Which Woodburner?

stu3105

hethmar

I too have been looking at the Clearview Pioneer 400 at a local stockist and the sales person insisted that we need a liner and quoted around £50 a metre plus vat(this makes the liner more expensive that the clearview)

I have since spoken to a supplier of the heavy cast iron woodburners who also happens to be a HETAS engineer he says that for the iron ones and the fact my chimney is brick lined with no leaks and has been burning solid fuel for about 70 odd years I shouldn't need a liner.

My query is, do the liners provide a more efficient burn or are there to protect the chimney, or prevent CO poisoning.

Do Clearview burners work better with a liner and surely woodburners have been around since the 19th century or earlier and i'm sure they didn't require liners.

I'm a bit puzzled.
thank you

davesbird

From the reading I have done, the reason we have to undertake the cost of lining chimneys with stoves and not with open fires is due to the higher heat 'outputed'.

If the steam/smoke cools on its way up the chimney it deposits the sap/creosote onto the chimney, in time these deposits leak through the bricks colouring the chimney walls and it's not possible to get rid of it. Lining the chimney ensures everything stays volatile until it exits the chimney pot.....not sure if the same chemistry applies to coal.....would be interested to have a chemist's view rather than an engineer's view?!

shona_2

We got a wee Charnwood, and it is great. Tiny, but pumps out the heat.
Quite plain to look at but that's part of the charm...

hethmar

Sorry guys missed the query. Yes, the new flue should be insulated and thus the flue gases will pass more quickly through the flue and less likely to deposit resin which can build up and create a fire hazard in unlined brick chimneys. Because woodburners are so efficient, the majority of the heat comes into the home and little heat is lost up the chimney - its the other way round with open fires. Because of this there is more likelyhood of deposits forming on the internal brickwork.

You can always look at the NACE and HETAS websites for more techi info.

Smokeless fuels are actually more corrosive than wood! Burn only dry seasoned wood of the right types. Ash is the king of woods and can be used 6 months after it has been cut up and stored with air circulating freely around it.

make sure you employ a NACS sweep who will issue certificates of attendance and advise on frequency of sweeping. Keep the certs in case you have an insurance claim in future.

We are often called by people who had been told they can have a woodburner or multifuel burner fitted without lining - a year or two on and they are getting staining on their plasterwork and problems like smoke leaking into next door neighbours etc. It used to be, perhaps 15-20 years ago that shops selling appliances would play down the need for lining because it would often outweigh the cost of the appliance and lose them a sale. This is much less likely to happen nowdays.

A flue that is unlined and has been burning solid fuel for 70 years is lucky not to have already gotten eroded mortar joints! The bricks will almost certainly have been contaminated. Why dont you get a sealed smoke test carried out - where a pellet is inserted in the fireplace and the top and bottom of the flueway is sealed to contain the smoke within the flue - you can then check for leaking.

moneysaversss

I have a small 7KW stove from Speedwellstar . It was a really good deal and came to less than £250 including delivery. they've also got some larger sizes:
www.speedwellstar.com

hethmar

Hmm, first posting eh?

markmas

I have a Scan Anderson 4-5, which I bought a couple of years ago for about £680. I can definitely recommend it. It has a very large window and is well built.

Normally the images on the web show it with tall legs. But you can get a model with short legs (which I have) which are in much better proportion to the stove.

bigsteve

I got an old sweep around to sweep my class 1(?) chimney a couple of weeks ago, with the intention of him advising me re a multi-fuel stove. I live in a mid-terraced house built in 1896.

He said my chimney was fine and also did a smoke test, although he did not give me a certificate. He also advised against capping the pot and said the chimney did not require lining. I told him I was interested in putting in a multi-fuel burner. I did get the impression he was of the "old school" and he seemed not to pay much regard to legislation : he suggested just putting the wood burner in myself.

We've got a narrow room and so I
am very interested in the esse 300 or the esse 350. I understand that the esse 300 does not need a flue and the esse 350 requires an air vent. Not sure if the 350 requires a flue or not.

As far as I understand, these are 'slot-in' inset multi-fuel burners, the 300 for a fireplace with a fire back, the 350 for one with the fire back removed.

I do intend to order one on the internet and have a HETAS engineer fit it.
Could anyone proffer any advice or comment upon my choices?

Has anyone got these models? What do you think?

Advice appreciated. Thank you.

hethmar

. Perhaps you could also ring Esse and see what they advise.

Any appliance with an output in excess of 5Kw requires an air vent.

Re a "smoke test" - unless the sweep blocked off the top of the chimney and the bottom so that the smoke was held in the flueway then the smoke test isnt a lot of use.

Also, when you say the chimney cap - a cap is what you use when the chimney is redundant - basically you stop it being used by doing that.

Of course you can put the woodburner in yourself. The only prob may be if/when you sold the house and it was queried.

MiM

We're looking to install a multifuel burner and the last place we visited had told us we don't need to bother lining the flue. It's an old terraced house.

It's just going to be such an expensive job with lining but Hethmar obviously makes a very strong case.

Just out of interest, what part of the country are you in H?