Installing a woodburning stove

[Hutchbev]

We have removed a gas fire and are considering installing a small woodburning stove. There is a chimney. We understand that the stove provides a greater amount of heat than an open fire, and would be easier to use.
Can anyone give us an idea of how much it would cost to put in a chimney liner for the stove? We really don't have any idea what is actually involved, apart from getting the chimney cleaned!
Thank you.

 

[gremlin16]

Get a HETAS registered installer's advice. Reputable fire retailers should also be able to advice you.

 

[muggles]

A good quality flexible flue liner is going to set you back about £35 per metre (you can get lower-grade ones with shorter warranty periods, but personally I'd like a long-term guarantee that it isn't going to perforate and burn my house down). On top of that, if you're getting someone in, you'll probably find that they will want scaffolding up to your chimney, so you need to factor in hire costs for this, and of course there's going to be labour.

As Gremlin said, consult a HETAS registered installer (HETAS are to solid fuel what CORGI are to gas and OFTEC are to oil).

 

[RigidRaider]

Your best friend is your local chimney sweep; he will advise you on the suitability of your flue and the need or not for a costly liner. He will install the liner (ours did it without scaffolding) and set up the stove correctly with a port for future ease of sweeping.

You need to read up on stoves, we have a Dovre multi-fuel, which is fantastic. Don't buy a cheap stove. Our sweep advised us to err on the side of a smaller stove so that we would be burning it hotter as slow burning is a BAD thing; it creates smoke and soot and the lower flue temperatures are more likely to lead to condensation problems.

You also need to be making provision now for your woodstore, which is as important as the stove. You need a load of hardwood with as little cypress and evergreen as possible because the resins are bad for your stove and flue. The wood needs splitting then stacking under shelter to dry. You can tell if wood is well seasoned by the drying cracks running through the grain and the ringing sound if you bang two bits together. If it smells green it is unseasoned and will burn badly and moisture will damage the stove, flue and cowl.

We use a mixture of wood, coal and occasionally peat, which we bring in sacks from Scotland because we just love the smell when you go outside!

Once you have got used to your stove you will love the dry, well ventilated heat you get in the room. A huge volume of air goes up the chimney so the house will benefit from the forced ventilation. For this reason you also need to make sure you aren't encouraging drafts, we have a vent in the wall near the stove to supply the air and prevent a pressure drop in the room when the door is closed. Poor ventilation is a bad thing because it will cause a fire to smoke into the room and prevent a stove from drawing properly.