Moving from Estate Gas to solid fuel stove

maynooth_rules

Hi,

We currently live in a an estate in a gas heated house. Our estate is supplied by Calor (we are not on the mains) Find Calor to be quite expensive and we are looking at other options. Slight problem we have is that we dont have a chimney. We have an inlet for a gas fire in the living room. There will barely be any room for the flue so there might have to be plastering. On top of that the flue will have to go through two floors to get out the roof (we have converted the attic). Is it too big a job??

Robbie.G

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Hi,

We currently live in a an estate in a gas heated house. Our estate is supplied by Calor (we are not on the mains) Find Calor to be quite expensive and we are looking at other options. Slight problem we have is that we dont have a chimney. We have an inlet for a gas fire in the living room. There will barely be any room for the flue so there might have to be plastering. On top of that the flue will have to go through two floors to get out the roof (we have converted the attic). Is it too big a job??

To fit a flue for a solid fuel stove the flue would be 150mm twin wall flue which would have an overall diameter of around 250mm the it has to run through ground floor and two others it would have to be boxed in and that would need to be around 350-400mm in diameter to allow for distances from combustibles.
This would cost in the region of €2000-€2500 for the flue and fitting alone then consider the cost of stove and then fitting you would have an overall cost of around €5000-€6000
The better option is to move the stove to an external wall which would save around €1000-€1500 on the above cost
Last option is to convert to oil with an cost of around €3000-€4000 and there is a possibility of seai grants on that

maynooth_rules

Thanks for your post Robbie. We are unlucky in the point that we are in an end of terrace house and the gas fireplace is against the wall that is connected to the neighbours. We only really have the option of putting it in the kitchen. Not sure if that is ideal. Probably wont be ascetically pleasing.

K.Flyer

With those sort of costs in mind, would you not consider looking at spending the money on having the house very well insulated.
If it's properly insulated your calor cost might drop considerably.

maynooth_rules

Think you are spot on K Flyer. Got quoted between 2-2.5k,then probably over a thousand for a good stove. That's a quote from a family member too so quite discounted. Think we will go the insulation route. Is cavity insulation good or should we be looking at better? Are grants still available?

galwaytt

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Hi,

We currently live in a an estate in a gas heated house. Our estate is supplied by Calor (we are not on the mains) Find Calor to be quite expensive and we are looking at other options. Slight problem we have is that we dont have a chimney. We have an inlet for a gas fire in the living room. There will barely be any room for the flue so there might have to be plastering. On top of that the flue will have to go through two floors to get out the roof (we have converted the attic). Is it too big a job??

Whilst you are in an estate, the 'mains' are fed by Calor. This is common where Calor get a contract from Bord Gais pending arrival of the natural gas line. I'm not sure if this is the case where you are, but it was for me.

If it is, you're problably not paying Calor prices anyway, but Bord Gais ones, so ripping out the gas would not be the answer.

You need to look at your bill and see what you're being charged per litre etc.

Otherwise, as mentioned, insulation and airtightness is what you should be looking at.

I've just been through a new boiler installation, and after checking every other option, ended up sticking with LPG and they're fitting it today.