Hot water running through unlit stove

who_dunnit

Have a stove with back boiler in the house. I also have an oil boiler. I have not lit the stove in quite a while due to some issues, so relying on the oil boiler for heating and hot water. However when I feel the in and out flow pipes at the back of the stove they are warm...

Is there something plumbed wrong here, presumably I am losing hot water if it is running through an unlit stove? Any insight appreciated. Thanks

Lenar3556

Ideally the stove would be piped in such a way that the oil boiler circuit wouldn’t flow through the stove and vice versa. Although depending on the individual arrangements this may be difficult to achieve without placing a non return valve in the stoves primary circuit which is best avoided.

Its not really a big deal. You wouldn’t be loosing much heat. The stove boiler would at most be acting as an additional radiator and delivering heat to the room.

who_dunnit

Thanks! Would I be correct in saying it's because of the gravity flow in the system that the water continues to pump through the stove?

Lenar3556

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121660492#Comment_121660492

There could be a gravity element, it could also be driven by the circulation pump on the central heating system.

Boiler stoves are difficult to integrate into modern heating systems with zones etc, and there needs to be compromises. In the case of many customers, they would be better off with a room heater stove, and leave the central heating system to the oil/gas boiler.