I keep pondering the idea of a wood burning stove....

[Ikeameatballs]

....but,I think it might cost more than I can afford and I am completely perplexed as there seems to be so much choice I don't know how to begin.

Any advice as to how to work out what I would need and approx costs?

Get a specialist builder in to access your chimney, it will cost approx. £1500/£2,500 to get one installed and then start dragging the wood home.

We have a tree knocked down by the wind. Chop it up. Let it stand in a pile for a few weeks/months/year/whenever you need it.

Free fuel.

we are in a dilemma too. we are having major renovations and have had quotes but as it needs a chimney it will cost nearly £4k. we can't decide whether to go ahead but we dont want gas really so we dont have much choice except for nothing! and the house is so cold. its just such a lot of ££

Go for it! But find a sole operator, showroom quotes are often crazy expensive. Ours cost about 1500 to install, including liner, by hetas registered bloke who did a great job. Fancy-pants local showroom quoted 5k for identical installation!!!

We're going to install one too so I will be watching with interest!
Sorry to hijack, but any recommends in the north west?

We are just about to have one installed. Existing chimney with open fire - we had to have it swept by approved sweep. Installer measured opening and recommended which size / output of stove to buy. We paid £580 for a 4kw multi fuel stove, installation is a further £1200 plus VAT. We had scaffolding in place as chimney was being repaired at the same time, but otherwise we would have had to pay for that again (was £460 for scaffolding). Really looking forward to having a lovely warm room as we have missed the open fire while the fireplace was being prepared.

you need to measure your room to find out what output stove you need, google stove calculation and you will find one online. then have a look at stoves you like that are about the size from the calculator so you will at least know how much you would pay for a stove on its own. as for installation costs - the only people that can cost it are the people doing the work...

Hi,

Budget £2,000 for the install and £500 to £800 for a stove as a rough guide.

You can always DIY it through Building Control! Materials £350 and stove £500. Use the web to search for Stove Fitters Manual.

Most of an install is building work (builders are cheaper than stove fitters).

Julian

in addition to all the good advice about the stove: (it will need a HETAS check if you DIY, insurance issues otherwise plus building control)

• does your chimney need lining?
• have you got somewhere to store wood or coal?
• if wood, it comes in ton bags. If you do chop down trees they need to be chopped up and be left for a year at least to dry out. Room for all that? Energy for all that?

You didn't hear this from me, but I know of a friend who about 8 years ago got a cheap stove on eBay for £200, stuck it in the fireplace, no liner, only a 1m flue, just straight up the chimney, never signed off by building regs and it's been fine ever since and no one has ever noticed.

yes, unless there is a chimney fire or your friend wants to sell the house. No insurance pay off with the first, and will need retrospective approval/works for the second.

I hope your friend at least gets the chimney swept.

the cheap stove isn't the issue.

That's dangerous Random Internet Stranger. The rules exist to prevent deaths.

Without a liner, you might asphyxiate either you or worse your neighbours when carbon monoxide filters through the gaps in the chimney bricks. Or burn your house down, obviously not covered by insurance. Ignoring building regs in this particular instance would be monumentally stupid.

Building regulations have been drawn up and should be adhered to for a very good reason. So that the health and safety and lives of people within the building are protected and not at the mercy of idiots who think they know it all...when they know nothing.

I think the £1500/£2,500 price is too high but I guess that depends on what you want - You can pick up a 5kw stove for around £500+ add in the fitting costs from a HETAS registered installer and you should be home free in well under a grand. If you need a hearth, chimney lining and the rest the price can really climb. We found ours at a great price via Stove Accessories

ooh I just got one - see thread here for more info: here

It cost £2,500 in total, to knock out a hole in the chimney breast, make it good, the stove itself, fitting it and creating a hearth. It took 2 days and I absolutely love it

Am currently sat right next to it and have lit it every day since we had it installed - it's very toasty and makes me feel like I'm on holiday every day

Have to say it's more work than I expected it to be. But I've got a routine going now of setting it up when I get home from work and cleaning it out twice a week.

We had a ton of wood delivered in December and I'm nearly through it but hope to use less over the coming months.

Any questions, give me a shout!

Ours was about £600 for install (by hepas registered) and £700 for the stove - hunter herald, no liner because chimney was already lined that was only a year ago.

ooh I've got a recommendation if anyone's in the North West. Our fitter was David O'Brien and was absolutely brilliant: here.

We got 3 quotes - his was in the middle but he showed us photos of previous jobs, turned up when he said he would, sent us a quote straight away and came with his team and did a great job.

Thanks all.

I have looked online and there are a couple of shops pretty near so I'm going to try to look at the weekend. My gut feeling is that it will be too expensive but I need to find that out for certain so I can put the idea to one side.

I have a chimney and an open fire atm so installation might not be as high as some of the figures suggested?

Thank you Dotty - will give David a call to get a price.

Ours was about £1500 all in with liner and stove and hetas chimney sweep installing. Well worth it for us.