Ageing Hunter 6 double sided Multifuel stove

[Cliffclop]

Hi, 

I was thinking about changing my Hunter for a more modern stove, but given the prices, I'm having second thoughts, as there's nothing wrong with the stove, although it's been in about 17 years. I can refurbish it with new door rope and gaskets as they're still available.  My only concern is around the state of the flue. It's double skinned and is inside an existing chimney, it's swept once a year. and there's no evidence of anything wrong with it. The stove is used to burn mostly seasoned wood, with the odd load of smokeless anthracite, as a secondary heat source, along with oil.  Does the flue have a recommended life? any opinions would be appreciated.

[Alycidon]

Usually within a masonry chimney is a flexible flue liner,  unless your property is thatched that is what you are likely to have in place.   At 17 years old it will need to be replaced,  no installer is going to certify it as safe to use ,  it's just to risky.

 

Your old Hunter will be around 55 percent efficient,  many of the best stoves on the market todsy have an efficiency in excess of 80 percent,   this will mean that as long as the stove is correctly installed then you will use around 25 percent less logs for the same amount of heat.  

 

I would suggest that a 2022 compliant 5kw nominal heat output stove will do the job nicely and not require additional outside air ventilation that stoves with a nominal heat output of 5.1kw or more require. 

 

PM me if necessary. 

 

A9

[Steven P]

So the Hunter 6 - double sided stove will be more than 5kw, it is worth checking that there is plenty of ventilation for it (if it has been used successfully over the last 17 years and had some good consistent fires, in a variety of outdoor weather conditions then I suspect that there is plenty of ventilation for it). No real reason to replace it - it is a secondary heat source and even if modern stoves are more efficient replacing it you'd have to factor how much the wood costs against any savings over time. Maybe at the moment it will be more economical to leave it in place and consider replacement in a few years if the oil prices rise.

 

17 years is getting old for the flu I think. I'd suggest you call your sweep who can inspect and advise on the condition of it. If you call the sweep this side of the Autumn many will also have a side line installing liners over the summer - no chance of getting it changed past September, it is sweeping season, too busy. A £50 to £100 cost now - that you'd more than likely be spending anyway - might allow you peace of mind to save for and replace in a couple of years time, or it will highlight a problem that needs attention a bit sooner. A good sweep would be advising this before supplying a certificate of cleaning if there are problems - whatever it is called.

[Muddy42]

If there is nothing wrong with the setup and the sweep is happy, don't change it.  Regarding the liner, the sweep should be able to tell if it was failing pretty easily - you feel it with the rods or you can use a camera.  Listen to your sweep not a stove installer - installers have a huge incentive to get us to replace stoves every few years.  My personal opinion is that old stoves are tougher than modern ones and most draw better.