a three-bed 900sq ft end of terrace, and I resist putting any heating on for as long as possible. I don't know where it all goes to be honest. We are on Economy 7 too, and put the dishwasher and washing machine/tumble dryer on timers overnight wherever possible, and the water heating is on a timer too so it uses "cheap" (ho ho) electricity.

We did book a smart meter installation to try and figure out where the power is going, but the meter is in a cupboard in the downstairs loo and the engineer claimed that because he would have to change a wire above head height, he would need a ladder, and the toilet was in the way. If we want a smart meter then we need to remove the toilet. Sod that!

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Seeing people talk about their "eyewatering" bills, we pay £191 a month year round for our electricity (everything is electric), and Bulb keep trying to persuade me to pay more. That's for a three-bed 900sq ft end of terrace, and I resist putting any heating on for as long as possible. I don't know where it all goes to be honest. We are on Economy 7 too, and put the dishwasher and washing machine/tumble dryer on timers overnight wherever possible, and the water heating is on a timer too so it uses "cheap" (ho ho) electricity.

We did book a smart meter installation to try and figure out where the power is going, but the meter is in a cupboard in the downstairs loo and the engineer claimed that because he would have to change a wire above head height, he would need a ladder, and the toilet was in the way. If we want a smart meter then we need to remove the toilet. Sod that!

 

I would definitely look at some form of biomass system (if only a log burner with a back boiler) to reduce your bill. Electricity is just about the most expensive way to heat your house - even more expensive than propane canisters.

Have you got room in your kitchen for a range cooker with a boiler?

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Due to our rural location we are on an oil fired boiler for our heating and hot water. House is 294sqm and all downstairs is underfloor waiting with radiators upstairs. Oil has been kind to us price wise at a cost of around £80 per month. Electricity is going up and up though. What used to be £90 per month is more like £135 now.

I'm awaiting a building warrant for a large garage with upstairs office/games room. Hoping to build it next year depending on material costs. As part of this though we are having an Air Source Heat Pump installed to replace the oil system. Very good government incentive scheme makes it a no brainer. Also installing 14 solar panels on the roof of the garage which should help with the electricity somewhat.

Interesting times ahead no doubt.

We also have a wood burner but it doesn't really do much to heat the upstairs. 

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Due to our rural location we are on an oil fired boiler for our heating and hot water. House is 294sqm and all downstairs is underfloor waiting with radiators upstairs. Oil has been kind to us price wise at a cost of around £80 per month. Electricity is going up and up though. What used to be £90 per month is more like £135 now.

I'm awaiting a building warrant for a large garage with upstairs office/games room. Hoping to build it next year depending on material costs. As part of this though we are having an Air Source Heat Pump installed to replace the oil system. Very good government incentive scheme makes it a no brainer. Also installing 14 solar panels on the roof of the garage which should help with the electricity somewhat.

Interesting times ahead no doubt.

We also have a wood burner but it doesn't really do much to heat the upstairs. 

294 sqm!? That's a big property! Don't blame you for looking for more efficient ways to heat it. 

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294 sqm!? That's a big property! Don't blame you for looking for more efficient ways to heat it. 

We were very lucky to get a large and fairly cheap self build plot. The house is only 6 years old so its well insulated and the underfloor seems to be pretty efficient. But would much rather air than oil and it looks like there's a cost benefit in it.

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We were very lucky to get a large and fairly cheap self build plot. The house is only 6 years old so its well insulated and the underfloor seems to be pretty efficient. But would much rather air than oil and it looks like there's a cost benefit in it.

The Renewable Heat Incentive is coming to an end in a few months, and being replaced with a flat grant rather than the current monthly payment system. It looks simpler but less generous, at a cursory glance. If we do go for an ASHP then it's very unlikely we will have it commissioned in time to benefit from the RHI.

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