Fireplace

[fundy]

The house we are currently renovating has an open fireplace (and chimney) in the lounge, albeit one that hasnt been used for a while it seems.

We want to either start using it as an open fire or put a stove in the opening.

Any advice be gratefully received:

If using as an open fire assume it needs sweeping, do we need to get the lining tested? does it need certifying etc? Assume we then need a grate, an ash tray and some wood to burn. Anything else?

If installing a stove what do we need to consider? wood only or multi-fuel? whats installation likely to cost? how powerful do we need?

any build regs implications of either routes?

 

[Fish]

Check it's got a flue, I'd invite a wood burner company around for a quote and find out off them what the minimum requirements are.

 

[fundy]

Check it's got a flue, I'd invite a wood burner company around for a quote and find out off them what the minimum requirements are.

whats the difference between a flue and the chimney liner? (i assume you have to install a specific flue if putting in a stove?)

yeah will try a local company next week, be nice to have some sort of understanding before talking to them though

 

[rosecott]

The house we are currently renovating has an open fireplace (and chimney) in the lounge, albeit one that hasnt been used for a while it seems.

We want to either start using it as an open fire or put a stove in the opening.

Any advice be gratefully received:

If using as an open fire assume it needs sweeping, do we need to get the lining tested? does it need certifying etc? Assume we then need a grate, an ash tray and some wood to burn. Anything else?

If installing a stove what do we need to consider? wood only or multi-fuel? whats installation likely to cost? how powerful do we need?

any build regs implications of either routes?

I have an open fireplace in my cottage. In a fire dog I burn a mixture of dry soft and hard wood. If you can find a reputable experienced chimney sweep, he will sweep your chimney and tell you if you need to do anything. There's nothing like an evening in with a roaring fire at this time of year - preferably with some chestnuts to roast.

 

[Tashyboy]

The year before the pit shut we had a stove put in the front room. I told a guy at the pit we were having a wood burner put in. he said why? I said to burn wood you div. he said have a multi fuel burner/stove put in? I said why, he said coz you can get Coal from the pit for life and it will cost you sod all you div. which I had forgot about. Two years ago said multi fuel stove was installed.
It is a beauty. It's a man thing making the fire, comes from thunder gather days. Any way. Advice.
for gods sake don't but a cheap Chinese stove. Buy a quality one. If a liner needs installing, so be it. You won't see it anyway. The law now states you must have a carbon monoxide monitor in the room, not a smoke detector. Some companies on line provide the free with your stove. The fitter will ensure it is installed when signing off your installation. Re costs between a wood and multi fuel, both stoves look identical, you just change a couple of bits on the stove itself. £100 tops. Re cost of stove depends on what size and quality you are looking for. Ours is small but God it bangs out the heat. Before when the gas heating was on, we kept the front room door shut to keep in the heat. Now when the fire is in we have to open the door or you could grow bananas in the front room.

 

[sawtooth]

Get some other views on a wood burning stove before you commit. I don't own one but been doing a bit of reading online about them. Don't shoot the messenger but some negative things I have read...

They aren't cheap to run unless you happen to have a source of free decent quality wood.

It takes up a bit of space and you also need to think about space to store wood, other fuel.

Can leave black sooty deposits in the room where it's situated.

Constantly need to top up with wood, may mean getting up at night to keep fire going.

Only warms the one room.

Need to have chimney or flue cleaned a couple of times a year.

A decent one won't be cheap and usually costs a bit to install.

Smell may annoy neighbors.

 

[Liverbirdie]

Live life by the seat of your pants - maybe its a non-conformist fireplace?

 

[upsidedown]

Have used woodburner/mutlifuel stoves in many houses for over 30 years now so here are my experiences [/B

Get some other views on a wood burning stove before you commit. I don't own one but been doing a bit of reading online about them. Don't shoot the messenger but some negative things I have read...
]
They aren't cheap to run unless you happen to have a source of free decent quality wood.
Have been lucky to have sources to cheap wood and will very much depend on your area but I do feel it's acheap source of heat.

It takes up a bit of space and you also need to think about space to store wood, other fuel.
Yes they do

Can leave black sooty deposits in the room where it's situated.
No never had this happen

Constantly need to top up with wood, may mean getting up at night to keep fire going.
If your stove is big enough you can bank it up for the night and shut it right down to be fired into life in the morning, this is very easy with Multifuel as you cab bank up with coal at night. I have had woodburners which will last through the night. You cant keep an open fire going overnight.

Only warms the one room.
Bigger ones can have back boilers and will heat your hot water/ radiators. In NZ it ran all our heating in 4 bedrooms and living areas.

Need to have chimney or flue cleaned a couple of times a year.
So long as you burn dry wood no need to sweep more than once. Buy wood for use the following winter to ensure it's dry, ie get wood for next year now.

A decent one won't be cheap and usually costs a bit to install.
As with most things you get what you pay for.

Smell may annoy neighbors
Never had a problem but have always been rural .

 

[User62651]

I installed a 7.5kw multi fuel back in April all myself, sitting in the original 50s alcove of the fireplace, has been working great since.
I removed an 80s fireplace and mantel first to expose the original brick 50's alcove fireplace behind it, took a lot of work to get all the firebricks and infill they'd put behind the newer fireplace dug out, needed blockhammer and bolster work. Repointed some brickwork, put a new concrete hearth in topped with large slate tiles and a wood surround - was pleased with myself doing this as never done it before.
Shopped about online and got a stove I knew would fit the space already there nicely. The actual stove installation was quick, needed to get on the roof to put some rope down to attach to the metal coil liner pipe to pull it up and attach to the chimney pot 'roof thing' already there. Need some fireplace cement to go round any joins where the short chimney section meets the stove etc.
Didn't backfill the chimney space as it can increase damp, some do this some dont. Did put in a metal plate I cut from recycled sheet metal in the chimney opening just out of sight as you look at it so that you're not losing stove heat up the old chimney space or losing house heat when the stove isn't on. That's a little tricky and awkward.
Stove was about £350 + postage from a company called Saltfire, chimney liner was about £110 for the 6m or so needed, bought more than I needed though. Chimney section was maybe £25 with a few quid for stove cement.
For me 95% of the work was getting my old fireplace reinstated after taking off the 80's one and replastering walls where that had been. Hadn't done plastering using giproc sheets before either so a learning experience but went fine. Stove installation was straightforward enough. Loads of CO alarms about, just wanted to be sure.
My stove is very simple - just one intake vent below door and one screen airwash vent above door, the draw from the 6" dia liner is amazing, night and day compared to when it was an open fire. No problems at all.
Does get through the wood, haven't burned coal yet. Local company sells kiln dried oak in those big square bags and they burn slow and hot so last ok, conifer I've cut myself goes too quick
Definitely go for a chimney liner (tempting to avoid if you think you're chimney is good enough) but they're cheap and give you much improved draw than the old chimney space so an efficient working stove and also give some peace of mind that CO CO2 fumes are not seeping into your house through old brickwork.

 

[Norrin Radd]

one thing with wood burners ,
DONT BURN TREATED WOOD OF ANY SORT..
it will bugger your lining

 

[Rooter]

I blocked mine up Steve and got a leccy one! Much easier, cleaner etc!

 

[Fish]

I blocked mine up Steve and got a leccy one! Much easier, cleaner etc!

Does it have a little orange bulb and an aluminium fan slowly revolving over it so it looks like it's flickering like a real fire 😜😂

 

[Pin-seeker]

I blocked mine up Steve and got a leccy one! Much easier, cleaner etc!

Gas BBQ aswell?

 

[fundy]

I blocked mine up Steve and got a leccy one! Much easier, cleaner etc!

ridiculous, not an option lol. think Fish has covered it perfectly

 

[Rooter]

Does it have a little orange bulb and an aluminium fan slowly revolving over it so it looks like it's flickering like a real fire 😜😂

Yup! With the rug rats it's ideal for us. If I'm honest I would love a wood burner, but couldn't cope with the mess and arse ache associated with one.

 

[Deleted member 21258]

We have a multi fuel burner, but never burnt anything apart from wood in it, the next one would probably just go woodburner.

Our chimney was a clay one(90s built chimney) but to ensure everything was sealed we still had a stainless liner fitted. An open fire can not be compared to a woodburner, by way of heat output the woodburner is so much better. You can fit one yourself but you must inform building regs department. You will also need min clearance distances to back/sides and the heath size

To work out the kw rating you need, there are calculators on the internet, that you just plug in the room sizes and it will tell you.

The are not very messy, does not generate much ash, burns easy, the heat it kicks out is brilliant, something about the extreme feel of the heat when the thing is like 400 degrees.

 

[Tashyboy]

Sat here at the moment with me stove ticking over. It's burning coal and it's gorgeous. Coal does burn hotter than wood. Without getting boring.
differant coals burn at differant temps. If you decide on a stove, ring up the company and ask what coal is best for yer stove. Ours is a Charnwood and quite simply fantastic. A multi fuel will burn any wood, but if you are having to buy coal at least know what you need.
when I sit and think we bought our house brand new, built by Henry Boots the Cowboys. They wanted 2.5k in 1992 to build a chimney for a coal fire. We said stuff it and had a gas fire. 30 yr later we paid £100 plus for a liner.
Remember Tashyboy told you coal and fossil fuels it's the future.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Tashy, going back to your earlier post.......one of my first jobs was selling heating oil. Beggar of a job. One day the regional sales manager based in Hull came up to our depot and sent me and a sales rep out together to knock on doors selling to domestics. He gave us a list of Durham villages he had looked up and seen were not on mains gas. I was young and keen, the rep was old and wise. We drove to the first village and parked up. "Out we get, tell me what you see". I saw lots of little terraces and terraced cottages. "What else?" I stood there but couldn't see anything strange. "Coal bunkers". The bloke had given us a list of ex pit villages and every house in each village had belonged to a pitman. Free coal for life. No one in any of the villages had any form of heating bar coal. Total waste of time.

He saw the grin on my face grow. He knew the minute he saw the list but the area bloke was a know it all and so he knew he had to follow orders. We had a lovely day wandering around some nice villages in the sun. The odd cup of tea, an ice cream, lunch out. Wise old fella that rep and I learnt a good lesson about doing your homework properly and observing your surroundings.

 

[Tashyboy]

LT, when we bought our first pit house£4,700 off the pit it had a parkray coalmaster 1 fire, with a back boiler. As much hot water and heating to die for. It was the danglys. You got your coal for free.
When the pit was shutting 2015, you could still apply for coal. I was the last at Thoresby pit and they openly said " you are on a skank", a lot of guys all there excess coal. I told the fat personal manager he could light the first match on the fire. Thing the the free coal thing goes back to nationalisation in the 1940s when miners were paid a pittance. For what coal costs now it seems a luxury burning it.
seems odd now looking at new houses being built without chimneys.
listening to your story reminds mod the old bull and the young bull in the field looking down at the cows 😉