Wood burning stoves>

russt2000

hi thanks for the comments, was going to take cheap option of having some instant heaters to use in other parts of house ,just as and when ,our bedroom would be above the fire /lounge .so hopefully a bitof transfer from the ceiling/flooor and the chimney in wall for that room.

has anybody used a company up here elgin /inverness area?

Swipe

£60? He's having a laugh. My sweep charges £25 all year round.

A._Badger

hethmar wrote: »

Just read some comments re "dodgey installers". We now have to register the fitting of stoves and liners in triplicate. Once a HETAS registered person signs off a stove and liner he is responsible for its safety as a "competent person". Whilst many chimneys in this country are not lined or their original lining has disappeared over time - and they are perfectly safe - it is a fact that once people start using woodburners the instance of chimney fires go up.

The important thing is to get yourself a good NACS sweep who will issue you with a certificate of attendance each time and to make sure you have a good sweep access (which is a legal requirement). If an appliance has an output in excess of 5 Kw it is also necessary to have an external source of air to the room.

Yes, and that last is a particularly stupid regulation as it takes absolutely no account of the individual installation.

HETAS and the various other money-making organisations which have been allowed by lazy governments to establish and police energy installations (CORGI springs readily to mind) have a vested interest in increasing the amount of control imposed on the markets they govern.

Fortunately, it is not (yet) a legal requirement to have a stove fitted by a HETAS engineer. The installation simply needs to be properly done and passed by the local building inspector.

It is only anecdotal evidence, I admit, but my experience of installers suggests, registered or not, legally liable or not, some of them are pretty clueless.

A._Badger

Twiglet - I agree with the others: £60 is outrageous! Shop around - I pay a NACS sweep (and a darned good one) £30 and he drives a long way to get here as I live in a fairly remote location. Look in your Yellow Pages or local newspaper and I bet you'll get the price down. A lot!

A._Badger

Twiglet - I've just re-read your post and realise I forgot to mention that there are sites on the Interweb which will sell you firebricks for very little (wish I'd known that when my Little Wenlock was eating them and I was being ripped off for new ones by AGA!). Do a search for firebricks. You might well be able to find suitable grate, as well.

Hope that helps.

muckybutt

£60 for a sweep, cripes if I did all my sweeps at £60 I could retire ! Generally speaking I charge between £25 and £40 depending upon how far I have to travel £40 being over 30 miles.
Like all other approved bodies the NACS is imo a bit of a rip off, its ok issueing certificates etc but again not worth it imo as the day after its been swept whats to say a bird starts building a nest up there and blocks it ?

Forgot to mention : fire bricks ! what I tend to do is if I come across cracked fire bricks is open the crack up with a screw driver, then dampen the crack, then get some fire cement rolled into a sausage shape and kneed it into the crack, with a wet finger smooth over the cement, let it air dry for a few hours then light a small fire to help it cure, cheaper than going to the expense of buying new bricks when they can be repaired !

twiglet98

muckybutt wrote: »

Forgot to mention : fire bricks ! what I tend to do is if I come across cracked fire bricks is open the crack up with a screw driver, then dampen the crack, then get some fire cement rolled into a sausage shape and kneed it into the crack, with a wet finger smooth over the cement, let it air dry for a few hours then light a small fire to help it cure, cheaper than going to the expense of buying new bricks when they can be repaired !

Thanks, I will phone around for a sweep, there are closer ones anyway (this one is about 18 miles), I just saw his van in the village.

The firebricks that presumably should line the whole inside of the fire have broken and are actually missing, apart from a few cracked bits about three inches high around the bottom of the three walls. I guess they are custom sized and I have had a quote emailed for new bits to fit this stove:

Left & Right Hand Fire Brick £21.56p Each
Back Brick £39.73p
Grate £32.85p
Ashpan £33.20p
Carriage UK Mainland £10.50
All prices include 15% VAT and are currently in stock.

Restoring and sweeping the stove will still cost less than replacing it, but not much!

We had the oil heating on from October last year, room stat set to 19C, and had a log fire probably 5 times a week, often lit by 4pm at weekends. I started buying logs in paper sacks at £4 a sack, using 3-4 a week, then got loads delivered from the same local farm at £105 a load, which would last 5 weeks. I'd have loved to have got through winter on £110 worth of logs - and this is a fire that doesn't stay in all night, it's only really heating the room we're in.

This year I've had two poplar (or are they aspen?) trees pollarded, but their wood is supposed to be the worst to burn, and I have a willow to come down, which is as bad. We have big leylandii hedges. Sadly we don't have an ash tree, although our neighbours do... :-(

John_3:16

If willow is well seasoned no problem we have burnt it in the past and it burnt hot on a good bed. We are burning poplar at the moment again on a hot bed and well sesoned (18months) it is fine. Burn what you can and make sure it is dry. If you can mix your timber all the better.

A._Badger

Twiglet - are these direct replacement parts? If that's so, it's exactly how it looked when I had to keep buying new bricks for my Little Wenlock.

However, the vermiculite blocks (that's all they are) are quite easy to saw and can be shaped without too much difficulty. If you search online you can find generic bricks which, with a bit of fiddling, will very possibly make your fire a lot better to use at a far more sensible price.

You might find that a god old-fashioned sweep could give you some advice here. In my experience of having open fires and stoves, I've found that sweeps seem to understand them better than anyone.

John is right about willow, BTW. I have my willows pollarded and it burns well - but only after a good long spell of seasoning. I've also got the remains of four felled Leylandii trees cooking down nicely in a pile. Despite their reputation, I reckon I will be burning them quite happily after year three or four.

Please keep us posted.

twiglet98

That is reassuring news, perhaps all is not lost. It's been rather miserable having this big pile of logs and thinking there is absolutely no use for them! Am I looking at three or four years seasoning for all these 'unsuitable' woods?

I didn't realise firebricks were made of vermiculite! Yes, that quote is for exact replacements from a supplier of Rayburn (Aga, Coalbrookdale, whatever) spares. Another website has them marginally cheaper, but it still seems a lot for a comparatively small bit of material. Is their purpose primarily to protect the back of the fireplace from the heat, or to prevent heat loss behind the stove? It's been used for many years in this state and perhaps that is why it seems so inefficient.

I really would prefer one with doors, I just can't afford a decent one this year.