I want to get a woodstove installed in our conservatory. I've contacted a local firm, does anyone have any advice to offer, are some better than others, is there anything I should look out for, etc?
Haize
Hohum, we are in the process of trying to get ours sorted out.
Remember if you have a recess to put the stove into, make sure the stove you choose is narrower than the space, as otherwise, you limit the heat it can put out into the room.
If you want to be able to use a kettle on the top / cook on it properly (rather than prewarming and finishing off on a cooker), your choices will be narrowed quite a bit, as only a few manufacturers give you a blanking plate that is suitable. If this is not needed though, you have the freedom to make use of a top mounted flue (instead of it being out of the back), so the stove can take up less space.
I've been advised it is definately worth looking for one with "airwash" or "cleanburn" technology (I'm sure there are other names for it too), by which they mean air is directed from the top of the stove downwards across the glazed door, which makes it need cleaning a lot less often, amongst other things!
If you are likely to burn coals some times and wood others, you will need a stove with a variable grate: for coal, air needs to be able to come up from beneath for most efficient burning; for wood, the grate needs to be able to catch a solid ash bed.
From building regs, we found out last night that the minimum diameter of a chimney liner for use with wood and other solid fuels is 6". Which is interesting, given that the stove we had chosen only has a 4" outlet, and adaptors only go up in increments of 1".
From the prices our local firm has been telling us, I have noticed that they are not at all competitive with the cost of the stove itself, and chimney liners etc.. As you are also paying them for installation, I'm not too happy about this, so we are hoping to get the relevant bits from online shops, and install ourselves. A happy medium might be to buy the bits online then have someone in to install it, but then your "local firm" might be more usefull than ours!
If this wasn't really what you are after, sorry for going on
Leonie2
Thanks Haize, I missed your post for some reason. I've been looking at the clean burn thingy, sounds good. So far the quote for a small stove and installation is just over £2k! ouch, I didn't think it would be that much. I'm phoning around to get some other prices to see if we can bring it down a tad bit more. We don't have a chimney at all so there is quite a bit of labour and materials needed for the job.
Cabbagepatch
The clean burn stoves are good. Ours was a bit cheaper than that leonie, but it was just a case of dropping a new flue liner down the existing chimney and installing the stove. There was also scaffolding to pay for, plastering (still not done), a new hearth etc. Its surprising how all the extras add up.
But, we've hardly used the central heating at all and with a free supply of wood for the winter, the gas bill should be a lot smaller
n
It's not the stove which costs the money, it's the extras, the plastering and stovepipe etc. Our stove pipe goes through two storeys and we had to use it to create a chimney as we didn't have one. The stove was about 900 pounds and the whole bill was 4000! And you have to have planning permission too so there are plans and building warrants etc, and vents in the walls etc etc. When we did ours it was part of a major renovation. I don't know if I'd put one in a conservatory.... wouldn't the glass get really hot?
n
Cabbagepatch
Certainly the fireplace wall above the stove gets almost too hot too touch and even upstairs, the wall adjacent to the chimney is warm.
Leonie2
I asked about the conservatory, they do it all the time and the pipe they put through the roof is bigger, twin walled etc. (he waffled on about stuff that went way over my head!) but the jist of it is that yes, we can put one through the conservatory roof. They won't put it through a glass roof, but ours is that plastic stuff so it's okay provided they do it properly. The wall it will be against in the original external wall of the house so heat etc should all be okay, and provided the chimney/pipe thingy doesn't go above the height of our roof (apex) then we don't need planning permission...that said he'd need to check the job first to make sure but that is based on what I described to him over the phone.
Haize
Our quote finally came through today, and it is £1600, of which £680 is the stove.
So, we're definately going to be doing it ourselves!
We can get all the materials for less than £1000, and won't be bothering with scaffolding (I'll be climbing a ladder to the ridge tiles, and hotching along on my bum till I get to the chimney At which point, I can attach myself to the chimney, so I'll be fine then: I've a proper climbing harness and so on).
Looks like we'll be having the render done for us though, as I can't cope with all of the plastering work we have left to do, given the time we have to do it in
By the way, Leonie, were you wanting to have a brick (or rendered) actual chimney put in, or are you wanting a visible shiny metal tube type thing?
n
Are you sure about the apex thing?
In Scotland building regs are that in order for the stove to be safe and draw properly it MUST be above the apex, if it's below the apex it doesn't comply with safety regs, and this is why you have to have planning permission. You also have to have air bricks installed to provide circulating air (permanently open, not the closable kind). It's all very tightly controlled because of the risk of carbon monoxide.
Have you asked a proper stove installer, rather than a builder who thinks they can do the job?
n
Leonie2
yes n, it's a proper stove installer that I've spoken to, they're also certified to carry out all the work in accordance with the HETAS regulations etc themselves. Until the chap sees the job he can't guarantee planning permission will not be needed but he says it's unlikely that we'll need it in our case. They are one of the best known firms in our area for installing stoves so I trust their judgement.
Leonie2
Haize, it will be a shiny pipe thingy which they'll paint black to match the stove, and the pipe outside the conservatory has to be black, no chimney to be built.
lloyd
Bet you can't wait, L1....Dogs curled up by our blaze now, Toff has just had a bath!
lloyd
Any chance of pix of it up and running now, Leonie?
Kathy
We've just acquired one for Greenman's room, it's a multifuel. We have the hole in the wall, the chimney (which was bricked up) has been swept and now all we need to do is put it in. Greenman wants to paint it blue first, and build a fancy hearth out of pieces of marble he found in the woods. Should look quite good when it's finished. I'll post pics if we ever get to that stage!
nanny-now and forever
one other thing to consider and that is the kilowt output that you require
we didn't want something with too high an output as i couldn't see the point in have a multibuter that i couldnt' sit in the room with when it was alight
we bought a second hand stove so we didn't have to pay any VAT but the big expense was still the chimney liner, the backfill of the chimney and the new pot and cowl on top of that....we had a 3kw output stove in the end, just enough for us, we don't like too much heat and i don't think old houses really benefit from being too over heated
we also had a stove with a hood on it, i was initially a bit disappointed in this as i wanted to be able to use it for cooking under emergencies but the hood can be removed fairly easily so it isn't a problem
we only really require ours to be lit in the evenings as we are outside all day and the heating isn't turned up anyway above 15 till the evenings when i put it up to 18.....usually the stove kicks in fairly quickly so the heating stops running withing minutes and then doesn't come on again till the next evening if you can understand my drift
Becki
If you go for one thats too beefy for what you need it will boil your radiators. If it's too weak, it will just pump tepid water round and round.
If your having a boiler one that is.
Cabbagepatch
nanny, we found the same, you have to get one that gives an output suitable for the room it is in. if you can open doors the heat will disperse, but even with our little one, it can get very hot. and we don't really like too much heat!!!
nanny-now and forever
fortunately we got the right one .......we don't like hot bedrooms so the littel bit that goes up the stairs just takes off the chill
i have learned to love my woodburner
mc55
I've been reading this with interest. I'm trying to persuade OH that we need a woodburning stove in the kitchen / den. Its the coldest room in the house and has a chimney already (although we are about to remove the chimney on the next floor, so that may be back to the sketch book). Its a bit worrying tho, if they get so hot, that you can't be in the same room
At which point, I can attach myself to the chimney, so I'll be fine then: I've a proper climbing harness and so on).
