Using stove as main heating source

canhefixit

Does anyone use a stove as the main heating source?

Do they really heat the rads and the water to the temps the oil heating can?

I know of about 3 or 4 people who are very disappointed with the performance of their stoves now i dont no if they installed right or they or the right size but I have a large free source of timber for maybe 10/15 years and would be a great thing if i installed the stove and it heated the house easily.

TopTec

I've had a stove now for 14 months which I use as the main source of hot water and heating - still getting used to it to be honest. It definitely does heat the water to the same temperature as oil, which are both hotter than the immersion. I fuel mine with a mixture 30%/70% of turf and wood.

Yesterday I fired it up at 12.30pm, and had a tank of hot water by 1.45pm. The cottage was too hot by 4pm so I opened several windows. I eventually let it die down at 8pm. I still have hot water this morning. When the stove is on I don't boil kettles and use the hot plates to cook.

That is all brilliant but you do have to make changes to your domestic routine to cater for the stove. I spend roughly 30 mins each day cleaning the stove out, (if it is not on overnight burn), and refuelling the baskets in the cupboard with turf and wood. There is a large increase in dust in the cottage which gets into every room. There is also an annual effort to store turf and wood.

However, I comfort myself with the thought that my heating costs this year are 250 euro. (I cut 6 hoppers of turf from my bank and my wood is mine from deadfall).

There are pro's and con's. It takes a certain change in your lifestyle and if you want easy heat then a stove is not for you. If you don't mind the additional housework then it is worth having one.

TT

Seamus1964

I have 17kw outdoor coal boiler installed by Polish lads and that's heating my house and water just perfect. Sometimes too warm
Its connected to my oil boiler, I got rid of my green 1500 litre kerosene tank what did give me space to build boilerhouse.
Total cost under 4000 euro everything included (boiler,double wall flue and labour) No mess, easy to maintain and I do load it twice a day to keep it going.
Payback time approx 2-3 years,equipment should last 15-20 years.
I kept my oil boiler just in case (50l kerosene drum installed) . Sealed system - 2x safety valves - no modifications made to make it open system.

emg74

We pretty much use the stove to heat all the hot water and the rads. Upgraded our small stove (just heated water no rads) last year for a bigger one that would heat the rads. It is the best thing we did, Still have the oil as backup but only used it once or twice last winter.

The house seems not to get cold 'cause the rads are on for longer than we could ever afford with oil.

We burn a mix of turf / logs / smokeless coal but mostly the first two..

We are actually thinking of buying an arctic load of logs as our log supply is running low. We have a log splitter and I actually really enjoy splitting the timber... very rewarding and the timber is clean to work with. Now turf is a different kettle of fish, I would do anything to avoid a trip to the bog:D

I would highly recommend a stove to anyone. I know its not as straightforwards as just flicking on the oil but once you get a system going it is worth the effort. I work 3 days but even with lighting the fire in the evening the radiators and rooms are warm when the kids are going to bed.

catastrophy

As mentioned above, you have to have time in your routine (not much tbh), but my wife and I both find we have more warmth for less money and a little effort with a boiler stove. If your the type of person who lights a fire every day during winter you have nothing to lose.

rightjob!

Seamus1964 wrote: »

I have 17kw outdoor coal boiler installed by Polish lads and that's heating my house and water just perfect. Sometimes too warm
Its connected to my oil boiler, I got rid of my green 1500 litre kerosene tank what did give me space to build boilerhouse.
Total cost under 4000 euro everything included (boiler,double wall flue and labour) No mess, easy to maintain and I do load it twice a day to keep it going.
Payback time approx 2-3 years,equipment should last 15-20 years.
I kept my oil boiler just in case (50l kerosene drum installed) . Sealed system - 2x safety valves - no modifications made to make it open system.

sealed system and the stove is connected to the heating?!!

Seamus1964

That would be Galmet outdoor coal boiler connected to the sealed system,yes

RubyGirl

emg74 wrote: »

We pretty much use the stove to heat all the hot water and the rads. Upgraded our small stove (just heated water no rads) last year for a bigger one that would heat the rads. It is the best thing we did, Still have the oil as backup but only used it once or twice last winter.

The house seems not to get cold 'cause the rads are on for longer than we could ever afford with oil.

We burn a mix of turf / logs / smokeless coal but mostly the first two..

We are actually thinking of buying an arctic load of logs as our log supply is running low. We have a log splitter and I actually really enjoy splitting the timber... very rewarding and the timber is clean to work with. Now turf is a different kettle of fish, I would do anything to avoid a trip to the bog:D

I would highly recommend a stove to anyone. I know its not as straightforwards as just flicking on the oil but once you get a system going it is worth the effort. I work 3 days but even with lighting the fire in the evening the radiators and rooms are warm when the kids are going to bed.

Looking at upgrading our's aswell, would u mind me asking what make of stove you went with?

emg74

We had a charnwood country 6 which just heated the hot water cylinder. We changed to a Stratford EB 12HE (http://www.stratfordboilerstoves.co.uk/models/stoves.html) stove. Our house is 1344sq ft and a bungalow. It is zoned so the stove is heating the rads in all of the bedrooms / bathroom / ensuite / corridor and it is capable of heating the air in the livingroom / kitchen

It is working great for us, It is really efficient on fuel. I had expected that we would be using way more fuel than before but this is not the case. It seems to really make the most of the fuel

shane0007

Seamus1964 wrote: »

That would be Galmet outdoor coal boiler connected to the sealed system,yes

Nice.....
Perhaps you could put up a warning sign on your front door warning members of the public.
I was called out to one, also fitted by a Polish fella apparently (not sure if it was the same guy), done a similar job to yours. Customer lit a nice fire, enough to heat the parish really, blew a hole up through a concrete floor underneath the stairs.
I dare say he allowed me to convert it to open vented.
His arse was never the same.....
With his luck, I told him to go out immediately & buy a lottery ticket.

Dtp79

rightjob! wrote: »

sealed system and the stove is connected to the heating?!!

Does sound EXTREMELY dangerous alright but it can be done. The boiler MUST a have high pressure dedicated cold feed (usually mains if pressure is good enough) that will enter the boiler if it reaches 90 degrees, through a valve. This cools the boiler down and dumps the boiling water. Obviously there's more than that to it. 3/4 safety valves at least and the boiler has a modulating fan of sorts. Still not my cup of tea though

shane0007

Dtp79 wrote: »

The boiler MUST a have high pressure dedicated cold feed (usually mains if pressure is good enough) that will enter the boiler if it reaches 90 degrees, through a valve. This cools the boiler down and dumps the boiling water.

Usually the problems occur during power cuts & big freezes.
So what happens when there is a power cut, the mains is well fed therefore no mains. No pump to dump heat into rads.
Or if the mains freezes?
No matter what there is nothing that can fail to safe unless it is open vented.

Dtp79

shane0007 wrote: »

Usually the problems occur during power cuts & big freezes.
So what happens when there is a power cut, the mains is well fed therefore no mains. No pump to dump heat into rads.
Or if the mains freezes?
No matter what there is nothing that can fail to safe unless it is open vented.

Oh don't get me wrong. I totally agree wit ya. Too many things can go wrong if its sealed. I'd always choose open vented. I'm only commenting on a job I saw before and how it was done.

corkgsxr

I done a huge house with 2 20kw stanleys its open vented and they only wanted to take the chill out of the air so they love it.

310

Man injured after house blast
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
By Jimmy Woulfe Mid-West Correspondent
A MAN in his 20s was seriously injured in an explosion at a house near the village of Shanagolden in Co Limerick on Monday night.
He has been named as Gordon O’Donovan who lives in the area.

He was brought to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital by ambulance and, yesterday, he was transferred to Cork University Hospital (CUH).

A spokesman for the hospital yesterday could not comment on Mr O’Donovan’s condition as he was still being assessed.

It was believed he was visiting a neighbour’s house in the townland of Parkmore when the accident happened.

A woman in her 60s and her daughter, in her 20s, who both live in the house, received less serious injuries.

Mr O’Donovan suffered a number of injuries including burns.

Gardaí suspect that the explosion, being treated as accidental, may have been caused by a back boiler over-heating.

A forensic examination of the scene was conducted yesterday.
© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

310

tis a time bomb get it fixed

Seamus1964

That's why I prefer outdoor boiler instead of fireplace backboiler
Things can go wrong in one or other way but at least not near to your face

shane0007

Seamus1964 wrote: »

That's why I prefer outdoor boiler instead of fireplace backboiler
Things can go wrong in one or other way but at least not near to your face

The result can happen anywhere on the system, not just at the boiler. The one I was called to, blew a hole underneath the stairs in a concrete floor.
It will blow at wherever the weak point is.
I would certainly not like to have your installation nor would I ever install one like it.
Problems are going to become more & more frequent as this country has gone absolutely stone mad installing solid fuel & every cat & dog has decided they can make a few quid installing them, when you know absolutely nothing about them.
The one I was at, the client confronted the guy & he said he watched his father install them back in Poland. His father was a cleaner in a school & did plumbing work when school finished.
Economics does strange things in this country...... & safety certainly is rarely considered due to its negative effect on economics.

Seamus1964

That's why I paid for professional installation not to the lad who watched his father install them back in Poland.
Its a company based in Kiltimagh, Co.Mayo and they have there showroom and everything.
Insured and guaranteed job.
Later on I had local Irish professional plumber over who double checked everything and he was happy enough.
I see absolutely no reason to panic unless mains water and electricity goes off in same time..

I think I'll be safe enough

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056451733

Dtp79

Seamus1964 wrote: »

That's why I paid for professional installation not to the lad who watched his father install them back in Poland.
Its a company based in Kiltimagh, Co.Mayo and they have there showroom and everything.
Insured and guaranteed job.
Later on I had local Irish professional plumber over who double checked everything and he was happy enough.
I see absolutely no reason to panic unless mains water and electricity goes off in same time..

I think I'll be safe enough

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056451733

Famous last words!

tashiusclay

Seamus1964 wrote: »

That's why I prefer outdoor boiler instead of fireplace backboiler
Things can go wrong in one or other way but at least not near to your face

Nothing unsafe with a back boiler/stove boiler whatsoever when its fitted and piped correctly. As shane0007 said, if its piped incorrectly then its as safe as the weakest link, wherever that may be in or around the house, regardless of where the boiler is installed.

Seamus1964

Totally agree,

I myself prefer outdoor boiler, less mess and more safe if something goes wrong IMHO
There is nothing wrong with backboilers if they are professionally installed.
What I do like a most about outdoor coal boiler that it needs to be topped up only twice a daily so once in morning and once in evening.
Its not as fancy as pellet boilers what you can load up like once per week but does the job for me anyway.

I repeat : IMHO

Dtp79

Seamus1964 wrote: »

Totally agree,

I myself prefer outdoor boiler, less mess and more safe if something goes wrong IMHO
There is nothing wrong with backboilers if they are professionally installed.
What I do like a most about outdoor coal boiler that it needs to be topped up only twice a daily so once in morning and once in evening.
Its not as fancy as pellet boilers what you can load up like once per week but does the job for me anyway.

I repeat : IMHO

I think Shane0007 was talking about "sealed" solid fuel systems
Although any solid fuel system piped wrong is dangerous

Cerco

Seamus1964 wrote: »

That's why I paid for professional installation not to the lad who watched his father install them back in Poland.
Its a company based in Kiltimagh, Co.Mayo and they have there showroom and everything.
Insured and guaranteed job.
Later on I had local Irish professional plumber over who double checked everything and he was happy enough.
I see absolutely no reason to panic unless mains water and electricity goes off in same time..

I think I'll be safe enough

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056451733

I would retain all your receipts from the professionals together with their reports as you could have difficulty in the event of an insurance claim. If an insurance company got a whiff of anything non-standard they would withold payouts. I don't think the assurance "I think I'll be safe enough" would hold water. (no pun intended)

rightjob!

Seamus1964 wrote: »

That's why I paid for professional installation not to the lad who watched his father install them back in Poland.
Its a company based in Kiltimagh, Co.Mayo and they have there showroom and everything.
Insured and guaranteed job.
Later on I had local Irish professional plumber over who double checked everything and he was happy enough.
I see absolutely no reason to panic unless mains water and electricity goes off in same time..

I think I'll be safe enough

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056451733

so you have it on a sealed system with two safety valves and no other modifications?
if thats the case its a disaster!
you might end up paying another property tax when your house gets relocated to another site when it blows!

Froststop

Seamus1964 wrote: »

I have 17kw outdoor coal boiler installed by Polish lads and that's heating my house and water just perfect. Sometimes too warm
Its connected to my oil boiler, I got rid of my green 1500 litre kerosene tank what did give me space to build boilerhouse.
Total cost under 4000 euro everything included (boiler,double wall flue and labour) No mess, easy to maintain and I do load it twice a day to keep it going.
Payback time approx 2-3 years,equipment should last 15-20 years.
I kept my oil boiler just in case (50l kerosene drum installed) . Sealed system - 2x safety valves - no modifications made to make it open system.

I think you better get a plumber in!
Stove on a sealed system!!! I don't think it was a plumber fitted that.