Want wood burner but no chimney - where to start?

henry24

Gloomendoom wrote: »

What is the reasoning behind fitting a stove?

If you ever sit in a room with one you would never want to be without one

Maz1963

I think mainly I want to have one as I've never had one in a house before, and I don't think you can beat an open fire or a wood burner. If there was an option for an open fire (which there isn't) then I would probably have to consider that very carefully as I know that would mean smoke/staining/dirt issues.


But, I am planning to investigate further today. If it means a load of very expensive work to pass the flue through floors and ceilings and the roof then I will pass. I'll just have to buy the next house with one already in it!


The main issue I have is that when we have power cuts here, which we often do when it's stormy (overhead power lines here), then I have no heat at all in the house. It's happened before during a very cold winter and it was perishingly cold in the house! All heating and cooking opportunities in my home rely on electricity. Maybe I should consider running gas to the old fire place and fit a gas stove? But then I still have flue issues and I suspect a gas stove needs an outlet, so we're back to the flue problem. By having a wood burner or a gas fire somewhere, I can at least stay warm when there's a power cut. Or I can just go out until it's fixed.


I hope I get someone a bit more helpful at the place I'm planning to visit today who is happy to visit and give some advice.

Davesnave

henry24 wrote: »

If you ever sit in a room with one you would never want to be without one

They are very nice, but I have one because there's no mains gas here, I get lots of free wood and I have virtually unlimited storage.

I could really do without the dust though, as I did in my old city house with a gas fired model, which worked at the push of a button.

dunroving

I always thought I'd love a wood burner in my home. I "inherited" a HUGE one in a single storey brick ranch when I lived in the US. You could boil a kettle on top of it, it threw out so much heat (as someone else said). But it really was too big for the fieplace and I eventually got rid of it in favour of an open fire. Being in rural North Carolina, there was never any shortage of wood.

A friend in Northern Ireland, has two. One is in the glorified lean-to and the other in the living room. Both installed properly and very, very expensive. She also has to buy, store and carry wood back and forth during the winter. The cost of the wood is, as far as I can tell, much more expensive than the equivalent cost of gas for heating. But when she has one or either of them running on a cold winter's day, it really is a wondrous sight and feeling of warmth.

In my "new" house I have therefore looked at the logistics, costs and practicalities and decided I will replace the lovely (in someone else's eyes) marble fire surround and living gas fire and replace it with a gas "wood stove" (a gas fire that looks like a wood stove). I know this might seem like a poor alternative, but for me it is a pragmatic compromise.

OP, I'm not trying to dissuade you, and hope you can achieve what you want, but I thought it might be worth introducing the idea of compromise.

Pennywise

henry24 wrote: »

If you ever sit in a room with one you would never want to be without one

But OP doesn't seem to mind where it is as they've mentioned "various" places and the hallway. Not clear whether they want it for function/heat or just as a feature.

FreeBear

Maz1963 wrote: »

But, I am planning to investigate further today. If it means a load of very expensive work to pass the flue through floors and ceilings and the roof then I will pass.

A stove can be had for £200 or less (cheap, nasty Chinese made) to £20,000 and beyond. A decent British made stove can be had for £500-£1000 depending on the style & type. Worth getting one that can burn either wood or smokeless coal.

Installation - IF you had a chimney all the way up, £1000-£1500 would probably cover the cost of fitting a liner and commissioning the stove. Installing a twin wall flue, I;d take a guess on £2000-£5000. Either way, not a cheap exercise. Then add in the cost of purchasing the wood (or coal), and storing enough to last a winter. Do not underestimate just how much wood you'd get through !

Gloomendoom

Maz1963 wrote: »

The main issue I have is that when we have power cuts here, which we often do when it's stormy (overhead power lines here), then I have no heat at all in the house. It's happened before during a very cold winter and it was perishingly cold in the house! All heating and cooking opportunities in my home rely on electricity. Maybe I should consider running gas to the old fire place and fit a gas stove? But then I still have flue issues and I suspect a gas stove needs an outlet, so we're back to the flue problem.

My sister has a Morso stove in the sitting room of her holiday cottage. It looks like a wood burning stove but runs off gas and has a balanced flue that exits through the wall behind the stove. Like a gas boiler flue. No Chinese takeaway flue required.

It looks very similar to this...

somethingcorporate

You could also consider a bio-ethanol burner. Far cheaper, no requirement for a flue etc. easier to store fuel and look good (in my opinion).

Gloomendoom

somethingcorporate wrote: »

You could also consider a bio-ethanol burner. Far cheaper, no requirement for a flue etc. easier to store fuel and look good (in my opinion).

Give off loads of water vapour so can lead to condensation problems.

troffasky

FreeBear wrote: »

Do not underestimate just how much wood you'd get through !

There are more efficient designs of wood-burning heater [eg rocket mass heater] but they're a bit more specialist [DIY, I reckon] and less fashionable. I'd quite like to build one, but...burning solid fuels is nigh-on inexcusable in this day and age. I am pretty sure wood burning would be illegal in urban areas if it wasn't so fashionable.