Not DIY as such as I won't be attempting it, but the missus wants a wood burner in the living room.
It's a mid 90s house & there is a flue in there for a gas fire, but the previous occupant removed the fireplace & plasterboarded over the opening. We reinstated a fireplace, but just used an electric fire with the flame effect (rags blowing in a fan with an orange bulb).
Would the existing flue be OK for a wood burner, it's a Barratt House identical to the one here
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which has the chimney on view.
Also there's no chimney breast, does the flue go up the cavity nowadays?
My suspicion is that you are on a loser. Have you checked whether to flue actually goes to the chimney pot (if one has been fitted). A terrace built near here in 1998 has chimney pots that are mere decoration. Planning requirement to fit in with existing nearby buildings. All are heated by gas with flues through the wall. So, first off. Check that you have a working & useable flue. I would think that for the smallest of woodburners you would want a 150-175mm flue. Also, is SWMBO aware of the amount of effort and muck that a woodburner can create? HTH. Just my 2d's worth.
I'd have thought that 100 mm bore would be fine for a Barratt house. Presumably needs to be a double wall insulated flue liner though so the OD will be a bit bigger.
Aye may go to a ridge or tile vent. If it's lined it will only be with a liner suitable for gas fumes, not the heat and corrosive nature of those froma wood burner. I doubt very much that it will be a suitably sized insulated cement based refactory flue.
What makes you think that the SWMBO'd will do any of the work involved? Has the SWMBO'd ever lived ina place with a real fire? They do generate dust and muck, if she has not lived with one before...
How big is your room and what is its heat requirement? A 90's place probably not very much a wood burner can chuck out a serious amount of heat, finding one with less than 5 kW output will limit your options. A woodburner needs to be sized so that you can run it flat out or nearly so most of the time. Running it shutdown is asking for the flue gases to condense in the flue bringing the risk of a chimney fire, more frequent sweeping etc.
A woodburner with a 100 mm flue would be tiny, if they exist. Most are 150 mm (6"). Though there are some 5" flued wood burners.
The other thing to consider is the hearth and surround. The Building Regs specify the required clearances, size and thickness of hearth etc. The non combustable hearth is something like minimum 50 mm thick, 300 mm clearance all round and 450 mm in front. The regs are downloadable from the Planning Portal and fairly clear.
Looking at that, I would think you will need a new (double wall SS insulated) chimney. They can be retro fitted The chimney will cost more than the stove likely As someone elese has said they are filthy things to run. You will need a secure wood store, the wood needs to be dry. Check the price of wood locally unless you have a free source. You need to be careful to sweep/clean the chimney regularly. You need a CO alarm.
The big advantage comes when/if there are power cuts. Consider getting a stove with a hotplate.
There is a flue going to the roof for sure. As for the woodburner, I think she purely wants it for effect, there's no telling women. All the other comments look favourable. Favourable as in I can talk her out of the idea.
Whilst you may have the urge to DIY it you probably need to get the wood burner professionally installed as the regulations require this in a similar way to gas. An existing flue may, or may not, be suitable. It is not something you can afford, from a safety point of view, to get wrong. A friend had one installed recently in a similar situation and the flue was not suitable. I know the installer personally and he is no cowboy. Interesting thing was that when he inspected the existing cowl he found it was embossed "Not suitable for gas appliances".
On Tuesday 29 October 2013 10:05 Peter Crosland wrote in uk.d-i-y:
It can be done under Building Control notification, like most other things.
However, when I costed mine, the stainless flue was so expensive as was the stove, that the £200 fitting charge from a HETAS registered fitter became a minor issue.
It was also a bit of a bitch due to the offset in the flue relative to the stove and I do not think I could have done it - at least not without watching how he did it.
I did do the ancilliary job of adding a new room vent before the fitter fitted the stove so he could sign the cert (he told me what he wanted on the first visit).
Add to that that any insurance would be voided if it was not professionally installed. We had a new liner installed in 2007 for our thatched house's living room fireplace to allow an open fireplace, and there is now way we can afford to have a new new liner installed to allow us to use a woodburning stove in there instead, the requirements are much more stringent, and it would take years to show a profit.
moden self cleaning woodburners are a total joy. The ash only needs emtying about once a wek, and it s good to chuck on the garden 'as is'
and te heat output is jh=]henomeanl - evemn a small one will kick out
5KW, so when you have a cold and are feeling itter crap, two paracetamol, one sudeafed. a glass of hot toddy, swtich the telly on and light the woodburbner..nothing beats it mate.
sweats that cold out in no time. virus cant handle the temperatures...
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