wood burner flue help

Spitakimus14

hi

decided to fit a wood or maybe multifuel burner as our main gas boiler is defunct and being moved (combi going in )
this leaves us with what appears to be a clay pipe lined flue up the centre of the house (built 1968 two story ).so far so good

But its only 4 inch diameter:( (originally used for oil hot air boiler when built)

so what do i do line it with 361 or 904 in 4 inch and step up to the burner flue (6 inch).
increasing the flue diameter is a no go
so its 4 inch or nothing .....

log burner will be 5 to 8 kw model will the flue work and can anything be fitted to increase the rate of flow .

What difference would it really make building regs aside .

crphillips

Unfortunately you only have a class 2 flue byt the sounds of it. When it was built it was not intended for solid fuel and will not have adequate insulation properties for solid fuel or adequate air flow. Installing an appliance with a 5 or 6" outlet onto a 4" flue will result in the stove been unusable and very dangerous and incredibly illegal. It would void your insurance too.

Solid fuel requires a minimum of 6" flue unless the appliance is DEFRA approved.

All class 1 flues for solid fuel should be a minimum of 7" square or 8" round.

The only solution is to have a proper stack built or put a stove somewhere else in the house and use Twin Wall Pre Fabricated flue as a chimney. Both methods are expensive with the twin wall flue been the cheapest and costing around the £2000 to supply and fit to a 2 storey house.

It would be a good idea to get some professional advice from a reputable HETAS Registered installer before going any further with this project.

Spitakimus14

ok
on further inspection the 4ich clay pipe flue is in a 15 inch square brick tower (if that makes sense )
then its backfilled with cement .
so what type of chimney is it ?
2 hepas guys said it doesnt need lining 2 said it does and one just shrugged .

any ideas

crphillips

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the other guys two have looked at it don't know what they're talking about.

If the clay liners are 4 inch and go all the way to the top then it's a class 2 flue for gas only. Either knock down and re-build as a class 1 flue or install a twin wall insulated chimney elsewhere.

If the 4 inch flue is only at the bottom then remove from the chimney and line the flue with a flexi liner. Connect stove to this.

guy0wen

crphillips wrote: »

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the other guys two have looked at it don't know what they're talking about.

If the clay liners are 4 inch and go all the way to the top then it's a class 2 flue for gas only. Either knock down and re-build as a class 1 flue or install a twin wall insulated chimney elsewhere.

If the 4 inch flue is only at the bottom then remove from the chimney and line the flue with a flexi liner. Connect stove to this.

Why not get a gas fired stove that looks like a log buring stove?

Spitakimus14

well i have all the wood i need for free so a gas fire defeats the object really

shegar

guy0wen wrote: »

Why not get a gas fired stove that looks like a log buring stove?

Yes thats exactly what we done last year, best thing we ever did, it looks so real.... but without the mess and expence of a wood burner ,:mad:plus we didnt have to spend thousands on sorting the chimney out..nice and warm , job done.!:D

welda

shegar wrote: »

Yes thats exactly what we done last year, best thing we ever did, it looks so real.... but without the mess and expence of a wood burner ,:mad:plus we didnt have to spend thousands on sorting the chimney out..nice and warm , job done.!:D

Whats the difference and benefit of a gas fired look alike wood burning stove and, an ordinary gas fire?

I would assume a great many people who have had wood burners installed, benefit from free heat if they have access to free wood, of course you have factor in payback time.

It is also a life style change, one that I presonally have taken to very well, may change as I get older though

shegar

welda wrote: »

Whats the difference and benefit of a gas fired look alike wood burning stove and, an ordinary gas fire?

I would assume a great many people who have had wood burners installed, benefit from free heat if they have access to free wood, of course you have factor in payback time.

It is also a life style change, one that I presonally have taken to very well, may change as I get older though

The difference and benefit is gas fired stove looks exactly like a wood burning stove, but without all the mess, carting and cutting logs,kindling, chimney sweeping ..somewhere to store the wood, you press the button on the gas stove and its instant heat and real flames..:D

If you cant get a free supply of wood, its a very expensive way to heat the home, and you are forever chucking logs on, the drier the logs the quicker they burn out.
When I was younger id spend hours outside collecting wood, cutting it etc, but now my bones arnt as good as they were it nice to press the button...plus im the one that use to have to get up and clean the ashes and 9 times out of ten re light in the morning again because it wouldnt keep in overnight no matter what coal I used and closed all dampers down ...:mad:

aliballi

shegar wrote: »

The difference and benefit is gas fired stove looks exactly like a wood burning stove, but without all the mess, carting and cutting logs,kindling, chimney sweeping ..somewhere to store the wood, you press the button on the gas stove and its instant heat and real flames..:D

If you cant get a free supply of wood, its a very expensive way to heat the home, and you are forever chucking logs on, the drier the logs the quicker they burn out.
When I was younger id spend hours outside collecting wood, cutting it etc, but now my bones arnt as good as they were it nice to press the button...plus im the one that use to have to get up and clean the ashes and 9 times out of ten re light in the morning again because it wouldnt keep in overnight no matter what coal I used and closed all dampers down ...:mad:

I'm sorry but you are not comparing like with like. An open fire may well be an alternative to a gas fire. But a wood burner works like a heating system, while it will burn very small amounts of wood & if you choose the correct size it should heat your whole home.

The initial outlay is large, but with the prices of other fuels being so high, one does expect it to have payed for its self, after several years.

shegar

aliballi wrote: »

I'm sorry but you are not comparing like with like. An open fire may well be an alternative to a gas fire. But a wood burner works like a heating system, while it will burn very small amounts of wood & if you choose the correct size it should heat your whole home.

The initial outlay is large, but with the prices of other fuels being so high, one does expect it to have payed for its self, after several years.

Points taken, but a wood burner that is not connected to rads will not act as a heating system for a say 3 bed house ... and keep all rooms at 18 degrees ??..

I have gas central heating , in the winter I turn the heating off at night and just have the gas stove on for a few hours, it keeps the room at a very nice temp...:D