Wood burning stoves>

angela110660

We are having a Stovax Stockton 5 fitted at the end of October and are really excited. We have a chimney but will have it lined as well by the HETAS fitter.
Just wondered how this works when you need the chimney swept? Also do you have problems with the smoke emissions lingering over your property and over the neighbours at all??

rhiwfield

In our stove, a Little Thurlow, the sweep accesses the chimney from the inside of the stove by removing the baffle plate. It cost £35 to have the chimney swept and to reseal the rope round the door which was coming loose.

As to smoke you shouldnt get too much if the fire is burning correctly. Inevitably, there will be some slight wood smoke smell, but there doesnt seem to be any problem with neighbours or emissions lingering.

PDM1

I have had our fire a year now and no one has complained, anyway I personly like the smell of wood/coal burning when I walk down a street, the smoke I dont like is the ones where people burn there rubbish in there back garden-now thats what call irrisponsible.
Think about it in this day and age of supposed global warming/climate why worry about burning wood- your carbon neutral arnt you?



Regards
PDM1

muckybutt

rhiwfield wrote: »

In our stove, a Little Thurlow, the sweep accesses the chimney from the inside of the stove by removing the baffle plate. It cost £35 to have the chimney swept and to reseal the rope round the door which was coming loose.

Thats a good price ! I charge between £25 and £40 dependent upon how far I have to travel.

Generally speaking the more popular types of stove can be swept from the inside of the stove by removing the baffle, thats ok if you have a flue liner. If your chimney isnt lined then you will need a soot box fitting to the chimney breast to allow access into the chimney and to allow the soot to be taken away from the top of the register plate.
It is worth noting that some of the cheaper makes of stove dont allow for the register plate to be removed, so if you want a liner fitting as well then the flue pipe coming from your stove will need an access point otherwise you wont be able to sweep it.

VITO_3

I am having a Prity FM ( Bulgarian ) Stove/Oven fitted this week which will not only heat a large room but also allow me to cook food as well.
Just a few points which may help others going down this road.

Do not waste your time applying for a grant from the Low Carbon Building Programme,they are totally useless and do not have a clue what they are doing.I would love to hear from anybody who has actually managed to get a domestic grant for a Biomass System.

Beware of rogue installers,including Hetas registered persons,giving you false and expensive advice.I was told by three installers that I needed a flue liner at costs between £600 and £900 which was totally incorrect as the chimney on my 1923 built is solid and perfectly adequate for a wood burning appliance without a liner.

Although safety is paramount beware of paying ridiculous prices for an installation,it is not rocket science,and providing your flue is sound you should pay no more than £300 for a basic standard installation,don't fall for the £600 ++++ quotes.

I have had woodburning stoves in various houses for years,they are well worth the relatively small outlay and will give you years of pleasure.

muckybutt

VITO wrote: »

I was told by three installers that I needed a flue liner at costs between £600 and £900 which was totally incorrect as the chimney on my 1923 built is solid and perfectly adequate for a wood burning appliance without a liner.

Im no installation expert just a chimney sweep, from my point of view a lined chimney is a helluva lot better chimney, its cleaner for one as the smooth bore sides dont leave anywhere for the soot to deposit to like a normal chimney does, nacs will say get your chimney swept using wood 4 x a year in my experience burning wood with a lined chimney 1 x every 12 - 18 months is sufficent... provided wood is seasoned and dry.
I would advise anyone thinking about fitting a stove or range to fit a liner as well, and thats doing me out of business ! im to honest for my own good

A._Badger

VITO makes a very valid point. As I said a few posts ago, I have just replaced my stove and, in the process of deciding which new one to buy, I was told more utter (expensive) rubbish by stove retailers and installers than you could possibly credit.

I suspect there is a real racket going on in this market - largely driven by a fashionable craze for stoves and the ease with which uneducated customers can be gulled.

My advice to anyone thinking of buying a stove is do your research very carefully and be prepared to make your own mind up - not have it made up for you by someone who is just out to make a fat profit and doesn't care much how that is achieved.

And watch the installers! There seems to be some very dodgy advice out there with 'regulations' made up as people go along..

muckybutt

A._Badger wrote: »

And watch the installers! There seems to be some very dodgy advice out there with 'regulations' made up as people go along..

Quite ! in the last month I have had two stoves that I had gone to sweep that couldnt be done as they had both been fitted wrongly by an approved installer, if in doubt look up and download the part j building regs, just google it !

Igol

I used to have to sweep the open fire at least twice a year, now with the stove once is fine its almost a pleasure (hats off to you muckbutt, I hate the job).
Mine also does the CH and its really not complicated to do. Its a basic circuit thats open so nothing should go bang, but even so I installed safety valves where the manufacturers said to and a heat sink. 3 years on and my house is almost heated for free

ventureuk

My stove is on an outside wall and my sweep suggested that a sweeping hatch fitted to the outside wall would be a good idea. He was right, the chimney can be swept from outside now, no messing about with equipment inside and no risk of dust or muck in the living room.

The sweep can come and clean when there is nobody at home, fitted and swept it was £160, a normal sweep is £30.

The fire has been on for the past couple of weeks most evenings slowly burning a few logs. We had put a thicker duvet on now the weather had got cooler but the fire has warmed the house to such an extent that we've swapped it back to a thin summer one.

Fitting the stove has been one of the best things we've done, my gas supplier has just credited me with £180 based on overpayments from the first 1/4 of this year. I'm viewing my monthly gas direct debit as something of a saving scheme from now on