Woodstove, I want BIG, installer says I'll melt, thoughts?

[smifffymoto]

Hang on,I'm confused.
Are you after a log burner or cuisiniere?

[wolfracesonic]

From what people have said OP, one of these might be useful

[Autopilot]

My parents have a reasonable log burner, think it's an 'Arrow' 5kw. It heats a reasonable sized room VERY well, usually have to open the lounge door to let some heat out. They have double glazing, carpets, insulated walls etc so is in the most perfect optimised environment.

We have a Stovax 4kw burner, sash windows, suspended floors, open plan downstairs (dining room, lounge, hallway all knocked through) stairs in the open plan part and generally the least efficient space to heat. Our Stovax feels like you're sitting near a candle, it doesn't seem to produce much heat and what it does, it gets lost. We have addressed some of the heat loss issues and this has made a massive difference!!

The 4kw fire would be more than ample if the walls hadn't have come down, but due to it being a much bigger space to heat (with heat going up the stairs), we have bought an 8KW burner. It's waiting to be installed so will see how that fairs up. The main reason for the choice of this fire is that the door is literally twice the size of the old one, it was tiny! It should heat the house better but not be too big that sitting in the proximity we do to it, make it unbearable.

[renmure]

I have a 14kW stove in a 12m x 7m x just under 3m games room.
Gets awfy hot.

[rb5er]

Insulating your house is the answer. Then get a burner to suit your new requirements.

[softtop]

rb5er said:

Insulating your house is the answer. Then get a burner to suit your new requirements.

easier said than done

[Simpo Two]

wolfracesonic said:

From what people have said OP, one of these might be useful

He'll need a stove fan too...

[rb5er]

softtop said:

rb5er said:

Insulating your house is the answer. Then get a burner to suit your new requirements.

easier said than done

Everything is easier said than done but if you get some specialists round to look at it you can be guided and quoted as to what can be done. Indeed talking about it wont help, you need to actually talk to people that will carry out the works.

Setting fire to your living room with a 24kw burner is not the answer.

[Tyre Tread]

rb5er said:

Setting fire to your living room with a 24kw burner is not the PH answer.

EFA

[RobinOakapple]

rb5er said:

softtop said:

rb5er said:

Insulating your house is the answer. Then get a burner to suit your new requirements.

easier said than done

Everything is easier said than done but if you get some specialists round to look at it you can be guided and quoted as to what can be done. Indeed talking about it wont help, you need to actually talk to people that will carry out the works.

Setting fire to your living room with a 24kw burner is not the answer.

It would certainly get a bit warm if you were to run it flat out. But you don't need to, of course, you just turn it down.

[Chimune]

If we run our 4.5kw at its optimal burn temp (ie: fumes self ignite, door glass is cleaned with airwash design) we will melt. So we run it cooler. Not a big problem but not running as intended....

[rb5er]

Insulate, insulate, insulate.

At least get quotes and options for insulation before getting a huge burner. Surely this makes perfect logical sense to anyone???

[RedLeicester]

24kw? Hell's bells, we have a 40kw log boiler to heat the entire house!

Agree that "just turning it down" isn't quite as simple as it seems. We switched from a Clearview in the lounge to ultra-modern stoves and they're designed to run at peak efficiency for the stove for perfect combustion. There's no turning them down (other than ceasing to fuel them), and they neither damp down for the night nor run well on half-fuel: They're all or nothing. We end up fuelling them early in the evening and then staring at the final few embers toward the end of the evening. Just as well they were only put in for top-up and aesthetics. Amazing efficiency though, ash output is minimal.

[cheddar]

Decision made and stove purchased.

23.4kw, 76 litre log capacity, takes logs up to 2 feet long.

Pick it up on Thursday, 220kgs apparently, hope to have it installed either next Friday or the following Monday. The installer is fitting a protective heat shield behind it so that the house doesn't burn down.
As soon as it's been inspected and signed off by those that inspect and sign off I'll fire it up to burn off the stinky coatings and then give it a proper go to see if I've created Olaf's hyper sauna.

Thanks to all for the excellent, varied, advice - I'll report back with pics and temps.

Oh, do any of you use 'stove top fans', beautiful little self powered units that you sit on your stove top and push warm air to your chosen area?

Like this:

http://www.stovetopfan.co.uk/

Or this:

http://valiantfireside.com/get/premiair-4-blade-he...

[jason61c]

rb5er said:

Insulate, insulate, insulate.

At least get quotes and options for insulation before getting a huge burner. Surely this makes perfect logical sense to anyone???

No, depending on the age of the house and how its designed to work it can be very damaging. Also a bit of air movement is a good thing.

[Simpo Two]

cheddar said:

Oh, do any of you use 'stove top fans', beautiful little self powered units that you sit on your stove top and push warm air to your chosen area?

Like this:

http://www.stovetopfan.co.uk/

Or this:

http://valiantfireside.com/get/premiair-4-blade-he...

Yes, very handy if the stove is in a cavity. I have one.

Of course yours will just melt

I think your space is big enough to soak it up, but downstairs will be hotter than upstairs - so someone's idea of a ceiling fan might be an idea.

[cheddar]

Simpo Two said:

cheddar said:

Oh, do any of you use 'stove top fans', beautiful little self powered units that you sit on your stove top and push warm air to your chosen area?

Like this:

http://www.stovetopfan.co.uk/

Or this:

http://valiantfireside.com/get/premiair-4-blade-he...

Yes, very handy if the stove is in a cavity. I have one.

Of course yours will just melt

I think your space is big enough to soak it up, but downstairs will be hotter than upstairs - so someone's idea of a ceiling fan might be an idea.

Thanks simpo - I've got the ceiling fan:

[rb5er]

jason61c said:

rb5er said:

Insulate, insulate, insulate.

At least get quotes and options for insulation before getting a huge burner. Surely this makes perfect logical sense to anyone???

No, depending on the age of the house and how its designed to work it can be very damaging. Also a bit of air movement is a good thing.

Air flow should not be effected by insulating walls if done in the correct manner, it depends on the construction. Insulating walls is hardly EVER damaging to a property. Very very rare cases perhaps. A specialist would be able to advise of this. 99% of houses will only benefit from insulating.

[cheddar]

A few of you have questioned my lack of insulation.

When I renovate I'll insulate but I can't get a builder for a while, the stove will do in the meantime, it's a cost effective short term solution.

[Shaolin]

We have a stove top fan though the stove is not in a cavity, it makes a noticeable difference in how quickly the room warms up, more effective than you might imagine. I think the spitfire engine one shown earlier will be about the right size.