Wood burning stove

[Letsrunabath]

Hi need some help visualising this. We currently have a cast iron surround Victorian open fire and need to install a wood burning stove. I’ve managed to stand my ground for 23 years but we really need the efficiency of the wood burner. I’m hoping to keep the cast iron surround and fit the burner on the plinth. Has anyone done this and would you be so kind to show me pics or tell me of your experience. Thanks

Like this?

We did it, managed to keep the surround but unfortunately lost the original tiles, will take a picture for you as it’s quite hard to describe.

Pictures

Someone will be along to tell you that you have a hvg in your living room in a minute.

We ended up getting rid of the surround and moving it to a different room.

You may have to have the surround removed, the opening widened or deepened then the surround replaced, but I’ve seen loads like that. Be aware though that the surround will get very hot so you’ll need a fire guard that extends well beyond the sides, and won’t be able to have anything on the mantelpiece when it’s lit.

Nothing to do with the pollution aspect, but my dh has a lot of health issues that did seem to start when we had a wood burning stove installed. I do think it’s something to consider. Appreciate if you have had an open fire before and been ok it might not affect you and also older houses aren’t necessarily suited to modern eco friendly heating such as heat pumps but I wish we’d never had one. (If only so I’d know if dh was ill anyway we hadn’t exacerbated it with the stove)

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/uk-news/wood-burner-burning-stove-pollution-health-b1776405.html%3famp

@Soontobe60

You may have to have the surround removed, the opening widened or deepened then the surround replaced, but I’ve seen loads like that. Be aware though that the surround will get very hot so you’ll need a fire guard that extends well beyond the sides, and won’t be able to have anything on the mantelpiece when it’s lit.

This isn’t necessarily true. When we had ours installed they do a lot of measurements and look at the heat radiance and size of the room. I have stuff on all my mantlepieces and two wood burners, they get mildly warm, that’s all.

@Anothernamechange3

Nothing to do with the pollution aspect, but my dh has a lot of health issues that did seem to start when we had a wood burning stove installed. I do think it’s something to consider. Appreciate if you have had an open fire before and been ok it might not affect you and also older houses aren’t necessarily suited to modern eco friendly heating such as heat pumps but I wish we’d never had one. (If only so I’d know if dh was ill anyway we hadn’t exacerbated it with the stove)

Do you mind me asking what health issues? We had one installed a couple of years ago and I've wondered about the health implications.

In my first picture you can see the I think it’s called a fire board which was fitted by the stove installers as a safety requirement, I have stuff on the mantle piece & a mirror above not had any issues with getting too hot, the mantle and sides do get warm but still able to touch safely I do have a fire guard across the wood burner when my dgd’s are here.

@SignOnTheWindow it’s tricky as he was poorly as a baby and also has asthma but a lot of almost chronic fatigue syndrome like symptoms plus apnoea type symptoms as well as respiratory. Feeling very tired and almost in a ‘bubble’ no matter how much sleep he’s had. I’m not saying it definitely is the wood burner but his symptoms have been bad since the first autumn/winter we got it installed and started using it. The more we read the more we hear about health effects but unfortunately haven’t read any options for treatments/cures. It seems odd to me as obviously people have used fires for heating since forever but then again he also has feather and dust allergies and hay fever so maybe it’s all connected.

Following

[quote Anothernamechange3]@SignOnTheWindow it’s tricky as he was poorly as a baby and also has asthma but a lot of almost chronic fatigue syndrome like symptoms plus apnoea type symptoms as well as respiratory. Feeling very tired and almost in a ‘bubble’ no matter how much sleep he’s had. I’m not saying it definitely is the wood burner but his symptoms have been bad since the first autumn/winter we got it installed and started using it. The more we read the more we hear about health effects but unfortunately haven’t read any options for treatments/cures. It seems odd to me as obviously people have used fires for heating since forever but then again he also has feather and dust allergies and hay fever so maybe it’s all connected.[/quote]

Interesting - thanks @Anothernamechange3. I get worse chronic fatigue symptoms too, though no respiratory issues. 2 different carbon monoxide monitors haven't detected anything.

@SignOnTheWindow we have a carbon monoxide sensor that hasn’t picked up anything either but it’s interesting you’ve had the cfs symptoms too. We don’t even burn candles now just in case.

Our neighbours have an inset woodburner stove, so they kept the tiles. It’s lovely.

We just kept the mantle piece. There’s looks nicer.

Thank you everyone for your answers and pics. They look lovely and I’m feeling more confident about the change.

@dontcallmelen

Pictures

Is that stove ok? It doesn't appear to have much clearance around it.