No Heating

Haplo2481 · Post by **Haplo2481** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 2:18 pm

Re: No Heating

by Stray » Sun Nov 25, 2012 12:15 pm

Haplo2481 wrote:I live in a smoke control zone and I'm still allowed to have one. I had to install one from a specific list provide by the council and only burn "split and stacked wood". It cost more because it's more effective and burns more of the wood, but the whole installation will pay for itself within five years.

Great! I was wondering about this, as I also live in a smoke control zone, did you have to get planning permission and notify the council or do you just find someone who can install an approved appliance and let the magic happen?

Hi, I e mailed the council and they directed me to their pdf list of approved fires. I didn't need planning permission, I just picked the fire off the list that I wanted and got a Hetas approved installer to put it in. He opened up my old fire place, tested for leaks with a smoke bomb and stuck a new flue up with bird gaurd and installed the wood burning stove. All in it cost just under £2000. As I get my wood for free i haven't paid anything to heat my house for the last two years! and I stick a kettle on it for free hot water.

Stray · Post by **Stray** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:01 pm

Cheers for info folks, once Christmas is out the way, I will get the cash together for this I think. Seems like a prudent investment.

Post by **jansman** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 8:31 pm

I put in two burners 10 years ago. Now we do have central heating, but it is never used. Today the Plumber fixed in Jan's new cooker. He relit the boiler and asked us to 'turn on the thermostat' we don't have one as the primitive system we have is 20 plus years old. He did not get that we use solid fuel.

Solid fuel is the way to go ( back to!).

papa · Post by **papa** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:49 pm

[quote="jansman"]I put in two burners 10 years ago. Now we do have central heating, but it is never used. Today the Plumber fixed in Jan's new cooker. He relit the boiler and asked us to 'turn on the thermostat' we don't have one as the primitive system we have is 20 plus years old. He did not get that we use solid fuel.

Solid fuel is the way to go ( back to!).[/quote

Second that worked for us for near 30 years. Fitted wood burner with back boiler this time last year to replace the open fires.mmmmm whats a thermostat eh??
just bought a inverter to run radiator pump during power cuts........sorted

Post by **diamond lil** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 5:01 pm

Can I ask about the inverter? What is it and how does it work? I have solid fuel central heating as well.

gary5wift · Post by **gary5wift** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 5:06 pm

An inverter is a device that converts 12V or 24V DC from a battery into 230V AC to power small mains devices. They are a good option for running laptops etc from batteries or vehicle power supplies because they give additional protection against power surges and can be obtained at reasonable cost. They tend to be quite low powered though - bigger ones are available but they are quite expensive and drain the batteries quickly.

junmist · Post by **junmist** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 5:50 pm

has anyone got a picture of one please and a simple drawing of how it all fits together

Sorry Im one of those annoying people that works from drawings not from instructions

gary5wift · Post by **gary5wift** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:26 pm

You can see a cheap and simple one here. just connect the red and black terminals to your battery and plug your mains plug into the socket. Be aware of how much power your mains device draws otherwise you risk overloading the inverter and tripping it out.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/300W-Charger-Po ... 031&sr=8-3

ELM · Post by **ELM** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:57 am

I will find out what it is called but it is one of the best wood burning stoves available. My parents are getting it to replace ours because we have to keep on piling the logs on if we want a fire but with the one that we are getting, you only need one log and your house will be warm for a day. Again I am sorry for forgetting it's name but I will try to find it.

TorNicho · Post by **TorNicho** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:12 am

Inverter Power Consumption Tips:

Power(W) = Voltage(V) x Current(A) (Although Current is signified by I, for the purposes of this it will be A).
Voltage(V) = Power(W) / Current(A)
Current(A) = Power(W) / Voltage(V)

This is a very simple equation and you would do well to remember it.

Firstly, the I advise you get an inverter that will exceed your requirements, 100W bulb-150W inverter, 2kW kettle-2.5kW inverter. Mainly because appliances draw a startup surge greater than that of the continuous running.
(For the sake of ease in the examples, the inverter will be sufficent to power the required device)

Batteries output is usually measured in Amp Hours or Ah. The number on the battery is the total number of amps it can drive in 1 hour. 100Ah would be 100 Amps for 1 Hour, or 50 Amps for 2 Hours, or even 1 Amps for 100 Hours.
This will, however, completely drain (and kill) your battery. (there is loads on battery cycles and lives online).

So you want to power a 230 Volt, 100 Watt light bulb with your inverter and a 100Ah battery.

100W / 230V = 0.435A --- 100Ah / 0.435A = 229.89 Hours

So that would give you over 200 hours of light from the battery (if it is not recharged and you kill it)

So, powering a 230 Volt, 2 kilo Watt kettle with your inverter and a 100Ah battery.

2000W / 230V = 8.7A --- 100Ah / 8.7A = 11.5 Hours.

Remember: - Batteries are mearly energy storage, not a source. If you do not recharge them by the same amount you are drawing, they WILL run out and die.