Is flue liner necessary when installing a wood burning stove?

Steluber

Hello,

We are planning to install a Charnwood Country 4 wood buring stove in our 2 bedroom house built in the 1900s. We already have a chimney there and are working on the hearth. We would have a certified professional to install it to make sure it is sealed properly.

We had the chimney swept recently and the sweeper said that we wouldn't need flue liner as the chimeny does not leak. He said Hetas recommends it but it is not compulsory according to building reguslations. He explained that withoutliner, the heat will not go straight out but will warn the chimney bricks and we will feel more heat from the chimney breast in the first floor bedroom above the lounge where the stove would be fitted. He also said that liner can create condensation problems and overall didn't think it was necessary.

I would be happy to pay less and not have the chimney lined but I want to make sure that it would be safe and that we would not lose all the heat up the chimney like in an open fire place.

Thank you!

System

the certified installer you will be using will be able to tell you exactly what is required for the install

muckybutt

Having a liner is not compulsary

Liners are normally installed if the chimney is in bad repair or if there are problems with leakage. Stove companies like to fit them as obviously its more work for them but no they are not compulsary.

Re the heat going up the chimney.... a lot less heat will go up the chimney as when the stove is fitted the installer should fit a register plate to the throat of the chimney and seal around the edges to make it air tight for better draw, the flue then will go through a hole cut into the register plate and then connect onto a liner ( If fitted ), however.... you MUST ensure you maintain access for sweeping the chimney and access to the top of the register plate. Bear in mind you cant effectivley sweep a 18" wide chimney through a 6" flue so you will have to fit a soot plate just above the register plate on the chimney breast to allow access.

MissGivings_2

We're having a woodburning stove installed imminently and have had our chimney swept and inspected by an independant certified sweep. When asked about his opinion about a chimney liner he said he'd recommend one every time for older properties like ours. It's much safer as most of the structure in the chimney is guesswork even if the smoke appears to draw easily.

Our chimney is 18 feet high and the liner will be £450 including vermiculite.
It's worth every penny to make sure the installation is top notch and the stove pipe and chimney are completely safe regarding fumes coming back into the room or chimney fires etc.

So what if it's not compulsory? Do a good safe job for your families' sake.

And it's such an expensive thing to install a stove that it's crazy to cut corners

Steluber

Thank you for your very useful comments, they are appreciated. Just to add more information, we had the chimney checked for leaks, using smoke pellets, and there were absolutely no leaks. We saw 3 Hetas certified installers, 2 recommended a flue liner for about £1,200 (installation of stove and flue, not including stove itself) and the other one said it wasn't necessary and would complete the installation with registered plate for under £500. I don't think in this region (East Anglia), we can find anyone who would do it for £450 unfortunately, otherwise I wouldn't hesitate, but £1,200 for installation only is too much for my budget.

keith969

With an old house like that a liner is probably a good idea, whether or not the chimney leaks. You don't lose much heat out of the flue, that's the whole point of a woodburner compared to a normal file.

I had one installed with my woodburner, the liner itself was £224 for 8 metres 316 grade 150mm diameter.

The cost of removing an existing fireplace, installing a lintel above the fire, install the flue, woodburner, register plate, granite hearth, new chimney cowl etc. was £1060. Can't say what proportion of that was the flue installation cost.

Better not to spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar...

suisidevw

Keith, where are you based roughly as that sounds good.... Thanks

Bexm

We recently had a wood burner installed in a 1900 house and a liner installed.

Our installers really seemed to know what they were on about and we trusted them and they gave a good reason!

We have a 3 story house with burner on ground floor, so may be different from you, but we were told that the reason we should have the liner put it was to stop seepages.
The reason (apparently) that they are more common with wood burners is the heat sent up the chimney from a wood burner isn't as hot as an open fire so the fumes may cool sooner and not get out the top and linger in the chimney giving them chance to seep through!

The liner is completely insulated, which is ok for us as we have an open stair case that goes right up through the house, so the heat heats everything!

That as well as having a 100 yr old chimney convinced us!

We paid just over £1200 I think with a 25 yr guarantee!

keith969

suisidevw wrote: »

Keith, where are you based roughly as that sounds good.... Thanks

I'm in Oxfordshire, the installer I used was from Witney. PM me if you want his details, he was recommended by StovesOnline where I bought the stove from, and he did a good job.

muckybutt

Bexm wrote: »

The reason (apparently) that they are more common with wood burners is the heat sent up the chimney from a wood burner isn't as hot as an open fire so the fumes may cool sooner and not get out the top and linger in the chimney giving them chance to seep through!

That is sales twaddle !

Woodburning stoves run best hot, get a flue pipe thermometer and you will see the heat going up your chimney is anything between 200 - 400 degrees, ideally burn a stove at between 250 -350 deg.

I have to admit I am a really big fan of liners as they make sweeping a lot easier, however you have to burn good quality seasoned and dry wood if you have a liner fitted, if you burn even damp wood then inevitably you can and will block it very quickly.

Rolandtheroadie

Lined my chimney when we got ours done, more because I felt the 6 inch outlet from the stove would work most efficiently if it was 6 inches all the way to the outside world. Probably a load of rubbish, but it's done now.

Got the liner etc from The Flue Store who were far cheaper than anyone else at that time.