Sitting room, second stove or open fire?

A country home

ok people,

2 days to make this decission,

its a second stove or the open fire. we will have a stove in the family/living room, and then for the sittingroom we were going open, but now thinking stove. . way more efficeient. my cousin pulled out the open fire and stuck in the second stove and she only in house 3-4 yrs. .

what would you do?

good logical answers, course its Irish to have an open fire. . . but so was a standard light bulb 10 yrs ago. .

bertie1

Second stove , if you leave an open fire there there will always be a draught in the room with the stove no draught.

gerry28

Has your first stove got a back boiler. If so you could have the one in the other sitting room a non boiler stove and it would be just pure heat into room.
I am thinking on that option myself.

A country home

hi, yes the stove in living room is having a boiler for rads. .

95% of me is going for the second stove. . .

thanks all

mr_edge_to_you

Well we decided there was no point spending a fortune insulating our house with membranes, foam, beads, high spec windows and then putting a big hole in the roof. That's the best I can do.

macadam

I put in a solid fuel stove and by god was it worth it, they are the easiest on fuel I have ever seen.
During the cold spell we lit it everyday, it only used three small shovels of coal a day, most days we left the sitting room door open and it heated the whole hall.
I had a cast iron fireplace and I just fitted it in front of it, best few euro we have spent in a long time, especially after the cold spell we just had.

Technique

Stoves are great. All of the metalwork becomes like a giant radiator. But you know that anyway. And you can light it and go away for a while. When you come back, your house is still intact, and the heat will hit you at the door on the way in.

Go for it.

A country home

cheers people,

yes, the points highlighted here are echoed by my sister who put in a stove in a semi-d in town, i think the No 1 point for her was the fuel efficiency, she was shocked with how less fuel she was using compared to the open fire, and then N 2 was the heat from it, less fuel for more heat. .. and i personally think there is something nice and classy looking about them. .. .

thanks all. ..
much appreciated. .

2 stoves it is then. . .

No6

A good decision, the Irish open fire is very quickly becoming a thing of the past, it plays hell with your ber rating!! I expect it to be regulated out of houses in the next one or two revisions to part L.

Kashkai

I'm trying to get my wife to agree to putting in a stove in our sitting room (26ft x 16ft) as its impossible to heat with the open fire let alone the useless radiators (btw there's insulation in the floors, walls and ceilings with double glazed windows so the big open chimney is the problem). During the recent cold spell, I'd load the fire up with logs and coal and have a roaring fire but with 90% of the heat going up the chimney, I still needed a jumper on me to keep warm and I'm not a cold creature by any means.

However the wife (a country girl from the ar$e end of Mayo - no offence No 6) wants the traditional open fire with turf on it even though its useless and expensive at heating this room. I could go ahead and just get the stove installed but then I'd have to put up with the sulks for the next year or so:rolleyes:.

As for being able to leave the stove unattended and still having a house to come home to, I went to the shops last week and while I was out, the wife took the spark guard away as it "keeps in the heat" and then she left the room. Then a lump of coal rolled out of the fire, across the hearth and onto the rug. When I came home, I noticed an acrid burning smell and thought "is she baking again?" but when I looked into the sitting room, I saw the coal smouldering on the rug and it had nearly burnt its way through to the wooden floor beneath. Of course this was my fault for putting on a big fire and not hers for removing the spark guard.

To those who did get a stove retrofitted into an existing fireplace, how did you manage it as our hearth is too narrow (350mm) for any stove I've seen so does it mean digging out the existing fireplace to create an "inglenook" and will it require a new "head" to support the chimney? Sounds expensive to me.

muffler

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

I noticed an acrid burning smell and thought "is she baking again?"

ROFL

No6

My mother got a fireplace, "stove" insert put in just before christmas and it is fantastic, its way warmer than the old open fire and dosn't sit out on the heart as a stove does. Have a look for one of those!!!

RPGGAMER

"As for being able to leave the stove unattended and still having a house to come home to, I went to the shops last week and while I was out, the wife took the spark guard away as it "keeps in the heat" and then she left the room. Then a lump of coal rolled out of the fire, across the hearth and onto the rug. When I came home, I noticed an acrid burning smell and thought "is she baking again?" but when I looked into the sitting room, I saw the coal smouldering on the rug and it had nearly burnt its way through to the wooden floor beneath. Of course this was my fault for putting on a big fire and not hers for removing the spark guard."

funny stuff

I'm

V funny Prosperous Dave

A country home, in a similar situation myself - family room, kitchen / dining room and study - was originally thinking of going for two stoves and a small fireplace in study; but am now thinking about a sealed gas unit in the kitchen /dining - mainly because I can't see us lighting two stoves each day, the efficiency of the sealed unit appears good and will be a quick heat option.

Would this be an option or are there flaws I haven't considered ?

A country home

I'm wrote: »

V funny Prosperous Dave

A country home, in a similar situation myself - family room, kitchen / dining room and study - was originally thinking of going for two stoves and a small fireplace in study; but am now thinking about a sealed gas unit in the kitchen /dining - mainly because I can't see us lighting two stoves each day, the efficiency of the sealed unit appears good and will be a quick heat option.

Would this be an option or are there flaws I haven't considered ?

well, my house has livingroom and kitchen next to each other, so going by some houses ive been in the stove will almost be too much at times for the living room alone, so ill open the door to the kitchen. . . remember as someone told me once, the kitchen is a place of cooking/food storage/fridge/eating and it doest require the same temps as would a living area where your sitting watching tv or reading. so thats why ive bascially 2 rooms,
but back to ur post, those seal units are nice, but id be sure that where ever ur having ur tv/living area, make sure and stick the stove here, and even have a backboiler for 4-5 main rads in the house. . . . . im still shocked over the amt of heat coming from my sisters stove over x-mas, and even at times it didnt look even lit, a small burn at all gives off some heat. . . great little farts of machines altogether. . . . :P

the sister im talking about is actually building also at the moment and is at the same stage as i am, and while i have only 2 chimneys, she has like urself, 3. and i know she was one stove all the way before christmas, but now going with the 2 like myself, i must ask her about the 3rd chimney, dont know (why in the first place) but dont know what she plans, i think she is leaving it open. . . sher it will have a stove in it within 3yrs to stop the draught. . .

hope comments helped, all those here helped me, thanks people. . .

mad m

Ok so looks like a good idea to get a stove..I have an open fire in sitting room with cast iron fireplace and also blocked up the one in dining room. Anyone any recommendations for stoves, what type,where to buy and whats the best deals...

So if you have a castiron fireplace, you can get a type to fit in fireplace?

A country home

mad m wrote: »

Ok so looks like a good idea to get a stove..I have an open fire in sitting room with cast iron fireplace and also blocked up the one in dining room. Anyone any recommendations for stoves, what type,where to buy and whats the best deals...

So if you have a castiron fireplace, you can get a type to fit in fireplace?

dont think i can mention brands/advise on them, but if ur in ireland there isnt too many manufactures, if u dont know any ask an elderly relative, , , they'll mention that place in waterford. . .

but ive seen 100s of different ones, and some very very cheap, but as a supplier once told me, u can buy it, but should something happen that one comes from Holland, and if we stop supplying them, , bla bla bla, u know the rest. . .

im going with Tara, 2 taras now :rolleyes:

A country home

mad m wrote: »

Ok so looks like a good idea to get a stove..I have an open fire in sitting room with cast iron fireplace and also blocked up the one in dining room. Anyone any recommendations for stoves, what type,where to buy and whats the best deals...

So if you have a castiron fireplace, you can get a type to fit in fireplace?

oh, to answer the retro fit, yes, anything is possible. . . my sister just got hers done, now, depends on what u want done, they pulled out the lot except the hart, , plastered it up, pipe coming down to stove. . and wallla. ..

mad m

Well the cast iron fireplace I have is sort of an antique, so won't be pulling that out. Just wondered could you put a sort of one in where you would lite fire...Thanks for the help

Oh, what type of money would you be looking at for one of these stoves.