Has anyone installed a wood burner?

[dirtyred619]

I'm just about to start redecorating my living room and after returning from Canada where my girlfriends dad had an ace wood burning fire, I'm considering fitting one also.

I've had a look at burners and as I'm only in a terrace house would only need a fairly small one which seem to be a reasonable price. I'll need to have my fireplace reinstated though as I boarded it up a few years ago but after that I'm not sure exactly what needs to be done. Will I need a liner/flue installed or will i not need that if the chimney is sound and has enough draw? Is there any way of testing the chimneys draw without bashing a big hole in the wall first? And if I need the whole job done for me, any ideas on the cost?

It's just an idea at the moment but if I can get one installed fairly cheaply and hassle free I think I'd like to do it and I suppose if the central heating isn't on as much it'll pay for itself over time!

[svrich]

You don't need a liner if the chimney/flue is in good shape. You won't know without having it looked at though.
You can test the draw with a smoke making device (a tablet thing that you light or similar) but you'll need to open up a hole in the fireplace to put it in and to get the air flowing.
I opened up our fireplace when I renovated the house 5 years ago. I had a fella come round to price up fitting a liner and he quoted £1600 without the burner. We decided to get a £300 burner from a local place, fit it, and see how things went. The smoke test proved a good draw and the chimney was good as the previous owner had had a coal fire before fitting oil central heating. That was almost two years ago. The fire is going strong and there have been no issues at all from having no liner. We'll get the chimney swept after this winter but nothing else needs attending to.
And we haven't had to pay for any wood in all this time :)

[Nick762]

Been thinking about one of these ourselves, got a lovely Claygate fireplace that's just crying out to be used for something more than a parking area for the kids toys. I believe that a liner is only needed if the chimney is faulty in some way but a lined chimney is also easier to clean and less likely to trap debris that could present a fire hazard. Also some recent research suggested that wood burners give of harmful particulates which over time can cause respiratory problems, even cancer which with two young kids I don't fancy risking... However I also get the impression that this is in part due to the recent increase in popularity of wood burners which has led to a lot of cheap ones appearing on the market. I was advised only to consider stoves from reputable German and Scandanavian manufacturers for example which are obviously more expensive but burn much more cleanly and to use dry well seasoned timber not twigs and cut offs.

I guess how much it saves on your heating bill depends on the layout of the house and where the stove is located but speaking to a couple of local suppliers I don't think they save a lot. Probably take a full blown wood chip central heating system to do that and of course once they become viable and popular due to the increasing prices of other fuels the cost of wood chip goes up which sort of defeats the object.

I'm still interested in getting one but the juries out as yet.

[minimorecambe]

Our log burner saved on a lot of heating bills as the chimney went through the main bedrooms so heated most of the house.

[svrich]

As does ours. We only put the heating on for the first time twice this week, and only for an hour or so, and only because I was too lazy to get some more wood in.

[chris8886]

open fireplaces are the nuts, the smell, the saving on heating bills, chopping the wood etc tis all brilliant!

[Dipper]

We've got a quality Scandanavian woodburner and live in a 3 year old large 4 bed detached house that is well insulated to current regs and a modern boiler, our gas bill is £20/month, we very rarely use the central heating. Two years supply of wood costs us £250 (about 5 tons, 12 cubic metres) delivered but lasts 4 years with scavenged wood topping this up. Get friendly with a local tree surgeon or two some still pay to dispose of their waste as they've nowhere to store it. We've storage in the back garden for 18 cu m - 2 years to season 1 year to use as no one I have found sells properly seasoned wood at sensible money. I get to play will cool toys like chain saws, wood splitters and mauls, it's a bit of a lifestyle choice really but does save money if done properly.

[Danders]

I put one of these in a few years ago, with no flue, and have had no problems. I had the sweep comment on my chimney rather than getting someone that installs flues for a living inspect it. I got a more honest answer.

If there is enough draw, no smoke escaping from the chimney (check your loft when lighting a small fire at the bottom) and also no tar or anything that penetrated the bricks over time and stained any of your paintwork, you should be ok with no flue.

I made my register plate out of 1.6mm thick steel plate and mounted it with some steel angle. Just dont forget to make an access hole for future sweeps! (...and of course get it inspected afterwards, all official like...)

[BoltonSte]

I've got one...but our chimney was shot...pretty sure it had the draw but the mortar wasn't the best in the loft after having a leaking ridge.

We decided to go with a liner ~£30/m if I remember. Because it's off the chimney sides, you don't heat the chimney and connected rooms as well as if you just used the chimney (worth thinking about). You can fit the liner yourself though, and the theory is that you don't get chimney fires in them either as the liner will fully heat up, unlike a chimney where coldspots deposit crosote etc which if you neglect sweeping can eventually catch (don't know how often you need to neglect this though...and can't quote the sites I read this on, but was deffinately what I took from my research) but for the look, warmth and cost...can't beat it.

[dirtyred619]

I've got one...but our chimney was shot...pretty sure it had the draw but the mortar wasn't the best in the loft after having a leaking ridge.

We decided to go with a liner ~£30/m if I remember. Because it's off the chimney sides, you don't heat the chimney and connected rooms as well as if you just used the chimney (worth thinking about). You can fit the liner yourself though, and the theory is that you don't get chimney fires in them either as the liner will fully heat up, unlike a chimney where coldspots deposit crosote etc which if you neglect sweeping can eventually catch (don't know how often you need to neglect this though...and can't quote the sites I read this on, but was deffinately what I took from my research) but for the look, warmth and cost...can't beat it.

Where did you get the liner from, as I've seen people band about prices like £100/m? And is it twin walled? The other solution I'd heard is get a single wall liner then fill the area of the chimney around it with Vermiculite? or something so just trying to get a better idea of the best way to go and more importantly costs.

[flymo]

Where did you get the liner from, as I've seen people band about prices like £100/m? And is it twin walled? The other solution I'd heard is get a single wall liner then fill the area of the chimney around it with Vermiculite? or something so just trying to get a better idea of the best way to go and more importantly costs.

PM me your email address, I have a technical paper that describes what you need and why.

[yorkie_chris]

We've got one at my parents place.

The burner was a cheap one and it definitely shows. Load of modification to it to make it so you can throttle it anything like properly, plated over the air inlet at back and replaced with a butterfly valve, resealed the ash box etc. It's still crap!*
Best thing we did was duct some cold air from the underdrawing of the house to the back of the stove, lets the stove suck cold air directly rather than from every other draught in the house.

With 10 years or so of open fire and then the stove 3 ro 4 years ago they've never had the chimney swept which is probably not wise but no issues yet. We don't really bother seasoning wood either, just throw anything relatively dry on if we've nothing else.

Get a dunsley yorkshire or similar, they are absolutely the mutts nuts.
Do NOT buy cheap crap stoves, they are worse than an open fire, stick a log on and get 10 minutes of heat like a jet engine and it's gone!

No idea about health risks, sounds like bollox to me, the stove will be sucking air in so even with a little leak it won't be letting gas out.


*I've honestly built better out of old propane bottles! That's what I'd make now if we owned our own place just pretty one up a bit, set it up as side-flow with some secondary air inlets and good control.

[suzukigt380paul]

I've got one...but our chimney was shot...pretty sure it had the draw but the mortar wasn't the best in the loft after having a leaking ridge.

We decided to go with a liner , You can fit the liner yourself though,.you can fit the liner your self,but if anything was to happen to you or you house(a fire or carbon monoxide poisoning) then you would be in the sh!t(possibly dead),as flue liners come under the same regulations as gas,and must be fitted by a gas safe person,even the roofer who use to do liners for my bose wont touch them as he isnt gas safe and it aint worth taking the risk and his insurance wont cover him

[Milky Bar Kid]

Strangely enough, I am also looking into this, although I believe the regs are a lot more lax on this in Scotland.

My chimney is in use as a flue for my old gas back boiler, which should be ripped out and replaced with a combi oiler ithin the next few weeks and as I will be left with e gaping big hole in the living room, I have decided I'd love a stove. Gonna get a sweep to check out chimney and if all is well, I won't bother with a flue, spending the money saved on liner etc on a better quality stove.

[yorkie_chris]

Aye a decent stove will pay for the extra many many times over in saved effort chopping fuel!

[Milky Bar Kid]

Aye a decent stove will pay for the extra many many times over in saved effort chopping fuel!

I am not allowed in charge of an axe. Someone else would do it for me....hahah!

[punyXpress]

open fireplaces are the nuts, the smell, the saving on heating bills, chopping the wood etc tis all brilliant!
. . and 90% of the heat going straight up the orifice into the sky?
Had that, and a good woodburner makes all the difference:
Prompt lighting
Plenty of real heat when you want it
And controllable when you're warm enough, thank you.

[yorkie_chris]

. . and 90% of the heat going straight up the orifice into the sky?
Had that, and a good woodburner makes all the difference:

+1

[Fletchmeister]

Very interesting read just looking into this myself although I think I will have to hold off until next year as spent too much money on the house already.

I love having an open fire but sometimes feel like its a losing battle and creates more of a draft than heat.

Have a boarded up fireplace in bedroom too so need to do some research

[BoltonSte]

Where did you get the liner from, as I've seen people band about prices like £100/m? And is it twin walled? The other solution I'd heard is get a single wall liner then fill the area of the chimney around it with Vermiculite? or something so just trying to get a better idea of the best way to go and more importantly costs.

get flymo's paper, but are you looking at flue liners or flues at that price? As I have a chimney, I had a flue liner dropped in, pretty sure it was 316 outer and 904 inner as I was told at the time that the 904 stands up to the corrosive gasses you get from multifuel (mine) much better than 316.

Here's a link http://www.stovesareus.co.uk/chimney-products/flue-liner/6-chimney-liner/904-316-grade-liner.html

As far as I know...and may be way off the mark, the twin walled rigid flues would be used if say you had a new build style house (example or a box room with no provision for a chimney) and wanted to have a stove put in, so basically it would be exposed and the twin wall keeps the outer cool.

[BoltonSte]

you can fit the liner your self,but if anything was to happen to you or you house(a fire or carbon monoxide poisoning) then you would be in the sh!t(possibly dead), I agree, you should know the risks, but tbf (without trying to offend anyone) it's not that hard http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/lining_a_chimney.html and using an audible CO monitor should give you a good indication, although there are regs about additional ventilation (like YC) for certain outputs...my house currently has enough drafts not to be an issue, but piping in air from underneath is a good idea if you can...that's my aim and due to the draw, the stove is essentially a vacuum compared to the rest of the room...unless there is a major issue.

as flue liners come under the same regulations as gas,and must be fitted by a gas safe person...Not as far as I can tell http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/services/stove-installers.html And I always thought that Gas Safe only comes into it if you are accepting payment, e.g. I have replaced the flow sensor on my boiler several times (common fault) and have never been chastised even by the gas service engineers, although there are other regs to consider, like hearth size etc.

there's loads of info on www.stovesonline.co.uk (http://www.stovesonline.co.uk) about this stuff

Paul, this isn't a go at you, but they were some things that I know cropped up when I had mine done.

Disclaimer: All the above is based on what I can remember and a quick look online...this is opinion and shouldn't be taken as fact as I'm not a fire fitter. DirtyRed, the best thing to do is look at somewhere like stovesonline as they have a very good FAQ and info section for potential customers as opposed to just getting stock shifted.

Ste

[dirtyred619]

Cheers for the info BoltonSte and Flymo, just trying to get my head round it and see what I'll need. I've not opened the fire up as yet until this is a goer, but from what I can gather so far I'll need:

Stove + pipe.
Register Plate
X metres of Flue Liner
Fitting kit for top of chimney (plate, brackets, cowl etc)

The prices seem decent on that site so I'll have a good price up and see what everything comes out at, it seems to me fairly straight forward to fit but there's a few things I'm not sure about.

Assuming the above set up, would I need to insulate around the liner still with the Vermiculite? And if thats the case is there a need still for an extra opening in the register plate to allow for chimney sweeping?
In the chimney opening, is there anything specific I'd need to use to line the walls (fire/heat resistant plasterboard or metal plate painted to desired colour with heat resistant paint?)

I'd obviously get a carbon monoxide detector and ventilation isn't a problem (old house) with adjustable air vents in the wall.

[BoltonSte]

Cheers for the info BoltonSte and Flymo, just trying to get my head round it and see what I'll need. I've not opened the fire up as yet until this is a goer, but from what I can gather so far I'll need:

Stove + pipe.
Register Plate
X metres of Flue Liner
Fitting kit for top of chimney (plate, brackets, cowl etc)

The prices seem decent on that site so I'll have a good price up and see what everything comes out at, it seems to me fairly straight forward to fit but there's a few things I'm not sure about.

Assuming the above set up, would I need to insulate around the liner still with the Vermiculite? And if thats the case is there a need still for an extra opening in the register plate to allow for chimney sweeping?
In the chimney opening, is there anything specific I'd need to use to line the walls (fire/heat resistant plasterboard or metal plate painted to desired colour with heat resistant paint?)

I'd obviously get a carbon monoxide detector and ventilation isn't a problem (old house) with adjustable air vents in the wall.

I had a response, and it lost it..here's the quickly typed version.

Insulation...I haven't, all it will do is keep the flue liner hotter, or things in/around the chimney cooler, the whole cavity heats anywat on mine as the register plate and fitting kit effectively seal the chimney.

You sweep the the thing the smoke goes up. If it's a liner, it's inside the liner you sweep. With my Stovax, you can take the fire bricks out and get to the stovepipe and flue liner through the front door, some stove pipes have a romovable plate you can use as an access hatch for a brush.

Chimney opening...I assuke you mean fireplace? If it's been built for a fire not for show (as I'd expect in an old house) then you should be reet, there are specs for distance around the stove you use, just be careful you don't touch at the back like I did with a stone a little proud of the rest and heated next door lounge for them until they told be and I pulled it forward a few mm.

all spelling mistakes are intentional, and not because I was in a rush...my caveat from before still stands, research, research, research...if in doubt ask an expert

[Ian P]

just been down this road, and got ripped off in the process.
totall cost in the end
Burner £900 (Quality british made) merlin midline 8kw
slate hearth £150
Solid oak mantle £120
Instalation of stove, chimney liner and signed off by hetas engineer £800.
as for getting ripped off paid deposit up front for a service, never saw them again lesson learnt, never pay anything untill the job is done, if they ask for a deposit find another company.
looking back if i knew how easy it was to do, i would of done it all my self and then got it inspected by a hetas engineer.
overall, i live next to a forest, free wood free heating :thumbsup:

[punyXpress]

One thing I found with our first burner was that it never produced any heat!
Was one that fitted into the original fire opening, so was surrounded on all sides except the front by stone.
Opened the hearth right out and the 'proper' one fitted is totally different.

[Fletchmeister]

What stoves / burners are classed as decent ones any links and info would be helpful I have done some calculations this morning and looks like I need a 5-6k for my living room.

I know someone selling one of these but they look too cheap to be of decent quality any comments

http://www.woodburningstovesdirect.com/product/57/oslo-8kw-multifuel.htm