Advice on buying multi Fuel Stove

A._Badger

becisim wrote: »

My partner and I are in the process of buying a house which currently has a Jotul 3 woodburner installed - however we have just found out they are taking the stove when they move.

Does anyone know what we will have to pay for? Obviously I am assuming the price of a new stove but wasn't sure what installation we would require as I am assuming the chimney is all ready to go as it has been used with a woodburner before?

Also, the current one is only a wood burner and we would want a multifuel - would this mean having to change the flue?

Any advice appreciated!

What you can't tell is the condition the flue is in. It's not impossible that it could have suffered a chimney fire or other troubles in the past. Your best bet is to get a couple of installers to look at it and quote for doing any work required. Ask around to find a reliable local firm, though, if you can. The quality seems to vary quite widely.

becisim

The current stove was installed recently so I'm guessing the chimney and flue are in good condition.
I think it will just be a matter of attaching another stove.
The main heating system in the house is night storage heaters, so we are also contemplating whether to get the a central heating system with backboiler installed?

Does anyone know how much installing this system would cost?

crphillips

If you look at spending approx £100 per kilowatt output of the stove then you should stay safe with a reasonable quality stove. When it comes to a quality British stove look at Dunsley, Charnwood.. Also check out Morso....they foreign but very good quality......Stovax are pretty good and also Franco Belge, Jotul......there are plenty of good stoves out there. My personal view on Hunter and Villager is that they're pretty poor for the money. Hunter are mostly made in China by the way.

A._Badger

I wouldn't take to much notice of stove salesmen, some of whom seem to hold the most curious beliefs. Check out user reviews online. If you have a sweep, ask him (he probably sees more stoves actually in day to day use than anyone else) and speak with owners, if you can.

https://www.whatstove.co.uk is a useful source of user reviews.

hethmar

My OH does not like woodburners fitted with back boilers, he says they become neither fish nor foul.

He loves the Clearview range, also woodwarm, lower priced stoves he is happy about are Stovax, Yeoman, Jotul, Charnwood, Morso, Dovre. Avoid Villagers and Aarrow (and a number of recent indian/chinese imports).

Trouble with asking the opinion of people who have bought a stove is often they have not experienced another one or only a bad one so wont know what a difference a good stove can make in output and controllability.

Problem you have becs is that HETAS dont allow fitters to connect to a lining that they have no knowledge of as they will be taking responsibility for the whole installation, not just the new stove.

Take it you dont have gas?

Mojisola

If you want multi-fuel, that reduces the range of stoves. Many are just wood-burning, particularly the ones from mainland Europe.

We're in the process of getting a stove from Clearview. They've been highly recommended by a lot of people.

hethmar

My OH has been fitting stoves for 30 years and we have a Clearview ourselves

Mojisola

becisim wrote: »

My partner and I are in the process of buying a house which currently has a Jotul 3 woodburner installed - however we have just found out they are taking the stove when they move.

It's going to be expensive to replace the stove and liner. Couldn't you offer them a lump sum to leave the stove in place? It would be cheaper for you and they can get a new one.

dollydolittle_2

Hope I'm not butting in here...

Our living room is really hard to heat (despite putting in cavity wall insulation etc) and so bedrooms overheat while we sit shivering in here (literally, I can usually see my breath on a winter's day!) the kitchen is also exceptionally cold but the rest of the house is fine, so last year I was intending to put in a woodburner/multifuel in the living room to heat that and trickle through to the kitchen. But then we got quotes (about £1k for installation and liner etc, £1k for building work and hearth, plus however much for the stove itself and then a wood store and new carpet on top and fuel) and then the recession hit us hard jobs-wise and so we didn't do it. But it's getting cold again already, so I'm thinking of raising the money (savings and selling some stuff) and doing it anyway (think I can live with the gap between the hearth and the old carpet for a year or two as long as I'm warm) We intend to stay in this house long term, so I'd rather have a larger initial outlay by buying the best most efficient fire I can, and have lower running/maintenance costs as a result, having said that, I don't want to spend money that I don't need to, iyswim.

Questions:
1) I think I want multifuel because someone told me coal is a lot cheaper than seasoned wood to burn, is that right?
2) I've noticed that steel stoves are cheaper than cast iron. So, is a cast iron stove better than a steel stove? I see Morso, for example, make both.
3) The dimensions of the room would suggest a 5kw output stove (and I understand that a stove should work at its maximum output to be efficient) but this room is an ice box, and I would like the heat to go through to the kitchen, so should I go up to 7kw?
4) Approximately how much do those of you with 5kw/ 7 kw fires spend on fuel each year?

Thank you in advance Oh Wise People!

Mojisola

We're going for multi-fuel just to keep our options open. If there are shortages or massive price rises in wood supplies then being able to burn a variety of fuels seems a good idea.

The cast iron/steel debate - you can get badly-made or well-made cast iron or steel stoves. I'd be interested in hethmar's OH's view on which is best. We found a stove we liked the look of from a company we can trust - cast iron or steel didn't really influence our decision.

I don't know what to expect with costs. We're only planning to use the stove occasionally and want it in case there are problems with gas supplies (while we're redoing our house, we're trying to build in as many options as possible) but a lot of people we've talked to have said that once they got theirs in, they loved it so much that they use it all the time with the central heating becoming the back-up system.