STOVES questions and answers here(see mod note in post 1)

BarneyMc wrote: »

Hi rpmcs, sorry terminology might be a bit off. I want one with an external air feed so it's not drawing air from the room. Yes, it's ok it draws air when the door is open during refuelling. I have Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation so would that not cover the constant air vent?

Anyway any help to locate such a stove would be great.

They do exist os dont give up looking but you may have to import it yourself.

funnyclub wrote: »

It's a baxi condenser boiler.

More than likely you'll need something like heat genie

Sanchez83 wrote:

Once you go past 7kw you are looking at a cassette stove. Your budget seems a bit tight for a decent cassette brand. You may sneak e1400 for a Henley Faro 500 or Heat Design Vitae 600 if you find the right retailer to haggle with.

Thanks Sanchez83. Are the two cassette stoves above decent or it is better i wait and increase my budget ?

Hi All,
My word this is a huge thread. I've been reading for a few hours and am looking for guidance on a few things - I'm very sorry if I'm asking stuff that has been previously answered but I started reading at Jan 2015.

We have a large dormer bungalow that currently uses oil heating. The livingroom, and kitchen are open plan with a view to put a stove in the livingroom. There are two bedrooms downstairs and three upstairs.

* We have gotten quotes for installation of a boiler and room heating stove. Of the two quotes the cheaper is €1740 for installation of room heating stove and €3600 for boiler stove installation to dual run with oil heating. €3600 included new cylinder, pipe work, flue/chimney system. Is this a good price?

* If I have the money to do either am I really better to do the whole boiler stove install (with the €2000 cost of a stove it's a huge investment) or is it better to use a stand alone stove to heat the open plan area and continue to rely on the oil for the bedrooms?

* If I use the boiler stove system we have been told that we need a 30Kw stove. It seems from this thread the Inis Meain Mark 2 and Stratford EB25 are the most recommended. I would ideally prefer a more contemporary style, my parents have a Nordica and it's beautiful and performs really well although I've seen no one recommend them here. Anyone have any suggestions?

* Am I better to get the heating system zoned or just turn off the rads that are no longer required with use of the stove. If the boiler option is what I go with should I invest in the zoning too - see below?

* What way does the system work? Does it heat water/rads first and then the rads? Am I best to turn off rads (either manually or if zoned) to get some heat into the main living area first and then turn on the rads section? I'm just concious of coming home from work and having to wait an hour for the rads to heat throughout the house before the living room and kitchen heat up.

Sorry for all the questions!

Vote 4 Pedro wrote: »

Hi All,
I got my Dru 55mf fitted on Saturday and I'm very happy with it so far,
It's very easy to get a decent fire going and I think it looks very nice.

Does anyone here use the eco briquettes/ Hardwood briquettes or similar type things,
I'm looking for something that burns very cleanly and has minimal ash.
are they any good ?
there are so many different types I don't know which to get, is there any to avoid, any recommendation would be helpful.

Thanks..

The smokeless ovoids work best in my stove, quite slow to get going but they last for hours.

Vote 4 Pedro wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, Can you tell me are they very dusty / dirty to handle,
I hadn't though of using then don't no why,
but I might give them a try.

They are large egg shaped, not that dusty and burn right down to dust. They do take a while to get heat from from but once they are glowing, you will get many hours from them. I generally get the stove going with some coal at first and then put some ovoids on afterwards.

BarryD wrote: »

I'm sure others will chip in with an opinion - one thing strikes me. If you're coming home from work and need a heated house, you'd probably be best to stick at least partially with some sort of oil/ gas system run by a timer. Solid fuel works well but I think optimally for houses that are occupied on a more continuous basis. The separate stove heating the living area with a secondary oil system to put some background heat into the bedrooms might be the most cost effective. Reasons - early autumn and late spring are often mild enough that you don't need any heat in bedrooms but it's nice to have a warm living area. So you save oil there. Even in winter months when you would like a bit of heat in bedrooms etc., it doesn't have to be as warm as a living area. So what you'd spend on replacing the full system plus the fuel cost of running it, might well cost more than the bit of oil required otherwise. Given what you say, I'd keep the oil system for it's flexibility in timing etc., but have a nice solid fuel stove (non boiler) that will space heat your living areas.

Good advice there 💥

BrianBoru00 wrote: »

Had similar situation and got solid fuel back boiler installed (also got solar panels at the same time). Ended up going for the Boru 30kw and turned out to be a great decision... We've used v little oil since. Use it in the morning for 30 mins. Have three zones - upstairs , living room/kitchen area and downstairs bedrooms. We light the fire and usually after an hour the room is well warm enough and like yourselves its a large area - at that point we put on the downstairs bedrooms or upstairs.

Find it great on say a on Sunday - Light the fire in the morning and "close" the vents so that it burns slowly and come home after 4-5 hours and the house is warm without having had the oil on.
Find it a lot easier to budget and use a mix of firewood, turf, coal to heat

Hi Brian Boru

I have a Boro 20kw, v similar to yours, what setting do you have the dial set to please on the bottom left of stove, please

Its a circular dial, , which i think adjust the air input

Have had stove installed since Monday.. been lighting small fires for last few days and first day to use smokeless coal today. Noticed room was a little smokey.. opened stove and the rope seal has broken away between door and window! :mad:

BarryD wrote: »

Push it back into place, usually a groove....

Actually burned away!

EDIT:

Surely this can't be normal 3 days after installation (Heritage Dunmore).

hi all - got a Stovax Riva 66 convection stove fitted last week, still getting used to running it but anyone I've asked has said briquettes and dried wood are your only man. I've been using the above and even with the primary air low and the air wash at 25%, it's hammering through 6 briquettes in an hour or so. I used the last of the coal I had one evening and it did seem like it burned/glowed for longer. Have any of you used the stove specific coal and is it worth the price? My father in law has a boiler stove, one of the more traditional looking Stanley ones and he only has to top it up every 4 hours. If I left mine for 4 hours, it would be gone out :eek:

SeaFields wrote: »

We are trying to decide on whether to fit a non-boiler or boiler stove at the moment. There is already oil central heating in the house but we have plenty of turf so either way we'll be fitting a stove.

Is it possible to fit a boiler stove to compliment the oil heating? Be it that we would be able to switch from one to the other for heating everything or just use one for rads and one for water?

And is it a big job/ expensive to install the boiler stove if we already have a heating system in place? The house is a three bedroomed bungalow with ten rads varying in size. The hot water tank is about two metres from the fire place across the hallway and through two walls.

Any input / past experience welcome

I have a boiler stove and haven't bought oil for the last 3 years in a house about the same size as yours but turf will probably not be hot enough to heat the rads sufficiently - you'll need coal. No problem heating water.

The cost of installation by a good plumber is about 600 euro and takes a good day to day and a half.

A friend of mine got a pellet stove with a back boiler... It does 60% of heat to the rads and 40 % to the room - can set it on a timer or just thermostat- needs a pressurized system though- and I never asked him about noise-
Pellets seem to have gone out of fashion though -

Shanry wrote: »

Hi
I have bought a Carraig Mor 30kw boiler and am getting a granite slab cut to size. I'm at a loss to know how far it should project out from the stove, does anyone have one and can you help?
Building Regulations website states 'the hearth projection should be at least 500mm' but this seems very excessive?

I think it's a minimum of 300mm from the front door of the stove,
eg, Minimum of 300mm from the glass in the door to the front edge of the granite hearth.