Wood burner / pot belly stove in a conservatory

[Mr_C]

I'm thinking of putting a stove in my conservatory, has anyone else done this and how easy was it? The roof is polycarbonate and sloped. The conservatory is around 3m by 3m.

Thanks

[rog007]

I've not; neighbour where I used to live did.

I think it was mostly bad according to him: smell throughout the house; cost of install; cost of supply of 'appropriate' wood; managing large amounts of waste ash; smoke staining his conservatory roof; and notwithstanding we looked out over open countryside, depending upon which way the wind was blowing, smoke affecting neighbouring properties. He did have a warm conservatory though.

[loughran]

Talk to you house insurers before you spend any money.

[smn159]

Check the regulations about how high the flue meeds to be as well. If it needs to go above your roof line and assuming that you don't live in a bungalow it starts to get expensive.

I have a woodburner and wouldn't be without one - very worthwhile if you decide to go ahead

[Simpo Two]

rog007 said:

I've not; neighbour where I used to live did.

I think it was mostly bad according to him: smell throughout the house; cost of install; cost of supply of 'appropriate' wood; managing large amounts of waste ash; smoke staining his conservatory roof; and notwithstanding we looked out over open countryside, depending upon which way the wind was blowing, smoke affecting neighbouring properties. He did have a warm conservatory though.

I guess our experiences are all different, but I installed my own and scavenge my own wood. The stove makes very little ash and there's litle or no visible smoke from the chimney.

Sometimes when the stove is running a bit hot or I use certain types of wood there is a slight odour in the room, but the CO detector stays at 0.

But I'm not sure about a polycarbonate roof!

[smn159]

Simpo Two said:

rog007 said:

I've not; neighbour where I used to live did.

I think it was mostly bad according to him: smell throughout the house; cost of install; cost of supply of 'appropriate' wood; managing large amounts of waste ash; smoke staining his conservatory roof; and notwithstanding we looked out over open countryside, depending upon which way the wind was blowing, smoke affecting neighbouring properties. He did have a warm conservatory though.

I guess our experiences are all different, but I installed my own and scavenge my own wood. The stove makes very little ash and there's litle or no visible smoke from the chimney.

Sometimes when the stove is running a bit hot or I use certain types of wood there is a slight odour in the room, but the CO detector stays at 0.

But I'm not sure about a polycarbonate roof!

Agreed - ours doesn't smell and their's certainly no smoke staining anywhere. There's either a problem with the installation, damp wood is being burned or both I'd suggest

[Simpo Two]

And as for 'managing' ash, just throw it on the garden and/or dig it in a bit - it's good for the soil!

Maybe he wanted to 'manage' it using an app on his smartphone.

[Mr_C]

Thanks all

That's given me some things to think about.

[Bonefish Blues]

Also three be three's pretty small so just about any stove at all may throw out more heat than you'd really like.

[Mallinson1984]

Have a look here... Not read through in great depth but looks like there's a few people done similar to what your trying to achieve

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/stove-installations....

[rog007]

smn159 said:

Simpo Two said:

rog007 said:

I've not; neighbour where I used to live did.

I think it was mostly bad according to him: smell throughout the house; cost of install; cost of supply of 'appropriate' wood; managing large amounts of waste ash; smoke staining his conservatory roof; and notwithstanding we looked out over open countryside, depending upon which way the wind was blowing, smoke affecting neighbouring properties. He did have a warm conservatory though.

I guess our experiences are all different, but I installed my own and scavenge my own wood. The stove makes very little ash and there's litle or no visible smoke from the chimney.

Sometimes when the stove is running a bit hot or I use certain types of wood there is a slight odour in the room, but the CO detector stays at 0.

But I'm not sure about a polycarbonate roof!

Agreed - ours doesn't smell and their's certainly no smoke staining anywhere. There's either a problem with the installation, damp wood is being burned or both I'd suggest

I do recall he was using old railway sleepers in the main (he had a 'supplier') which may have been the root cause of many of his problems as I suspect they contained a whole host of contaminants.

[gf15]

No smell from our 12kW Jotul wood burner. It is in our "Snug" which was anything but snug before the wood burner. Room is about 6.5m square with a 4m ceiling with dual aspect large windows. We could never get the room properly warm before the wood burner, now it is really toasty. It is normally running from 1700 to 23:00 about 4 or 5 nights a week and creates enough ash to fill a normal size Corn Flakes box each week. We empty the tray once a week.

Ours is on a glass plinth, which is superb. There have to be some better / more discrete solutions for a conservatory roof than in that link.
Also give serious thought to whether you want a multi-fuel or wood one. Our wood only unit will stay alight for a max of 6 hours without adding logs.

[SpeckledJim]

rog007 said:

I do recall he was using old railway sleepers in the main (he had a 'supplier') which may have been the root cause of many of his problems as I suspect they contained a whole host of contaminants.

Full of oily nasties.

[mph1977]

SpeckledJim said:

rog007 said:

I do recall he was using old railway sleepers in the main (he had a 'supplier') which may have been the root cause of many of his problems as I suspect they contained a whole host of contaminants.

Full of oily nasties.

preservative , track joint grease, axle grease, sump oil, sloshed diesel and 'flushings' ...

and then he wonders why he has ash and staining problems ...