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

MrDiyFan

Hi

Im replacing the glass on my Oisin stove and the top 2 retaining screws are well rusted in .

What's the best way to remove these,thanks!

BarryD

MrDiyFan wrote: »

Hi

Im replacing the glass on my Oisin stove and the top 2 retaining screws are well rusted in .

What's the best way to remove these,thanks!

Spray penetrating oil/ WD40 around them and leave for a while - try again

MrDiyFan

Thanks ,i've tried that .no luck yet

tommyh1977

Hi, maybe someone here could shed some light on an issue I'm having. Bought my house 4 years ago and first thing I did was line the existing flue with a 5" stainless liner and fit a stove. House is semi detached and has the chimney stack halfway down the roof slope centred along the parting walls of both houses. What I'm noticing is a build up of soot/smuts in my attic. I'm certain they weren't any signs of soot when I purchased the house as I'm a spark by trade and spent a bit of time in attic rewiring to suit my needs, so it's something I would have noticed. I've checked the chimney stack in attic and it's clean, plus with the liner it would hardly be coming through stack. I've checked for missing roof tiles and nothing. There are tile vents for bathroom extractors but at opposite side of roof. I can only put this down to two things, my neighbour is possibly burning ****e cheap coal and I'm getting the smuts blowing through my soffit vents, or the rain cowl I've fitted on my own liner is somehow causing the smuts to fall down on the roof and then blow in the soffit vents. I imagine if it was my neighbors fuel the problem would have been there when I bought the house as they've lived there since construction in 2006. Normally I burn cosyglo, blocks, turf and briquettes. As you can imagine I'm concerned about a hot smut entering the attic. Any thoughts appreciated.

Shefwedfan

Does anyone use a ash vac? I seen the box which you connect to your existing vacuum but don't want that.

Going to use separate one. I seen a few online and they look like no-name versions. Ship in form uk. Any good?

Wearb

tommyh1977 wrote: »

Hi, maybe someone here could shed some light on an issue I'm having. Bought my house 4 years ago and first thing I did was line the existing flue with a 5" stainless liner and fit a stove. House is semi detached and has the chimney stack halfway down the roof slope centred along the parting walls of both houses. What I'm noticing is a build up of soot/smuts in my attic. I'm certain they weren't any signs of soot when I purchased the house as I'm a spark by trade and spent a bit of time in attic rewiring to suit my needs, so it's something I would have noticed. I've checked the chimney stack in attic and it's clean, plus with the liner it would hardly be coming through stack. I've checked for missing roof tiles and nothing. There are tile vents for bathroom extractors but at opposite side of roof. I can only put this down to two things, my neighbour is possibly burning ****e cheap coal and I'm getting the smuts blowing through my soffit vents, or the rain cowl I've fitted on my own liner is somehow causing the smuts to fall down on the roof and then blow in the soffit vents. I imagine if it was my neighbors fuel the problem would have been there when I bought the house as they've lived there since construction in 2006. Normally I burn cosyglo, blocks, turf and briquettes. As you can imagine I'm concerned about a hot smut entering the attic. Any thoughts appreciated.

Have you got a properly sized dedicated vent for your stove that also takes into account extractor fans etc.?
Also those flexi? liners eventually burn out, but the fact that there are no signs of smoke on your chimney breast may mean you need to look elsewhere. Did you check your sofit vents with a clean cloth to see if there is any sign of soot there?
Might be no harm to have a smoke alarm near attic door, where you can hear it, until you get to the bottom of it. Maybe try a few smoke pellets in the stove to see if you can locate a leak.

tommyh1977

Yup I've a permanently open vent in the same room as stove, was thinking of removing rain cowl to see what might happen, any thoughts on this?

Wearb

tommyh1977 wrote: »

Yup I've a permanently open vent in the same room as stove, was thinking of removing rain cowl to see what might happen, any thoughts on this?

I doubt its the cause. Clean up an area of the smuts and keep an eye for their return. Do you have a good draught? Does the smoke drift down around the chimney often?

BarryD

Can you fit some sort of mesh at or over the vent openings?

Odyssey 2005

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Does anyone use a ash vac? I seen the box which you connect to your existing vacuum but don't want that.

Going to use separate one. I seen a few online and they look like no-name versions. Ship in form uk. Any good?

Got an Ash box in woodies. You can safely fit the tray of hot Ash into it to empty it. As for cleaning the stove I use a paint brush to get the Ash out of the crevices..

tommyh1977

Wearb wrote: »

I doubt its the cause. Clean up an area of the smuts and keep an eye for their return. Do you have a good draught? Does the smoke drift down around the chimney often?

The smoke never actually drift down the roof but what I've noticed is it seems to hit the rain cowl and hover there/ disperse sideways. Dunno if this makes a difference

youngblood

Currently debating the 4-12kw Elm stove Vs Henley Apollo 7kw (non boiler)

Any recommendations on one above the other?
Double doors to kitchen & door to hall off sitting room 6m x 4m

tcif

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Does anyone use a ash vac?

My experience has been that if you use it to clean out all the ashes after a fire the filter clogs up in no time, literally I have to dismantle and clean it every other time. Too much trouble!

But I do find it handy for getting into the nooks and crannies of our stoves I can't reach with the companion set brush (after I've cleaned out most of the ashes) where I wouldn't want to use the vacuum cleaner and get ash in the filter of that.

ELBAOS

baby builder wrote: »

Hi everyone!

We are starting our new build in the next 8 weeks (finally!!) I'm looking for recommendations on a double sided inset stove (wood-burning) to go between an open plan kitchen living/dining area. There'll be underfloor heating, a MHRV and, with the new regulations, a good standard of insulation (wall u value 0.18, windows 1.1) but it's a large area - just shy of 80sqm. It needs to look pretty too - and not be lost in such a large area. Was thinking of the boru 900i but it seems that can't be fed with external air like the 600 can (after a kit fitted). I hope this is making sense!!

Would really appreciate all words of wisdom and recommendations!

Hi Baby Builder
Just wondering how did you get on with the double sided insert stove? what one did you go with trying to pick one at the mo!!very stressful!!☺

demacheh

ovalfan1 wrote: »

i just want to leave a comment on about a stove i bought over 3 years ago, i feel i owe it to boards as i got a lot of good advice here when i was purchasing.
i installed a chieftan stove , my house is a 2 storey 1759sqft, i had no back boiler and my tank was upstairs so we had a bit of work to do, i got a good plumber who installed the system within 2 days which included the wall being chased for the pipes and plastered again, floor boards lifted upstairs and everything left the way it was found, the whole job cost €3000 which includes the stove .
iv not put oil in the tank since i installed the stove and we have never been warmer.
i burn mainly coal and slack, anyone who has any questions id be glad to answer .

Just wondering how much coal you are burning...is it smokeless?

demacheh

Have read over 20 pages of posts....started at page 1 and then read backwards from page 370 without seeing any reference to Firebird inset boiler stoves. After over 2 hours I'm sorry if 100s of posts are here..I just can't find them. Please can I have opinions..good and bad. Also appreciate advice on which boiler stove for 4 bed detached house with gas heating. Stove for evening enjoyment while heating rads...11 of them.

cranefly

firebird have a good name in home heating, but i can not see how their insert boiler stove can heat 13 rads which i have, the firebox just seems too small to me, maybe i am wrong, we have had one of their oil burners for over twenty years and it is perfect, only had to bleed it once, so i have nothing but praise for firebird.

We went with a esse 350gs insert boiler stove, and it has been the best thing we ever bought, southern stoves in charleville were the company we dealt with, they did not have that type of stove in their showroom, but they ordered it in from england and fitted it for us, it was not cheap, i think it was around 1700 euro for the stove and 500 euro to fit it, the pipes were already in place as we had a back boiler in the fireplace, it heats all rads to about three quarters of the heat that the oil burner heats to, we do not have zoned heating so upstairs gets its heat by gravity, and then the pump comes on to heat the rest. If i had not found out about the esse, i might have gone with the firebird if i was doing it now.

_Tombstone_

demacheh wrote: »

Have read over 20 pages of posts....started at page 1 and then read backwards from page 370 without seeing any reference to Firebird inset boiler stoves. After over 2 hours I'm sorry if 100s of posts are here..I just can't find them. Please can I have opinions..good and bad. Also appreciate advice on which boiler stove for 4 bed detached house with gas heating. Stove for evening enjoyment while heating rads...11 of them.

http://www.boards.ie/search/submit/?thread=2056390351&query=firebird

Every post that mentions firebird in this thread. Not that many.

Theirs a search box up at top of page beside page numbers.

demacheh

cranefly wrote: »

firebird have a good name in home heating, but i can not see how their insert boiler stove can heat 13 rads which i have, the firebox just seems too small to me, maybe i am wrong, we have had one of their oil burners for over twenty years and it is perfect, only had to bleed it once, so i have nothing but praise for firebird.

We went with a esse 350gs insert boiler stove, and it has been the best thing we ever bought, southern stoves in charleville were the company we dealt with, they did not have that type of stove in their showroom, but they ordered it in from england and fitted it for us, it was not cheap, i think it was around 1700 euro for the stove and 500 euro to fit it, the pipes were already in place as we had a back boiler in the fireplace, it heats all rads to about three quarters of the heat that the oil burner heats to, we do not have zoned heating so upstairs gets its heat by gravity, and then the pump comes on to heat the rest. If i had not found out about the esse, i might have gone with the firebird if i was doing it now.

How long have you got the stove installed?

With the current cost of oil why would someone burn Coal ? the filthiest of all fuels ? not to mention the cleaning up and hassle that revolves around the burning of solid fuels and the environmental and health issues associated with solid fuels.

From 2018 there will be a nationwide smokey coal ban.

demacheh

[Deleted User] wrote: »

With the current cost of oil why would someone burn Coal ? the filthiest of all fuels ? not to mention the cleaning up and hassle that revolves around the burning of solid fuels.

Firstly I don't have oil heating, secondly it may not always be cheaper, thirdly I prefer to have an alternative heat source to gas and fourthly I didn't ask for an opinion on the cleanliness of coal or housekeeping issues. I would have posted on a different forum if I wanted advice on those...thanks all the same.

Oil is a lot cheaper than solid fuels I worked it out and "even if it were" a bit more expensive I wouldn't burn solid fuels for the inconvenience of it.

I wasn't giving advice by the way just stating a fact and 2nd I wasn't directing the comment towards you.

demacheh

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Oil is a lot cheaper than solid fuels I worked it out and "even if it were" a bit more expensive I wouldn't burn solid fuels for the inconvenience of it.

I wasn't giving advice by the way just stating a fact and 2nd I wasn't directing the comment towards you.

Thought you were answering my query...apologies

demacheh

demacheh wrote: »

Thought you were answering my query...apologies

No bother at all, I know my comments might annoy some people but really I used to burn coal and all but did the maths and it just was not economical and I could leave the house not fearing the damper was open , come home and the house warm, get up and not have to worry about lighting fires.

I live in an estate and in the colder weather the clouds of solid fuel fire smoke is really dreadful, it blackens the windows and can't sometimes have the window open and it kills my sinus.

I don't know why people bother with the hassle. I live in a Mid Terrace well insulated house and spend 500-600 a year on heating max. Best money I ever spent on insulation and getting the walls pumped. And since I converted to Oil about 10 years ago I have far less dust in the house.

Shefwedfan

Maybe someone knows, I always thought the whole of Ireland had a smoky fuel ban. No issue with that

But was looking around and fell over this website. http://www.housing.gov.ie/environment/air-quality/coal/smoky-coal-ban

According to this website I am actually outside the smoky fuel ban. Is that correct?

BarryD

Deleted User wrote: »

No bother at all, I know my comments might annoy some people but really I used to burn coal and all but did the maths and it just was not economical ...

Lots of people who use solid fuel have access to other fuel sources at little cost or just the cost of labour. Firewood, turf etc. We burn a mix of coal (smokeless) and firewood which is work but free. Agree re dust and general mess but oil will go back up soon enough.

cranefly

Demacheh. I have my esse over four years now and burn smokeless coal peat and wood, the oil is only a back up heat source, and on really cold days have the oil on for an hour or so before we light the stove, then when the stove gets up and going well, we turn off the oil and let the stove take over, this makes a big difference on cold days, it really does keep the rads really hot all day.
Seeing a real fire lighting their is nothing to beat it, oil is ok and maybe sometimes more economical, and maybe their is more work to having solid fuel, 10 minutes a day clearing ash and bringing in coal is not that much of a chore each day, also knowing that if oil prices ever went through the roof i can go out and collect a bag of sticks for a days heating is good to know.

I doubt we'll see oil prices go back near 100 USD per barrel any time soon. It just doesn't look likely. The Saudi's are not so keen on cutting production any more and global demand has reduced and probably will continue as the world looks to alternative energy sources. Iran looks set to be producing oil soon enough too so there is too much Oil, we've already passed peak oil.

Shefwedfan

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Maybe someone knows, I always thought the whole of Ireland had a smoky fuel ban. No issue with that

But was looking around and fell over this website. http://www.housing.gov.ie/environment/air-quality/coal/smoky-coal-ban

According to this website I am actually outside the smoky fuel ban. Is that correct?

Lots of places don't have a smokey coal ban it's more the larger towns but the smaller villages have to suffer, that's ok as far as the Government are concerned. But I think from 2018 there is to be a nationwide smokey coal ban.

What I find disturbing is that the Government seem to think it's Perfectly Acceptable to burn Briquettes and Turf , an equally dirty fuel , seems like they want to protect Bord Na Mona !!!

BarryD

Deleted User wrote: »

What I find disturbing is that the Government seem to think it's Perfectly Acceptable to burn Briquettes and Turf , an equally dirty fuel , seems like they want to protect Bord Na Mona !!!

If you want to start arguing the merits of burning 'black gold' versus turf and briquettes on environmental grounds, you could be on a slippery slope very quickly!