Fitting a Log Burning Stove

[Quickthorn]

I know some people on here have fitted stoves, and done a pretty good job judging by the pictures posted, so...

 

I'm replacing the stove in my house with a new log burner I picked up recently - a Dovre 250. The old one was an inset type, and I pulled it out this morning, but the opening that's left is narrower than I thought it would be, and I'm wondering about clearances between the sides of the opening and the stove. I've been recommended 4-6" at the sides by the place where I bought it, but there's actually only 3" at the very max. Is this enough? It's all brick, by the way.

 

 

 

There's a choice of flue exits on this one, top or rear. Any ideas which one would be best? The rear exit would need a costly adaptor, but it might be worth it if it throws out more heat into the room.

 

Top flue

 

Rear flue

 

I won't actually be doing it myself, because I rent this house, and I've had to ask the landlord; he's said yes only if I do it "properly", which means getting it done by a HETAS installer. It would be good to know what's what before I get more quotes.

 

[Nic Johnson Contracting]

are your leaving the brick showing? or boarding it which will give you less clearance. id go for the rear flue and get it out into the room it is possible to do it yourself and get it approved by the council building control i believe to get it signed off. my parents had theres done by an approved installer and we never got a certificate and the plaster cracked and feel off in the end i ended up re building it. and just done another one for my mate.

[Hawthorn]

That's a nice looking stove

 

We fitted ours a few years ago (stovax MF).

 

The opening that the gas living flame fire was fitted into was much smaller than we needed to get a stove in. Whacked a new lintel in and did a bit of brickwork after lots of fireplace bashing :thumbup:

 

End result is one I'm pleased with:

[niftysteve]

from the photos it looks like you could remove 1/2 brick(4 inch) from either side of the opening fit new lintel and you will the right clearance

[Tom D]

No need to take any bricks out, the 150mm rule is the minimum distance from a combustible surface. So if you do use the rear flue make sure you have 150mm of hearth before any flooring.

 

TD Tree & Land Services Ltd.

[bythamboy]

It looks as if the chimney breast is larger than the opening which would suggest that the grate openning has been made smaller ( the way the bricks are laid ) , this was done years ago to faciliate smaller more efficient coal burning grates rather than wood and or factory made grates.The best way to check is make more mess/work by stripping of wall render to see where lintels are , there may be several reductions made over history. Don't forget if using a piped flue then seal of the remaining chimney colomn to reduce convection with fire proof materials

[pgkevet]

are your leaving the brick showing? or boarding it which will give you less clearance. id go for the rear flue and get it out into the room it is possible to do it yourself and get it approved by the council building control i believe to get it signed off. my parents had theres done by an approved installer and we never got a certificate and the plaster cracked and feel off in the end i ended up re building it. and just done another one for my mate.

 

I think it;s something like £250 to get it signed off...obviously designed so folk don't bother DiY'ing the actual fitting...

[Quickthorn]

Thanks for the replies. That's a good job there, hawthorn. That's what I'd aim for if I owned the place.

 

Round here, the council want £300 to sign it off. Anyway, I've had a visit from the landlord - he wants me to get his builder mate in to do it now, then I'll have to sort out signing it off with building control.

 

The old one was probably fitted 20 years ago, and never kicked out that much heat. I doubt if it was ever serviced or inspected. The outlet on this one was 20 degrees to vertical, and they connected it with a short straight flue and sealed it with a ton of mortar.

 

 

 

The "joint" had fallen apart in places, and there was a lot of soot where there shouldn't have been. It sort of explains why it was so hard to light the fire a lot of the time, and why I could often smell smoke in the room.

[hippytyre]

I plan on doing this too, can anyone recommend a good stove brand? We have a really nice Victorian fireplace at the moment but it just sends all the heat up the lum!

[Quickthorn]

The one in the picture is a Dovre 250. It's a 5kW cast iron stove, not the most popular brand, but has a good reputation.

 

If you can get away with 4kW, I'd suggest a Charnwood Country 4. I know someone who has one of these, and it's pretty good value for money.

 

Other than that, there's plenty of info on here on previous threads. lots of pictures on the "Show us your stoves" thread.

 

Now's probably a good time to get it sorted.