Understanding LED Grow Lights

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) have come a long way from their humble origins as indicator lamps found in electronic equipment display panels. These days they pop up all over the place: in LED garden lights, replacements for halogen lamps in conventional 12v lighting circuits and as LED home lighting in general. It was only a matter of time before LED technology staked out yet more territory in areas such as, for example, stage lighting and recently grow lights.

There are a number of reasons why LEDs are proving popular as grow lights, but to properly understand these it’s helpful to first recap the qualities that are most desirable in a grow light, and also to examine the characteristics intrinsic to LEDs. It’s also worth understanding why there has been more heat than light generated around this subject, with some folk adamantly claiming that LED grow lights don’t really work and others insisting instead that they do in fact work very well. Both sides are right; they’re just comparing apples with oranges, in other words not talking about the same products, as will become apparent.

The purpose of a grow light is evident in the name itself – to help plants grow. Usually the intention is to be able to grow plants indoors (i.e. in the absence of sunlight) and/or to also better control the rate of growth, size and other characteristics. The advantage of an indoor growing environment is that you can very precisely control the factors crucial to plant growth and tailor them for specific types of plant. All plants require warmth, water and nutrients (absorbed from the soil or using a hydroponic system where the plant sits in nutrient rich water). But most crucially, they need light and, as we shall see, not just any old light either.

How Plants Use Light To Grow

The way that all plants grow is by photosynthesis, the process whereby carbon dioxide (CO2) is converted into the organic material that makes up the plant (carbon, proteins, sugars and so on) using energy derived from sunlight. This energy is absorbed through special proteins containing chlorophyll molecules that reside in photosynthetic cell membranes called chloroplasts.

Now the point about chlorophyll is that it only absorbs light from particular parts of the spectrum, mostly the blue and red parts. It is especially poor at absorbing light from the green part of the spectrum which is why chlorophyll itself and anything containing it (such as plant leaves, grass and so on) appears green, since that area of sunlight is reflected rather than absorbed. In fact, chlorophyll is so effective at absorbing light outside the green part of the spectrum that these colors are only revealed when the chlorophyll decays – hence the reason we have to wait till Autumn to see the reds, browns and yellows that are present in leaves but masked by the chlorophyll.

There are in fact two types of chlorophyll, rather unimaginatively termed Chlorophyll a and Chlorophyll b (note the lower case designation). These differ slightly in chemical composition and their absorption peaks. So type “a” has a wider gap between its peaks, which sit in the violet and red portions of the spectrum, whereas type “b” has its peaks closer together in the blue and yellow zones. Both of course avoid the trough of green that sits in the middle between blue and yellow, and by targeting adjacent areas (violet/blue and yellow/red) they extend the range of useable light, with absorption in the violet/blue region being especially beneficial in low light conditions. If you’re not familiar with the layout of the spectrum, this graphic should help clear things up….

So, in a nutshell, what plants require for healthy growth is light that radiates at four specific wavelengths (two types of chlorophyll times two absorption peaks each). To be technical, chlorophyll “a” absorption peaks are at 430 nanometres (nm) and 662 nm, and chlorophyll “b” sits within “a” at 453 nm and 642 nm. As we shall discover, understanding these basic principles can prove useful when evaluating the efficacy of different types of grow light.

However, that’s not quite the end of the science lesson. Plants don’t use both parts of the spectrum adjacent to the green portion at the same time. Generally speaking, the blue end is utilized more during early growth and the red end later during blooming. To complicate matters, sunlight is, by comparison to what most electric light bulbs can produce, very very bright.

A further difficulty is that light is governed by the Inverse Square Law which put simply means that every time you double the distance from a light source the amount of light received reduces not by 2, but by 2 squared i.e. 4. So any effective grow light has to allow for these various factors.

An Overview Of Grow Light Technologies

Pretty much every type of lighting technology ever developed has been tried for the purpose of growing plants. This covers conventional incandescent light bulbs, fluorescent tubes, the present market leaders which are high intensity discharge lamps (HIDs) including high pressure sodium (HPS) and metal halide (MH) lamps, and of course most recently LEDs.

Discounting regular incandescent and fluorescent lights, since these are not particularly effective for growing plants indoors, an interesting feature of MH lamps is that they produce light in the blue part or the spectrum while HPS lamps are characteristically yellow (street lighting has used sodium lamps for many years now). Between them they cover both sets of chlorophyll absorption peaks, but obviously you need both types of lamp in order to optimise both the early development and maturation phases of plants. For this reason, some manufacturers have devised combination and switchable versions. It’s worth noting however that although HID lamps are extremely bright (they’re commonly also used as car headlight bulbs) they also get very hot and emit infra red (IR) and particularly in the case of MH lamps ultra violet (UV) radiation. While being potentially harmful in excess (or too close), both IR and UV light can of course significantly benefit many types of plants.

LED grow lamps use four separate LEDs (or LED clusters) each designed to emit light at one of the four chlorophyll absorption peaks. The main advantages of LED technology are not only very precise targeting of the key wavelengths of light, but that they are reasonably inexpensive, very bright, out last every other form of lighting bar none by a considerable margin, draw very little power, give off hardly any heat, and can be switched and programmed to produce whatever levels and mixes of light might be required at any given stage of growth. Don’t forget though that plants, like animals, also need regular down time with the lights switched off – as a rule don’t exceed eighteen hours per day.

LED Grow Lights

Like many other early applications of LED technology, the first LED grow lights struggled to attain sufficiently high levels of light, reliant as they were on clusters of 1W to 2W LEDs (each equivalent to about a 25W incandescent bulb). Current versions use high powered LED modules of the type found in car lamps and contemporary kitchen lighting that can genuinely compete with most HID grow lights, but without the drawbacks (cost to purchase, maintain and power, high heat output, air conditioning requirements and inflexibility).

These newer LED lamps are rated at least 6 watts and go up from there, which equates to a starting point of 100w or more of conventional incandescent lighting. But be aware that not all LEDs are created equal, so check the power rating but also look for quality branding – you generally won’t get burned (pun intended) with names such as Cree Procyon or Philips Luxeon for example. Like most consumer LED lighting applications, the initial cost is invariably well above the established alternatives, but don’t be fooled. The payback from LEDs in terms of vastly lower ongoing running costs means that most folk should expect to recoup their investment within a year or two at most.

For professionals and serious amateurs it’s an absolute no-brainer – the costs associated with operating regular electric lighting are frankly horrendous when you consider how much of the electricity bill (about 90% as it happens) goes towards producing unwanted waste heat which you then have to pay more money to dissipate with cooling systems. Future generations will doubtless look back at such practices with disbelief at the sheer lunacy of it. And did anyone mention the maintenance? No need to – there isn’t any to speak of, since LED grow light panels should last well over 50,000 hours (some claim 100,000, but let’s keep expectations at a conservative level). By most estimates that works out at about ten years continuous use.

The main benefits though aren’t simply cost savings and reduced heat loss. Both fluorescent and HID lamps use noisy, very high voltage ballasts and require much sturdier mounting than lightweight, robust, low-voltage LED panels. Many people though are easily led astray by the fact that HID lamps “appear” to be very much brighter than LED equivalents. That’s because HIDs emit a lot of light in the green/yellow part of the spectrum which increases their perceived intensity to the human eye. But the fact is that they are just wasting that additional light since it is of little benefit to the plants.

It’s generally reckoned that only 40% of the light generated by HPS and MH lamps is absorbed by plants, or too look at it another way, barely 10% of the electricity you pay for to run them is being used to create light and 60% of that is also totally wasted. Because LEDs accurately target the wavelengths preferred by plants they don’t seem so bright to us, even though they are in fact delivering a greater amount of “useful” light.

Some LED grow light systems do indeed include additional wavelengths, purely to enhance the visual appearance of the plants since foliage often looks black when lit purely by blue and red light. But there is no getting away from the fact that plants benefit enormously from the capability with LED lamps to smoothly vary the balance between blue and red exactly as needed. Seedlings do better with the balance in favor of blue light, while crop yields can be significantly boosted by switching over to red towards the end of the growing cycle. In this way you can simply replace MH lamps for early growth and HPS lamps used later in the cycle with a single, dynamically variable solution that reduces running costs and maintenance issues at the same time.

It’s worth also reiterating here that because LED lights have a very low heat output, the Inverse Square Law of light (mentioned above) plays to their advantage. Let’s say you have a set of grow lights positioned two feet from your plants that delivers, for the sake of argument, 400 lux (the intensity of light per square metre). If you halve that distance to one foot then the light delivered will be equivalent instead to 1600 lux – a massive increase in light density without any additional expenditure. The problem for most conventional and especially HID grow lights is that at such distances there is a serious risk of scorching foliage and otherwise disrupting the plants’ environment. With LED panels you can reduce the distance between plants and their light source to just a few inches, thereby gaining maximum light density and by the same token reducing the cost.

With LED grow light technology you can not only put money back in your pocket, but also feel comfortable about your carbon footprint. It’s probably only a matter of time anyway before authorities start to monitor (and tax) waste heat. And speaking of the authorities, many serious indoor plant growers are all too well aware that their electricity usage profile can attract unwelcome attention – there tend to be assumptions made about what exactly is being grown (did someone mention cannabis?). Another great benefit of switching to LED lighting is that you can realistically expect to run it using domestic solar power systems. Virtually all LED lamps require a low voltage input (typically 12 volts) that is well within the capacity of a standard home solar panel and battery. A whole new meaning to the term “green fingers”?

Things To Consider Before Buying Or Installing LED Grow Lights

The first question most people want properly answered is: do LED grow lights work? The answer is unequivocal and affirmative. They really do work and very well, but there are a lot of products on the market that are frankly scams or, to be charitable, borderline fraudulent in even labelling themselves as LED grow lights. The situation is not unlike the world of double glazing, which at one point became a form of shorthand for sharp practices and sleazy sales techniques. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with well made and installed double glazing, and to comply with modern building regulations you are now compelled to install it anyway. The dodgy reputation came about thanks to the cowboys and crooks that jumped on the bandwagon and sold substandard products to make a quick buck.

Whenever something new comes along, the sharks are never circling far behind. So how do you protect yourself and avoid being ripped off for rubbish that wouldn’t grow anything? Well, as already mentioned above, don’t even bother with a product that has no-name components. Manufacturers of quality LED grow lights are only too keen to name-drop with regard to their LED supplier; in sharp contrast to the pile ‘em high sell ‘em cheap merchants who are pointedly silent on the subject. In fact if it’s wholesale, an import or cheap then avoid. Good quality LEDs of any type are NOT cheap to buy – they do save a lot of money down the line, but the initial purchase price is always pretty steep.

Another way to both protect yourself and help sift the gems from the dross is to look for suppliers who offer realistic trial periods and solid refund policies of up to ninety days. You need to satisfy yourself that the product lives up to the claims and the only effective way to do that is to grow something using it – and that takes time.

Be sure to check the quoted power figures. LED grow light panels for example are made up of clusters of individual LED modules, but the overall rating is less important than the power per LED. To be at all effective, each individual LED should consume at least one watt of power. So if, to use an example that may be familiar to some, a panel is rated at 13.8 watts using 225 LEDs then you can easily calculate that each one is 0.061 watts – about 16 times below the minimum threshold, or equivalent to using a 6w light bulb in place of a 100w one. It simply won’t function at all, but because it is being sold as an “LED grow light panel” it’s all too obvious where the mud will stick when folk find this out for themselves.

As regards LED grow lighting systems, there are numerous configurations with choices between UFO LED grow lights (so named because, well, they look like UFOs), grow light panels and single spot lamps. Then there is the color balance to consider. Typically the ratio varies between 4:1 and 8:1 red:blue and these days the balance can also be varied. When reviewing the red to blue light balance, be sure that specific wavelengths are stated (somewhere in the region of 660nm for red and 460nm for blue). Just “appearing” to be red or blue is not good enough.

Many 1st generation LED grow lamps were bi-band (just red and blue) which experience has shown to be insufficient for most plants. Although these two wavelengths satisfy the bulk of a plant’s needs, most still require trace amounts of light from other portions of the spectrum. More modern (so-called 2nd generation) system are tri-band and incorporate an orange component and there are now 5 band lights that match both chlorophyll absorption peaks in the red and blue zones plus orange. A good example is the Illuminator Series of LED Grow Lights, the supplier of which also provides an excellent example of what characteristics to look for when sourcing grow lights (and no, KuleKat has no connection of any kind with this company or their products).

Finally, the lighting system you choose should be guided by the type of plants you aim to grow (are they tall, bushy, especially leafy, etc) and the physical space. For example, is it a greenhouse or completely indoors, what are the clearances, is it for a grow tent? One aspect of LED grow lights in particular, namely the fact that they run cool means that instead of providing ventilation and ducting to dissipate excess heat, you may need to consider instead providing additional heating. Not only do LEDs give off very little heat anyway, but many systems have built-in ventilation fans which further cool things down. Many of the larger grow tents for example provide for a powered ventilation system to cope with the heat from an HID lamp. Obviously this is going to be way too much for indoor growing using LED lamps.

So is the buzz about LED grow lights all hype or are they for real? Well, don’t trust to “professional” grow light reviews (which not infrequently are written or commissioned by a supplier as a marketing tool) – simply check out what regular folk who just want to grow plants indoors have to say about their own real life purchases and experiences courtesy of the entirely open Amazon reviews. Sure, there’s the occasional professional curmudgeon for a reviewer and the odd rotten product, but by and large LED grow lights completely live up to the claims, especially in the demanding domestic consumer market. And knowing what plants need and how LED lights work, now you know why.

Still not convinced? Have you ever considered gardening in space? Well, probably not, but NASA have since it’s the only possible way to feed the crew on a trip to Mars. This is a seriously demanding environment with zero useable natural light available plus massive constraints on weight, spare parts, heat loss and power consumption. LED grow lights tick the boxes on every score and especially because of the ability to target only the spectral wavelengths required and save further energy by avoiding producing unusable light. And the results? Apparently the scientists ate the results and pronounced them delicious!

An Introduction To Outdoor Solar Lighting

Most folk are by now familiar with solar garden lights of course, and you may even have spotted solar powered street lights and highway signage.

So how might you want to use solar lighting more extensively around your home and garden? The most obvious candidate to start with if you’re new to solar lighting would be lighting for an outbuilding such as a garage or shed. Installing outdoor solar lighting for this purpose is simplicity itself and not particularly expensive either.

Among the advantages that low voltage outdoor solar lighting has to offer are that it is lightweight, there are few wires and cables to trail around, and being low voltage it’s safe to handle which also means that outdoor solar lighting is exempt from Building Regulations and therefore you don’t need to be (or pay for) a qualified electrician to install it. But it’s not all sunshine and roses in the garden and here’s a summary of their pros and cons to help answer that perennial question: are solar garden lights any good?

The principal advantages of solar garden lights:

• They’re ridiculously easy to setup. No wiring or protecting cables in the ground – simply position the units where you want it and wait for nightfall. And if you’re not happy with the layout, just move it all round again.
• Cost. Solar garden lights cost slightly more to buy than regular outdoor lighting but the total cost of ownership is much less, because they cost almost nothing to run (there’s still the cost of replacing rechargeable batteries occasionally)
• Very low maintenance. There is almost nothing required other than perhaps to brush leaves or snow off the solar panels and periodically replace the rechargeable batteries.
• Reliable and very safe.
• They’re amazingly versatile in terms of potential applications and the range of styles and formats to choose from is enourmous.

The downsides of solar garden lights:

• They really do need plenty of sunshine and if you can’t guarantee it you won’t get optimal performance. You also need to ensure the solar panels are kept free of leaves, snow and other debris.
• The batteries don’t last forever. All rechargeable batteries specify a maximum number of charges they will take before they become ineffective, which means there is at least some maintenance, waste and cost involved.
• They’re not as bright as main electricity powered outdoor lights and they can’t stay fully illuminated for as long since they rely on a single battery charge.
• With very few exceptions and/or extensive modifications they cannot be switched on and off at will and/or as a group since each solar light unit invariably has it’s own solar panel/battery power supply controlled by an automatic light level meter.

Solar Shed Lighting

Solar shed lights can be sourced online in kit form for as little as just under £20 in the UK for example (about 30 US dollars or 25 euros). This most basic solution would power an 8w super bright LED lamp (actually a cluster of 5 separate LEDs that provide lighting equivalent to a regular mains powered 40w bulb) for slightly over four hours each evening. Easily ample for many tasks that might be carried out in a shed.

You can even go one step further and install a solar laptop charger kit. Given the range of wireless networks these days, you could quite easily set yourself up a perfectly functional office or study in a shed or summerhouse, complete with lighting, heating and electrical supply for recharging items such as a laptop computer.

This basic idea can quite easily be scaled up, so a solar shed lighting system costing at the moment slightly over £400 is more that capable of providing between 8 (in winter) and 11 (summer) hours of mains quality lighting each day (equivalent to about six 40w bulbs) – even in a gloomy Northern Hemisphere place like the UK. This is more than adequate for lighting a garage or workshop, let alone a shed, summerhouse, playhouse, greenhouse or similar small domestic garden outbuilding.

In practice of course, most people don’t switch lights on in workshops and garages for over 8 hours a day, so this sort of system has ample spare capacity to power many low voltage tools, recharge 12v batteries and so forth.

Batteries for Storing Solar Power

In the examples above of outdoor solar lighting, the suggested prices include the cost of the photovoltaic cells (solar panels) and low energy lights but do not include the cost of the workhorse behind all solar lighting: batteries. In the first (cheapest) case the system can easily be powered by normal AA rechargeable batteries, for which check this discussion of the best batteries for solar lights.

For the scaled up version you would need a deep cycle battery. There are several different types of batteries suitable for solar power systems, but all have the characteristics that they can be charged over a lengthy period with a relatively low current, deliver a consistent voltage and, as the name suggests, tolerate being almost fully discharged over many cycles.

It is possible to get away with using an ordinary car battery for power storage, especially if you install ultra low energy LED lights and/or don’t place extreme demands on your solar lighting system. But you should try to ensure that any car battery is never discharged below 50% of its capacity otherwise it is likely to be permanently ruined.

For anything other than a simple solar shed lighting kit therefore, you really should make a long term investment in deep cycle batteries, especially if you plan on extending your solar home lighting indoors.

A Solar Powered Greenhouse

Of course, all greenhouses are “solar powered” – that’s the point of them; the “greenhouse” effect is well known as a metaphor for global warming because a greenhouse traps heat inside the glass during the day thereby raising the temperature and hopefully storing some heat to protect tender plants overnight as the outside temperature drops.

But sometimes the sun is not enough. Greenhouses actually need “sunshine” as opposed to just daylight, whereas photovoltaic (PV) solar panels will function in ambient light conditions. Also, no matter how warm your greenhouse gets throughout the day, none of this helps you see what you’re doing in there once the sun goes down.

A simple outdoor solar lighting kit of the sort intended for a shed or workshop will easily power electrical greenhouse heaters to maintain temperatures, even through the short and typically overcast days of winter. Once installed, a solar powered greenhouse system will go on providing free power for literally decades and you may amuse yourself by dreaming up ever more uses for that free, low voltage power. It can be used to provide workable lighting to extend the time you can make use of your greenhouse; operate electrically powered vents and/or run fans to ensure a constant temperature inside the greenhouse; control automatic watering systems and so on.

Portable Outdoor Solar Lighting Applications

The characteristics of outdoor solar lighting – lightweight, robust, self-contained – also make it ideal for portable lighting applications, i.e. installing it in things that move such as caravans, motor homes, boats, and for camping expeditions.

All large vehicles such as caravans and motor homes have a sizeable amount of redundant surface area pointing straight up at the sun, namely the roof. Affixing a solar panel to the roof of such a vehicle is such an obvious move – why waste all that potential free electricity just sitting there on a part of the vehicle no-one even sees unless they’re up a ladder washing it.

Install some camper solar panels and whenever you go away you have the power to run all the normal comforts of life such as TV, computer, fridge etc as well as abundant lighting and it neither costs a dime to run nor creates pollution and CO2 emissions, as would be the case using a regular generator.

Of course, pretty much the same applies to boats (the sort you can sleep in and go places, not rowing boats, obviously). There is usually some amount of unused space on the deck or above the cabin where solar panels can be installed. Boats can also take advantage of a second form of free renewable energy: wind turbines, but that’s a topic for another time.

Some Unusual Uses For Outdoor Solar Power

As well as powering lights, outdoor solar power can be used to run a variety of devices that would otherwise be awkward to route power to.

For example, got a problem with moles (or gophers if you live in the USA) then how about installing a solar mole repellent? These can be stuck into the ground wherever required (they typically cover about 6000 square feet of territory) and emit an ultrasonic pulse which burrowing pests such as moles and gophers find unpleasant will avoid. It’s effective, humane, portable and free to operate.

Other garden pests than can ruin an otherwise pleasant evening include biting flies, mosquitoes and irritating midges. But you can say goodbye to annoying insects with a solar powered bug zapper that will go on attracting and dispatching these nuisances long after the sun goes down, night after night.

Another unusual application is solar stepping stones – these are just like ordinary stepping stones, decorative paving slabs that mark out a pathway, but include an integral solar powered light so you can see where you’re going at night.

Similarly, many garden ornaments such as small fountains, birdbaths and sculptural features such as obelisks and the like, can either now be purchased with integral solar lighting of retro-fitted so as to add another dimension to the garden at night. And of course, fountains like many other small water features can have their water pumps powered by discreet solar panels.

Solar CCTV

Got an awkward security problem, then how about installing a solar CCTV camera? These are ususally wireless CCTV cameras (also often called network or IP cameras) that have low power requirements, only capture images when movement is detected and don’t need cables since they send images directly to a wireless router. Solar CCTV cameras are worth considering as part of any home surveillance system and have the added advantage that they can upload images directly to the internet and store them on some web space or transmit them to your email or phone inbox which also therefore provides an integral alert system.

Scaling Up Outdoor Solar Lighting

In principle, and indeed in practice, scaling up an outdoor solar lighting system is simply a matter of adding more of the one or several of the three essential components: solar panels, storage batteries and low energy lights (preferably LED).

If you want more light then add more light bulbs; if you need more power to run the lights then add more (or larger) batteries; if you need more electricity to charge the batteries then add more (or larger) solar panels. That’s about as complicated as Outdoor Solar Lighting gets.

Introduction to Outdoor Solar Garden Lights

Garden lighting has been with us since before electrical lighting even existed; people have long seen the virtue in extending their enjoyment of their gardens beyond the hours of daylight and so simple candle lanterns (the precursors to today’s solar garden lanterns) were used to illuminate outdoor tables, paths, decks and patios.

Once solar panels (also called photovoltaic cells) of the sort used to power pocket calculators became widely and cheaply available it didn’t take long for outdoor garden lighting designers to realise their potential to provide solar powered garden lighting. Early versions however were, like many fledgling applications of technology, more of a gimmick than anything else and solar powered garden lights swiftly developed a poor reputation due to inadequate light levels and duration.

However, improvements in both solar cell technology and low energy consumption solar LED lights mean that solar garden lighting is now a viable and valid choice for modern outdoor garden lighting. The solar panels attached to a solar garden light are able to store more electricity more efficiently and ensure their internal rechargeable batteries are fully charged at the end of each day; at the same time low energy LED lights are both much brighter and consume far less electricity than traditional incandescent or halogen light bulbs.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Outdoor Solar Lighting

The most obvious advantage of a solar garden light is that it does not need to be connected to a supply of electricity, as does mains powered and low voltage garden lighting, since the solar panel providing power is typically an integral component. This means that unlike their cable bound cousins, solar power garden lights can be easily and quickly installed anywhere and can also be subsequently moved around at will to try out different lighting effects. There are some solar garden light kits that use a separate solar panel (often a group of lights will share the panel) but even these are self-contained systems that are easy to move around.

The second most obvious advantage of solar powered garden lights is no electricity costs. Solar power is free, so solar outdoor lights cost absolutely nothing to run. Coupled with this point is that the LED lights now commonly found in 12v LED garden lighting products often have an effective lifetime of tens of thousands of hours, so outdoor solar lighting requires almost no maintenance.

Not only are solar garden lights very easy to install, cheap to run and maintenance free, they are inherently safe in a garden environment. The integrated solar panel means the electrical supply is fully enclosed and operates on typically 12v low voltage or less electricity, so there is no electrical hazard. Also, LED lights give off virtually no heat, so there is no danger of burning (or even setting fire to) children, animals or plants.

There are however a few disadvantages to weigh against cost and convenience, and foremost among them is probably lack of control. A wired low voltage garden lighting system using a transformer and cables can easily be connected to switches, sensors and timers and different parts of the system can be connected to separate circuits for even greater flexibility and control over the system.

This means you can switch your garden lighting on and off when you want to, or ensure it switches on and off automatically (and/or remotely) at certain times (rather than staying on till dawn). You can even arrange for all or part of your garden lighting (path lighting using markers or flood lights for example) to switch on when the presence of a person is detected as courtesy or security lighting.

The nature of most solar garden lights means that this “master control” aspect is not easily accomplished without wiring sets of solar powered garden lights together, which rather works against the one of the main advantages of solar outdoor lights – the ease with which they can be installed and adjusted because they don’t intrinsically need wiring.

The other clear disadvantage that solar powered garden lights present is their limited effectiveness in winter time particularly in northern latitudes such as the USA, Canada and much of Western Europe. At precisely the time of year when most folk would welcome some light in the garden during the gloomy winter months there is usually insufficient daylight to properly recharge the batteries.

Both these main disadvantages of solar powered garden lighting – relative lack of control and reduced performance during the winter period – can be addressed however, as we shall see later.

Types of Solar Power Garden Lights

As a general rule, whatever you can do with regular 12v low voltage garden lighting you can do pretty much the same using solar landscape lighting. Rock spotlights? Try solar rock lights. Got a pond? Bring it to life at night with solar pond lights. Mark out zones and walkways with solar garden lanterns and the usual spikes and stakes that are often used as pathway or border markers and easily incorporate a small solar panel in the cap.

On the subject of pathways, a great way to lay out an informal path is of course using stepping stones embedded into the lawn so you can easily mow over them. But now you can buy solar stepping stones that have an integrated LED light and solar panel set into the stone itself (using the term loosely since most garden stepping stones are anything but actual stone).

The two pictures to the left illustrate first classic path lights using conventional looking paving slabs with flush LED lights and secondly some rather funky solar/LED stepping stones.

These are highly durable and no more difficult to lay than regular garden paving. They can provide around eight hours light each evening and serve a useful function, yet are decorative and a great addition to most landscape lighting schemes.

More unusual are solar stone ornaments and similar illuminated garden sculptures which add interest during the day and act as a feature at night. Solar globe lights can also be used to similar effect.

Up near the house it’s fun to hang solar rope lights or fairy lights from a pergola or thread them thru a suitable tree, and on outside tables solar moon jars provide decent ambient light. Moon jars look like regular honey jars but capture solar energy during the day then glow during the evening and have the other advantage that they are easy to switch off if required. Moon jars usually emit a blue glow whereas solar sun jars give off an orange color. Another fun addition to any evening alfresco is the solar colour changing drinks coaster which lights up when you place a glass on it and thus throws color changing light up through your drink.

Solar deck lights and solar patio lights can be a good solution if your deck or patio already exists since you won’t need to take it apart or dig parts of it up in order to lay the cables that would otherwise be necessary. You can also fit solar post lights and solar wall lights to raise the lighting off the floor so to speak. Solar patio lights cover a range of different types of outdoor lighting fixtures, but far and away the most commonly used (with good reason) are solar powered lanterns, recessed solar deck lights (in addition to deck post lights), down lights and solar rope lights.

At a more utilitarian level there is also high power solar security lighting which is PIR activated and is therefore able to deliver high intensity light without discharging the battery since the light is only activated by movement and switches off again after a predetermined period of time. This is excellent for low cost solar security lights and solar driveway lights where the cost and effort of laying extensive cabling might otherwise prove prohibitive. And let’s not forget of course solar shed lighting.

How to Install Outdoor Solar Powered Garden Lights

Like any form of lighting the first point to consider is what purpose your outdoor garden lighting is intended to serve. Does it need to be bright to scare off intruders or provide sufficient illumination to work by? Is it functional in the sense that path lighting, for example, is? It is for purely decorative purposes such as bringing the garden to life at night, or for entertaining friends and family?

The answer might of course be any and all of these, in which case you need to address each aspect in its own right then work out how to combine these elements (if necessary – you may want security lighting only at the front of your property and decorative effects only in the back yard).

Functional outdoor solar lighting is probably the easiest to install since the criteria for success are pretty clear. If someone approaches the house does a solar powered flood light switch on? Do the solar path lights make it obvious where the paths and other walkways are so you can move around freely without bumping into things at night?

Outdoor solar lights whose purpose is to enhance entertaining equally don’t require a huge amount of thought – items such as solar fairy lights and sun jars are designed to be used as a bit of fun and add ambience – just sprinkle them about the place informally.

Outdoor garden lighting proper though can be something of an art form, especially if done well. But there’s no reason to be scared off if you’ve never installed outdoor solar power garden lights before. First of all, almost any outdoor garden lighting looks better than none – it really is very difficult to actually make a garden look worse through the use of lighting.

Second, one of the great advantages of outdoor solar lighting is that it is not only very simple to install in the first place, but equally easy to rearrange; so you can experiment with different positions and try out particular effects to your hearts content until you find an arrangement that looks pleasing to you. And that’s a key point – it’s YOUR garden, what anybody else thinks is unimportant.

Whatever you want to achieve with solar powered garden lighting there is always one crucial consideration to keep uppermost: access to light (and preferably sunlight) during the day. In some gardens this is not much of an issue, but if you have a lot of shade from trees or awkward spots to deal with then you need to consider ways to optimise your solar garden lighting.

How to Get the Best from Solar Garden Lighting

When actually in use i.e. in the evening or at night, then solar powered garden lighting is in effect battery powered garden lighting. The solar aspect is obviously only relevant to recharging the batteries used to actually power the lights. This means quite simply that you can have bright solar garden lights or long lasting solar outdoor lights but you can’t have both (without going to some additional effort).

Generally speaking, unless you intend to install a lighting control system so you can switch your outdoor garden lighting on and off at will, you should aim to install solar outdoor lights that last as long as you want the garden to be lit – for most people 4 to 6 hours would easily suffice.

How long a solar outdoor garden light will stay lit is simply a function of the output charging capacity of the solar panel and the capacity of the rechargeable battery(s). This boils down to two elements: the cabability of the battery to accept and hold a charge; and the amount of sunlight it gets. The simplest advice is to use good quality rechargeable batteries, if necessary dumping supplied or simply worn out batteries (in a battery recycling bin)

Clearly then, a key component of solar powered garden lighting is the recharging phase during the hours of daylight (most modern solar garden lamps will recharge without direct sunlight, but as always the brighter the better). You need to ensure that either individual solar garden light units are placed so as to capture good light conditions, or if running sets of solar outdoor lights from separate solar panels, that these are placed in an optimal position. Shade and outdoor solar lighting really don’t mix terribly well…

…but sometimes though you do want to deliberately place outdoor garden lights in shady positions. You can accomplish this using outdoor solar powered garden lights simply by having the light units separate from the solar panel and battery pack. Obviously this involves running low voltage cables, but since these pose no serious hazard it’s quite easy to hide them in amongst foliage or a shallow trench in the ground. Many solar garden light kits are now supplied in this form.

The advantage of using a separate solar panel connected to multiple outdoor solar lights is not just that you can then install solar garden lamps in areas of shade, but that by providing a central point of electrical supply you also enable the possibility to control your solar lighting from a single point. It also provides you the option to add some serious juice to your solar landscape lighting by integrating it with conventional solar lighting that utilises larger solar panels and deep cycle batteries (car batteries are popular) to provide a strong, stable and longer lasting supply of electricity.

If you don’t want to go that far with outside solar garden lights then a useful tip for keeping your outdoor garden lighting looking crisp is to simply occasionally remove the batteries and recharge them using a regular mains battery charger. There’s no reason why solar garden lights shouldn’t give you years of maintenance free, electricity free, enjoyment.

Where brightness is concerned then a conventionally powered garden light will always win out simply because it has more juice available, but not everyone wants their garden lit up so it’s visible from space and many solar lights will come close to the light levels of regular 12v low voltage lamps. The main difference is that very few solar lights are designed to make it through the night and start to fade after a number of hours, but again that’s usually not a problem unless you really do want to be out there till dawn.

For ease of installation it’s a clear win for solar landscape lighting as anyone who has installed conventional low voltage lighting using cables will agree. A normal 12v electric garden lighting system typically involves locating a transformer in a secure and convenient (so you can turn the lights on and off) location indoors, routing the cable to the outside (often by drilling a hole through a wall), running the cable to the parts of the garden where power is required, burying the cable so as to both protect and conceal it, then at every point a light is required cutting and reconnecting the cable so as to incorporate the spur to the light fitting.

Now that’s not to say that installing low voltage garden lights is terribly difficult, but it is most certainly time consuming and fiddly; in contrast to installing a solar light which involves carrying the unit to the desired location and… just leaving it there. There’s also the issue of changing the layout should you (or more commonly your other half) decide on reflection that it’s not quite right. Again, with solar garden lights you just pick them up and move them around; with a cable involved you have little leeway and will probably have to dig it up and/or go reconnecting bits, which can surprisingly quickly get well beyond tedious.

Versatility is something of a grey area – as noted above it’s real easy to rearrange solar lights, but there is a caveat. You’re restricted to locating them only in parts of the garden or patio that enjoy a large amount of daylight (and preferably sunshine). It’s for this reason that you’ll find the average solar shed light (other than the budget versions) use a separate rather than integrated solar panel. It’s so the light fitting itself can be housed in a potentially dim location (sheds are often tucked away out of sight and light) while the solar collector can go in a brighter spot elsewhere, limited of course by the cable length between the two. This design is also seen in some newer solar landscape lights and does to some extent alleviate this inherent problem with solar lighting.

Maintenance of garden lighting is an interesting topic, because both types (electrical and solar) have different maintenance characteristics. With a system using traditional low voltage garden wiring there is little to do once it’s installed other than replace the bulbs when they fail every so often; otherwise it’s likely to keep working for twenty years of more (the cable will eventually become brittle and/or the transformer burn out).

With solar garden lighting it’s common to find that the light bulbs (which are very often LEDs) are not replaceable; that’s probably because they’re expected to outlast the unit itself. Typically, the only component requiring replacement in a garden solar light is the battery – rechargeable batteries can only be recharged a certain number of times before they won’t hold a charge anymore. This isn’t such a big deal, but getting at the battery can be trickier than you might expect since they’re usually in a well sealed compartment held in with screws. Also, if you have solar deck lights for example, you’ll have to first pry them out of the hole they’re tightly slotted into.

The issue of reliability and robustness is where solar garden lighting has something of a poor reputation. Unlike a normal 12v lighting system that uses very simple technology and components (i.e. basically two wires conducting a current and a light bulb), solar lights contain reasonably complex electronics which significantly increases the possible points of failure. As with all electronic components, their longevity will largely depend on the original manufacturing build quality; but since you cannot determine this by simple inspection of the unit it’s something of a lottery. There are however a number of steps you can take to ensure your solar garden lighting is up to the job.

The first thing is to make sure you can easily return the goods should they prove faulty. It’s not uncommon for people to buy a set of solar lights, charge up the batteries and then discover that some of them don’t function properly (or at all). The reason so many solar lights are so affordable these days is that they have been mass produced using cheap LEDs and photovoltaic cells with flimsy wiring and no discernible evidence of quality control. If you are unlucky enough to encounter lights such as these then return them and move on to a different product.

The next thing is to look after the battery. Chances are that the one supplied with the light will be as cheap as the manufacturer could find and it won’t perform or last very well, so replace it as soon as you’ve had your money’s worth out of it with a better quality version of the same specification. You also won’t do yourself any favours if you get reduced daylight in the winter but leave your solar lights on since the batteries will never fully recharge. You should accept that these systems don’t perform well in winter conditions and protect their performance and lifespan by removing the batteries till spring – remember to fully recharge them using a mains charger before putting them back in.

To sum up then…

• Brightness – solar garden lights aren’t quite as good but that’s probably not a big deal for most practical purposes
• Installation – solar landscape lights score an outright victory for being quick and easy to install (and rearrange).
• Versatility – solar garden lighting can be highly versatile but only within the confines of those areas that get plenty of daylight.
• Maintenance – whereas conventional garden lights require new bulbs periodically, solar lights wear out batteries.
• Reliability & Robustness – solar lights suffer in this department, so either accept them as disposable items or shop around for better quality.

Why Have Woodburning Stoves Recently Become So Popular?

Top of the list in equal first place must be: significant savings in running costs (especially with constantly rising prices for gas, oil and electricity); and good looks. Most everyone loves that traditional fireplace effect and the cosy warmth that more conventional forms of space heating just seem to lack.

Modern wood burners are very energy efficient and the price of the fuel compares extremely favourably with fossil fuel alternatives with potential energy savings at between 3 to 8 times depending on the exact comparison and location. They are also very clean and easy to use and maintain.

Whether you want a stylish ultra modern look or a traditional country kitchen style there’s a wood burning stove to suit your lifestyle – the choice is simply enormous. No matter what you choose though, wood burners always add a nice homely touch and people somehow seem to gravitate towards them.

The other main factor in favor of installing wood burning stoves is that they are very environmentally friendly. Oddly, many people would assume the exact opposite since they can see that a wood burning stove is clearly burning wood and creating smoke that contains carbon emissions. They tend to overlook that the “clean” electricity that enters their house has itself been created by burning fuel – almost always a fossil fuel such as coal, gas or oil.

The main difference between the two is that wood, unlike fossil fuels, is renewable and in the course of growing new wood (i.e. trees) carbon is extracted from the atmosphere and locked back up inside the wood. The carbon in a tree is eventually released back into the atmosphere regardless, so burning it releases no more carbon than leaving it to rot. It is a more or less balanced carbon cycle.

It is for this very reason that many architects and builders now incorporate energy saving wood burners in their designs for new buildings – it enables them to simultaneously provide an economical and aesthetically pleasing domestic space heating, hot water and optional cooking solution and much more easily comply with ever tougher regulations targeting low carbon emissions.

Woodburners, BioFuel And Climate Change

Whatever your own views on the subject of climate change (a.k.a global warming) there is no escaping the fact that the majority of governments across the developed world are united in an attempt to reduce emissions of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and a consequence of this is a forest of legislation, regulations and initiatives that you must now navigate.

Woodburners use what is called “woody biomass” as fuel. Biomass (also often called biofuel) encompasses two principal categories: woody biomass (which is exactly what it sounds like) and non-woody biomass which is everything else including various sorts of biodegradable waste material and crops intentionally grown as biofuel, for example sugar and maize.

Woody biomass fuel suitable for use in a woodburning stove is typically wood pellets, wood chips and wood logs. Many modern wood burning stoves are described as “dual-fire” meaning that they are capable of being run by any of these fuels (wood biomass pellets are similar in size and appearance to the sort of thing people feed pet rabbits but made from highly compressed sawdust).

Dual-fire burners are not to be confused with “multi-fuel” stoves which are capable of burning both wood products and coal. While it might be convenient to use coal as a fuel – not least because unlike wood which should be burned “fast” it can be slowly burned – coal is extremely environmentally hostile. Coal is, hands down, far and away the worst fuel as regards CO2 pollution, beating both oil and gas by a considerable margin. Although the Climate Change Levy (a tax on energy designed to encourage energy efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions) does not at present apply to domestic energy users, it is still worth noting that while wood fuel is exempt, coal is most certainly not.

Basic Checklist Before Considering Installing a Wood Burning Stove

There are various pros and cons involved with installing wood burning stoves and some of the crucial issues to consider for any biomass system are noted below.

Before we go any further though, a quick word about terminology. Like any subject, the technology of wood burning has it’s own jargon that acts as useful shorthand for professionals and mostly baffles everyone else. Unusually though, this terminological bamboozlement starts with the description of the very subject itself. You would think that a woodburner, wood burner, wood burning stove and log burner were all basically the same thing just described in different ways. And (pedants and hair splitters aside) you would be right. But try typing each of those into Google and notice how you get noticeably different results each time.

This plethora of ways to say the same thing makes it quite tricky to ever find what you’re interested in, because you don’t know how it might have been described. You might want to research a wood burning boiler but not know that some of the best information or products out there refer instead to a log burning stove. Eventually you might realize that “log burning stoves” is the term to search for only to then discover (or more likely not, of course) that other folk have chosen to refer instead to “cast iron stoves” for the perfectly reasonable reason that most log burners are indeed made of cast iron. The only solution appears to be to conduct multiple searches specifying each of the usual suspects. Anyway, you get the idea so let’s continue…

First, check availability of solid fuel in your area; are there any local suppliers of wood pellets, wood chips and/or logs. Do you have sufficient suitable trees to provide your own logs, bearing in mind that wood intended to be used in a wood burning stove should be fully seasoned (left to dry naturally for at least a year) and that you should plan to replace any trees you harvest for biofuel. In the UK there is a handy website called The Log Pile which lists suppliers of fuel fuel and specifically wood pellets (it also maintains lists of suppliers of wood stoves and wood boilers). In both cases you should be aware that these are obviously self-selecting lists and there is no implied recommendation or endorsement of any particular supplier who has asked to be on the list, but it’s still a good place to start.

Be very wary of burning wood whose source is unclear; it may contain excessive moisture which will foul your flue or worse may have been treated with preservatives or other substances that are hazardous to health when burnt.

The costs to run wood burners and the environmental benefits from installing wood burners both suffer badly if bulky and heavy wood fuel has to be transported any significant distance.

Second, ensure that you have somewhere to store the fuel since it is bulky and needs to be kept dry, and also check that you have adequate access to the wood burner (or the fuel hopper if you have installed an automatic fuel loading system) in order to load it with your intended biofuel. You don’t want to be having deliveries of wood every fortnight or so and you don’t want to struggle getting the wood to the burner. A covered space at least three cubic metres in size and relatively close to the wood burner is what you should aim for if your wood burning stove is to be an easy to use, cost effective alternative to conventional heating systems rather than a millstone around your neck. If you are sourcing your own wood then this must be well seasoned (left to dry naturally for a couple of years).

Third, with wood burning boiler stoves it is important to optimise the heat load, in other words to burn the fuel at a fast rate and high temperature in order to achieve optimal efficiency – running a wood burner in “tick over” mode can easily cause tarring of the flue. Obviously this requirement can present a problem since it’s unlikely you would want that much heat generated all the time. The solution for many is to install what is called an accumulator tank, which acts like a heat battery, storing the accumulated heat as very hot water which can then be released over the next day or so (typically into the house radiators and hot water system).

Fourth, wood burners obviously get very hot and are capable of damaging or burning floors and walls so ensure adequate distance and/or insulation between the two. Clearances can vary according to individual stoves so check any documentation and if in doubt fit a non-combustible protection to both walls and floor adjacent to the stove as well as leaving a significant gap.

Fifth, bear in mind that a domestic wood burning stove requires a flue and that the vent material must be suitable for wood fuel applications. Do NOT get confused between the (usually black) stovepipe that is fitted directly to the woodburner and a flue or chimney; the stovepipe is entirely internal and must not pass through any walls or ceilings, but must connect to an insulated chimney that then flows to the outside.

There must also be proper air movement to ensure correct operation of the stove. If you already have a chimney then it is possible to have this fitted with a lined flue suitable for a wood burner, but again this costs extra money.

However, some would go so far as to assert that the most important component of a stove installation is not the wood burning stove itself but the chimney. It is vital to keep the flue gasses hot which means an insulated flue, usually using either a steel liner or a lightweight aerated concrete lining, must be installed otherwise there is risk of accumulating tar deposits in the chimney.

In the UK, constructing a new chimney or modifying an existing one by, for example, installing a wood burner or fitting a liner is subject to building control, which stipulates that both wood burning and multi-fuel stoves require a Class 1 Chimney. This is essentially a masonry construction with a minimum diameter of 7″ that is air tight (i.e. does not leak any gases).

The position in the US is similar with respect to chimneys and in general unless you are sure you have a sound masonry chimney that has been designed and constructed to withstand the high temperatures produced by wood and multi fuel burners then you should fit either a high grade stainless steel liner or instead install a stainless steel Class A insulated chimney (in the US specifically, this must be a UL approved steel chimney).

A final word on the subject of chimneys… remember that these need to be kept clean in order to function safely and efficiently, so find yourself a reputable local chimney sweep. If you’re in the UK then here is a list of HETAS approved chimney sweeps.

Finally, there are all manner of regulations you will likely need to check to ensure compliance and to ensure you can make full use of any grants and incentives that may be available to offset your wood burning stove installation costs. These are covered immediately below.

Regulations Governing Installation Of Wood Burning Stoves

Obviously the physical installation or the wood burner itself needs to comply with safety and building regulations. Also, you might need planning permission to fit a twin wall flue if you don’t already have a flue or suitable chimney. And of course, with recent Climate Change legislation you might also need to establish compliance with the Building Regulations Part L – Conservation of fuel and power (the UK implementation of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive).

If you plan to install a wood burning boiler or stove in an urban environment in general, or are located in a smokeless zone, you will need to check which regulations apply, what exemptions might also apply and consider specially approved wood burning stoves that have been designed to comply with the Clean Air Act with regard to particulate pollution. In the UK you can easily check the location of Smoke Control Areas and also which types of wood burning stoves and specific fuels are exempt.

In the USA you will also find that not only the stove itself, but also most parts such as the stovepipe and chimney liner need to be what is commonly referred to as “UL Approved”. This means simply that they must pass tests laid down by Underwriters Laboratories in order to obtain certification, be permitted to display a UL mark and be sold in the US market.

Grants and Incentives for Installing Wood Burning Stoves

Don’t forget to check whether you are eligible for incentive grants towards the cost of installing a wood stove. There are numerous government sponsored schemes and aid grants aimed at encouraging people to install environmentally friendly technologies such as wood burning stoves and wood burning boilers. You could be pleasantly surprised at not only the cost savings from operating your wood burner, but also the amount of financial assistance towards the initial installation costs you might be eligible for. In the UK these grant schemes are operated under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) .

Note:The Low Carbon Buildings Programme fell victim to the spending reductions introduced by the UK Coalition government and was closed to new applications from the 24th May 2010. In a statement on the site the government reiterates it’s commitment to decentralising energy, including microgeneration technologies (basically individuals such as you and me), but is less than clear about when it intends to offer further financial incentives.

The UK government agency DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) considers wood chip boilers to be the most cost-effective microgeneration technology in terms of energy saving potential and award financial incentives for installing wood burning systems. Under the terms of the LCBP, administered by DEFRA, the maximum grant available in the UK is was £1500 (regardless of the size of the wood boiler) with an overall limit of 30% of the total cost (exclusive of VAT).

Additonally, the UK Energy Saving Trust estimates that a “biomass boiler could save you around £470 a year on heating bills”, although there is a caveat that it depends on what you’re replacing (hint, the savings are considerably less if you currently use a gas boiler). The EST also recently supervised the Boiler Scrappage Scheme (now closed) which offered an incentive of £400 to anyone considering decommissioning an old boiler in favour of a new energy efficient, carbon friendly replacement and specifically recommended biomass boilers as a means of taking advantage of the scrappage scheme.

In the UK, you can go your own way and apply to your local authority building control department for a building notice which will cost anything up to about £300. Upon completion of your wood burner installation, you will also have to notify the authority who will inspect your installation to ensure it is fully compliant with building regulations. Failure to comply can lead to enforcement and serious problems for future house sale and can be unpleasantly expensive to rectify.

Needless to say, when faced with the daunting question of how to install a wood burning stove, most people quite sensibly adopt the easier and safer route of employing a HETAS registered installer who will not only install your wood burner but also issue a Certificate of Compliance and notify the local authority on your behalf. Finding a reputable approved installer to both plan and carry out your wood burner installation is simply a matter of choosing a local installer from the list of approved solid fuel installers at the HETAS website.

HETAS is an acronym for Heating Equipment Testing and Approval Scheme. It is a UK certification body and any local HETAS accredited installer of wood burners should be able to provide answers and advice relating to supply of wood, installation options, local regulations and how to apply for grants.

A similar organization exists in the USA – the NFI or National Fireplace Institute and you can likewise locate a local NFI certified woodburner installer.

Types Of Wood Burner Installation

As well as there being a huge number of manufacturers of domestic wood burners, there is also a bewildering variety of different types of wood burner. There are also many ways to use biomass systems such as wood burning boilers and stoves to to provide domestic heating and/or hot water, but to keep things simple we’ll divide things into three main categories: traditional stand-alone wood burning stoves, biomass boilers and wood burning cookers (often in the guise of traditional kitchen ranges).

There is obviously considerable overlap within these main groups; both wood burning stoves intended as room heaters (or space heating stoves) and cookers for example may be further subdivided into those with and those without wood burning boilers. There is then a further permutation to consider, which is whether or not the burner is designed to run on wood biomass pellets (properly dried and sized wood chips may also suffice).

A basic stand-alone wood burning stove provides very effective space heating for a single room, much like an open fireplace but rather more attractive, safe, clean, efficient and easier to maintain. Indeed, many people do install stand-alone wood burners in fireplaces as an alternative to an open fire. Regardless of location though, these are principally intended for localized space heating and to act as a feature or focal point in a living area.

An interesting variant where space heating is concerned is the masonry woodburner. This has a thick outer masonry cladding, usually made of soapstone or sandstone, that absorbs the heat from the fire and releases it slowly over a period of time. The great advantage of this type of burner is that you can enjoy immediate convected heat, but you can also shut off the convection and allow the heat to build up in the masonry layer which gives a much more gentle and even heat over a much longer period (it will go on releasing heat long after the fire has been shut down).

A further twist is the ceramic wood burner. These have traditionally been essentially masonry wood burners that have been covered in glazed ceramic tiles (hence the name). As well as providing decoration, the tiles also act as an additional layer of heat absorbing material. It’s now possible, thanks to modern materials technology, to also find decorative ceramic stoves that are in fact based on a metal wood burner body.

Larger domestic wood burner systems are able to heat an entire house, in addition to providing a certain amount of local heat. These are wood burning or biomass boilers and as you might have guessed they operate by heating water which is then passed to the regular domestic radiators and usually also the main hot water cylinder.

An alternative configuration for a wood burning boiler is to heat then store water in what is termed a “heat accumulator” (similar in many respects to a hot water cylinder tank but larger and able to maintain effective water temperatures for several days.

The main reasons for opting for an accumulator are a) it is more efficient to run a wood burner fast, aiming to fully burn all the fuel present, but this then produces an excess of heat (converted into hot water) which needs to be stored for subsequent use, and b) it is also a good option for storing heat generated during the day if you also have some form of solar energy system installed. Accumulators generally have multiple “tapping points” (ways to connect heat sources) so they are ideal for storing heat supplied from say solar panels, wood burning stoves, conventional gas boilers, and so on).

There are also wood burning stoves that provide full cooking capabilities. Many are simply wood burning stoves where the heat is used to heat ovens and hobs but some models are more than capable of providing all domestic hot water and radiator heating for the whole of a large family house as well as localized space heating in the kitchen due to background heat from the oven and hobs. These are typically styled as traditional range cookers (think Aga and Rayburn) but in place of one of the main ovens is a boiler.

Modern whole house wood burner systems are often designed as a complete replacement for an existing gas, oil or electric heating system (or installed from scratch in new builds) and have every modern convenience you would expect including automatic loading hoppers, automatic ignition, programmable timer settings, remote control and full heat adjustment. The superb Belgian Saey range of wood burning stoves includes many such fine examples that look absolutely beautiful too.

The principal differences between wood burners such as these and conventional (usually gas) boilers are that they cost a great deal less to run and they are significantly more environmentally friendly since wood burning is a sustainable, close to carbon-neutral process. They’re a great deal more attractive as well, which is why you will almost always find a wood burner installed as a prominent feature in most homes, rather than hidden away in a cupboard or utility room.

Cost to Install a Wood Burner

Many people ask how much it costs to install a wood burner. This is a lot like asking how much it costs to build a house. It depends on what you want, what your budget is, how much space you need to heat, what type of heat you need (space heating, hot water, cooking, a combination thereof), what restrictions might apply and so on. There is no set answer because as you have already discovered there is no one definitive “wood burner”.

The term wood burner (and associated terms such as woodburning stove, wood boiler, wood burning cooker and so on) is generic and applied loosely to a whole class of different individual styles and makes of wood burner. Each costing different amounts to purchase, install, operate and maintain.

That said, as an extremely general example, a 20kW (which is approximately the size needed for a typical three-bedroom house) wood pellet boiler with automatic fuel hopper could cost around £5000 including all installation costs (i.e. including the cost of the flue and commissioning the boiler). The same size wood boiler system using a manual log feed would obviously come in slightly cheaper.

Unless you are highly competent at DIY and qualified to perform (and, all too often these day, also certify) the necessary work to install a wood burner then you should seek the advice and services of an approved heating engineer (as noted above). A qualified specialist should be able to provide an approximate idea of the type of wood burning system best suited to your requirements and typical costs to purchase, install and run such a wood burner.

Certainly beware buying a wood burner online. By all means use the internet to research wood burning stoves and get an idea of what’s available at what price and generally compare wood burning options; but at the end of the day you are always best advised to buy face to face from a reputable supplier with a physical address, a track record of happy customers and a reputation to protect. Whatever you think you might save by buying online, the truth is you will save many times over by dealing with an experienced professional company who understand the surprising complexities and potential pitfalls involved with fitting a wood burning stove .

Integrating A Wood Burning Boiler With An Existing System

Of course, not everyone has the luxury of installing a brand new wood burning system into a new build. Most people are looking to install a wood burner either as a replacement for, or to operate in combination with, an existing gas boiler. Even those who are installing a new wood burning stove might consider installing a combination of wood burning and gas boiler (plus possibly also solar water heating). In an uncertain world it makes a lot of financial sense to adopt more than one technology.

Pretty much the first problem that most folk run into when attempting to integrate wood burning stoves and/or solar powered heating with existing, typically mains gas, heating systems is differences in design and particularly pressures within these various systems.

Most modern gas boilers are combination (or combi) boilers that are closed, pressurised systems, whereas the backboiler typically fitted (as the name suggests) to the back of most wood burning stoves is designed to feed a conventional gravity fed hot water cylinder and cannot withstand the pressure within a closed system. This is not to say that you cannot integrate a combi boiler and a wood burning stove back boiler. Some back boilers are designed to withstand the pressures in a sealed system – this type of installation has a pressure relief safety valve fitted to protect the back boiler.

However, as a general rule most wood burning stoves must be connected to an open vented system, and although the primary circuit may be pumped, it must be capable of dissipating heat from the wood burning stove by natural gravity circulation in case of a power or pump failure (the heat is usually sent to a thermal store or bled directly into the house radiators). The easiest option for many is to incorporate a thermal store (i.e. a heat accumulator) with a device for combining feeds from mains pressure combi boilers with those from renewable energy sources (solar thermal systems and wood burning stoves); the Grant CombiSOL is a well known example.

Wood burner installation is not a light undertaking, but if you approach the idea with realistic expectations you stand a very good chance of reaping the very considerable benefits for many years to come.