anyone have one or can offer advice
moving into my first house in feb and ive always wanted a wood burner as i like fire, and my mate is a joiner and can supply me with free fuel
house is a 80's built detached with an external chimney that run up the side of the house, currently has a gas fire fitted, can i diy and get
sign of from hetas bloke or would it need to be done by a company?
im off this week so am going to look at afew places and try and learn abit about them
any advice would be good from people that have fitted them or have one
thanks
You can do it yourself and have it signed off by Building Control. Download the relevant building regs doc, and pay particular attention to hearth dimensions, mandatory free-air ventilation and flue outlet location. You will also need to fit a CO detector.
Also, I wouldn't go under the radar - if your house burns down or someone gets CO poisoning, your insurance won't cover you if it wasn't signed off and you'll be in really deep water if someone is hurt or worse.
have a look here I fitted mine not a bad job really www.stovefittersmanual.co.uk/:
Hi . Try ringing yorkshire energy solutions .my mate Matthew runs it.he would be able to give you some advice and give you some idea of a cost if you didnt fit it yourself. The number is 01904 234073 and they cover the leeds area . - nick
I've had mine a couple of years now, if you can get wood free it's a winner !!. The quote i had for fitting was just shy of 1500 quid so i
ended up fitting it myself with the help of a mate. You can download all the regs regarding fitting from the tinternet, i just followed them to the
letter, fresh air vent, carbon monoxide alarm, fireproof surround etc etc. Best advice i would give is spend a lot of time reading up on the fitting,
stove choice, heat output etc etc, fit a good quality chimney liner to improve draw and keep all the smoke going up the chimney... give the chimney a
thorough sweep before you fit the liner. last but not least, if you have plaster on walls around the stove remove it now and lime render it as the
heat will crack the plaster in no time.
It seems a lot of work but for us was more than worth the effort, we have a 12kw stove, the grounfloor of our house is open plan and we hardly ever
use the heating now as the stove heats it all.
We purchased a stovax fire last year, http://stovesaver.co.uk/product/stovax-riva-studio-1-cassette-wood-burning/
Its a fabulous bit of kit, really churns out the heat and stays surprisingly clean, just wipe the glass down every couple of weeks.
It might also be worth speaking to neighbours (if you have any that you'd like to consider friendly). Someone set up a wood burner a few streets
away from me and is now subject to complaints from the neighbourhood from the smell and smoke. Thankfully I'm upwind but it does seem to have set
a few people on edge.
That is entirely optional of course...
I've just had one fitted and love it. I got mine done by a local guy as I needed an external chimney installing, but none of it is difficult to
do.
We went for a Burley 8kw wood burner and it works really well. Ours has a room sealing kit that feeds air to the burner from outside making it more
efficient, and means air vents in the room aren't needed.
[Edited on 9/12/14 by whitestu]
I've got two
Upto 5kW you don't need Building Control approval and can fit yourself.
Over 5 you do, unless you get it fitted by a HETAS approved fitter.
My 'big' one heats the whole house and hot water I've got it linked into a thermal store - when the multifuel burner is up to temp, it
won't allow the oil boiler to kick in - saves me a fortune in oil.
Oh yes, I would go for a multi fuel burner, not just a wood burner - it gives you more options for not much more money.
I did exactly as you propose - I went via building control (who knew less than I did about the requirements). My builder was rebuilding part of my chimney, so I had him drop in the liner. I then built a pad to the right dimensions according to the regs, and made sure all of the other requirements such as: the connection and plate to hold the bottom of the liner, the distance to flammable objects, ventilation, CO meter, fitting plate etc. I even made the plate myself with a welded in collar as I was reluctant to pay what people were asking for one to fit my fire place. I mounted if using angle iron fixed inside the chimney breast, and then I ran self adhesive glass fibre tape around the plate and bolted it to the angle iron. It works a treat - I have had it lit every night for the last week. I cant stop!
If you see a house that doesn't have a chimney, or one that isn't in the right place, consider a double-walled stainless steel flue. They
are very efficient and hold hardly any soot if the wood burner's run properly. Our sweep takes very little out of ours on his annual visit.
I asked my local council's planning authority to see if I needed permission to put a flue up the side of the house (we don't have a
chimney). Basically, they said "Would you be able to see the flue from the road? If not, we're not bothered. You just need a HETAS
installer, or a visit from a buildings inspector after installing it yourself". Asked them to put that in writing, which they did.
I have a big one in the living room that has it's own stainless steel chimney that runs straight up through the roof. It was there when we moved
in. Having a exposed flue is far superior because the flue heats the room as well. Also the upper floors!
Unless your mate can get proper hardwood offcuts in reasonable sizes then you might as well discount it. I have access to a seven man workshop and
they even bag the offcuts for you. But its softwood and it just burns through within minutes and is only of any use to start the fire. I still order
2 ton of logs and 6 bags of coal a year and I can get unlimited softwood offcuts!!1
I've just fitted a second one in our house (so now have a 5kw in the front room, and 7kw in dining/kitchen). They're great - only problem is
you miss them NOT being lit so always feel the need to get it going lol. Last year I ran the dining room one from Oct - March non stop (might have
gone out twice) using a mixture of smokeless fuel and logs as my wife was on maternity leave. Running it 24/7 obviously kept the kitchen and dining
room warm (which is where she spent most of the time) but also lightly warmed the rest of the house, so the heating was not required during the
day.
As has been said, softwood carcassing is ok but you'll need a massive supply and will be forever re-filling your basket (from wherever you keep
the wood) and the stove. As well as burning quickly It also burns VERY hot even with the air shut off which means if you stock it up it just gets
ridiculously hot. Logs or smokeless are a much steadier burn. Don't get me wrong I still burn softwood offcuts (dads a joiner so again, its
free!) but it can be more effort than its worth.
I live in a smokeless zone and had mine fitted by a hetas approved installer.
I took the gas fire out, hollowed out the opening and rendered it with sand cement mix and just rough plastered. Laid a hearth out of stone slabs to
the dimensions specified.
Fire is a 5kw Stovax smokeless approved. Installer put the liner up and what not, including the building control certificate to make it fully legal.
Building inspector came out and looked really impressed, he is right into the eco home bit and loved the choice.
Cost me about £1600 I think, the main cost was the liner, went for the top of the range stainless option and it was around £800.
It does nearly the whole house very well, I just burn pallet wood cause its lying all over free to collect. If the council do any tidying up round the
back I go and help them tidy up.. There's a thread elsewhere on here showing the table saw I built for it...
Good luck.
As other people have said - if we get ours up to a good working temperature then the living room gets too warm, so we open the door and let the heat
go through the house. Although the central heating timer is set for 'on', it never comes on because of the wood burner's heat. The
upstairs is not 'cozy warm' at bedtime, but perfectly comfortable for the time between stripping off and getting into bed (ooer!).
You do have to be careful about the quality of wood you burn - dry softwood burns too quickly and too hot, and general-purpose softwood from trees
will foul up your chimney as quick as anything (and can cause chimney fires due to deposited resins and tar). We buy hardwood logs from a nearby
farmer - not the cheapest way to do it, but our gas bill has plummeted as the central heating rarely comes on. On balance, our savings aren't
massive but (1) the heat is all in the right place, rather than shared around the house and (2) we now have a source of heat and cooking if the
electricity goes off, which has been a problem in the past.
Don't forget to budget for wood storage, if you're going to get it in bulk (we buy a ton at a time), and also remember that running a stove
is labour-intensive compared to central heating - cleaning it out every morning, bringing in logs, feeding it logs 2 or 3 times an hour.
Wouldn't be without it now, though.
I'm the process of fitting one in a house I'm refurbing. I've fallen in love with the open fire we've been warming the house with!
One thing that occurs to me, since I too have a vast supply of softwood and I've noticed how fast it burns, is what's to stop you just
pulling up by a wood and making off with a van full of timber?! Just pruning 6" branches rather than felling full trees.
Apart from the law 
Well, for a start, you should leave newly cut wood for about 12 months before burning it! You cut the wood into logs, split into suitably sized pieces, stack them up out of the rain with plenty of gaps to let the air through, and then wait.
quote:
Originally posted by Wheels244
Upto 5kW you don't need Building Control approval and can fit yourself.
Over 5 you do, unless you get it fitted by a HETAS approved fitter.
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
I live in a smokeless zone and had mine fitted by a hetas approved installer.
I took the gas fire out, hollowed out the opening and rendered it with sand cement mix and just rough plastered. Laid a hearth out of stone slabs to the dimensions specified.
Fire is a 5kw Stovax smokeless approved. Installer put the liner up and what not, including the building control certificate to make it fully legal. Building inspector came out and looked really impressed, he is right into the eco home bit and loved the choice.
Cost me about £1600 I think, the main cost was the liner, went for the top of the range stainless option and it was around £800.
It does nearly the whole house very well, I just burn pallet wood cause its lying all over free to collect. If the council do any tidying up round the back I go and help them tidy up.. There's a thread elsewhere on here showing the table saw I built for it...
Good luck.
quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
quote:
Originally posted by Wheels244
Upto 5kW you don't need Building Control approval and can fit yourself.
Over 5 you do, unless you get it fitted by a HETAS approved fitter.
As far as I can tell, this is incorrect. For any stove you either need a HETAS installer, or a building notice. The 5kw figure relates to ventilation requirements?
And there's a good reason why they inspect - or require a HETAS installation - mostly for prevention of carbon monoxide but also adequate
ventilation, effectiveness of the chimney/flue, proper construction around the stove, proximity of flammable materials and so on.
[Edited on 20/12/14 by David Jenkins]
quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
quote:
Originally posted by Wheels244
Upto 5kW you don't need Building Control approval and can fit yourself.
Over 5 you do, unless you get it fitted by a HETAS approved fitter.
As far as I can tell, this is incorrect. For any stove you either need a HETAS installer, or a building notice. The 5kw figure relates to ventilation requirements?