The past year has seen rise and fall in those debating on purchasing wood burning stoves. Questions have flown around; whether they are worth the money, if they are eco-friendly, and how much they truly heat your home. A recent report from This is Money.co.uk could help identify the savings customers can benefit from their log burner. Read on to find out more.
When used correctly, research shows eco-design log and smokeless fuel burners can save customers anywhere from £92 to £128 on their heating bills per year.
Compare this to the typical gas and electricity bills paid by households, standing at £1928 yearly (Ofgem price cap from January 1). You can see where the savings are not only desirable but attainable.
On average in the UK, the cost of running a gas boiler runs to £1431 per year (from research carried out by professional services firm Gemsery). However, it falls to £1339 when using a combination of both gas heating and burning kiln-dried wood. Furthermore, this research also shows the cost dropping to £1303 when homeowners combine gas central heating and burning Homefire’s Ecoal smokeless fuel, the green alternative to coal.
This cost was worked out on a household heating the home at a comfortable 21 degrees Celsius in every room of the house with gas central heating. Additionally, this was compared to a log burning stove heating one room to a temperature of 23c, whilst the gas heating was used for the remaining rooms in the same household, at a minimum of 18c (the minimum temperature a house should be heated to via the NHS).
Average per kilowatt-hour costs:
ECoal – 8.88p
Kiln-dried logs – 11.94p
Gas on average – 7.42p with a daily standing charge of 29.6p
Gas proves to be the cheapest option of heating the home from this study, in line with the money they spend on it. However, energy bill savings from a log burner are due to how homeowners use them.
Generally, central heating radiators are limited to the room up they are installed in, even if this room is not used at the time. Yet log burning stoves offer the potential to heat rooms to a higher temperature than radiators. Thus allowing the user to heat the home differently – and even save money.
A modernised term coined for this is ‘zonal heating’, where log stove owners would prefer to heat a singular room at a high temperature and lower the central heating in rooms not used. However, this practise goes back further, to where people had indoor open fires only.
Take note of these research studies and find the perfect heating solution for your home this year.
