STOVES questions and answers here(see mod note in post 1)

sternn wrote: »

We are getting a stove in place of our current fireplace. We are looking at a bog standard stove that has an output of around 6kw to heat the room. One place we went to has given a quote of €1,200 + VAT for a Wanders Marvic and around €2,800 + VAT for installation (with geo cast beam). Does this seem about right?

We want a pretty basic stove but there seems to be so much choice on the market. I was also looking at the Henley Achill 6.6kw which seems to retail at around €900 including VAT. Any recommendations here?

The wanders is mainly wood burning. Pretty rare brand so seems like a very high end shop you visited.
You would have to break down the installation cost but it does seem very high. What county are you based in?

Henley Achill 6.6kw is an extremely popular stove.

olestoepoke wrote: »

If you don't mind me asking, how was your boiler stove installed? I have one I will need installed soon and I'm told ill need a systemslink.

I installed it myself.I got rid of the oil burner and redirected the pipes to the stove,very simple and basic.
I don't know anything about a systemlink but stoves do not need any electrical monitors/controls as the only control you have is air and a bigger/smaller stick or a shovel of coal.Shop around and get a few plumbers to advise/price and you will figure it out.

vicwatson wrote: »

Had a multi fuel stove fitted recently, can anyone tell me how to "break it in"?

Apparently light small kindling with a log or something?

Does it smoke and smell bad?

TIA for an advice on what to do here

Just light a small fire with kindling and add a bit of a split log to it and leave burn. No coal or turf. The intent of this is to cure the fire cement that has probably been used on connections of the flue before putting significant heat in it.

vicwatson wrote: »

Will there be much of a smell off it? I'll evacuate the room anyway and open windows etc.

I had my Stanley Cara installed a couple of years ago and after the first light-up had to evacuate the house the smell was terrible!! BUT after that it was fine and going strong since:)

A firelog would be fine.

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Looking for a bit of help. I want to fit a small stove in a sunroom. It gets too cold in the winter to be used. The stove would also help to heat a kitchen. The flue would need to go straight up and through the ceiling/tiled roof.
Has anyone done this and what would be the approx cost ?

It will depend on whether the house is also a single storey or whether it is a two storey. Trying to get a decent draught in a single storey sunroom can be difficult as the flue pipe may need to go to the pitch of the roof of the house.
This could cost you anywhere from €2.5k-4K.
Personally I would advise considering a pellet stove as they have less draught problems so would be a far easier installation. Would also throw the heat towards your kitchen better. It would be in the same price range but a lower chance of any problems, cheap to run and near maintenance free.

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Tha is for the reply
It's a two story house. Never even looked at pellet stoves,I know sfa about them. My issue would also be storing fuel for it.

You can buy a couple of 10/15kg bags. They are small and clean so easy enough to store unlike coal and timber.
A good installer will look at taking the twin wall to the height of the two storey which would push you towards the higher end of the scale. A pellet stove can finish at the height of the sunroom with no issues.
They are very modern looking which can be off putting to some people, but when you see it working, the heat it pumps out and the ease of use, you will get used to how it looks.
If you let me know what county you are in I can point you towards a retailer to go have a look.

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Kilkenny. Again thank you.

Oliver Young’s should have a couple. Stove Store Flame in Carlow May have a better selection if you can travel there.

Had a lad over recently who fits stoves. Want to put a room heater into my sitting room, approx 4.5m x 5m.

I was looking at the Henley Aran 6kw but he recommended the Blackrock 10kw heater after we said we liked the look of it(same price, it's me buying from a different shop so makes no odds to him). Reason being it has a larger viewing area, easier to clean etc.

So the question is, for my room size a 5kw would be enough. Is a 10kw way too much?

Naos wrote: »

Had a lad over recently who fits stoves. Want to put a room heater into my sitting room, approx 4.5m x 5m.

I was looking at the Henley Aran 6kw but he recommended the Blackrock 10kw heater after we said we liked the look of it(same price, it's me buying from a different shop so makes no odds to him). Reason being it has a larger viewing area, easier to clean etc.

So the question is, for my room size a 5kw would be enough. Is a 10kw way too much?

What do you intend burning in the stove. Stoves that are multi fuel are rated using coal as the fuel source. They tend to be rated 10-20% lower using timber and then it's depending on the timber you are using.

However a higher rates stove may not be an advantage as most stoves are rated at an efficiency co-efficient. Too big a stove will will burn more fuel.

However stove rating are dependent on people using them as well. Yours is a fairly large room unless the house.has a high Ber rating 5KW looks a bit low. As well 5-6 years ago in a living/sitting room generally all the family tended to be in there. Nowadays with Amazon, Xboxes a d Netflix only 2 people may be present instead of 4-5. Finally what heating level people prefer in a house is very subjective, a person who spends the day in a warm environment like a hospital will feel cold compared to a person who works in an open-plan office and a person who works on a chill room will feel cooked

kala85 wrote: »

Is it possible to change or repair the glass in a stove.

The glass is not very clean. Looks totally dirty. Is it possible to change this

You can usually get new glass for most.

But you should be able to clean it.

Try some ash from the stove. There's a few glass products that seem to work also but ash usually does it

chuck eastwood wrote: »

If your room has been sized for 5kw output then going for double will make it unbearable if you have a decent fire going in it. My dad made the same mistake and regrets it to this day

Thanks for the feedback! Well, I size it based on the fact it's a 4.5 x 4 (not 5 as previously said!) So 4.5 x 4 x 2.5 (h) = 45 cubic sq meters.

https://www.glowing-embers.co.uk/blog/output-calculator/

House is a 1970's, currently BER e2 - very cold in winter...

Bass Reeves wrote: »

What do you intend burning in the stove. Stoves that are multi fuel are rated using coal as the fuel source. They tend to be rated 10-20% lower using timber and then it's depending on the timber you are using.

However a higher rates stove may not be an advantage as most stoves are rated at an efficiency co-efficient. Too big a stove will will burn more fuel.

However stove rating are dependent on people using them as well. Yours is a fairly large room unless the house.has a high Ber rating 5KW looks a bit low. As well 5-6 years ago in a living/sitting room generally all the family tended to be in there. Nowadays with Amazon, Xboxes a d Netflix only 2 people may be present instead of 4-5. Finally what heating level people prefer in a house is very subjective, a person who spends the day in a warm environment like a hospital will feel cold compared to a person who works in an open-plan office and a person who works on a chill room will feel cooked

Thanks, appreciate the feedback. I appreciate the efficiency may not be as good on a smaller stove. Our BER rating is e2 so while we are working towards getting it better, realistically it's not going to ever be greater than a C.

I like the larger stove as it has the traditional look but also a larger glass pane + easier to clean. But if it'd be too hot..

SeaFields wrote: »

We are trying to decide on whether to fit a non-boiler or boiler stove at the moment. There is already oil central heating in the house but we have plenty of turf so either way we'll be fitting a stove.

Is it possible to fit a boiler stove to compliment the oil heating? Be it that we would be able to switch from one to the other for heating everything or just use one for rads and one for water?

And is it a big job/ expensive to install the boiler stove if we already have a heating system in place? The house is a three bedroomed bungalow with ten rads varying in size. The hot water tank is about two metres from the fire place across the hallway and through two walls.

Any input / past experience welcome

With a boiler stove you will burn a lot more tuff. To get one capable of driving 10rads you will need to have a 20KW combined stove. Usually these stoves send 25-35% to the room and the rest to the boiler.

A lot of stoves are rated off coal not off turf or timber as the fuel source.

If burning turf only I use a room heater stove only. Get one with a higher rating than you require to allow for burning of turf

I own a 1950s semi d in Dublin with an old open fireplace in the front room. The chimney breast is in the centre of the wall with alcoves either side. I would like to put in an inset wood burning stove to be flush with the front of the chimney breast with an external air supply. The chimney may have to be relined. Do you think it would be possible/advisable to core drill a 4 inch hole from outside into one side of the alcove and then drill through one side of the chimney breast? The opening of the existing fireplace is quite small, could I make this slightly bigger to accept an inset? I have attached a plan of where the external air feed would need to run. Any advice would be much appreciated and a stove that could work in this situation. TIA

t8010789 wrote: »

I own a 1950s semi d in Dublin with an old open fireplace in the front room. The chimney breast is in the centre of the wall with alcoves either side. I would like to put in an inset wood burning stove to be flush with the front of the chimney breast with an external air supply. The chimney may have to be relined. Do you think it would be possible/advisable to core drill a 4 inch hole from outside into one side of the alcove and then drill through one side of the chimney breast? The opening of the existing fireplace is quite small, could I make this slightly bigger to accept an inset? I have attached a plan of where the external air feed would need to run. Any advice would be much appreciated and a stove that could work in this situation. TIA

Do you share the chimney breast wall with your neighbour?..if you do you may be drilling through their chimney breast.
To make the existing fireplace bigger,it needs careful examination to see what is holding everything up(hacking off the plaster) It may need a new lintel inserted higher up