purchasing property with wood burner - no HETAS certificate or service history

Scampy

Hi,

I am in the (long) process of purchasing a 4 bed detached property. We have now been told that the wood burner does not have any installation documentation or service history (it was installed around 10 years ago).

An indemnity policy is being provided but I'm more concerned about the cost to make it safe and usable.

I'm just wondering what the best thing to do from here would be? I'm already aware that a flue needs to be fitted due to problems with the chimney.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Dan-Dan

What does the indemnity cover? The council wont be interested in any enforcement after 10 years

Is the woodburner in use?

If it were me (which incidentally , it is) i would proceed and make good once i moved in

Davesnave

Wood burners don't usually have a service history.

Depending on the manufacturer, the fire itself may be usable, close to scrap or simply not very good. If it isn't a well respected brand with easily available spares, it might be better to replace it with something better when the chimney's lined with a proper flue. A ten year old flue might be close to retirement anyway if there had been one fitted.

Firewood's expensive, so a well-used wood burner with poor damping and controls could cost twice as much to run as a good new model.

I'd regard any wood burner in a property I was buying as a bit of a bonus if it worked well, but I'd not expect too much in advance, nor give it much prior thought unless it was also plumbed-in as part of the water heating. I wouldn't pay extra to have it left there, nor would I try to negotiate money off if I thought it was a pile of junk.

Even a good stove can perform poorly if badly installed, so make buying a carbon monoxide detector a priority before use.

Clutterfree

Not sure when HETAS regulations came into force but I know when we fitted our stove approx 14 years ago there weren't any.

When we wanted to replace it last year, we were surprised that it didn't comply and had to have certain alterations before replacing the stove.
Main points were that we had to cloak the oak beam that was above the fire place and also the hearth wasn't big enough. We'd never had any problems but it didn't comply with current regs.
The installers also had to install a carbon monoxide before a certificate could be issued.

If we had an open fire, I don't think there are any regulations but imho I think open fires are more dangerous!

suki1964

Stoves don't get serviced as such, you replace the seals and firebricks as and when needed. Like brake discs on cars, they wear out with use

who has said it is dangerous?

A flu will also wear out over time and would need replacing eventually. We are just replacing our boiler flu which is around 20 years old. Still safe ATM, but is showing signs of wear


When you complete, book a chimney sweep to come test the stove and chimney. If the stove is sound then just because it might not comply with today's regulations it doesn't mean it's not safe. Nobody rushed out to change their double glazing or added fire doors when regulations changed. It's just when you are replacing you need to follow the new regs

motherofstudents

Clutterfree, what did you mean by 'cloak the oak beam'? We had our wood burner installed about 5 years ago and nothing was mentioned about the oak beam.

Clutterfree

motherofstudents wrote: »

Clutterfree, what did you mean by 'cloak the oak beam'? We had our wood burner installed about 5 years ago and nothing was mentioned about the oak beam.

The installer had to cloak the underneath of the oak beam with a fire resistant board so that it would prevent it catching fire!
It had never been a problem all those years before but rules and regulations...

arbrighton

We bought our house with woodburner as is, knowing that like several other things, it might have been bodged to some degree. We've had the chimney swept which confirmed that the flue isn't anywhere near regs (if it's there at all!) and when we've had another installed in another room the HETAS reg guy sort of muttered about pretending not to see it....

It's now on our to do list to replace, for a smaller and hence more efficient one (and so we don't roast when it is lit) and sort the chimney/ flue situation but that requires a cherry picker and it isn't our priority just now.

We use it, with CO detector and some caution.

Scampy

Thanks for all the replies they've been really helpful.

It was our full survey that recommended we get it tested by a HETAS engineer before use and also commented on there being no recenct service history. The vendor has advised that it is only used very intermittently, and based on the amount of other problems we've found I've got a feeling it will need some work.

I will add on the to do list for once we've completed!

G_M

Forget the lack of documentation- it's not an issue.

If you have concerns about either the safety, or effectiveness of the installation, then just as with the electrics, the boiler, the roof, or any other aspect of the property, get it looked at by a mate who knows what's what, or inspected by a professional.

kinger101

If it were me, I'd get it inspected before I purchased the house. I'd certainly want it done before I used it, and if you get it done before exchange, any nasty surprises might be a negotiating point.