F I R E P L A C E. You can buy ones specifically for burning driftwood - my parent;s have one. Gas can be expensive. and lethal if you're not carefull. Fireplace will only cost as much as you're willing to spend. no hidden costs. plus it's a nice dry heat too
dinx,
May 15, 6:15am
Our flued gas heating doesn't add more water to the house, but it doesn't force the usual everyday moisture out either like a woodfire does.
Third option, have you looked at pellet fires? Some people who want wood but hate dealing with wood love them, others say they are noisey too as they also have a fan.
aredwood,
May 15, 9:18am
You are thinking about old dinosaur model gas fires. Those are really inefficient. The modern efficient gas fires have a glass front panel, and the inside is completely sealed from the room. The air that is used for burning the gas is taken from outside. The Rinnai Arriva and Rinnai Evolve gas fires both have this feature. And there are other models as well.
And even the dinosaur models, assuming that their flue is working properly they won't put any moisture into the room either. Because the amount of air that is drawn up the flue / chimney will take all of the moisture with it. If some of the combustion gasses are not going up the flue that means there is a flue fault and the fire shouldn't be used.
edjill41,
May 15, 9:38am
I have the Rinnai Arriva gas fire - love it, looks great ( log burning look alike)- flued to the outside wall. Instant heat - definitely NO moisture.
nzoomed,
May 15, 10:09pm
Thats good to know, ive never seen such models before ive seen alot of new homes with gas fires that are made to look like a real fire on hot coals with stones around them etc, they look nice but dont seem to throw alot of heat out at all.
aredwood,
May 16, 10:18am
That type is called a decorative gas fire. They are designed (as the name suggests) just to allow you to look at flames. Any heat from them is a bonus. Their efficiency is similar to an open log fire. With the main difference that they burn gas instead of wood. Therefore really inefficient.
I wish the EECA will pull finger and introduce mandatory energy efficiency labelling for all gas heaters and fires. Problem is those companies that only sell inefficient models will oppose that.
cgvl,
May 16, 10:30am
IMHO Wood burner all the way. We had flued gas heater and it did put moisture into the air. Had it removed and replaced with a wood burner and its the next best thing to sliced bread. My only moan is that we didn't hook it up to the Hot water as well. Oh and how I know about the moisture is because I suffered more illness during the time we had the gas than since we put the fire in. House is dryer and warmer and its an old villa type as well with minimal insulation.
fpress,
May 16, 10:33am
We have a Rinnai Arriva. It is the BEST ever! No moisture, no smell just lots of lovely heat. Heats our entire house. And not expensive to run, as we are on mains gas and have gas cooking and water heating too. I would recommend a Rinnai Arriva anyday. Have had it for about 3 years now. Aredwood is right. a lot of you people are talking rubbish and are thinking of old gas fires with no glass fronts. There's gas fires and then there's gas fires. Research is vital.
bluefrog2,
May 16, 10:48am
I wouldn't have thought Hamilton would get cold enough for a fire. And if your heat pump didn't work well it was either too old or not installed right.
Having said that, I would go for fire. Either wood or a pellet fire, if you can get the pellet fuel at a reasonable price where you are. If you can get it on a wetback, even better!
daryl14,
May 16, 5:49pm
15 degrees is like a minimum standard internationally for healthy living or something.
Often sub zeros in the Tron overnight in winter, and sometimes an all day fog. Def need fires.
dibble35,
May 16, 7:59pm
LOL. I had to laugh at this. My family are all in Whangarei and my mum in Kerikeri and we all have woodburners. It definitely gets cold enough for a fire up here, so Hamilton would be worse. We could survive without a fire - sure, but wouldn't be very comfortable. Actually had the fire going the last 2 nights, so nice to come home to a warm house - I know we are wooses
maccachic1,
May 16, 11:23pm
Nothing like a toasty warm house - def not as cold in Tauranga as it was in Dunedin but I appreciate the heat from my fire all the same. Plus its good for the cats mental health :)
bluefrog2,
May 17, 1:16am
Well, after what happened in Christchurch, I'm really happy to have a heating system that works even if the power goes off. But dealing with firewood, kindling and ashes is a pain. If we ever have to replace the fire, I'd definitely look wistfully into a pellet fuel system with automatic feed. At the moment though, we use the heat pump very successfully for 3/4 of the year, and the fire only in winter. That saves us having to move even more firewood!
shuddupowh,
May 17, 3:51am
Definitely cold enough here in winter. We aren't in winter yet and the family is starting to feel it! In the dead of winter it is usually thick blankets of fog & frozen lawns & car windows. Right up until just after mid day and its still cold as the air does not warm up. The heat pump was 8years old. And we found the problem, a leak, so it ran out of pressure and crapped it self. Not worth fixing & the costs of a HP are around $3K+ (as per quotes) + ongoing power costs & it never heated the whole house. House not correct layout to install 2. Still trying to line up (so far, 2) companies who supply & install fireplaces & gas fires so hopefully next week they can show us some options! But I'm starting to lean to the fire side. Im also gutted as just a few houses down a man cut down his tree & had the wood for free takeaway. but then someone came with a huge trailer & took 3 (maybe 4) loads. was a MASSIVE tree! That wood would've lasted 2 winters once all split up! So p-ssed off. :(
woody89,
May 17, 8:21pm
Decisions decisions! I have a home with a Rinnai flued gas heater- glass front, flame effect. Despite others opinions we find it heats very well & of course it is very convenient. I have another home with a log burner. No doubt about the heat it throws out. Things to consider if choosing between them, apart from cost of install & running: In a residential setting, you will only be given consent for an eco burner, meaning that you won't have the benefit of damping down overnight & restarting from embers the next morning. Woodburner needs the flue cleaned annually- may be/become an insurers requirement Our woodbox has been in place approx. 7 years. It is showing signs of wear & the distributor concedes it has only a few more years left in it. Having removed 2 from previous properties, I question their longevity. We have wood available from our property & it is well seasoned before use so can't explain why it is failing sooner than (I) expected. Perhaps query any supplier on life span? Woodbox, most seasons seems to need at least 1 fire brick replaced.
Actually reading this list I'm biased toward my gas fire! Yet I love my woodbox but it does cause far more work & at times expense.
holmda,
May 17, 9:40pm
We're in the same boat in terms of having to choose. At the moment we have hot water and heating on reticulated natural gas, but the heater is very old and can only be used on the high setting. We had somebody come in to see where we could install a heat pump, but no where was suitable - and I don't like them anyway. So the choice for us is wood or gas.
Gas: Pros: No nagging husband to chop wood, no smoky smell (we are lucky that none of our neighbours have a woodburner (unlike other parts of our suburb), instant heat, little maintenance apart from annual inspection, we are already on the system so not too much of a biggie to get installed. Gas: Cons: Gas isn't that cheap and we are basically tied down to one provider, fixed daily rate is high (this would be shared with our hot water, but we are thinking of going solar as our aged cylinder also needs replacing), occasional smell/headache - but this could be due to our present aged heater, room does cool down quite quickly.
Wood: Pros: Nice to look at, heat keeps longer, can use deadwood on our property for wood and kindling, could put in a wetback. Wood: Cons: Husband refuses point blank to chop wood, smoky smell outside, much more maintenance in terms of cleaning, higher fire risk (firefighters down the road say that most of their call outs relating to fires is due to incorrect disposal of coals and ashes),
daryl14,
May 17, 10:34pm
It doesn't seem like the initial outlay is one of your considerations, But I bought my Rinnai flame effect fire off here for around $300, added to that the natural gas conversion kit, transport from Ch ch, plus the installation, we had it in and running for under 1000 bucks.
I also had a small heat pump installed in my bedroom for under 2000 bucks via a supplier on trade me.
mottly,
May 18, 1:50am
re Hamilton temps - if you watch the lows for the night on the news, more often than not, Hamilton has the lowest temps of the North Island.
frank1,
May 18, 5:18am
Sally 63s comment does not even deserve a response! Must be a greenie.!
shuddupowh,
May 18, 11:21pm
Cheers for the more opinions. Im still on the side for fire place - but still plenty of Qs - hopefully the suppliers/installers can answer some I still need to know. I've also been searching trademe to price up loads of wood (prechopped) and the prices aren't too bad - one trailer load ranges from $75-$150 depends on tree type and if mixed or not. What do you, with fireplaces, say is the better wood (if theres a difference & if you even know) - Macro, Pine, Oak, Willow ? (is there a type of wood NOT ideal, such as allergies or bad fumes/smells etc?) These 4 I listed seem the most common type of trees chopped up & sold by the suppliers. I'm also just checking if they are being honest eg hard/soft hot/slow burning wood/s. What's your ideas on them types that you know and/or any other breeds you know of? Also, can any trees be used if they are big enough (eg I don't know what the tree down the road was, but it was massive with big logs for splitting!) Cause I also understand, the wood needs to be dried out or it will not burn properly or could burn too fast or let off no heat? So I would stockpile thruout the year before winter, with free & bought wood to ensure it lasts the winter. Thanks, again!
shuddupowh,
May 18, 11:28pm
I also bought a second hand stand alone gas heater (mains) off here ages ago for a massive $1! Older style, 80s I think. I had a gasfitter come over to price up install but instead of wasting my time he cut to the point & said NO. It it was dirct replacement he would've done it but as a new install he said no. Its second hand. It needs to be recertd (which he doesn't do) and then had to make a custom flue kit for it (the shape was odd shape to the round one we already have in the roof) so he just said nope. And recert can be up to $1K (he didn't know, just a guess) and he didn't know where to send it (as never had to before), so then you have time & resources & freight to find the recerter so easier to buy new (and cheaper in long run) - if it failed recert then all that $s be wasted. That's when we got stuck & decided to go fire, then got told stick to gas. So I started this thread! Lol. Now we are stuck in the middle hahah.
woody89,
May 19, 9:58am
We use a soft wood to start fire with eg pine or some cypress species we had on site, then throw on Gum or Oak which throw out brilliant heat & last well overnight (an option you won't have in town). We also like pohutakawa (only had broken branches before anyone objects) & totara, surprisingly alder has been very good. Personally avoid willow although some have said it ok to start with & don't even bother with silver birch. While the prices you mention sound ok, you'll be surprised how much wood you can go through- a trailer wouldn't last long in this house lol, & remember it's probably 'thrown' not stacked.
fifie,
May 19, 10:14am
Lots of things need to be taken into consideration for whatever heating you go for. Have had fire,gas,heatpump IMO good insulation helps if you have access to wood and can cart it go for a log burner hooked up to a wetback cant beat the ambience of the flame, gas is instant but hikes the energy bill up a lot, If your like me have health probs Heatpump is great to keep you toastie takes the chill off throughout the house if you have the right size installed and its in the right place, be prepared for a extra 60-80 bucks extra on the power bill for around 3 months of the winter months.
bluefrog2,
May 19, 11:25pm
Re: Macro, Pine, Oak, Willow Dunedin prices, so maybe not so relevant for you. 4cum of bluegum for $65 per meter. 2cum of pine for $40per meter. Those are minimum loads for delivery. I buy the wood in October, freshly split to size and "wet", then stack it to dry for the next winter. 8m will get us through the winter, and kindling comes from splitting the pine ourselves with a hatchet. We don't use Macro because hubby gets allergies from it. Just for comparison, before we installed the heat pump, I needed 12 cu meters of wood per year.
woody89,
May 20, 12:14am
Lol Silver birch! I meant poplar, although I would think the other would also be no better than paper.
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