soild fuel stove advise

BrianMc1980 wrote: »

Good morning
One is steel the other is cast iron, steel is shaped and welded, you may get a design in the doors but other than that it is a square box, cast is melded and poured into a molded and you can get many different designs or effects but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Steel boiler stoves, if the boiler goes in years to come the stove goes, a cast stove, the boiler can be changed but if this happens you may be sick of looking at the stove and think time for a change. The steel stove is made in Ireland, the cast iron one is cast in China and assembled in Ireland. Company v Company, one of them is only 2/3 years old with a retail company linked to them already gone bust.
Thats my 2 pence worth, do with it what you will!!

This is almost factually correct. The only real advantage of cast is that the unit holds temperature long after it goes out. The steel stoves drop temp soon after they go out, but would be a lot more controllable and airtight, which means you can keep them in longer.

Just for reference, a cast stove is very difficult to keep airtight due to plates that expand and contract at different rates. Think about the lid of the stove expanding a lot faster than the sides and the bottom slower than the rest. All these movements can effect tightness after a short period of time. The cast stoves are almost always jointed with fire cement which tends to dry and crumble, leading to a stove body that leaks like a sieve. Oxygen getting into the combustion chamber leads to over burning, which often results in thermal shock cracks in the cast plates. Steel stoves will remain airtight as the bodies are welded. Good British steel stoves such as Charnwood and Clearview are welded inside and out which are stronger. The Clearview has a very clever feature on the door handle and hinge which makes the door seal remain airtight all the time which is why the appliance is known for being up to 5 times more efficient than many others.

It is also worth noting that it is not factually correct that steel stoves have to be dumped if the boiler leaks. It is a manufacturing choice if the boiler can be removed and replaced. Clearview were one of the first stove companies to have such a design, ensuring your investment is safe. It is worth asking before purchasing a boiler stove if the boiler can be removed for either repair or replacement...if not...Walk away....there are better choices out there. The boiler can let go at any time on any stove...don't risk a manufacturer telling you they are out of warranty and you have no come back or alternative than to replace the whole unit.

Hope this helps.

Sooty,

Your posts are reading a bit spammy. They've been reported too. I removed them as its against the rules to advertise for free. I maybe wrong but they look a bit pro one manufacturer

hero25 wrote: »

Hi...looking to buy 3 insert stoves. am wondering if it'd be worth my while going to Eastern Europe and buying them there and shipping home? has anyone done this!!

I bought a 30kw wood boiler from poland a few weeks ago and it worked out almost half price. A friend bought all the stuff for the house he is renovating and shipped it home in a container. He reckons he saved well over €10k on €35k worth of stuff. I'd say it'd be worth your while.

Looking at putting a 5KW stove into our sitting room. It's a rented house so we want to take it with us when we leave. Not looking to spend a fortune as it may or may not be suitable whenever we go next. We've looking at the Dump!ex Westcott 5 or a bilberry 5kw. Any experience of these two or recommendations?

Hi Guys,

Need advice, attached is my current fireplace!
I would like to get either an inset stove or leave it freestanding. I was told that either way work will need to be done on my fireplace as a stove could not sit on the fireplace with enough space away from the wood (under regulations) so that needs to be changed or amended. Hope that makes sense.

I would be look for a 5 to 7KW solid fuel stove (non boiler). Can anyone advise a good stove and a ballpark of cost etc I would be looking at?

And also a good company who would fit/install it?
I live in Kildare area.

Thanks in advance

themacdaddy wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Need advice, attached is my current fireplace!
I would like to get either an inset stove or leave it freestanding. I was told that either way work will need to be done on my fireplace as a stove could not sit on the fireplace with enough space away from the wood (under regulations) so that needs to be changed or amended. Hope that makes sense.

I would be look for a 5 to 7KW solid fuel stove (non boiler). Can anyone advise a good stove and a ballpark of cost etc I would be looking at?

And also a good company who would fit/install it?
I live in Kildare area.

Thanks in advance

I have a very similar fireplace, and got an Inis Airc freestanding stove fitted last year. I didn't have to touch any bit of the fireplace.

My hearth is flush with the floor, and has a surround which was deemed enough to protect the wooden floor from bits falling out of the fire (hasn't happened once). But if it wasn't like that, then the company were offering me a semi-circular piece of metal that would be fitted to the floor in front of the stove so that you've a big enough non-flammable area in front of the stove door.

The stove sits quite far out, which I thought would be a problem but in fact it's absolutely fine. The stove itself is the business, couldn't say enough good about it. It's a 5KW, and once it's up and running and warm, half an eco-log or a single briquette will burn for an hour.

I got Antique Fireplaces http://www.fireplacesandstovesdublin.ie/ in Kilternan to supply and fit it. Mine is an old two-storey house so I had to get the whole chimney lined. They'll come out and do an assessment and price the job for you. They were fantastic, I was very happy with the job they did.

Any other questions, just ask or PM.

I'll try to attach a pic, but can't seem to do it without advertising my entire photo history on Picasa which I'm obviously not keen on doing!

You will need 2 45s and probably a 300mm straight that will need to be cut.

Hi. Recently got a new Oisin fitted to replace an older one that was incorrectly fitted. New one looks great, but since lighting it the first time, there's drops of liquid dropping down the chimney onto the stove where it turns into a stinky smoke. Any idea what could be causing this?

I recently bought a 8 kw multifuel stove for my sitting room, the house was built in 1916, real old chimney, it looks huge up there!

The guy i bought the stove from said that if there has been no problems with the chimney when i used to have the fireplace roaring up the chimney throughout the winters and had no issues with a leaking chimney or downdraughts then the chimney should be ok to connect the stove up to without the need for a flexi flue liner, and to see how it goes, but i have a few questions still.

Im not sure what my chimney looks like up there, it has a clay pot on the top like most chimneys do, but do typical cottages built in that time have those pots all the ways up the chimney or could it be a hollow chimney , i ask as the cottage has 2 foot stone walls but the chimney, viewed from the attic, is made of bricks.

What kind of a temp. increase would there be from the smoke, compared to that of an open fireplace?

I cleaned the chimney last summer and intend to do so again before installing the stove, should i be ok to go ahead?

novaboy80 wrote: »

I recently bought a 8 kw multifuel stove for my sitting room, the house was built in 1916, real old chimney, it looks huge up there!

The guy i bought the stove from said that if there has been no problems with the chimney when i used to have the fireplace roaring up the chimney throughout the winters and had no issues with a leaking chimney or downdraughts then the chimney should be ok to connect the stove up to without the need for a flexi flue liner, and to see how it goes, but i have a few questions still.

Im not sure what my chimney looks like up there, it has a clay pot on the top like most chimneys do, but do typical cottages built in that time have those pots all the ways up the chimney or could it be a hollow chimney , i ask as the cottage has 2 foot stone walls but the chimney, viewed from the attic, is made of bricks.

What kind of a temp. increase would there be from the smoke, compared to that of an open fireplace?

I cleaned the chimney last summer and intend to do so again before installing the stove, should i be ok to go ahead?

Once again a supplier with obviously no background in chimneys selling stoves to the public with no regard for safety.

You will need to install a flexible liner and backfill with insulation to this chimney or indeed any flue, even if it had clay liners. Building regulations and most manufacturers of stoves recommend this as good practice and a number of manufacturers that are considered high end British built stoves insist on it.

It comes down to the dynamics of how a chimney works. A solid fuel open fire has a high flue gas temperature. You will know this as there was a tremendous amount of heat escaping from the open fire up the chimney with very little if any control over the burn rate, therefore the condition or construction material of the chimney was not just as critical.

Once this is understood you then have to accept that buying a stove, even the cheapest nastiest piece of crap from a hardware shop shipped in from China made with resmelted rubbish we sent to them in a ship three months ago with a bit of glass stuck in it and painted black, will burn slower..for a while at least. With this more controlled burn, you will get lower flue gas temperatures, meaning the gases are less buoyant and will not travel up a cold clay or brick chimney as quick. If there is moisture in the fuel this will burn off as steam, but will reach a due point before it exits the flue and cause a build up on condensates. This can be in the form of tar like substances, or trickle down like black water. If there is a boiler in the stove it will be even worse as the boiler cools the gasses before they even get into the flue.

A good quality 904 grade liner with the correct adapters, and an insulation will help keep flue temperatures warm and reduce the build up of dangerous levels of combustibles in a chimney. Forget about "will the smoke go up the chimney" crap....it will in most cases as long as it is clear...ish. You are trying to make the flue work correctly for the new appliance...simple as that.

You will also need to ventilate the room for an 8Kw stove. You need to add ventilation of 550mmsq for every Kw of the permissible 5Kw, so in your case 1650 is needed. Anything greater than 5Kw can reduce the oxygen levels in the room quicker than the house can let it back in through vents etc. Reduced oxygen levels will lead to carbon Monoxide risk. We are dealing with a case here in the North of a woman with a 21Kw stove, driving the central heating...even though she could never in a million years fuel it to do so...but that is a different rant, but with no ventilation she collapsed with carbon monoxide poisoning. As Chairman of the Northern Ireland Association of Chimney Sweeps I was asked to investigate and the case is going through the high court. I can't name the company for obvious reasons but they claim to be big in the country, but clearly big is not best.

We have put together some information on the Northern Ireland Association of Chimney Sweeps website www.niacs.co.uk which will help or www.cdsf.co.uk

Good luck

DoctorBoo wrote: »

Hi. Recently got a new Oisin fitted to replace an older one that was incorrectly fitted. New one looks great, but since lighting it the first time, there's drops of liquid dropping down the chimney onto the stove where it turns into a stinky smoke. Any idea what could be causing this?

Have a look at the reply to Novaboy, or check out www.cdsf.co.uk. It sounds like this new stove is not fitted correctly neither. Sadly for the public, a lot of Stanley agents are not chimney technicians but get an account with this company anyway...hence the amount of people having problems with the stove or more than likely the installation. The stove is only as good as the person fitting it. If you are a box mover selling stoves without the correct advice, and some muppet fits it whatever way they think best...the paying customer is going to get a rough ride...simple as that. The frightening thing is this is an appliance you are going to light a fire in, INSIDE THE HOUSE. What kind of society are we living in both North and South of the border where this can be seen as acceptable business practice. Surely Stanley should vet all stockists and installers before opening accounts in an effort to safe guard the general public that support the company???? Just a thought.

sooty_soupy wrote: »

Sooty,

Your posts are reading a bit spammy. They've been reported too. I removed them as its against the rules to advertise for free. I maybe wrong but they look a bit pro one manufacturer

Hi,

Having read the past few replies from sooty-soupy there is very little I would change, yes he may love the product he sells however I feel a touch of spam is deserved for the quality of his replies.

To clarify:

I do not do business with sooty-soupy or his preferred manufacturer, that doesn't mean I don't respect a fellow professionals post when I see it.
.

Just a quick update, stove is installed and up and running well, used 904 grade flexi flue liner the full run of the chimney, into a reducer and then into a length of flue pipe before entering 2 x 45 degree angle flue, and into the rear of the stove.

From reading online and checking regulations i decided not to insulate the flexi flue liner as it will not be running outside the house and is not too long either so there shoulnt be any issues with a cold flexi liner not providing enough of a pull.

I have a question, the stove has 3 air controls, i understand the workings of 2 of them but the 3rd one is a bit of a mystery as the manual doesn't say anything in much detail about it, it's a pull lever located underneath the stove, it can be pushed/pulled, opened/closed, it controls a little vent at the very bottom and rear of the stove, opening and closing it does not seem to have such a dramatic affect that you can clearly see what it's doing and therefore learn how to best use it, does anybody know how best to use this control?

The other 2 controls are 1 : Primary air control, it's a little wheel on the front of the stove, bottom of the stove door, 2 : The airwash control on the top of the stove door.

I have learned to use these 2 controls properly but it's the other one that has me annoyed as it could possibly make a difference to the stoves performance, no matter how small, can anybody help? Cheers

Robbie.G wrote: »

Need to know what make and model of stove

I'm not allowed to post pictures here of the stove as i'm a new user.

There is no "Official" name for the stove, as far as i'm aware.

An 8kw non boiler stove that "looks" remarkably similar to the Stanley Tara's.

There on DoneDeal, a man in Clare sells them.