ULEB Wood Burners

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › ULEB Wood Burners

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ... | 12

21 posts

Geek

#1839455 5-Aug-2017 09:46

Just re-surfacing this as my build is starting to make a bit of progress

Any actual experience out there with the Ferva Saturn????

mattwnz

20164 posts

Uber Geek

#1839500 5-Aug-2017 13:12

Did anyone see the one news story on Friday night about christchurch running out of wood and the new low emissions fires? It started off saying the new Low emissions fires were using more wood than older generations, which gave the impression that that was the reason for wood levels being low. I wouldn't have thought they would be using more wood as they are supposed to be more efficient,, or is this just another example of poor journalism?

Psilan

856 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1839506 5-Aug-2017 13:23

Hardly anybody has ULEBs so that is nonsense. There has just been high demand this winter.
The mystique can definitely use more than a normal fire if you constantly load it. But it's more efficient if you maintain the burn correctly. The primary reason for the ULEB is the cleaner burn rather than less wood being burnt.

A mate at work has the Saturn. He seems to like it. I think the fire box is an odd shape though. I prefer the really tall box with the mystique because if you have a very long piece if wood you can still fit it in.

Voyager referral - https://refer.voyager.nz/68QKJ8XKK

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#1839511 5-Aug-2017 14:06

I think @mattwnz states new "low emissions" fires rather than specifically ULEB, over the past few years all the remaining old non-Ecan compliant burners should have been replaced with low emission burners in houses in the clean air zones.

The low emission burner we have tends to eat firewood - if we use macrocarpa, old man pine etc. Can't turn it down low enough to slow the burn rate - only option (short of an illegal but simple modification to the damper) using fast-burning timbers was to put less in - then keep feeding it - which is a bit of a PITA. Problem solved by using slow-burning blue gum - but the price of that per M3 probably puts many people off.

Psilan

856 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1839513 5-Aug-2017 14:20

Ah I see. I don't have any experience with low em. fires.

I find Oregon a good alternative to gum if you can find it cheap. Less ash than standard pine by a mile. Lasts a while and makes nice long burning coals. It's also awesome to stack. Very tidy.
I get pine because it's free but I don't like it much. Burns super fast and makes a mess.

Voyager referral - https://refer.voyager.nz/68QKJ8XKK

Mattyyo

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1839591 5-Aug-2017 18:52

Just a heads up guttix, we were very close to getting one and paying a deposit.

I then looked up the official measurements and clearances needed and we were unable to get one installed due to the lower ceiling (2.25m) in the area directly above where the burner would be placed. 1m away from this is normal 2.4m ceiling. Some burners allow a ceiling plate etc to make up for lower ceilings.

The installers were unaware and also looked into it. As the UELBs are quite new, apparently the testing has been limited and things like ceiling plates not used in testing by the manufacturers.

We had to go with another option in the end.

Wheelbarrow01

1725 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Chorus

#1840333 7-Aug-2017 08:42

mattwnz: Did anyone see the one news story on Friday night about christchurch running out of wood and the new low emissions fires? It started off saying the new Low emissions fires were using more wood than older generations, which gave the impression that that was the reason for wood levels being low. I wouldn't have thought they would be using more wood as they are supposed to be more efficient,, or is this just another example of poor journalism?

Psilan: Hardly anybody has ULEBs so that is nonsense. There has just been high demand this winter.
The mystique can definitely use more than a normal fire if you constantly load it. But it's more efficient if you maintain the burn correctly. The primary reason for the ULEB is the cleaner burn rather than less wood being burnt.

A mate at work has the Saturn. He seems to like it. I think the fire box is an odd shape though. I prefer the really tall box with the mystique because if you have a very long piece if wood you can still fit it in.

There is definitely a difference between low emission fires and ultra low emission fires...

In regards to Christchurch (not sure about other regions):

Low emission fires come in all shapes and sizes (free-standing, cavity fit etc) with many manufacturers. They are able to be installed by anyone who is replacing an existing non-compliant log burner or even an operational open fireplace. They are reasonably inexpensive - from around $2000 upwards.

Ultra low emission burners are the only option if your house does not have a fire at all, or if your house used to have an open fire which has been blocked off. They are not cheap - mine was $7500 including installation. My house had an open fire in the past, but a previous owner blocked it up and sealed it. Because of this, Christchurch Council advised that a ULEB was my only option. At this stage, ULEB's are only available as free-standing.

My neighbour has a new low emission burner in his house, installed in his old open fire cavity. I was surprised when he told me the other day that it's new, as every night I see his chimney belching out a large amount of grey smoke for hours on end. Based on the amount of smoke he emits, I wouldn't be surprised at all to find he's chewing through his firewood - all I can see is unburned fuel coming out his chimney. Maybe he has a problem or maybe low emission fires are all like that - I don't really know. It certainly doesn't look like low emissions on the face of it.

On the other hand, less than 15 minutes after my ULEB has been lit, there is no visible smoke coming from my flue whatsoever, and there is no fire smell outside my house (except when the neighbour's fire is lit...)

My ULEB eats pine pretty quickly, but oregon gives a nice slow burn. I light it with pine offcuts, then switch to the oregon for the main burn. I use about 1 decent sized piece of oregon per hour, so 4 or 5 per night which I think is pretty good.

u13turbo

156 posts

Master Geek

#1843088 9-Aug-2017 21:50

Currently looking at buying a house and wanting to put in a new fire. Its required that we can only fit a ULEB. There are two issues with this that really put me off with these.

one is the extensively high price. A new low emission fire can be purchased for $1399 upwards, Where the cheapest ULEB I have seen is $5290. The other issue is not being able to leave it long without having to restock the fuel. I dont have an issue with lighting each night, but would prefer that it could last 4-5 hours before needing more wood.

Obviously with low emissions, the purpose is to keep the internals hot enough to burn off those emissions therefore the wood not lasting long. Unfortunate but it is what it is i guess.

How long can you ULEB owners get out of a load in the fire before restocking?

apocalypso

53 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#1843104 9-Aug-2017 22:18

We have the Jayline Walltherm Air, Very Very happy with it, the heat output is Amazing.
Can get 5hours burn time at a stretch with a good large log when it's burning hot. 4 hours is a more typical time period between restocking. In Rural Christchurch & My Wife is home during the day, and up at times in the night with our Baby at the moment so have had it running pretty much 24/7 since start of April.

pctek

807 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1845749 13-Aug-2017 10:08

Chimneys emit smoke, they are supposed to.

I can tell you living in Waitakere where everyone had an old woodburner, there was no nasty smog.

Then we moved to Southland, a small town. The place stank, it was filled with noxious fumes and almost everyones house was full of black particles.

Why? Because they burned coal.

Ban coal, not decent woodburners.

tdgeek

29750 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1845751 13-Aug-2017 10:12

pctek:

Chimneys emit smoke, they are supposed to.

I can tell you living in Waitakere where everyone had an old woodburner, there was no nasty smog.

Then we moved to Southland, a small town. The place stank, it was filled with noxious fumes and almost everyones house was full of black particles.

Why? Because they burned coal.

Ban coal, not decent woodburners.

When I was a kid in ChCh there was a huge smog problem, open fires. Log burners emit stink smoke as well, but the clean air ones are good. I do see some stinky ones but I put that down to poor use. Used correctly, the one we had at the old place will smoke on startup, then all you can see is heatwaves.

The old non clean air burner I could leave on all night, smouldering and thats smoke. The new ones you can't but they are brick lined and that helps at end of night

Aredwood

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#1846012 13-Aug-2017 20:00

pctek:

Ban coal, not decent woodburners.

The government won't ban coal as it still gets used alot by lots of different people. Including by the government itself. Quite a few schools still have coal fired central heating systems. And the Waiouru Army base also has a coal fired central heating system as well.

Wheelbarrow01

1725 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Chorus

#1850787 22-Aug-2017 23:45

I thought some of you might be interested in this short video I shot last night showing my Masport Mystique in operation.

https://youtu.be/il-fLab305k

The fire had been lit for 10 minutes before I filmed it. I know the video is not great quality when zoomed in, but I couldn't see any smoke with my own eyes either. I am pretty impressed.

Psilan

856 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1850807 23-Aug-2017 06:13

Careful with that cardboard box. Hope it doesn't stay there. It'll spontaneously combust .

Voyager referral - https://refer.voyager.nz/68QKJ8XKK

Wheelbarrow01

1725 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Chorus

#1851339 23-Aug-2017 15:06

Psilan: Careful with that cardboard box. Hope it doesn't stay there. It'll spontaneously combust .

Lol it was a test to see if you were paying attention. But no, I just park the box there to load the kindling and then move it as it heats up. In this case I got side tracked by my fancy movie making session, but am happy to report I didn't burn the house down.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ... | 12