Stove advise

Katz83

Hi,

we are currently starting a new build and putting or heating system together. We are going with solar panels and condensing oil boiler with rads. We are putting in a stove in our kitchen dinning area which is around 9m by 5m. We are trying to decide whether to go with a back boiler or not. We want this area to be warm and i am afraid if we go with a back boiler we will loose alot of the heat from the room plus in order to have both heat in the room, the hot water and the radiators you would have to pump the stove with alot more fuel say in compared to if it was just heating the room

Any suggestions. Are back boilers as economical as people think and would we be better of going with a stove with or without a back boiler for this size of the room mentioned above 9m by 5m. We have no free supply of timber or turf or anything like that

Stove Fan

Katz83 wrote: »

Hi,

we are currently starting a new build and putting or heating system together. We are going with solar panels and condensing oil boiler with rads. We are putting in a stove in our kitchen dinning area which is around 9m by 5m. We are trying to decide whether to go with a back boiler or not. We want this area to be warm and i am afraid if we go with a back boiler we will loose alot of the heat from the room plus in order to have both heat in the room, the hot water and the radiators you would have to pump the stove with alot more fuel say in compared to if it was just heating the room

Any suggestions. Are back boilers as economical as people think and would we be better of going with a stove with or without a back boiler for this size of the room mentioned above 9m by 5m. We have no free supply of timber or turf or anything like that

As you are going with a condensing oil boiler why not underfloor as it's a new build. I would think the underfloor would be cheaper to run as the water temperature is lower. Would the condensing boiler actually condense? Would the rads need to be oversized so that they run cooler hence make the boiler condense. I'm not up on condensing boilers:rolleyes:
We have a solid fuel stove with backboiler and it's great. We use it to heat our 6 rads and hot water and burn coal. Our total expenditure on heating is 800 euro for 7 months for a 2 bed detatched bungalow with a large rear extension.
We used 2 scuttles of coal a day in that really cold spell. In weather like now one and a quarter a day. You use the most fuel lighting it to bring the rads up to a good temperature from cold. We have no other form of heating. You could use your oil boiler to heat the rads from cold and then light the fire and then turn off the oil boileronce the fire is established.

If I were you I would definately at the minimum get the plumber to run the pipes to where the stove would be installed. At least then they are ready for the future if you change your mind. Or if you sell in the future it's a selling point that a stove could be installed with back boiler. Much easier to plan and install now while the house is being built than to have the inconveniance and mess of a retrofit.
I myself would prefer solid fuel heating as our experiance with oil heating is that it drinks it. We had a 3 bed detatched stone house in northern France with 12 rads and the boiler was non condensing and 12 months old at the time and we got through 600 litres in 6-8 weeks. Ok this house had reasonable insulation but not to modern regs. Spend plenty on extra insulation.
Stove Fan:)

zoom_cool

You should go with a wood pellet stove they are great for heating open spaces

maringo

Hi Stovefan
What make is your stove and what output - we want to heat about 6 double rads and some hot water but unsure what to go for and who would be a good installer to get. We have an open fireplace and oil central heating but with oil skyrocketing getting very expensive to run. Would you have any advice please would much appreciate.

Stove Fan

maringo wrote: »

Hi Stovefan
What make is your stove and what output - we want to heat about 6 double rads and some hot water but unsure what to go for and who would be a good installer to get. We have an open fireplace and oil central heating but with oil skyrocketing getting very expensive to run. Would you have any advice please would much appreciate.

Our stove model of stove is a villager berkley integral boiler rated at 7.6kw or 26,000btu's.

It heats these rad sizes very well:


2 600 x 700 doubles

1 600 x 800 double

1 600 x 800 single

Plus hot water. We also have a 600 by 1100 double rad as well on the system controlled by a thermostatic radiator valve fitted. We have this set at 3 in the milder weather but on full in that cold spell but the hot water is cooler as the boiler is running to many rads really for the size of back boiler. But with a very good fire they do get very hot. I think that just the 4 rads would be best plus maybe replacing the 600 x 800 single for a double radiator.




What are the measurements of the double rads/ rads? I would then be able to see what could be suitable, but please get a heating engineer out to look at the job to confirm. How big is the room that the stove is going into? What is the budget for stove purchase?
Many thanks Stove Fan:)

maringo

Thanks for all that information.

We have a single-storey

Room is about 15ft x 18 ft with fireplace & a double rad 600 x 800
adjoining room has 2 slightly smaller double rads
hall & bathroom single rad in each
bed 1 single rad 600 x 700 bed 2 1 single rad 600 c 700

electric power shower so not too much hot water needed. Water tank is only a few feet from the current open fireplace.

No exact budget

Stove Fan

maringo wrote: »

Thanks for all that information.

We have a single-storey

Room is about 15ft x 18 ft with fireplace & a double rad 600 x 800
adjoining room has 2 slightly smaller double rads
hall & bathroom single rad in each
bed 1 single rad 600 x 700 bed 2 1 single rad 600 c 700

electric power shower so not too much hot water needed. Water tank is only a few feet from the current open fireplace.

No exact budget

Hi,

Your house size sounds very similar sized to ours. Ours has a 6.2m x 5.7m modern cavity walled extension, (Sitting room, villager boiler stove in here) A breakfast/kitchen room 7.2m x 4.0m. Hall 1.3m x 5.8m a shower room2,2m x 1.8m and 2 double bedrooms. The insulation levels are reasonable. All old solid block walls with kingspan backed insulated slabs, so keeps warm. It was nice and warm even in the cold spell.

You will not need a radiator in the living room where the stove will be. Our Living room can get quite warm at the moment and so we open the door to the Kitchen. It is a well insulated new extension.

The Villager berkley integral boiler stove may be a candidate but it could be a bit undersized as the boiler max output is 26,000btu (7.6kw). I think you are looking for a stove with a 30,000btu backboiler.

The other stoves that may be suitable are:

The Hunter herald multifuel 8B with integral boiler 0f 8.5kw, or the Dunsley highlander 8 multifuel boiler stove. The dunsley stoves are very good quality. The dunsley yorkshire boiler stove, my only worry is the room it's in could be too warm. Woodwarm fireview 9 with 30,000btu fitted boiler, again a very good quality stove. Have a look at www.whatstove.co.uk/ for different stove reviews by owners. Also have a look at this company in the UK at the different stoves. http://www.chaseheating.co.uk/dunsley_heat_stoves.asp We have purchased from this company but shop around on price. Clearview stoves are very, very good but the ones I saw on their website are either too large output wise or have too small a backboiler. Villager and Hunter stoves are the budget stove bu tstill quite well made but are not in the same league for quality as the stoves above. We have always been very happy with villager stoves. We paid £740.00 plus delivery from the UK. If you do go for a villager or hunter buy the optional flue damper.

From the rad sizes quoted + hot water I think you require a stove boiler of around 30,000 btu's, but please get a plumber/heating engineer to do a full heating survey and confirm.

Good luck in the search for your stove:)

Stove Fan:)

maringo

Hi Stove Fan thanks so much for all your information. I'm far less confused than I was so that's great and i'll look up those sites to learn a little more before we invest in the stove. It was so good of you to take the trouble with all those facts.

trevor08

hi i need advice on my stove the carbon alarm went off at 4am i had the solid fuel stove lit that day im a bit worried because of the toddler in the house the draw is fine cleaned the chimney recently is there a attachment to draw gases out when fire goes out.

CashMoney

trevor08 wrote: »

hi i need advice on my stove the carbon alarm went off at 4am i had the solid fuel stove lit that day im a bit worried because of the toddler in the house the draw is fine cleaned the chimney recently is there a attachment to draw gases out when fire goes out.

Were the dampers left open or closed overnight. If they were left closed, and the fire died down and the draw stopped, it may have caused a build up of CO in the stove and flue that leaked out into the room. Leave the dampers open if the fire is going to die down.

DoneDL

Is there sufficient ventilation?

Stove Fan

Apart from the very good points above. Fixed ventilation is vital over 5kw.
Please keep checking the co alarm and if it happens again get an expert in!!

Stove Fan.

trevor08

CashMoney wrote: »

Were the dampers left open or closed overnight. If they were left closed, and the fire died down and the draw stopped, it may have caused a build up of CO in the stove and flue that leaked out into the room. Leave the dampers open if the fire is going to die down.

thanks its a five inch flue that runs up the side of the house never had a problem with draw its a small sitting room12ft x10ft i had the co detector up beside smoke alarm on landing there a single vent in the sitting room.the vent at the bottom was open on stove and the 1 at the top closed.i brought co detector down and lit the stove and no reading it seems to be happening when the fire is dying at night time.the pipes are a 24 gauge pipe there not an insulated pipe but i could get a foil back lagging for them.if the pipes got cold outside would this disrupt the draw.im wondering would a spinner help draw the gas out when fire dying thanks again for your help

Stove Fan

trevor08 wrote: »

thanks its a five inch flue that runs up the side of the house never had a problem with draw its a small sitting room12ft x10ft i had the co detector up beside smoke alarm on landing there a single vent in the sitting room.the vent at the bottom was open on stove and the 1 at the top closed.i brought co detector down and lit the stove and no reading it seems to be happening when the fire is dying at night time.the pipes are a 24 gauge pipe there not an insulated pipe but i could get a foil back lagging for them.if the pipes got cold outside would this disrupt the draw.im wondering would a spinner help draw the gas out when fire dying thanks again for your help

Hi from what you say it sounds as if you only have a single skinned external flue that is cooling too much and causing co to leak out as the flue is cold. Get a double walled insulated flue and your problem will be solved. It should of been insulated flue fitted.
Stove Fan.:)

zumi

I have a 2300sqft bungalow built in 2004. Unfortunately....I installed oil central heating to heat my water and 13 radiators as now I am facing E850+ euro now to fill the oil tank at least 2.5 times a year.
Oil is only going to increase in price Im thinking....
I have 2 fireplaces in which I burn my own supply of turf/ash.
Common sense now tells me to install a stove with a back boiler to heat water and radiators in parallel to my existing oil system, and use the oil only when neccessary.
Can anyone tell me if firstly this is possible to do, if so reccomend a stove to use.
Im on a budget too which will limit my choices I understand.
I see a lot of used solid fuel ranges on Donedeal, maybe these might be a solution? I know nothing about them tho.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Frosty bum...

feckincrazy

Use a solid fuel stove as a space heater. Dont go near underfloor heating as ure heating concrete. simple convector radiators powered of oil. a little advice maybe as well. try the insulated plaster slabs. 50mm slab. exspensice but there the job.