MSE virgin looking for advice on Woodburning Stoves

sallypoo

Hi all,

Please go gentle... this is my first ever post on here and I realise that I am way out of my depth on my chosen subject!

DH and I have decided to replace our decrepid gas fire with a stove. The room is inadequately heated, and the house is generally poorly insulated (another project). The flue was built for a open fire originally but the builder stuck in a gas fire.... Whole street is the same, and several neighbours have already gone over to stoves.

We've done our calcs and we need about a 5kw output. We have a fairly modern house (Late 80s) but the insulation is shocking! Big lounge too....

So we want something fairly modern looking but that will last. Now this is where it gets tricky isn't it. There is so much choice, and I'm getting the 'feeling' that there are a lot of spurs and texan hats about.... Where to start? We clearly want more than one quote, but I don't know where to look for knowledge before proceeding on getting a second quote.

First quote seemed reasonable a lot I think?? £1500 for installation + hearth + stove + £550 for building work... but was light on the detail... no mention of what flu system was being quoted for only that it had a 10 year guarantee.... also not much detail on what actual structural work was needed and more imporantantly who (qualified) would be carrying it out....

So I want a second quote, but so many places only sell certain makes and we've fallen for a Rais Q-tee, Morso or DG Ivar low & I've just stumbled on the Heta Inspire....

Where should I read up to know exactly what I need to ask for ie spec of flue etc?

I've read some excellent info on here... about flue linings etc and so want to make sure I get this decision right!

Any pointers very gratefully received.
Many thanks

Gloomendoom

You would be better off spending the money on insulating the house rather than replacing a gas fire with a wood burning stove.

woodworm001

Hi, I'm in a similar position to you in that we have never had a stove before but we have already made our decisions and it's currently being installed.

The things recommended to me (several times!) we're to buy British brands of stove and not a chinese copy (probably obvious) and also to have a multi fuel stove rather than just a woodburning as this gives you more options, etc.

Obviously every job is different as we are having a double sided stove installed, but our costs are £1700 ish for opening up the fireplace on both sides, installing a flue and other building works and then around £1800 for the stove (double sided). I think we have specified a couple of other options above the original quote (feature creep!) so will probably add on another £300 - £400 on top of all that.

Having said all that you would be better off getting your insulation done. In our old house (1973 build) we had cavity wall insulation and additional loft insulation and it made a huge difference, even with our old central heating system.

Hoof_Hearted

I don't think a wood burner makes much economic sense as the payback period is going to be pretty long and the cost of wood is rising. However, they are lovely to have and we really enjoy putting it on when the evenings get cold. If you regard it as a luxury, then I would go ahead with it.

We have a Stovax, which is brilliant. If it's a free-standing stove, there has to be a minimum clearance around it. You also need a permanently open airbrick in the room and it is advisable to have a carbon monoxide detector. You also need to get the chimney swept once a year (£40 around here).

It's a good feeling to be off-grid. If there is a power cut (we had one for 8 hours last week) we are still warm and cosy.

When you buy wood, you need to buy seasoned hard wood, which is dry. We buy a lorry load, which is the cheapest way of doing it, but you need plenty of dry storage. You'll also need kindling. Old fences are brilliant for this.

Smiley_Dan

Bear in mind having a chimney is a compromise in your home's thermal barrier. Maybe you already have one for the gas fire but it's something to consider.

To that end, consider a room sealed stove which, while it still allows the cold to conduct through the stove from the flue and outside, at least shouldn't allow air to leak as well.

But your first reply was spot on.

michaelgordon

best advice would be to check the hetas website for a registered installer, they are covered and can install without anyone else having to come in to check building regs are upto standard if it helps i had a firfix 5 installed, fireplace opened, chimney lined, hearth fitted and finished off for £1400 got my installer from Hetas site. This is my second year burning and all is good

sallypoo

Gloomendoom wrote: »

You would be better off spending the money on insulating the house rather than replacing a gas fire with a wood burning stove.

With due respect, I'm struggling to know how you have made that assessment without knowing the construction of the property and what investigation I have already made into the costs.


As we have a timberframe house the only way to improve insulation, is from the inside by striping all the plasterboard off room by room and then replastering and decorating. Costly, time consuming and not at all child friendly.


We are tackling this on a room by room basis. The one radiation we have in our front room will still not be sufficient to heat it even if we were to have undertaken this exercise and the gas fire has been condemed.

sallypoo

Thanks all.

Ectophile

From a money-saving perspective, it makes a big difference whether or not you have a source of free wood.

Buying in seasoned wood is very convenient, and not terribly expensive, but it's more expensive than mains gas. Scrounging your own takes time and effort transporting, cutting and splitting the wood. Then it really needs storing for 2 years before it's worth burning.

If your chimney was built lined, then you may not need a flue. My 1960's house has a "pot lined" chimney and neither the stove retailer nor the installer saw any need for an additional flue liner. It just needed a short section of pipe up from the stove, and a register plate screwed to the top of the fireplace.

You should use a HETAS installer. That doesn't mean that they are not cowboys, but at least they will be cowboys with the right paperwork to sign it off.

My stove is a Stovax View 5. It looks very nice in a modern property, as it has a very minimalist cube design. But it's not the easiest of stoves to use.

Greenfires

Just a few points.

Assuming you need a liner - though as per the posts above - you may well not require one.

If you go for a multi fuel model and are intending to burn smokeless on a regular basis, then you'll need a 904 grade liner. These have more copper in the steel and are more resistant to the corrosive gases given off by smokeless fuel. If you're intending to burn mainly wood then a 316 liner will be fine. Bear in mind that a quality 316 liner may well outlast a cheap 904 - they're not all created equal, and in a lot of cases (as with stoves) you tend to get what you pay for.

If you have mains gas powered central heating, then that will almost certainly be a cheaper option than running a stove.

If you're going to be running the stove on a daily basis, you will probably underestimate the amount of wood you'll get through - most people do!

Wood needs to be dry. Burn damp wood and you'll be heading for trouble and you won't have a happy experience! You need enough space to be able to store several cubic metres of logs. Unless of course you go for briquettes which are a fraction of the moisture and where you'll probably get a years worth on a single pallet. And of course there are no guessing games about whether they'll be dry enough or how many you'll get for your money - as they'll all be identical and they're usually sold by the pack - so if you buy a tonne of Hotties you'll always get exactly 1000 briquettes and they'll all be less than 5% moisture - every time. Also bear in mind that there are hundreds of deliveries of "seasoned logs madam" made all over the country every year that are nothing like seasoned!

sallypoo

Thanks guys,


We do have pot line chimney but first quote said it would need lining - hence my desire for a second quote. Aparently builder built chimneys for open fires then changed their minds at the last minute and stuck in gas fires. These have subsequently all be condemed due to poor ventilation (i beleive it was airbrick problems and diameter of pipe to outside but could be wrong). We've been lucky as not had a gas man in for anything and so ours hasn't been cut off, but we only use it rarely with a Carbon Monoxide detector near by!


Thanks for the info on the linings - if we do need one I want to make sure it is of good quality. We probablyh will only burn wood....


Stove won't need to be a daily thing, would think it will be mainly colder months, and hubby does indeed have a chainsaw and a tame farmer who has said, if you cut it down you can have it for free as i have too much wood to know what to do with - hubby is in chainsaw heaven!


We will of course have that lag of getting seasoned wood, but do intend to start collecting prior to first use which will now be next winter in reality.


Hubby really looking forward to getting his log store - from what you've told me it, might need to be a tad bigger than we'd invisaged!


We were looking at Opulance Stoves in Bury St Edmunds and Orion Heating in Takely to source our stove - either a Rais, Heta or DG, although as Ectophile mentions we too like the look of the Stovax.


Does anyone have any experience of either of these companies?


Thanks again,