Stove advice

[EskiBrew]

Not brewing related hence in the Snug but advice welcome :)

I'm seriously thinking of installing a wood burning stove (possibly a multifuel stove instead) and am seeking advice from those who have installed one.

I'm happy to remove the old gas fire, prepare the hearth and fit the new stove but I'm unsure about fitting a chimney liner. Does anyone have any pointers from their experience of fitting a stove in an existing fireplace with an existing chimney?

There's a good priced stove on eBay at the moment (here) - 6.5kw would be more than adequate for our living/dining room.

I understand there is a need for an air brick because the gas fire did not have one. We have wooden floors which are ventilated underneath via airbricks so I am interested in fitting an air vent in the floor close to the stove (to minimise the draughts in the room). My parents have an air vent in the floor next to their coal fire which draws air in from under the floorboards. Does this sound reasonable.

Any thoughts appreciated :thumb:

 

[trunky]

Well, I have had a wood burning stove and now (different house) have an open hearth, I prefer the open hearth - more homely and a nicer feature.

As for ventilation I like to leave a small vent window slightly open as this (relatively) modern house is effectively sealed yet in my victorian house with sash windows I had to do nothing.

 

[unclepumble]

If you buy a wood burner, make sure you can get a good supply of Dry seasoned wood, because there is a lot of crap being sold for plenty£££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££.

The liner is easy to fit, I fitted the wood burner and liner etc myself, very easy to do as long as you can get to the chimney pot, (I would recomend a scaffold, I did it off a ladder and needed new underpants and jeans when I'd finished!!!)

Just measure your chimney, order the length required, take the pot off drop a rope down the chimney, and feed the liner in from the top while somebody at the fireplace pulls the rope.

You will need a baffle plate making out of boiler plate, and plenty of fire cement to seal it all up.

There is a website that outlines all the requirements, and if you install one yourself you will need someone to check it to HETAS standards or your house insurance will be invalid should you have a fire, (Gordon Brown also requires it by law, on top of not allowing you to electrics in your bathroom and kitchen Big brother is watching, )

 

[Springer]

For my bit I offer the following.
Burning wood is not cheap useless you get it at the right price !
If you get it free it is still not free, cos if you take your time into account converting it and transporting, it is probably more efficient to do what you do best, full time work that is, and pay for gas, electric wood etc. Chainsaws do not come cheap and are very dangerous pieces of kit in untrained hands.
Wooding is great fun and keeps you fit.
If you do it yourself you get hot twice, once sawing and once burning. Trouble is if you come into a warm house after log splitting it will be to warm, and you will argue with the other half about wasting wood. :lol:
If you want efficiency it has to be a log stove, but really consider how cost effective it is considering the true price of your wood, as above !!
People say log stoves put out loads of heat, they do if you put load of wood in. :)
It is only worth burning dry logs, or you lose most of the heat output drying them. So you need to buy expensive dry logs or have a large storage heap to dry them over a long period.
Do not consider a wood stove without a properly designed chimney system. My mate had a very large bill from the guy in the terraced house next door, when tar started to creep through my mates chimney into next doors bedroom.
For looks you cannot beat an open log fire, still not cheap to run !! But it is really nice to look at. Still arguments with other half cos there is not enough wood on and it only looks good when burning well, apparently the temperature is not a consideration, by females in these cases. :lol:
The house gets dusty whichever way you do it.
Just really consider why you are doing it.
Hope something above helps.
All that said ;-
We have been burning wood in an open convector fire for twenty years and would not be without it. It really throws the heat around the room and not just does good toast or warms those at the front :)
Wood burner installed in workshop and that burns anything and gets literally red hot when stoked well.
Time to go and turn the roasties they tell me, a mans work is never done :lol:
Merry Christmas

Springer

 

[evanvine]

Just thought I’d throw this in EB.
I do not have a stove or open fire in my home (I did as a kid and it was always my job to ash out and bring in the coal).
I do have a large cast iron Chiminea in the garden which I use at BBQ’s etc (MD’s got a small one).
On this I have burnt all sorts of wood, logs and coals the most efficient being, INMO, smokeless fuel cobbles.
The heat given out and the longevity of the burn surpasses all others except coal liberated from my railway. :whistle:

 

[ni9e]

Not brewing related hence in the Snug but advice welcome :)



I'm happy to remove the old gas fire, prepare the hearth and fit the new stove but I'm unsure about fitting a chimney liner. Does anyone have any pointers from their experience of fitting a stove in an existing fireplace with an existing chimney?

Get a corgi registered gas fitter in to remove the gas pipe well away from the hearth area. Get the chimney sweep to fit your liner he'll fit it for a few quid save you scrabbling on the roof

There's a good priced stove on eBay at the moment (here) - 6.5kw would be more than adequate for our living/dining room.

Don't get one from ebay the cast iron is thin and will split and crack machinemart do some nice multifuel burners

I understand there is a need for an air brick because the gas fire did not have one. We have wooden floors which are ventilated underneath via airbricks so I am interested in fitting an air vent in the floor close to the stove (to minimise the draughts in the room). My parents have an air vent in the floor next to their coal fire which draws air in from under the floorboards. Does this sound reasonable.

Go for a 5kw stove and you will be fine with what you have and a 5kw stove will warm your whole house unless you live in a castle

Any thoughts appreciated :thumb:

 

[unclepumble]

Corgi registered are no more! You now need an expert who is registered with GAS SAFE!

If I were to advise on any make of stove it would have to be a Morso, I wouldn't look at any other make, I have seen plenty of models of stove and most look tired after a couple of years of use, I have had a Morso for 3 years and it still looks almost as good as the day I bought it.

You can pick em up on ebay second hand, but I wouldn't buy a new stove off ebay!

If you get a stove and are going to fit it inside a fireplace, make sure you have plenty of room for air to circulate around it, other wise you will just heat the bricks up inside the fire, and waste most of the heat. if you cant get plenty of space, fit it proud, and make the hearth bigger, you will get more benifit from the stove,

5kw should be ample for most houses

 

[EskiBrew]

Thanks for the useful feedback guys :thumb:
I will mull it over some more :hmm: