Wood burner costs and do I need a flue?

[n3il123]

Hi all

I am currently decorating the living room of my house and would like to put a wood burner in mainly for asthestics but also for the inevitable times that I run out of heating oil to take the chill off the house.

I have a fireplace there, it is all brick, with quarry tiles on the ground (brick underneath it) the chimmney has been swept (would do it again just to be sure).

I have phoned a couple of local places and they are coming out with quotes of £3k + without even seeing it, I dont think that I need a massive stove as the fireplace isn't that big anyway and its more to take the chill off rather than the primary heat source.

Is there anyway of telling whether I need a flue myself? also on the assumption that I don't can I assume that it would be a reasonably easy DIY job? (pick up a decent stove from machine mart/ ebay with the pipes to go up the chimmney and stick it in?)

Thanks in advance!

[anonymous-user]

Assuming your chimney is sound then it really is that easy. You may need to insulate the 'flue' to aid gas flow but that's a DIYable job too. Have a think about using a flexible liner and don't forget you'll need things like:
a register plate at the bottom of the chimney to stop the crud falling out
a top plate to hold any flue and stop crud falling in
a cowl on the top to stop birds and rain getting in
an air brick to keep building regs happy - should you wish to inform the council !
make sure your stove is the correct distance from flammable material

I put ours in and it turned into a big job as the chimney stack needed rebuilding. SO be prepared.

Mike

Edited by MH on Wednesday 10th March 11:45

[clarkey]

I think you do need a flue, but it's possible that you don't under a certain heat output. I also think it needs to be installed by a HETAS registered person.
I've got a Stovax Stockton 8 in one room and a Stockton 7 in another, and would recommend them. You should be able to get it installed with flue for well under £2000 - about £700 stove, £300 flue, and 2 days work for 2 people. Not sure where you are, but I use Taltrees Stoves in Tenbury, highly recommended.

[robsartain]

I think ours is a stovax 3 (reasonably small stove) and register plate, fitting, flue the whole lot was £1600. I think off the top of my head that the stove was £600 of that. I live in Kent.

I found the stove cheaper on the internet but people weren`t interested in fitting it unless they supplied the stove and trust me I phoned around.

So for the hassle I got them to fit it.

[AC Motors]

I was unsure of the state of ours as it was built in 1770, therefore I installed a flexible liner, NOTE it must be twin wall stainless steel for wood burner, NOT ali. As said above, you will need to cap the top and probably the gap at the bottom to stop debris falling down. I put in a Pot-Belly burner which is made in NZ and only cost about £210 plus the liner which was about £65, top plate £15 - £20 custom made the bottom one myself. My mate helped me install the liner, one of us on the roof and one inside, pull through, trim and fit to the stove. As also mentioned make sure air gap around and proximity of any flamable items is within reccomendations -it gets b****y hot. £3K sound a bit steep to me !
Mine is a Masport - see here:- http://www.knight-stoves.com/

Edited by AC Motors on Wednesday 10th March 13:04

[Trevelyan]

AC Motors said:

NOTE it must be twin wall stainless steel for wood burner, NOT ali.

Not as far as I know it doesn't. I had quotes from several places to supply and install a wood burner including lining the flue and they all said that a normal single walled liner was fine, so that's what ended up getting fitted.

You also don't need to fit an airbrick if the stove is rated less than 5kW.

[AC Motors]

Trevelyan said:

AC Motors said:

NOTE it must be twin wall stainless steel for wood burner, NOT ali.

Not as far as I know it doesn't. I had quotes from several places to supply and install a wood burner including lining the flue and they all said that a normal single walled liner was fine, so that's what ended up getting fitted.

You also don't need to fit an airbrick if the stove is rated less than 5kW.

No, must be twin walled stainless (if using flexible) for solid fuel as far as I know - see here http://www.knight-stoves.com/

Edited by AC Motors on Wednesday 10th March 13:14

[52classic]

I tackled a DIY installation of one of these last October after getting some advice from the PH crew.

Stove about 6KW and off ebay for £220. Big coil of the twin walled stainless flue was another £200 (But I got £70 on ebay for the bit left when I finished the job.

Made my own register plates but bought the connector pipes and the cowl from Screwfix. About £50 the lot. Installation accrss a weekend, defiantely more than a day's work. I re-tiled the area under the stove and will complete the rest of the hearth soon.

I am very pleased with the result. Stove looks good and there are no problems with it despite being a 'budget' model. We feed it pallets and scrap furniture from work.

Lounge is on the south east corner of the house and has never been a 'cosy' room since we moved in. That's changed now, with the central heating on for 2 hours each evening to take the chill away when we get home and whilst the stove warms up the house stays warm throughout the evening.

First gas bill looks promising, just over half the same time last year!

[Steve_W]

I got my double-skin liner from these folks: Fluesystems. Single skin isn't really recommended for solid fuel fires.

They've a useful FAQ on their site too: Installing Woodburner in existing chimney

[Road2Ruin]

Firstly it has to be installed by a HETAS installer. You CANNOT diy and anyone who does is breaking the law and risking some serious insurance issues should their be any problems because of it. You will also be unable to sell the house until you get it professionally checked and certified. Secondly the chimney may not need a liner as long as it is sound, ie no cracks or leaks, these were designed to have a fire at the bottom remember! If it does need to be lined then sadly to do it properly is not cheap. You can fit this bit yourself but the proper twin wall BS certified liners are about £100 nper metre and you will also need a cowel and some other attachments. A 5KW log burner is more than enough and these modern ones get blinking hot.

[anonymous-user]

Road2Ruin said:

Firstly it has to be installed by a HETAS installer. You CANNOT diy and anyone who does is breaking the law and risking some serious insurance issues should their be any problems because of it. You will also be unable to sell the house until you get it professionally checked and certified. Secondly the chimney may not need a liner as long as it is sound, ie no cracks or leaks, these were designed to have a fire at the bottom remember! If it does need to be lined then sadly to do it properly is not cheap. You can fit this bit yourself but the proper twin wall BS certified liners are about £100 nper metre and you will also need a cowel and some other attachments. A 5KW log burner is more than enough and these modern ones get blinking hot.

As I understand it, if you get building control involved and they check what you are doing then you can do it yourself. A HETAS engineer can just certify/check it themselves.
Mike

[52classic]

Legal or not they are a brilliant domestic gadget with the added bonus that I can keep fit chopping up all those pallets!

Only downside is that the room is definately more dusty since the installation. Feather duster is a must have accessory!