Which woodburning stove is the best?

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Comments

  • verydeeppockets
    verydeeppockets Posts: 90 Forumite
    For the £1000 that would presumably involve lining and insulating your existing flue, and fitting the stove. It's about what I was quoted near Manchester. It's not rocket science to do yourself, but you obviously need that essential bit of Hetas-headed notepaper when you come to sell. Or for the insurance when your house burns down ;)
    The liner is stainless steel - there are two 'qualities' available, and I'd always recommend going for the better quality from speaking to sweeps who've seen the cheaper option break down and split over time. About half your quote would be for a liner I'm guessing.
    Brand-wise, stay british or at least european - you'll be able to get spares for starters. Clearview do get one heck of a lot of positive reviews - that can't be a bad thing! If you can, view, poke and prod before you buy - we saw some very poor welding and paint on a couple of supposedly great brands. Note some ebay chinese junk isn't CE marked, so I doubt hetas would install it anyway.
    A sweep is the man to ask - both for stove brands and decent installers.
    Don't know if I'm allowed to suggest other forums, but greenbuildingforum and navitron both have loads of stove users - reading it all gives you an idea of what's hot and what's not.
    Bu-dum-tish (sorry).
    We have two - an Esse inset 5kw that's pretty well built and works ok, but only takes 'ickle logs and takes a while to heat the room up (5m x 4m) probably because it's inset.
    And a german-designed but bulgarian-built boiler stove that takes near-2 foot long logs and runs the rads and hot water. And brings the kitchen it's sited in to a toasty 28 degrees.
    Also I'd highly recommend a moisture meter - under a tenner on ebay - to check supposedly seasoned logs on delivery if you buy 'em in - split one and measure inside - over 20% is a no-go and 15% is ideal. Gives you an idea of what you're buying and who to trust!
    And a flue thermometer gives you much needed info on how well the fire is burning and how you need to control the airflow.
    Ignoring the £££ setup costs, the feeling of 'free' heating is very enjoyable. :cool:
  • A._Badger
    A._Badger Posts: 5,852 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Just a word about the preceding post. It's not strictly true that you need any involvement at all from HETAS. You can self-install or get someone else to do it and pay to have the job signed-off by the local building inspector. I agree with the rest of the post though.
  • tee-bee_2
    tee-bee_2 Posts: 34 Forumite
    verydeeppockets wrote: »
    And a german-designed but bulgarian-built boiler stove that takes near-2 foot long logs and runs the rads and hot water. And brings the kitchen it's sited in to a toasty 28 degrees.

    This particular one sounds interesting, would this be an extra cost for installation? was it all done by a HETAS expert or did it require another Gas safe engineer?

    Thanks
  • fin7
    fin7 Posts: 198 Forumite
    Like a few have said, it boils down to personal choice. When I was looking for a stove i started looking on the net then went to a stove shop, after drooling over quiet a few I chose this one.........

    http://www.broseleyfires.com/Multifuel-Stoves/Serrano-5_Multifuel-Stove.html

    I was going to have a builder instal it, he told me he had installed loads, after reading about stoves on the net it became obvious he didn't have a clue what he was on about, he knew less than me and that was worrying to say the least! The final straw came when he said he'd use a still saw to cut the opening ( can you imagine the mess!!!!) then to cap it all he said stoves don't need signing off!!!! So I got a hetas fitter and can't fault his work, we sit with it on nicely toasting!!! He also recommended we get a carbon monoxide monitor.

    I know of a few around here that have been done by builders and havent been signed off. I showed the hetas fitter a picture of a fire belonging to someone I know, he was horrified, he even offered to go and check it out for free, she said shes happy with it and doesn't believe you have to have them signed off. Its a really frightening installation!

    fin
  • Swipe
    Swipe Posts: 5,085 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    fin7 wrote: »
    He also recommended we get a carbon monoxide monitor.

    I hope this wasn't a recent installation as the regulations now require a CO alarm to be fitted for it to be signed off.
  • tee-bee_2
    tee-bee_2 Posts: 34 Forumite
    Hi there,

    The size of our living room & dinning (where the fireplace sits) is 8.8 long and 3.33 wide.

    We were wondering if a 5kw wood burner be sufficient?

    Ideally we would like a 8kw (Clearview Vision 500) but been told from the Hetas engineer that it will involve having did up the walls for a ventilation vent (5") for more air/oxygen to circulate in the room for the stove to be more efficient...

    As we are trying to minimise use of LPG bottled cylinder for our main source of CH & DWH, would a 5kw Clearview Pioneer 400 (5kw) be sufficient to heat up the downstairs?

    We are based in Berkshire.

    Thanks
  • smcqis
    smcqis Posts: 862 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    is that metres or feet?
  • bobthedambuilder
    bobthedambuilder Posts: 481 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    tee-bee wrote: »
    The size of our living room & dinning (where the fireplace sits) is 8.8 long and 3.33 wide.

    We were wondering if a 5kw wood burner be sufficient?

    There are lots of variables in determining what size of stove you require for any particular location (type of building, size of windows, internal/external walls etc.).

    I've found this calculator very useful to determine the heat requirements of any room http://www.heatandplumb.com/radCalcs.html .

    Don't oversize a Clearview (or indeed any other) stove - it should work hot to get maximum efficiency.

    If you need additional ventilation, you don't need to dig up the floor - an air brick just above floor level behind the stove is fine (assuming the stove is in front of an external wall!). That's not a massive job.
    A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove you don't need it.
  • tee-bee_2
    tee-bee_2 Posts: 34 Forumite
    smcqis wrote: »
    is that metres or feet?

    Oops, apologises

    8.8 meters x 3.4 meters (width).

    Height is about 2.4 meters
  • bobthedambuilder
    bobthedambuilder Posts: 481 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    smcqis wrote: »
    is that metres or feet?

    Well it wouldn't be a living room 3.33 feet wide, would it?:D
    A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove you don't need it.
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