Insert stoves - any one using them..?

LithiumKid1976

hi
im wondering if any one has installed a insert stove, and would you have any pros and cons to it.

i like the look of this one
, but havent see anyone with them installed in thier house...and would like to know what people think of them.

for our house, it would just be for heating the room, there would be no back boilers etc...


thanks.

BrenCooney

Have used them in two houses and I think they are brilliant. The first house was a new build so was very easy to put in. The second house was second hand and required a bit of effort taking out the original fireplace etc. All of the ones I have seen are a box within a box so giving an air space around the firebox and this sets up a convection current of heated air which in my case ended up heating up nearly the whole house. Also there is complete control of how fast the fire burns and with the glass fronted door no sparks, or embers falling out on to the hearth or the carpet. During cold winter days it was lovely stocking up the fire and after a good walk coming back to a nice fire.
As you can see I am a convert!!

hope this helps

BrenC

LithiumKid1976

hi

Thanks for that.

we are thinking about putting on in on a new build. we have the fireplace set up for a more traditional setup( hearth, mantlepiece and stove - nothing in place, just the bare wall, if you catch my drift) but since seeing the insert stove, we are considering it. would it just be a matter of building up the fire place with blocks, so that the insert stove would be so high off the ground, like the one in the link?

also for the ones you installed, did you bother with a hearth?
Thanks

BrenCooney

In both cases I built up with blocks to the dimensions given with the stoves and got the facing plastered. With regard to a hearth I bought a single large slate slab and installed them under the fireplace. I was warned about the slabs cracking due to heat and this may be true with a normal fireplace, but with the insert a good few inches above the hearth I never felt them getting even warm. You will need the hearth as when you open the door you will get the occasional ember or spark falling out and it will protect your floor (wood/carpet) from scorch marks.

hope this helps

BrenC

LithiumKid1976

Thanks Brenc,
you've giving me something to think about anyway..sounds pretty straight forward, was wondering about the hearth all right..so your hearth is just the width of the insert stove?

on the off chance that you would have an image of the insert stove installed knocking around your Hard drive, would you be able to Pm me a copy of it...im looking for inspiration for our house.....No bother if you dont, and thanks for your help so far.

BrenCooney

In both cases I went with a full width hearth. Plenty of space for logs, poker and fire tongs. it makes it easy to keep clean in front of the fire. In winter we have a tendency to stock up the fire before we go to bed at night and it keeps the place warm until the next morning. Last winter we only used just over 700 litres of oil as I have got in the habit of scrounging old pallets and any other timber untreated with wood preservative i can find. This and about a bale of briquettes a week.

I'll post something tomorrow as i have pics on another computer.

LithiumKid1976

sounds good,
ill probably be burning turf and what ever left over timber i have.
sounds like a great job though.

still waiting for a call back from one of the suppliers for one of these insert stoves, hope to get it installed in the next week or so..

duncans

LithiumKid1976, keep us up to date on the stove, I'm thinking of putting the 600i version with boiler in and would love to hear from someone who has experience of these stoves!

LithiumKid1976

will do, still checking out, should have more info in the next week or two..will need to have it installed by then anyway ..

LithiumKid1976

hi
we were building up the fireplace last week in preparation for the stove to be installed.

you can see how we did this on these 2 photos
it would have been set up initially for a traditional fireplace, so we needed to build it up for the insert stove

as soon as it’s in, I’ll send on more pictures

duncans

That's going to look LithiumKid1976!

paddy147

Recently did the same.New Stovax Rive 66 multi fuel stove into a traditional open fireplace.Old chimnet was cleaned out,then twin wall flexi flue liner shoved down,then sealed up and insulated with vermiculite.Also went with a stainless anti down draught pot hanger with bird guard.

Turned out a treat and by jesus does it chuck some serious heat.:eek:

LithiumKid1976

paddy147 wrote: »

Recently did the same.New Stovax Rive 66 multi fuel stove into a traditional open fireplace.Old chimnet was cleaned out,then twin wall flexi flue liner shoved down,then sealed up and insulated with vermiculite.Also went with a stainless anti down draught pot hanger with bird guard.

Turned out a treat and by jesus does it chuck some serious heat.:eek:

hi paddy147
that turned out really well, it looks really good.
as soon as i get ours sorted, ill let ye know.

25paulwalsh

hi there does anyone have any info on the insert boiler stove from boru i've heard they take a lot of heat from the stove was wondering if there a good job. dont want to rip out the fire place to fit an outset stove.

duncans

I contacted Boru to ask about the output of the stove - I had the same fear! Boiler stoves will always take some heat from the room but if you've a well insulated house this can sometimes be a good thing!
This was their reply re output:
"The Boru 600i Boiler will give 10-12Kw to water & radiators and 3-4Kw to the room."
Sounds good to me but I'd love to hear from someone with experience!

BuyingorSelling

Any idea of the price that you paid for the stove - supply and fit?

stodwyer

Hi all,
Im currently pricing for the Boru 600. I have a price locally of 1250. But i need a few more just to compare. Ye know of anywhere else that i could contact? I have an opening in my wall for the 900 but i think the stove will devour timber and fuel. The 600 will look lovely and with some tiling etc the landscape look can be made look better.

Sean

LithiumKid1976

Hi
we got our boru in roscommon, ill PM you on the details now.
need to get it connected to the mains before we can use it, but ill post an updated pic soon.

duncans

Can I just check what you mean by ' connect it to the mains' ??

stodwyer

I assume it's the electrical fan. We just looked at a la Nordica 100 crystal stove. Very impressed and a nice price too.

Sean

LithiumKid1976

ya, sorry I should have made that clearer.
it needs to be connected to the electricity so that the fans can blow the heat out in to the room, i think they kick in once it gets to a certain temp.

when we were purchasing it, we weren’t aware that it needed to be wired at all(actually wasn’t aware that there were fans in it either!), so we had to get the suppliers to drill the hole to feed the cable to the mains. apparently it needs to be wired directly, and not wired with a plug, if that makes sense, something to be aware off if anyone else is thinking about getting one.

we haven’t done anything with ours since it was put in (we moved in a week ago, still unpacking etc.) hope to have it connected up later this week.

D

duncans

Thanks LithiumKid1976. I had no idea it needed a mains feed - we are at the point of chasing walls etc for electrics so that was perfect timing!!

LithiumKid1976

no Bother Duncans, glad to help.
it might not be a feature on other stoves etc, but defo for the boru 900i, there are twin fans that require a mains feed....

so it might depend on supplier, make and model, but its worth checking it out at an early stage, to avoid extra chasing later.. :eek:

duncans

contacted Boru and it seems the mains feed is only needed for the 900i and the 700i (which I didn't know existed!) The 600i which i'm considering just heats by 'natural convection'. Worries me a little that lots of useful heat might get 'stuck' in the wall. Might just get a carraig mor...

oleras

LithiumKid1976 wrote: »

hi
we were building up the fireplace last week in preparation for the stove to be installed.

you can see how we did this on these 2 photos
it would have been set up initially for a traditional fireplace, so we needed to build it up for the insert stove

as soon as it’s in, I’ll send on more pictures

Hi LK, I like what you have done, i have an opening like that, maybe a bit wider where a stand alone stove was a few years ago, i removed the stove and slabbed over the opening but with the cost of oil i have been thinking of reinstalling a stove. I have priced the boru900i online at ~1850+200 for the surround. http://www.superstore.ie/product-eng-1462-The-Boru-900i-Inset-Stove.html would this be a ball park figure ?

1 Question though, how do you intend to connect the flue to the chimney if it is such a neat fit ?

paddy147

oleras wrote: »

Hi LK, I like what you have done, i have an opening like that, maybe a bit wider where a stand alone stove was a few years ago, i removed the stove and slabbed over the opening but with the cost of oil i have been thinking of reinstalling a stove. I have priced the boru900i online at ~1850+200 for the surround. http://www.superstore.ie/product-eng-1462-The-Boru-900i-Inset-Stove.html would this be a ball park figure ?

1 Question though, how do you intend to connect the flue to the chimney if it is such a neat fit ?

Most inset stoves have an outlet/spigot that unbolts from inside of the stove and then you pull down the flexi flue liner down the chimney and into the inset stove,seal it onto the stove outlet/spigot and then you bolt it back up into the stove,job done.

Thats how my new Stovax Riva 66 inset stove works.:)

oleras

paddy147 wrote: »

Most inset stoves have an outlet/spigot that unbolts from inside of the stove and then you pull down the flexi flue liner down the chimney and into the inset stove,seal it onto the stove outlet/spigot and then you bolt it back up into the stove,job done.

Thats how my new Stovax Riva 66 inset stove works.:)

That makes perfect sense, thanks for the reply.

Doesnt seem as daunting now self fitting if i do go down this road !

LithiumKid1976

hi Oleras

im with Paddy147 on this, i do remember the installers mentioning a flexi-flue, pretty sure thats what we got too.

the ball park figure seems about right also..

hope to turn our one on at the weekend, will let ye know how it goes.

owensomers

Hi folks been watching the thread with interest. Got a Wanders Square 60 fitted last week by Lamartine Fireplaces in Ballymount. Stove is brilliant and really throws out the heat into the room even last night during the storm. Previously with open fire heat would have just gone up the chimney.

Anyone interested in a stove should head to Lamartines showroom great selection and even better advice.

They came out and looked at the site and advised, followed up after with a call to house to make sure we were happy.

They arrived when they said they would, put down lots of dust covers and left the place perfect afterwards. I am delighted with the stove and the service 9and the price)

paddy147

owensomers wrote: »

Hi folks been watching the thread with interest. Got a Wanders Square 60 fitted last week by Lamartine Fireplaces in Ballymount. Stove is brilliant and really throws out the heat into the room even last night during the storm. Previously with open fire heat would have just gone up the chimney.

Anyone interested in a stove should head to Lamartines showroom great selection and even better advice.

They came out and looked at the site and advised, followed up after with a call to house to make sure we were happy.

They arrived when they said they would, put down lots of dust covers and left the place perfect afterwards. I am delighted with the stove and the service 9and the price)

Lamartine dont like people to haggle with them on price.Their attitude is "dont insult us".Pay us top dollar as we are Lamartine.
Lamartne seem to be forgetting that we aint in the Celtic Tiger era anymore.

That arrogant attitude doesnt sit well with me,if you want a sale and all my money,then you give me a little something in return too.

I did it a few months ago,and the Lamartine sales man got quite thick with me,becasue I dared to haggle with him on an all in price for my stove.

I took my money elsewhere and saved 350 euro with a good/reputable fireplace company when compared to the price that Larmartine where adamant on sticking too.

Their attitude and their loss was my gain.:D

PWR

@LK - are you happy with the Boru 600 in the end, is it doing a good job on both rads and in the room? I'm looking at buying one, seems a good product from what I've read so far ...

John_Rambo

Hi everyone. Just jumping in here to ad my two cent. I had a gas fire with a fireplace that came with the fire in the house. We wanted a wood burning stove set in to the wall.

I shopped around a good bit and was met with a lot of negativity, shaking heads, and "no can do" attitude when I asked the fire to be installed at waist level and plastered straight in. One shop with a showroom in Dundalk and Dublin called out to the house, they said:

1; They couldn't take out my fireplace without damaging it. (I got this from a lot of places I called and visited)

2; I HAD to buy an expensive stone or marble surround (which they would supply), the fire could NOT be installed and plastered straight to the surround (like all the brochures).

3; The fire could NOT be raised up to waist level.

Lamartine wanted one thousand Euro to survey the house to see if the fire could be installed. They were perfectly satisfied to loose my custom because of this arrangement and made it obvious on the phone.

I eventually bought a Scan DSA 8-5 eventually. I bought it from the firecentre in Kilkenny and they delivered it to my house. I had a friend install it and it's working out very well. It works perfectly plastered up to the fire, just like the picture shown. The old fire place was removed very smoothly with no damage and I didn't need an expensive marble or stone surround.

The fire has a primary and secondary damper, these can be opened and closed to regulate the amount of air that goes in to the fire, the primary one stops soot building up on the window too. Its fairly advanced with ceramic smoke deflectors and gives out a lot of heat.

The only problem I have is that when I open it sometimes, a good bit of smoke comes out. I am obviously doing something wrong, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

It is actually a lot bigger than it looks here.

25paulwalsh

hi there i have just bought and installed the new mulberry inset stoker stove with boiler. It is heating 10 rads at the moment no problem as well as hot water. It also throws about 4kw out to the room which is a lot for its size. It does have a very large fire box so you better heve a large stockpile of timber if your considering installing one

John_Rambo

Wow, very impressive. Was that a retro fit Paul? I couldn't afford to go down the whole boiler avenue...

25paulwalsh

hi john well the stove by itself cost e1250 which is very cheap compared to other inset boiler stoves. I was a bit wary buying it as it is just on the market and there was not much info on them but it has worked out very well and seems to be the best buy out off all the inset stoves when you compare their ratings. I spend a total of e1750 including the pump nrv's and various fittings. It took about a day to do so if you had to pay for labour you'd be talking around the e2000 mark which is cheap considering i got quoted e2200 for another model of inset stove

LithiumKid1976

Hi all
sorry about the delay in updating this thread with some finished photos of the stove we fitted in our house. we are in it now a few months, but haven't had the need to actually put down a fire till over December (house is very well insulated..)


so anyway here are the photos. 1 2 3

@PWR the stove we got isn't actually connecting to any radiators, as we went with underfloor and geothermal, so didn't have a need for them.

am i happy with it, i would say so, I've had about maybe 7 fires or so down on it, and they tell you to start off by putting in small fires etc down first, and the heat it gI'ves off is very I'mpressI've. once the temperature gets to so high the fans kick in, and that's when you really feel the effect.

one thing that kind of annoys me about it though (and its only a minor niggle) is the noise of the fans and the length it stays on for after the fire has died down. i find, if i had the fire down, and was trying to watch something on the TV, the noise of the fans annoy me, wish they could have been a bit quieter... and the inability to turn off the fans when the fire has died down is a bit of a pain also, as it doesn't stop until the temperature is well down, we are talking about an hour after the fire is off. (this is just my own preference, no one else in the house seems to mind :P)

but they are minor gripes really, and i would say I'm happy with it, and the heat it produces..plus it looks good, and its seems to be economical on the burning of the fuel, you can toggle this with the flue / dampener (i think that's what they call them.. )

so hope that helps... and happy new year.

paddy147

LithiumKid1976 wrote: »

Hi all
sorry about the delay in updating this thread with some finished photos of the stove we fitted in our house. we are in it now a few months, but haven't had the need to actually put down a fire till over December (house is very well insulated..)


so anyway here are the photos. 1 2 3

@PWR the stove we got isn't actually connecting to any radiators, as we went with underfloor and geothermal, so didn't have a need for them.

am i happy with it, i would say so, I've had about maybe 7 fires or so down on it, and they tell you to start off by putting in small fires etc down first, and the heat it gI'ves off is very I'mpressI've. once the temperature gets to so high the fans kick in, and that's when you really feel the effect.

one thing that kind of annoys me about it though (and its only a minor niggle) is the noise of the fans and the length it stays on for after the fire has died down. i find, if i had the fire down, and was trying to watch something on the TV, the noise of the fans annoy me, wish they could have been a bit quieter... and the inability to turn off the fans when the fire has died down is a bit of a pain also, as it doesn't stop until the temperature is well down, we are talking about an hour after the fire is off. (this is just my own preference, no one else in the house seems to mind :P)

but they are minor gripes really, and i would say I'm happy with it, and the heat it produces..plus it looks good, and its seems to be economical on the burning of the fuel, you can toggle this with the flue / dampener (i think that's what they call them.. )

so hope that helps... and happy new year.

Very nice indeed,:)

very similar to my Stovax inbuilt.
You could have gone for a shallower hearth and recessed the hearth into the floor and had it completly flush with your wooden floor.

Would have given you more floor space and no trip/fall hazzards,especially good with regards kids and little feet.Thats what I did,and it worked a treat with regards the above mentioned reasons.

John_Rambo

Hi Lithium Kid and Paul. My Scan fire is in and running. It has two dampers and no fans, it's not connected to anything. The smoke deflectors and 'clean burn' technology means a very very warm room! The only negative thing I have to say is the slight smell of smoke when I open it to refuel. The fire cost E1650.

LithiumKid1976

thanks paddy147, it came out nice in the end..
we had planned to have hearth and floor flush, but were talked out it by the flooring people, forget why but it made sense at the time..

@john_rambo
looks very nice also..

ziczac

HI ,i am just wondering if the stove you fitted has a back boiler to heat water?
I am looking for something that looks exactly like yours but with a back boiler.

John_Rambo

If that's at me ziczac, no, it's not heating anything but the room.

paddy147

John_Rambo wrote: »

If that's at me ziczac, no, it's not heating anything but the room.

+1 too.:)

My stove just heats the room as its a non boiler stove.

rpmcs

Smoke when refueling normally means not enough up draught.
Possible problems,,,,,
1. was flexi flue used? if not, clay pots to wide and cold pockets, smoke swirls,
2. vents in room/external air in take
smoke will take path of least resistance so either of these could add to it!!


Also i see alot of what seems like block and plaster on walls, anybody experienced cracking on walls/plaster? Would love to hear feedback??

John_Rambo

rpmcs wrote: »

Smoke when refueling normally means not enough up draught.
Possible problems,,,,,
1. was flexi flue used? if not, clay pots to wide and cold pockets, smoke swirls,
2. vents in room/external air in take
smoke will take path of least resistance so either of these could add to it!!


Also i see alot of what seems like block and plaster on walls, anybody experienced cracking on walls/plaster? Would love to hear feedback??

All good now, I looked online to see what exactly was going wrong. The exterior vents were changed. I was simply using the fire wrong, not lighting it properly, opening the door to quickly. Fire is perfect now, no smoke, great heat, no problems, no plaster cracking at all and we have had that fire really flaming, massive heat.