Not sure where is best to put stuff about stoves, but this seems more regs related than anything else.
So, I am planning on a 5kW stove, which means according to regs I don't need a vent (old house with plenty of holes). Going for a type that allows 12mm hearth, as despite there being an old fireplace doesn't appear to be a hearth under the modern floorboards, so maybe it was removed.
The stove will be sitting in an old bare stone fireplace opening, and I am happy enough with all the distances etc etc outlined in the regs. The place where I have hit a block is the manufacturers 'distance to combustibles'. Most of the small stoves are generally around 400mm wide, and have side distance to combustibles of 400 to 500mm. Now my fireplace is quite wide, just over a metre, but in any of these scenarios the distance from the side of the stove and plaster/skirting is still going to be less than 400mm.
I was wondering if I was taking this too literally, but a search online confirms that plasterboard is officially a combustible, and there is no denying that a wood skirting is. There is no way that most of the stoves I have seen installed are meeting these requirements. In Scotland I don't need any building control signoff for this size of stove, and I don't personally believe that plasterboard is going to go on fire a foot away from a 5kW stove (least not one I am running), but I would still rather ensure that it meets regs, for insurance purposes if nothing else. I am also presuming here that regs, includes meeting the manufacturer regs, although I don't think the building regulations explicitly says this.
Any thoughts?
So, I am planning on a 5kW stove, which means according to regs I don't need a vent (old house with plenty of holes). Going for a type that allows 12mm hearth, as despite there being an old fireplace doesn't appear to be a hearth under the modern floorboards, so maybe it was removed.
The stove will be sitting in an old bare stone fireplace opening, and I am happy enough with all the distances etc etc outlined in the regs. The place where I have hit a block is the manufacturers 'distance to combustibles'. Most of the small stoves are generally around 400mm wide, and have side distance to combustibles of 400 to 500mm. Now my fireplace is quite wide, just over a metre, but in any of these scenarios the distance from the side of the stove and plaster/skirting is still going to be less than 400mm.
I was wondering if I was taking this too literally, but a search online confirms that plasterboard is officially a combustible, and there is no denying that a wood skirting is. There is no way that most of the stoves I have seen installed are meeting these requirements. In Scotland I don't need any building control signoff for this size of stove, and I don't personally believe that plasterboard is going to go on fire a foot away from a 5kW stove (least not one I am running), but I would still rather ensure that it meets regs, for insurance purposes if nothing else. I am also presuming here that regs, includes meeting the manufacturer regs, although I don't think the building regulations explicitly says this.
Any thoughts?