I am looking to install a wood burner in the fireplace once housing
gas fire/back boiler. Its a 1960's house. There looks to be corrugated liner currently up the chimney. What kind of space do I need around the burner? (The burner will b free standing and pushed back into the existing brick fire surround) Any hints/words of encouragement you could give to help me throug these daunting times of DIY fire installation?!
Thank
-- manictobes
I think you may get away without much at all, especially if the BCO doesn't get involved..he might decide you need a new and very expensive liner.
The hearth regulations are pretty sane, you need something fireproof all around and for a short distance in front.
A lot depends on the size of the fireplace.
I am going to disagree with TNP and say it's quite possible that the chimney was never intended for solid fuel use and is completely unsuitable for this.
I think the corrugated liner has to come out.
I would suggest getting a Chimney Sweep in to look at the chimbley.
If the piping from the former back boiler still exists it might be worth getting a wood burner that can do hot water too and pipe it into your heating system using a Dunsley Neutraliser (?).
Owain
Indubitably
More will than might, also chances are it's a 5" flexible flue for gas only. Min spec for wood is 6" and twin wall if building regs are adhered to.
Many wood burners will be dumping flue gas at quite high temperatures so the liner will take be taking some abuse. Worse, some woodburners will have a low flue temperature and tars will condense out in the liner and when they burn....
AJH
Unless of a lowish output and purely for smokeless fuel then 5" is allowed. But yes you must have twin wall designed for solid fuels or it will be wrecked in no time, then whole lot 'll need to be redone!
I don't think wood is considered a smokeless fuel, though it can be burned smokelessly in a certified burner.
AJH
Woodburner is often used as a generic term for stove.
More will than might, also chances are it's a 5" flexible flue for gas
only. Min spec for wood is 6" and twin wall if building regs are adhered to.
Unless of a lowish output and purely for smokeless fuel then 5" i allowed. But yes you must have twin wall designed for solid fuels or it will b
wrecked in no time, then whole lot 'll need to be redone!
In flexible ss twin wall it's about GBP30/m plus all the fixings.
AJH
I fitted a solid fuel Bont ESSE 12kWatt (water jacket) stove 23 years ago and that had a five inch flue outlet. Unfortunately. the Clay liner it went into was eliptical with a 12 " major axis measurement. This meant that the smoke suddenly slowed down when it left the 5" pipe and entered the 12" liner. I SHOULD have fitted a new 5" to 6" liner right up to the top but at that time I was a novice and so were most of the local builders in the area.
Chris.
No that is fine it is just the flue liner that is affected by the regs. You just use an increaser to attach a 6" flue liner to a 5" stove pipe
Cheapest prices I've seen are hotline-chimneys
-- Mike W
I've not been convinced of the significance of this as long as the flue is well sealed and the fire is burning cleanly but am open to suggestions otherwise. I can see a big problem with an undersized flue.
AJH
IMO (as an owner of a woodburner) one of the most important things is to make provision for easy access to the chimney, for sweeping with minimum mess in the room. I suspect the second could be a *hot* chimney, to keep up a good airflow with minimum condensation of tars on the walls of the chimney.
The two are to an extent contradictory. An insulated flue will tend to not soot up
Ours is an insulated external flue, one of those shiny things. I sweep it every year and always get more than half a bucket of soot or carbon lumps from it (the damned thing has a bend in it). I suspect that this is because we run the stove for long periods just ticking over, and the definition of a *hot* chimney might then become moot.
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