Alycidon

I have been using pellets for 3 years, I use a local guy who in turn buys them from Verdo in big bags by the 44 tonner load and re bags. A

As an Esse cooker dealer I ran this past the VAT inspector a couple or three years ago. They stated that after talking to Esse that the product is primarily a cooker that heats water as a secondary function, therefore VAT should be charged as a cooker (20%) as opposed to a dedicated boiler at 5%. If the dealer charged 5% and a VAT inspector decides on an inspection that he should have charged 20% he will have to pay the additional tax and a fine on top. I have heard that this MAY recently have been reviewed, there was something about this in an Esse dealer mail shot recently, its one of the things I need to investigate in the new year. A

She does have a point. Morso recommend no more than 18%. Mine usually go out at 10-14% but last summer was very wet and the logs have picked up moisture since last spring. Currently mine are at 18-20%. Personally I would feel uncomfortable sending out 25% product unless agreed beforehand with the customer. A

Thats the one, thanks a lot, A

Lets think about this another way. Customer complains for 2 reasons, either a, he feels he has a genuine point, or b, he is trying to get you to drop the price. A, Is easy to dispel, ALWAYS carry a moisture meter in your truck, then when the logs are delivered insist on testing a few selected at random in front of him. This proves that when delivered your logs are to an agreed moisture level, the Hetas maximum is 25%, most stove manufacturers say 20%. Once the customer has been shown and agreed the logs are good then tip them but NOT before. B, Agree the price beforehand,and confirm before tipping. Do this 3 or 4 times and problems never arise. I do agree as a stove retailer and firewood merchant by default that customer education should be part of the process of selling a stove. In these days of online sales this just does not happen (except to my customers !!!) So print a few of the FC articles on firewood, Moisture Content, log size, splitting, etc and issue those with your logs. There is a forthcoming standard coming through I think the RHI on log standards. this is leading to the requirement that boilers funded via RHI grants only be fed fuel from RHI assured suppliers. Have read the paperwork but not sure if I can find it again !!. 3 standards, A,B and C. A is what I am aiming at. Perhaps someone with more knowledge can post a link up on a new thread as we dont want to hijack this one. A

You might guess that the insurer coverd his backside legally, they all do. cost me a 6k cooker sale but such is life I suppose. A

Someone put a link on here earlier this week to what looked like a pretty interesting paper on firewood. 86 pages from memory. Now I have got time to read it I cant find it, could someone please repost the link, Thanks A

Decent mid market stoves. Not technically cutting edge but not cutting edge prices. A

An insurer will pass any claim to a loss adjuster whose is paid by the insurer to reduce the claim. As I understand it if there is no sign off then insurers are within their rights to invalidate insurance cover unless the presence of a stove is notified on the paperwork when applying for cover. I am not personally aware of any occasions where this has happened as we install 95% of our stoves and hammer this point to people getting builders etc to install but have been informed that it frequently does. I had an instance recently with the NFU who are as good an insurer as it gets, customer has a flood, wrecks his Esse range cooker, insurer advises him to order another subject to getting costs, then loss adjuster in receipt of quote informs homeowner that as replacement value was over 3k the cooker is not insured and they wont pay a penny. They had been insuring that cooker since 1960 and had introduced into the small print a requirement for any replacement value over 3k to be notified to them some years before. Customer just pays and files the paperwork without really reading it. A A

Think JAS Wilson the Posch boys now have one that will fit their conveyors. Just wonder how it would work when you fold the conveyor up, presumably it would need taking off. A

That is very different to what Rupe has done here, Rupe has simply lined an existing flue, the guy to mention was installing a new flue, not the same at all. If insurers don't pay out because of the lack of paper work what happens about all the stoves that were fitted before the HETAS stuff came in??? PS, do you have a link to the case you have mentioned?? Irrespective of what he has done it should be signed off, unless his insurer agrees in writing that it need not be. At the end of teh day the guy knows teh situation and thats the important bit, what he does with the info is entirly his concearn as quite right to. As for old stoves then that is a bit of a legal minefield at present, there has been legislation in place since at least 2002. The case concerned was mentioned in a Hetas magazine artical dated 17/9/10,, the court was loughborough magistartes court and the home owner was a Mr Paul Taylor, he was fined £4323. His home comes under Charnwood Borough Council. Nor sure if there is a web link anywhere. A

ESSE offer a boiler control unit that does the same thing, it allows the cooker to get up to temperature before allowing cold water to return to the cooker. Fits external to the cooker in the return water pipe. these are the WD installation instructions from the Esse website: it contains a few pipe diagrams. http://www.esse.com/support/cookers/installation-instructions/wd_install.pdf Hope that helps A

There's nothing at all in law to stop you fitting your own stove - BUT why not finish it off properly and get it signed off by Building control - hell of a lot cheaper than using a HETAS fitter but you know you're covered if anything goes wrong. I know it all seems like unnecessary expense - but you could say that about car insurance too and I bet you pay that every year! Building Inspectors round here charge more than my Hetas engineer !!. Its all very well to take the michael ref safety sign off, but the installation of a stove is a safety critical work that comes under Building Regulation which is a legal statute and has some severe implications if ignored. A guy near leicester did what the thread starter did, at the end of the day its not rocket science and the building regs covering stove installs are available free on line. This guy used twin wall fully insulated flue pipe, alas he bought cheap pipe which required a large combustible clearance. He was going through a bungalow roof, a pretty standard installation, but the pipes were to close to the roof rafters and set them alight. In short he lost his house and possessions, as there was no sign off his insurer invalidated his insurance. When a building inspector became involved the lack off sign off cost him a fine of £4400 on top of everything else. Suddenly a few hundred for a sign off seems not such a bad deal. You have bought a very high quality stove ( I am a Morso dealer) and the install looks perfectly good, if you want to run what you have done past me then pm me and I will happily advise you. Then get a building inspector in to sign it off as safe to use, please. Thanks A

Stacking directly onto the floor, dont you get issues with damp from the ground. I start on some very strong pallets to get air under them. A

Difference between a bounced bag and unbounced is about .1 - .2 of a cube. I bounce all mine but have recently bought some in some of which have not been bounced. Some I refill into .2 cube bags and am going getting 4 or just over x .2 per cube bag per cm bag bought in. I bounce and re fill, I know that if I was getting a bag that was marked as having a capacity of 1 cube and the paperwork said 1 cube then I want that bag level full at least. A

Filling bags on a frame is not a good idea. Put the bag onto the forks of whatever you are using to lift it, put as much in as you can, bounce, top off, bounce and store. A

That is partially true in my experiance. They certainly bulge out the bottom but bouncing them with a teleporter soon settles them back to where they should be. A

Cant see many ladies wanting that in their lounges and that's who has the final decision in 95% of cases. A

1999, thats 12 years old, looking at the stack of wood in the pics then I guess its done a hell of a lot of work. A

Problem is staff and insurance. Buisness owners need to be able to prove in court should it come to that they have have taken all steps to train an operator in the safe use of a given machine. This was discussed here some while ago, on processors the general view from memory was that a novice needs a weeks training on a one to one basis, initially close up and the instructor able to step in instantly, after a few hours moving to being fairly close, perhaps loading a rack while the trainee operates the machine. Then gradually letting the trainee develop as his/her own pace until the assessor thinks them safe. Some should have the basics mastered in few minutes, others will take days. A

I fill to overflowing, bounce the bag with a teleporter a few times, refill, bounce again and sometimes still need a few more to top off. Bags look ok, its just that pallets ontop of the first course either tilt one way or the other or break up due to the weight being on a few points only. A

I fitted an H pot on one of my flues, had it down in the spring to check soot build up on the horizontal pipes, practically full, after 2 years above a pellet boiler. So I woudl recommend that you have it off and clean it at least annually as a sweeps brush cannot get there. A

Focus Fireplaces supply the fireplace trade with beams, surrounds etc with different finishes. All made to order in whatever size you want. Not cheap. For cheap then DIY, timber needs to be dry of course. When installing be aware of your stoves top combustible clearance, this can be found in the installation instructions. This will be at least 400mm and most will be 500-600mm. If the inside of the beam is exposed to the flue pipe the combustible clearance to the flue pipe is three times its diameter, so 15" (375mm) or 18" (450mm). If you do not have this then the inside can be fireproofed with a strip of fire proof board. paul smith, yours looks a bit tight perhaps, certainly needs checking. A