Wood-burning stoves

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We want to install a wood-burning stove. Please tell me what I need to know!

So far, I know that small is good because they pump out a lot of heat. And I know that we'll need to get the chimney lined and to the right diameter for size of stove.

What else do I need to know? How much will it cost? There's a gas fire there at the moment so that will need removing, and the fireplace will need opening out and building into something nice. Will one company do all that?

Any advice appreciated!

Yes, one company did it all for us - though we were replacing open fire rather than gas. We paid just under £1000 to get rid of horrible brick surround, plaster, add granite hearth and install stove. We went for a multi-fuel and are glad we did because in really cold weather we would get through literally tons of logs otherwise - coal burns much slower and stove will still be alight in the morning if we top up a bit before bed. Best money we ever spent on the house.

It's worth getting a few quotes as prices can vary a lot - we paid £900 for installation but had been quoted three times as much by another company! If you check the Hetas website they can show fitters in your area. They can advise on the size of stove but there are calculators like this one which will tell you the minimum for the size of room. I'd recommend getting the stove online as they are much cheaper IME than buying from the fitter.

We've had two installed and love them - cost a lot of money but well worth it.

remember you also need somewhere to store the wood - it is very expensive to buy in small quantities. That somewhere needs to be covered and dry. You should also have a day or two of wood kept inside for burning to make sure it is REALLY dry, so there has to be room for that.

chimney sweep once or twice a year. Bird guard fitted. HETAS-registered engineer.

We have just decided to do the same. Undecided though wether to go with a wood burning stove or an electric one at the mo but I think we wil just end up with an electric one.

Can anyone recommend any websites to get a marble hearth fitted to size?

if you have a wood burner you can't have a wooden fireplace surround as it gets too hot.

chesneys does amazing fireplace surrounds but they are £££

if you can, get an external air vent as that will draw cold air from outside rather than warm from in the room.

small is only good if you have a small room!!! You need an appropriate one for the room size. You also need a good sized, dry storage area to store lots of wood. Even when the wood has been seasoned you'll still need to store it for a good six months or so to get it burning really well. I like to have a full winter's worth of wood in stock at all times so I don't end up burning stuff that's too new (it doesn't burn well)

Thank you all. Interesting thoughts. And cost maybe not as bad as I'd feared.

Our small stove heats a largish room. Through living area in a Victorian terrace with open arch to the kitchen. They are fab, you won't regret it!

I have found it much easier using kiln dried wood, although it's more expensive. It's definitely worth getting a temperature gauge if you're not experienced at lighting fires, ours is much more effective now I know when it's really burning well and when it needs attention.

Think about log size when you're looking at small stoves. We got an Esse stove which was wide enough to take standard logs. Didnt want to have to chop logs down to size to fit stove.

The expensive part is usually the flue liner - the cost of this per meter is really quite high. We paid about £3K all in for installation, stove (about £800), granite hearth, plastering of chimney breast, removal of old fireplace, flue liner, labour etc. This was in the South East.

We also have a stove thermometer which is very useful, as well as a log store inside which can hold a weekend's worth of logs. The rest live out in the shed. It was worth getting it installed - our chimney runs up through the centre of the house and it keeps the whole upstairs nice and toasty!

Our installation was about £1600 and that included the marble hearth and it was a straight forward flue up through the ceiling job.
We have 2 stoves- multifuel ones. One is a convecting one and it is far and away the more efficient. They are slightly more expensive but you would probably make back the cost in fuel diference over 2 years or so. You can work out how big an output you need in kw by working out your room size.
We have just starting using the Verdo woodbriquettes in conjunction with wood and they are brilliant - high heat ouput and last an hour or more so they are proving to be very cost effective. We have tried all sorts of fuel.
I am sitting in the kitchen no central heating just the woodburner on and it's snowing and I am toasty.

By law, if you wood-burner has an output of (I think it's..) 5KW or more then you have to have some kind of vent in the room. The hearth's size is also regulated by law.

Wood can take up to a year to "season" properly. You can't burn unseasoned wood as it will lead to problems with the stove/liner.

Unseasoned wood is cheaper to buy than seasoned wood.

You can buy a tool that will tell you what the moisture content of a block of wood is - i.e. so you can check its level of "seasoning"

Different types of wood have different burn rates and produce different amounts of heat. I believe hardwoods are better than soft woods.

Having a wood burning stove is pretty labour (and space) intensive in terms of wood management (purchase/collection/storing/drying out/feeding the fire/cleaning the ash pan).

Most wood-burners won't burn through the night unless you stock them up with slow burning wood just before you go to bed. So the fire will need to be lit from fresh every day.

They are not recommended as your only source of heating, if you have a choice, because they heat a room up relatively slowly compared to central heating.

Once up and running they are great for keeping your cup of tea warmer for longer if you place the cup on top of the stove!

Building regs say woodstoves over 5 kw need an external air vent fitting so this could be a consideration.

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please please make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector fitted in the room. The hetas engineer has to fit one by law, but if you are fitting yourselves or using a non hetas engineer just make sure you fit one-an audible one.

Thank you all.
Lots to think about there...