Choosing A Stove
Choosing a stove can be as confusing as choosing a car with so many things to consider which are very similar. What make, what colour, what output, how much does it cost, how long will it last and so on and so forth.
Do you want a multi fuel stove or a wood burner, a multi fuel stove can burn different fuels, usually smokeless coal, wood and wood briquettes. You would not usually burn house coal on a stove, house coal being the raw coal as it comes out of the ground, whilst this works very well on open fireplaces, it is not to be recommended for a stove, many manufacturers actually specify that it must not be used. A wood burner can only burn wood, this wood should be good quality dry seasoned wood, at the most 25% moisture and preferably less than 20% moisture. Wood when first cut is at least 50% water, sometimes more, so it has to be dried and seasoned. There are many wood suppliers available who can supply kiln dried wood, which has an even lower moisture content. Hardwoods such as Oak and Ash is better than soft wood such as pine. In a later blog I will post some information on different woods.
If you live in a smoke control area and wish to burn wood the appliance must be DEFRA approved, these appliances are much cleaner burning and generally have higher efficiency ratings. You can check online to see if the area in which you live a ‘smoke control area’, look at www.smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk for advice.
Obviously the chimney to which you want to connect the stove to, must be suitable for use, the chimney should be thoroughly swept and smoke tested in accordance with Building Regulations Document J to ensure that it suitable and safe to use. In an older property I would always recommend that the brick chimney be relined with a suitable flexible stainless steel flue liner to ensure safe use for many years to come. It is now becoming apparent that the life of flue liners is dramatically reduced when people burn smokeless coal and wood at the same time. It is recommended that you decide to burn either one fuel type or the other in a stainless steel lined chimney. A member of The Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps will be able to carry out the chimney sweeping and testing for you.
The choice of stoves now is enormous with the traditional free standing stove in a recess and with new contemporary models and colours available. There are some which appear to just ‘hang’ from the ceiling in the middle of a room and others which are inset into the fireplace chamber, these are usually referred to as cassette burners, with this type all that is visible is the glass door. Some stoves are able to convect heat into the room by drawing air through holes in the bottom of an ‘outer skin’ that air is warmed by the heat of the stove, the air then warmed rises up through holes higher up.
You may wish to choose what is referred to as a ‘wet’ appliance, this has a boiler attached and can be connected to radiators to produce heat in other parts of the property from where the stove is located. Generally the stove will only heat the room in which it is located.
The heat output of the stove is measured in kilowatts (kW), you would normally purchase a stove with sufficient kW to heat the room in which the appliance is located, there are many calculators available online. Generally, it is better to choose one with a slightly higher output than is required, rather than one with a lower output. But remember for the stove to maintain peak efficiency it must be burning hot. All stoves will come with an efficiency rating, the higher the % rating the more efficient the appliance will be.
If the house was built before 2008 and the appliance is over 5kW then the regulations say that an air vent must be fitted into the room where the appliance is located. This is to supply combustion air (oxygen) for the fire to burn. This vent should be 550mm2 for every kW over 5kW. If the appliance is fitted in a kitchen area with a cooker extractor present then it is likely that the air vent will need to be larger to compensate for the cooker extract which will be removing air from the room once switched on. In well insulated properties an air vent may be necessary for an appliance less than 5kW also. These air vents must be permanently open with no closable devices fitted.
So the choice is amazing and confusing. You need to think about what you want :-
A multi fuel stove or a wood burner
Modern or traditional, free standing or inset, just to heat one room or fit radiators to heat other rooms as well.
Is there any reason why only a particular stove would work with your chimney system, is the flue too small for certain appliances.
And of course the cost considerations.
And obviously, what kW output should the stove be to adequately heat the area sufficiently.
That’s without which colour, cast iron or steel, convector or non convection. The best people to speak to are either the manufacturers themselves or your local HETAS approved fireplace retailer.
The fitting of all solid fuel appliance and chimney flue lining systems is now deemed to be Building Works and the installation guidelines are set out in Building Regulations Document J. All installers should be HETAS Registered or if the works are carried out by your builder, the works must be overseen by your Local Building Control Office and must always be signed off with a Compliance Certificate and a DATA plate, without this your household insurance is likely to be invalid should a disaster occur. HETAS engineers are deemed as being ‘Competent Persons’ and as such are able to sign off their own work, they have been on specific training courses and their standards of work are checked by HETAS on a regular basis. If you decide on a ‘wet’ system with radiators, then this can only be fitted by a HETAS registered installer. There are other competent persons schemes, however, HETAS has the most members and there is usually an installer close by.
All appliances and flue liners must have been tested to CE standards and carry a CE mark which says that they have passed satisfactory tests in an independent laboratory.
Contact Apex Chimney Sweeps to book a professional chimney sweeping company!
