Woodburning Stove in place of hideous gas fire

Woodburning Stove in place of hideous gas fire

Author
Discussion

OllyMo

Original Poster:

596 posts

211 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Hi,

I've just bought a new house (victorian terrace) and in the living room a hideous gas fire is currently residing where the original fireplace/chimney was.

Essentially, I would like to remove the horrible gas fire, shut the gas off, and see what state the fireplace and chimney are in behind it. At that point, I'll either install a proper fireplace/hearth again, or get a wood-burning stove fitted.

Who else has done this recently? I assume I need someone gas-safe registered to come and switch off the gas supply on removal of the current gas fire.

Does anyone in the Reading area have a recommended handy type for this sort of thing that could help/quote for both the removal and installation?

Obviously I have had a scout around online but would much rather speak to someone recommended from PH.

Haven't moved in yet, so please forgive the beercan and 'dirty' look - it was occupied by students until a couple of weeks ago.



Cheers all

MonkeyBusiness

3,912 posts

186 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
I put a multifuel fire in last year and it was the best thing I have ever done.
You will need someone who knows what they are doing to cap the gas off.

The whole process is a dirty one but worth it.
Your chimney will need to be inspected/cleaned and possibly a liner fitted. Mine didn't (1940's semi).
The fire is a Firefox 5.

From this...


To this...

BFG TERRANO

2,172 posts

147 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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I done as above and fitted a Charnwood Country 4. Absolutely superb.

OllyMo

Original Poster:

596 posts

211 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
Cheers. I'm hoping that the hole in the wall behind the current gas fire is in decent shape. I think I'm leaning towards a wood burner currently - am I right in thinking these are slight safer (when it comes to chimney fires etc) than a normal fire? Does the pipe from the burner usually go all the way up to the top of the chimney?

Edit: That looks great MonkeyBusiness

bomb

3,691 posts

283 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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From this.......



To this.......



I have put downlighters in, above the wood burning stove too. Two of them. One each side. Looks nice in the evening, and highlights the fire even when its not lit.

C0ffin D0dger

3,440 posts

144 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
OllyMo said:
Cheers. I'm hoping that the hole in the wall behind the current gas fire is in decent shape. I think I'm leaning towards a wood burner currently - am I right in thinking these are slight safer (when it comes to chimney fires etc) than a normal fire? Does the pipe from the burner usually go all the way up to the top of the chimney?

Edit: That looks great MonkeyBusiness
Wood burners (or multifuel) are definitely better than a normal fire for a number of reasons: Much more efficient, less mess, fully enclosed so no draught from the chimney, less risk of burning your house down, etc.

But an open fire is cool too, something quite nice about being so close to the flames smile

The pipe from the burner itself will only extend a little bit into the chimney opening. If you opt to have your chimney lined then the liner will connect to the stove pipe and this will extend all the way to the top of the chimney. In many respects it's worth having a liner as generally a wood burner will work much better with one but if you existing chimney is sound you may not need one and they do add quite a bit to the cost of the install.

vxsmithers

716 posts

199 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
I did exactly this last year, hideous gas fire to an inset stove. Fully fitted with a three storey flue liner by reading natural heat centre - they were very good.

A friend had a traditional one put in last year by them too, can't fault the service

Competitive pricing too

Insets don't kick out as much heat as traditional ones, but then that is fairly obvious when they only radiate heat from one side. It was more the modern look I was going for, plus the fact its easier to shield from little fingers. Effectively the size of the gas fire becomes a glass door in the wall.

Super Slo Mo

5,368 posts

197 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Do you not need to check whether you're in a smokeless zone? You can still have one, but need to burn smokeless fuel as far as I can remember.

Spitfire2

1,912 posts

185 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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I'm not an expert but a friend who has one advises that the modern ones burn so efficiently that wood doesn't generate smoke. Could be BS but would be interested if this is true......

vxsmithers

716 posts

199 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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when hot mine doesn't smoke, it will when it is getting up to temperature though, and this can take 30 minutes to an hour

Simpo Two

85,147 posts

264 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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My stove (Stovax Stockton 5) has an optional 'smokeless kit' which restricts one of the settings so the stove can't make as much smoke. That said I don't have one and can barely see any smoke coming out of the chimney top, if at all.

bigandclever

13,750 posts

237 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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OllyMo said:
Does anyone in the Reading area have a recommended handy type for this sort of thing that could help/quote for both the removal and installation?

Obviously I have had a scout around online but would much rather speak to someone recommended from PH.
100% recommend Rafal Pajor at Fire Expert. Short of the messing with the gas supply (we didn't have one) he was superb from start to finish putting in a wood burner.

http://www.mybuilder.com/profile/view/rafalp

C0ffin D0dger

3,440 posts

144 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
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Super Slo Mo said:
Do you not need to check whether you're in a smokeless zone? You can still have one, but need to burn smokeless fuel as far as I can remember.
I'm in a smokeless zone. You can buy woodburners that are DEFRA approved for use in smokeless areas but generally they're a bit more expensive due to the extra testing and certification they need to go through. We bought a multi-fuel stove that isn't approved for burning wood in a smokeless area but we only ever burn smokeless fuel on it, honest guv wink

crankedup

25,764 posts

242 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
quotequote all
Can't beat a woodburning stove but do make sure you buy the correct output, too high output for room size and you will bake. You will then run the stove at a very low burn rate and cause sooting and lose efficiency. Measure your room size and height to find correct stove for you.

OllyMo

Original Poster:

596 posts

211 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
quotequote all
Cheers chaps, this is all very helpful.

Thanks for the recommendations in Reading as well.

Having just checked it seems I'm not in a smokeless zone which is good. In the Conservation area in Reading by the Royal Berks so it's all listed buildings etc. I assume that might have something to do with it. It is surrounded by smokeless zones though!


MonkeyBusiness

3,912 posts

186 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
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crankedup said:
Can't beat a woodburning stove but do make sure you buy the correct output, too high output for room size and you will bake. You will then run the stove at a very low burn rate and cause sooting and lose efficiency. Measure your room size and height to find correct stove for you.
That's good advice. I believe over 5KW you require additional ventilation.

RizzoTheRat

25,084 posts

191 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
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I got mine from these guys who aren't that far from you
http://ecofiresandstoves.co.uk/stoves_fleet.htm

Removing the old gas fire, opening up the fireplace to a proper inglenook, a big hearth slab (can't remember what stone I went for in the end) getting the chimney lined and fitting a Stovax Stockton 5 cost about £3k. I could have saved a lot by doing some of it myself but I was glad I didn't as it proved to be more work than expected as the original fire and hearth weren't central in the chimney. I considered multifuel but the grate you need in the bottom to burn coal means there's a lot less space inside, plus I can get wood for free (or the cost of running a chainsaw).

As said above make sure you size it correctly for your room, get one too big and you'll struggle to keep it low enough and it'll burn inefficiently, get one that's the right size and you'll be running with the airwash vent partly open all the time which means the glass will stay cleaner.

If we've got ours on all evening and all day at the weekend we get through a bit over 1 cubic meter of wood a year.

AW10

4,421 posts

248 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
quotequote all
Did something similar last year - went from



to



to



I found a local HETAS-registered installer who was happy to work with me over several visits. First one he surveyed what he could see and disconnected the gas fire. I then removed the brick and tile hearth/surround and he came back and confirmed I could/should remove the chairback in the roof of the recess. When that was done we agreed an inset that would fit, I ordered in from a PHer (http://www.stovedepot.co.uk/ and http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?h=2... and the HETAS chap installed it.

A flexible HETAS registered installer will be a great help as you may not know what will fit until you've removed the existing fire. I used a chap that can supply stoves but is also happy to install one provided by the property homeowner.

Craikeybaby

10,369 posts

224 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
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We went from this:

Old back boiler by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Via this (gas safe engineer removed fire and back boiler):

Old back boiler by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

To this:

Carpet down by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

RizzoTheRat

25,084 posts

191 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
quotequote all
Craikeybaby said:
The scary thing is someone paid for that in the 1960/70's and thought it was great biggrin