Stove questions.....

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21 Jun 2006
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Hello everyone,

I'm wanting to buy a stove and since I've never owned one, I have many questions on my mind, so please bear with me.

  1. I've seen a popular stove (OTTAWA) that is 12kw, around 76-80% efficient and defra approved, but then I've also seen some similar spec popular brands, such as YORKSHIRE STOVES but are only 5-6kw....why are they so expensive and why would someone pay so much when the heat output is so low?
  2. Do the ones with higher kw burn fuel/wood more quickly or does it not matter about the kw?
  3. What else am I supposed to look out for?
 
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You have to have one that fits for a start and unless you plan to hook it up to central heating or you live in a large castle, you'll find 5-6kw plenty. I have 2 of that size and they belt out heat.

smaller stove will get hotter quicker, plus there are lots of innovative considerations. Some also don't require a proper harth which can help
 
This site will help you work out the size of stove you need, and that's your first step. You also need to find out if you're in a controled smoke zone. Wood burning stoves are more efficient that multifuels stoves, but can't be kept smouldering overnight.
 
Hello again Doggit!

Well according to the site, I require around 6.8kw stove. But if I were to buy one which is more kw, how can that be bad?

I am in a controlled smoke zone.
 
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Trust me, bigger than necessary ruins the efficiency of the stove. It's always better to run the stove fairly full, but a large stove will put out so much heat, that you'd only run it at hald full, and that wouldn't give you the seconday burn, and that's where you get extra heat and completel burn of the gasses, so a well sized stove will alway be more efficient than an oversized one.

Anything over 5Kw requires ventilation, unless you can get a stove that has a external air feed (that's a pipe that goes through the wall, and conects into the stove), so how big is you're room, and what's the house style..
 
Right I see. My house is a 5 bedroom semi-detached. The living room that I plan to have the stove installed in, is approx 6m by 5m.

I just thought by getting a larger kw stove I could make the room hot enough that I could then open the living room door to dry heat the remaining house and hopefully reduce some of the humidity levels.

Also my other reason in going for more kw stove was because the prices between these two models is almost the same.
 
You need to get some ventilation if you are having humidity problems.
 
Now that's a large room, but you still don't want to overheat it. But by keeping the doors open, the heat will drift into the hallway. If you look at the website I gave you, it'll help you understand stoves a bit more. but rssteves right. If you've got humidity problems, then you need more ventilation. Are you keeping the windows closed to keep the house warm by any chance.
 
I've got 2 rooms with woodburners, both rooms are about 6m by 5m,
My experience is that the 4.5kw is fine for one room. The only drawback I find of a burner that small is that you're more limited on log length.
The other burner is 6kw, and I find it a bit too big, to be honest - I run it lower most of the time, which is less efficient.
I do recommend getting an ecofan, by the way, and a copy of 'The Log Book' - both have saved me lots of wood and kept the house warmer

...and I'd personally recommend either a Woodwarm or Clearview, from my experience
 
Thanks for all your advice guys, which is much appreciated. I'll check out the literature & ecofan mentioned. I'd be happy to go with a 5kw stove if it means more effeciency.

Regarding humidity...Windows are only closed at night. During the day they are open an hour or two, depending on the temperature outside. But as doggit and myself have found, we don't know the reason for the humidity/condensation and I've now spent several years of my life trying to figure it out and still haven't found the answer, so I've given up and need to move on.
 
Ahh, if they are only open for an hour or two during the day, then we may have found the cause. My windows are open permanently, and only get closed during high winds. I have no heating in my house, dry the clothes in my bedroom, and have no issues at all.
 
The issue with leaving them open almost most of the day is that the house would be freezing cold and counters the point of keeping the house warm. Also doggit mate, if you remember, I advised that even if left open during the night, they make hardly any difference to the condensation issues. The one thing I may have not mentioned is that we do live in a elevated area - approx 680ft above sea-level.
 
Sorry Ripper, but this is never a straightforward game - as I think you've noticed. If you have the heating on, then the moisture will stay in the air, and not condense on the windowsl, but that's expensive, And if you open the windows, then you get rid of the condensation issues, but it's cold.

And I think you're worse off than I am. Kent's wet, but not as cold as Yorkshire, and being that high up, you must have some brisk winds wipping arouns the trouser legs. I hope that you can solve the issues with the stoves though, and I'd be inclined to look at multi fuel stove that can slumber overnight, but you will want quality ones rather than cheap as chips.
 
Thanks Doggit mate.

I've been offered a Saltfire ST2 defra approved stove for £500 + £400 for the fittings. Then on top of that I'm looking at around £7-800 for installation.
 
Stoves and open fires are good for preventing damp. Basically they suck air towards them and up the flue (hence the need for fixed ventilation over 5kW). It will create air currents and draw air from other rooms (ideally, unless you have a fancy modern ventilation system, you don't want an air tight house). I have one of the newer Much Wenlocks and have had no problems with it. 5.5kW and not only heats the room it's in, but sends heat into adjacent rooms and up the stairs.
 

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