How much to install woodburner when we don't have a chimney?

smellymel222

Hi All,

I would like to install a wood burning stove but live in a 70's built house with no chimney. I was wondering if anyone could give me a rough idea how much it would cost to put a stove in.

I realise that the flue would have to go up though living room ceiling, up through bedroom, into loft then out through the roof.

Somebody down our street have had it done but I've not seen the lady to quiz her about it.

I realise it will be expensive but I was thinking round the £3000 mark but hubby was thinking more like £8k.

Any ideas?

System

just had something like this carried out - total price installed inc. hearth tiles was 6650 (with a bit of a discount) although the stove itself was over 2k

suki1964

its the flu which will cost. We done a self install and paid around £50 a metre, Im sure we were quoted around £100 a metre for a full install. We didnt need much as our stove is upstairs and straight out the roof

Ebe_Scrooge

I can't help on the price I'm afraid, but several people in my area have had similar things done. Their flues all go out through the wall behind the stove, then just up the outside of the house. I imagine this would be simpler ( and therefore cheaper ) than routing it through the inside of the house. It may be worth asking the installer if this would make much difference to the price.

smellymel222

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies.

So it looks like my husbands guess was the closest. Mind you, the stoves we have been looking at are around the £700 mark rather than £2000

Suki1964: Was it easy to do it DIY? And did you have to get an inspection to make sure it had been correctly installed?

Ebe Scrooge: Our house is a semi and the living room wall is on the attached side so we can't put the flue on the outside as that probably would have been cheaper.

rich13348

If you don't like your neighbors you could just route it through the party wall.

suki1964

For my husband it was easy , but then he's a qualified builder. He followed the regs and we got the council to sign it off. IF you don't have a clue it could be a nightmare.

We also built our own hearth to keep cost down

Davesnave

smellymel222 wrote: »

Mind you, the stoves we have been looking at are around the £700 mark rather than £2000.

So long as you buy via a long established firm you should be OK, as there are some decent stoves around that price point and reputable companies won't want to be guaranteeing the troublesome ones.

There can also be a few good deals at this time of year, as showrooms refurbish ready for the coming winter season and selling is slack too.

rustyboy21

Your situation is the worst possible scenario for having a stove fitted and the cost of getting it installed is very high.

I know wood burning stoves are all the rage at present, but have you really sat down and covered all the issues with having one installed?

Some points to look at include.

Do you have a reliable source for SEASONED wood, no use buying unseasoned or using rough cut wood/pallets. You are paying £1000's getting it installed, the flue pipe will rot using the wrong wood. You will also knacker up the stove and invalidate any warranties you may have.

Do you have anywhere to store the wood when you have bought it?

Have you taken into account that you will have a flue pipe of circa 9'' diameter running through your house/bedroom/loft etc?

Is your room big enough to take a free standing stove, sitting on quite a large hearth?

Are you up for the increased dusting you will have with soot/dust on every surface in the room, if not the house?

Do you have any small children who could get near the stove whilst it is on?

I know that they look great, but if you don't use the correct fuel, don't keep up with the cleaning aspect of one, it will become a very expensive white elephant. I am finding more and more customers coming into my showroom asking for a swap to gas, or an electric stove instead, they are fed up with the mess and expense.

I will sell a stove to someone, but will leave all the install/surveys/hearths etc to a sub contractor I send them to. The complaints you get from customers about a stove are amazing. '' The glass has all gone Black, what you going to do about it?'' What have you been burning? '' Pallets I have found at the side of the road, why, nowt wrong with that'' and so on.

If you are adamant that you want one and can fulfil all the above questions, fine, but really sit down and go through it with a fine toothed comb. It is a big layout for something that you may(will) get fed up of using. Stoves are great if you live in the countryside and have no source of gas in your property, but if you live in a semi with no class 1 flue, as you do, then it is a very costly item to have fitted with all the hassle coming with it.

A customer told me in the early part of the year that she wanted a gas stove fitted instead of her wood burner, as she was doing it the right way and buying good seasoned wood. It was costing her £50 a week on wood ! She had to buy in smaller amounts, as she lived in a semi with a small garden and no where to store bulk purchases of wood.

OP Really do think about it, before you jump right in.


Above is the best piece of Money saving advice you will see for quite a while ! lol

suki1964

Totally have to agree with rustyboy

They are a huge expense and they cost a lot to run

The only reason I have two stoves in the house is because I live in a very large house which is oil heated. They save us having to have the oil on 12 months a year. We can at least have a couple of rooms that are heated to comfort level

However we don't burn wood very often. I buy enough to store in the car port to season for a year, sometimes two as we can only get soft wood I buy smokeles fuel which is filthy and also needs storing as need to buy bulk as well to keep cost down. Once you have had a few escapee lumps roll across the floor when filling the stove you realise how filthy it is

Davesnave

I live in the country and I wouldn't be without a wood burning stove. With almost unlimited storage space and properly seasoned wood, either from friends or from my own land, it's economical. For me, gas isn't an option.

Seven years ago I lived in a semi in the city. There, I had an efficient mains gas fire with artificial coals and a glass front, very like a wood burner to look at. That was brilliant too. In that situation it was the right thing to have.

It's horses for courses.