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New Build - Do I need a stove and/or chimney?

kopkidie

Hi,

This is my first post, so apologies if I am covering old ground here...

I am about to start a new build, 265 sq meters, story and a half build. The house is designed and I am more or less ready to go with the build.

The BER based on the current design is A3.

The heating system I am going with is UFH throughout backed by an air to water heat hump.

In addition to this, the initial house design I went to tender with has 2 chimneys, to cater for two wood burning stoves.

I have recently gone out to tender, and am working through prices the prices I got back, basically I need to make changes/reductions to bring the cost down. I have decided to definitely remove one chimney & stove, it is in a room that will be used the least.

That leaves the stove in the main living space (double height space - no upstairs room), my questions are:

Do I need a stove at all, will the heat pump/ufh be enough, given the house should be well insulated? So no stove and no chimney.

Or...

Go with a stove with an exposed flue - is there much of a saving in going with an exposed flue instead of a chimney - less brick work etc?

Or..

Go with a stove and chimney - house would be odd with out it

Thanks

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Comments

B-D-P--

Stoves and new builds, they are purley cosmetics at this stage, If your house is airtight and has a A2W system, You wont need the stove only for aesthetics.

Afraid thats all I can put in, with regards to prices, I'm not sure.

Lumen

Might be nice to have a stove in the double height space and open the doors/windows when it's cold out. Bring a bit of outdoors indoors.

You will need approval from the planning authority to alter the outside of the house and that includes changing the chimneys. A letter to notify them what you intend to do should be enough and hopefully they will reply to agree it is a minor change and allow you to proceed.

conibog

It is very relaxing to sit in front of a fire.
Also, just a few weeks since Ophelia passed, there is no arm to have a backup to provide heat & warm food when power goes down:p.

blast06

Just over 4 years since i moved into new build.
BER A2 (just a fraction over A3).... similar to yourself with UFH backed by air to water and all the rest of the standard stuff - air tightness, MRHV, etc
I have 1 stove/fireplace/chimney ..... have never felt the need to light it.
Don't know if the fireplace/stove is in your pricing that you have to reduce from but i spent about 3K on that. My guesstimate is another 2K was spent on the construction of the chimney itself .... lead, additional labour re the slating on the roof, the flus, blocks ... and taking up 1-2 metres squared.

Strangely though - if i was offered 5K now to not have had it, then i wouldn't. Bit of an Irish dinosaur i guess with that sort of thing !!

As an aside, i only have thermostats in the bedrooms and they weren't needed there either. Perhaps another saving opportunity there for you if they are spec'd in

gooner99

I've seen quite a few images on Houzz and Pinterest where there was a fireplace or stove with large candles or the likes in them to give a nice focal point. So I guess you could leave out the actual working stove and chimney and go with a dummy fireplace or stove (I'd imagine a cleaned up non working stove, cracked, missing glass, etc would suffice at a fraction of the cost).

If going for a working stove then I say the price of 2k+ for the stove and install, plus 2k+ for forming the chimney posted above would be pretty accurate. Not sure how much the flue through the roof costs.

ht9zni1gs28crp

New build here and purposefully designed with no chimney and no fire place. The build costs better spent elsewhere. The endless fire cleaning and fuel collecting is a job I certainly dont miss.

A fireplace is an old style syndrome now, harking back to draughty building and people huddled around for warmth.

@blast06 is correct, its a dinosaur and with current standards totally unnecessary.

If a lack of power from a storm can make your house that cold over a 48hour period then your building fabric is seriously not up to standard.

V0X

Leonardo Blue Super wrote: »

New build here and purposefully designed with no chimney and no fire place. The build costs better spent elsewhere. The endless fire cleaning and fuel collecting is a job I certainly dont miss.

A fireplace is an old style syndrome now, harking back to draughty building and people huddled around for warmth.

@blast06 is correct, its a dinosaur and with current standards totally unnecessary.

If a lack of power from a storm can make your house that cold over a 48hour period then your building fabric is seriously not up to standard.

+1 on this. You don't need it and you certainly won't miss it.

gooner99

Leonardo Blue Super wrote: »

New build here and purposefully designed with no chimney and no fire place. The build costs better spent elsewhere. The endless fire cleaning and fuel collecting is a job I certainly dont miss.

A fireplace is an old style syndrome now, harking back to draughty building and people huddled around for warmth.

@blast06 is correct, its a dinosaur and with current standards totally unnecessary.

If a lack of power from a storm can make your house that cold over a 48hour period then your building fabric is seriously not up to standard.

Great post miller63. Is you house under construction or already built. Did you miss having a fireplace as a focal point in the living area at all when finishing the room. Did you create an alternative focal point?

ht9zni1gs28crp

Just passed 2nd year moving in anniversary. Even more convinced than ever before there is simply no need for a gaping big draughty hole in your house! Saves money on build costs, and saves jobs to do every day...whats not a winner about it!

Focal points are in reality replaced by room use/design. So the snug is the TV room, your in there to watch TV. The Kitchen/diner/living is all open plan. Its where everyone congregates when visiting...chatting etc. Means the hosts are always involved whilst in the kitchen etc.

All the time the whole house is steadily maintained at the correct temperature. I guess people only look for a fireplace/fire if they are cold!

voyager1

Went through the same process, eventually went with no chimneys just a balanced flue in the sunroom for gas fire for small supplimental heat in the winter (More for the look of it tbh)
We thought no point spending the money on airtightness just to send it all up the chimney.

893bet

Recent build with two stoves and really like both (one in a granny flat).

Takes less than 30seconds to clean the ashes out, and 2 minutes to set it to light.

blast06

voyager1 wrote: »

Went through the same process, eventually went with no chimneys just a balanced flue in the sunroom for gas fire for small supplimental heat in the winter (More for the look of it tbh)
We thought no point spending the money on airtightness just to send it all up the chimney.

I don't think anybody that puts in a chimney in a new build leaves it as an open fire.
I have a chimney as i mentioned earlier but its with an air-tight stove, i.e.: stove is sealed and air for the fire comes from an external vent/pipe.... of course i have never lit that damn thing 4 yrs later but that's a different discussions

ht9zni1gs28crp

blast06 wrote: »

I don't think anybody that puts in a chimney in a new build leaves it as an open fire.

You would be very surprised, then shocked to see them tape it closed to get an airtightness figure