Open Fire Back boiler Question

gerryirl

Hi

Just wondering what kind of back boilers can be got for an open fire and what would the most rads it would heat for a new house


Thanks in advance

Stove Fan

gerryirl wrote: »

Hi

Just wondering what kind of back boilers can be got for an open fire and what would the most rads it would heat for a new house


Thanks in advance

Hi:) You could get a used one on done deal as loads are getting ripped out to get better efficiency by fitting a boiler stove.

Dunsley stoves make back boiler open fires. Plus others. I don't know how many rads they will heat.
See the rated KW boiler output on the manufacturers website and get a plumber in to see what KW output is required to heat your house.
If the manufacturers state it will run X amount of radiators, ignore this as they generally quote for single convector radiators and not doubles. Radiators come in many different sizes and so you need to know what KW boiler you require to heat them all.

My advice would be to forget the open fire and buy a boiler stove:D.
With the open fire most of the heat goes up the chimney and out and no great control so the fuel burns too quickly. When not lit and other heating on the open chimney is extracting the heat in your lovely warm house.

The stove has efficiency figures between 65-80% The open fire around 20-30%:eek:

We rented a house with an open fire but no back boiler and it used far more fuel just to heat one room than it would to heat virtually the whole house using a boiler stove.

Stove Fan:)

Traditional

i have a back boiler and it heats 9 rads , hot water all day and keeps house cosy , great if you have acess to logs, turf, your own coal mine , lots of people getting stoves, back boilers fitted again. i use logs, coal and a big pile of slack keeps going all night .

Billy Bunting

A solid fuel boiler is only as good as the fuel you burn in it, straw will heat nowt.

DoneDL

Billy Bunting wrote: »

A solid fuel boiler is only as good as the fuel you burn in it, straw will heat nowt.

Billy google "straw heating boilers". :pac::pac:

TPM

Before you make plans to buy/install a stove or back boiler get a plumber who knows the ins and outs of solid fuel/ open vent systems to see if your system is suitable and how much work would be involved to install a stove/ back boiler.

An incorrectly installed solid fuel boiler can be very dangerous.

gerryirl

Traditional wrote: »

i have a back boiler and it heats 9 rads , hot water all day and keeps house cosy , great if you have acess to logs, turf, your own coal mine , lots of people getting stoves, back boilers fitted again. i use logs, coal and a big pile of slack keeps going all night .

Thanks for replys everyone.

is that a back boiler you have on open fire that heats the rads ?

DoneDL

gerryirl wrote: »

Thanks for replys everyone.

is that a back boiler you have on open fire that heats the rads ?

Probably, have a look at the grant 16 or 18 inch back boiler. The drawback is that with an open flue the heat loss when it`s not in use is a high because of the heat loss up the chimney.

Brianne

We have a Firebird back boiler with 25 years and it is absolutely fantastic. I don't know if we're making a big mistake but we're going to go with a stove very shortly. We're changing our fireplace and we reckon the boiler must be coming near the end of its days surely, so rather than having to take out our fireplace again a few years down the road we're reluctantly changing now. So our back boiler heats 6 single rads, roughly 5' length and lots of hot water. Now our hot press and cylinder are in our living room jut a few feet from the fire and that helps greatly too I think. Our Firebird boiler has certainly served us well. Check out their web site.

Traditional

yes it is , lot of people here dont know what they are talking about, im not changing mine for a stove that burst down in cork and destroyed a house , and sprayed water all over the place .

Stove Fan

Traditional wrote: »

yes it is , lot of people here dont know what they are talking about, im not changing mine for a stove that burst down in cork and destroyed a house , and sprayed water all over the place .

My word that was a badly installed stove:eek:


A properly installed boiler stove/open fire backboiler is perfectly safe so long as it's plumbed correctly and the user does not use the fire if the water in the boiler/system is frozen. They can start to leak eventually due to condensation or acidic tar.

There has been several cases in the UK of old open fire back boilers being disconnected from use and then water left in them and the pipes out capped. http://www.hse.gov.uk/services/localgovernment/boilers.htm
http://www.heatingandventilating.net/news/news.asp?id=5803

The fire was lit and the water in the boiler boiled and had nowhere to expand to and so burst/ exploded, killing the owner. This sounds like what happened in Cork, possibly fitted to a sealed system without the needed safety devices or frozen expansion/vent in loft or frozen boiler.

Always fully drain the boiler and if possible I would always remove or at least drill holes in the boiler to remove the water and do not cap the pipes! Much better to remove and fit a new fireback.

Glad that your pleased with your open fire backboiler but I like stoves:D

Stove Fan:)

Traditional

if a child fell against one , they would be scarred for life , would not have one , the open fire is best , roaring up the chimmey , and the heat belting out of it , cosy open fire , beat that with your little window fire place yuck

Stove Fan

Traditional wrote: »

if a child fell against one , they would be scarred for life , would not have one , the open fire is best , roaring up the chimmey , and the heat belting out of it , cosy open fire , beat that with your little window fire place yuck

Always have and use a fireguard. Oh well everyone to their own:D

seaniefr

i find personally that having had an open fire & now having changed to a non-boiler stove in the same room that i use 60% less firewood/coal/turf in the stove and i get heat about 15 minutes after putting it on & not an hour with a roaring coal fire to achieve the same heat in the room. There really is no comparison!

Traditional

designer stoves , me hat
be careful of the fumes that go with them , ah they look lovely , the logs have to fit in nice and neat , i throw buckets of coal in to my open fireplace here in the castle and a bucket of wet slack , logs the lenght of your arm , now yer talking , i have to move back the heat is beltin out of it tonight , i need a drink !

seaniefr

Traditional wrote: »

designer stoves , me hat
be careful of the fumes that go with them , ah they look lovely , the logs have to fit in nice and neat , i throw buckets of coal in to my open fireplace here in the castle and a bucket of wet slack , logs the lenght of your arm , now yer talking , i have to move back the heat is beltin out of it tonight , i need a drink !

Each to their own.............lucky man thats selling you coal or slack he must be making a fortune out of ya! now stop bloody trolling!

Traditional

i have a bog out my back garden , a forrest for logs, and my own supply of coal

KoolKid

Going nowhere here...