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Original poster

Totally confused about multi fuel/woodburner size

26 replies

PostladyPatsCat · 29/12/2016 21:10

Hi all,

Amongst various renovations of my bog standard 1930's 3 bed semi, I've had the original fireplace in the front room opened up with a view to installing a woodburner.

I had a local fire installation company come out and quote for making good the chimney, lining it and installing the stove. When he was at the house doing a survey, I asked for advice on what size stove I should be looking at. He suggested around 5kw for the size of the room and so I was looking at the Stovax Stockton 5 which would fit nicely in the recess with a good gap around.

The problem lies in that I mentioned to my builder what stove I was hoping to buy and he said that in his opinion it was way too big in kW for the size of the room. Normally, I would just trust the expert but after this conversation I did a little 'research' online and I think my builder may be right. I've double checked the paperwork from the fire shop and he's definitely recommended a 5kw stove.

The room is about 3.5 x 3.5 x 2.5m with a small double glazed bay window.

Does anyone have any suggestions. Should I go back to the fire shop (which is quite highly regarded in the area) and tell them I think they've made a mistake? Is there a problem in having too powerful a stove? Is it actually the right size and I should just stop fretting? :D

Any helpful advice or suggestions would be most appreciated. X

OP posts:
Tigerpig · 29/12/2016 21:29

We have a 5kwh stove and our room is approx 5m x 3.5m - just went with what the fireplace store recommended size wise.

Room is toasty warm when it's lit; so in My limited experience 5kwh works for us!

WellyMummy · 29/12/2016 21:56

I've got a bigger room, measured and the 8kW was recommended, this house is always cold. I had 11kW installed and I love it. The 8 wouldn't have been enough.

If in doubt get another company out and get a second opinion.

BillyShingles · 30/12/2016 00:24

What do you want to heat with it? I know that sounds like a stupid qu but we use ours primarily to warm the room, then we open the door to get a bit of heat into the rest of the house. It means we hardly have the heating on in the evening (it helps that we like our bedrooms cool.) It's a 5kw stove, nowhere near able to heat the whole house, it just takes the chill off. And it's on the small side IMO - we have to ask our firewood supplier to bring small pieces. I wouldn't go smaller personally, it would be even harder to source suitable wood.

80sMum · 30/12/2016 00:41

Our room is 15ft x 11ft 6in and about 8ft 6in high. We have a 5kw Clearview Pioneer stove, which imo is the best small stove.

When it's burning at optimum level, it heats the room very quickly and we have to open the door. If the heating isn't on in the rest of the house (which it usually isn't) that does mean that we get a cold draught coming in.

There are very few stoves that are less than 5kw. Those few that are, are very small and the only person I know who has one wishes they had got a slightly larger one because the logs they buy are too big and they have to chop them up to fit them in the tiny burner.

Kr1stina · 30/12/2016 01:09

Do you have any other heating in the room , like radiators ? Is it just to hear that room or the rest of the house too ?

I have this 5kw stove in a large conservatory , which is approx 5m x 8m and 4m high. It's glass on three sides and on the roof.

When we have the stove on we have open the doors to adjacent rooms as it's so hot. I think you will bake in a smaller room.

Totally confused about multi fuel/woodburner size
Original poster
PostladyPatsCat · 30/12/2016 21:15

The room does have its own radiator, but I would hope to minimise my central heating usage by having the woodburner in our main room.

Perhaps the 5kw was suggested because it gives the opportunity to warm up the rest of the house too Hmm

I'll have a look at the clearview one - it was a combination of price and looks that drew me to the Stovax but my mind is far from made up yet.

I presume I don't need to run it at full force if it's too toasty - the temperature is, to some degree, controllable? (Spot the novice!)

OP posts:
Girlwhowearsglasses · 30/12/2016 21:21

5kw will do a double size room - ours is opened up to the back room too in a 19th century house. Ours isn't 'big' though- it's actually quite small and the smaller ones might look a bit dinky. You can close it right up and it burns for ages - you just won't need to tend it so much

Girlwhowearsglasses · 30/12/2016 21:22

Ours is a Chilli Penguin

BillyShingles · 30/12/2016 21:26

Hmm no need to be like that about it, I was only trying to help.

Original poster
PostladyPatsCat · 31/12/2016 08:31

What's up Billy? You did help ... I didn't suggest anything otherwise did I? Shock

OP posts:
insancerre · 31/12/2016 08:38

Not sure what thread billy is reading

Bluntness100 · 31/12/2016 08:50

Go for the five. We have two, we've just had the Charnwood island 11 installed in the sitting room and it's 8 but it's a large room and we already had the stovex in a smaller room, about the same size as yours and it's a 5.. you don't need to burn it at max all the time,and you wouldn't want to, they eat wood, so I'm not sure what your builder is concerned about , effectively you can control it, and it's not like it's going to make a big difference on initial cost. As such I think the stove guy is correct.

My understanding from the guys who did ours is five is the most common, in that nearly all are this size.

Kidnapped · 31/12/2016 09:04

We have a 5KW in a medium size sitting room. The Little Thurlow from Town and Country Fires. I wouldn't go any lower - if we were ever changing it, I'd get an 8KW one so that we can just chop our wood into large logs rather than medium-sized logs. It would save a little bit of time on the chopping front.

It is warm enough not to bother putting central heating on unless we get a really cold spell, but we keep the fire quite low so the room doesn't get too stuffy.

We tend to get it going, open the sitting room door to let it heat the rest of the house for an hour and then close the vents a bit so that the fire is glowing, but not roaring.

Janek · 31/12/2016 09:11

We have a Stovax Stockton 4 (which as the name suggests is a 4kw stove). Our living room is 11' by 12' and it is really toasty with the fire on. If you have it on all day then it heats the dining room adequately too (two up, two down, so small hallway and stairs in between the two rooms), although ideally the upstairs doors would be closed.

We were told not to get a fire bigger than the one we needed as they are more efficient if they burn hotter (we were hoping to heat a bit more of the house, but were warned that we would roast in the one room if it were powerful enough to heat more. I believe that technically the 4kw stove is too big for our room, but smaller ones don't exist. Our neighbour has the same size stove, but her downstairs is knocked through, so she is always heating two rooms of space iyswim.

I am seriously considering a stove fan, as feel this might share the heat around the downstairs a bit, but they are an expensive experiment if they are no good...

frenchfancy · 31/12/2016 15:11

Our room is about 5m x 5m and we have the stovax brunel 2 (6kw). I love it. We were told for our room a 5kw would be better, but we wanted to stick to 30cm logs as we use those in the kitchen stove.

I wouldn't go below a 5kw, but wouldn't go too much bigger either.

SayrraT · 31/12/2016 20:29

janek we have a stove fan and I think it works really well. We've since had friends plus uncle and parents buy one after seeing ours in action.

Janek · 01/01/2017 09:51

How long have you had it sayrrat?and do you have an ecofan, or a cheaper type?

Janek · 01/01/2017 10:09

That's really interesting Sayrra. How long have you had your stove fan? And do you have an ecofan, or a cheaper one?

Original poster
PostladyPatsCat · 01/01/2017 10:48

Oooh ... I'm interested in your fan too Sayrra 😊

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 01/01/2017 11:38

A stove salesman might not always be right, but if a builder disagreed, I would want to know why.

The room size you describe is typical of the front room in many terraced houses, and if I was fitting a radiator, I'd think of 1500W, or 2000W to warm it quicker, with a TRV to prevent it overheating.

If you go for 5kW, does it have some kind of thermostatic control to prevent the room getting too hot?

I've had a multifuel in a cottage, and it did take quite a while to warm up when coming home in the evening. Mine had the ability to heat the hot-water cylinder, which I thought very useful and economical, as there was no gas supply. It could also have been plumbed to heat a towel rail or a radiator upstairs.

PossumInAPearTree · 01/01/2017 17:55

Our room is a bit bigger than yours, 4.5m x 4.5m and we have a 4kw stove. Stove company said either a 4 or a 5 kw would be good for us. Ours seems fine for the room.

PossumInAPearTree · 01/01/2017 17:56

I think the thermostatic control is to open the room door and heat up the hall/dining room. Grin

MyHairNeedsASnip · 01/01/2017 17:56

We've got a 5 in a 30's semi back room, it's fine. We don't have any other heating on, and we leave the doors open so the heat filters through the house. Also we have a stove top fan that really helps to push the heat around.

IlsaLund · 01/01/2017 18:03

We have 5kw stoves in each living room - the rooms aren't huge, one has a conservatory off. The stoves have ecofans on top and we always leave the room door open so the hallway/landing is heated as well.

Bear in mind if you have a greater output than 5 you will have to put in a vent as well.