If you have a woodburner, what ventilation do you have?

[PiningForTheMoon]

I'm not sure what is needed but I have a giant hole in one of my external walls and it's fecking freezing.

Ideally I'd like to block it up but need to know what the requirements are for air flow. Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

https://www.stoveworlduk.co.uk/does-my-stove-need-an-air-vent-or-air-brick#:~:text=If%20your%20house%20was%20built,puts%20out%20more%20than%205kW

We don't have one as while the output is 8kw it's in a very big room.

In our old house we had a 5kw and again the room was big enough not to need ventilation.

Depends on the age of your house and the heat output of the woodburner. Old houses are so draughty you don't need a ventilator with a small woodburner - 5kW or less. Bigger than that you are supposed to have one. We don't, we live in an old very draughty house ❄
I am not an expert, but I'd say, looking at the regs, for a small one you need about a couple of airbricks in a house built after 2008. Then about half an airbrick per extra kW.
There's a calculator here

https://rts.vents.co.uk/blog/regulations-stove-ventilation-in-england-wales/

Thanks both. 1930s house and 5kw stove so no ventilation needed.

Any tips on how to fill in and cover the massive hole?

I think you need to post a picture if you want suggestions about that! 😁

Contact a reputable local builder to ask for his professional advice/expertise.

Please make sure you have a carbon monoxide monitor in the room, correctly positioned. Particularly necessary if you are removing ventilation.

Thanks @bluesatin, I've got a temporary solution in place now.

Thanks @RollerSkateLikePeggy, I've got two in the room with the woodburner so we're good on that front.

Standard vent, it's about a 4" diameter hole. It's legally required for a stove installation. Ours is also in a 1930s house.

Don't block it up if you're using the stove.

Not for 5kw or smaller.

It depends how the installer assessed the house for overall ventilation. Above 5kW you must have ventilation, but at or below that rating it depends on the property. If a HETAS installer insisted on a vent at the time of installation, you'd be a fool to then block it up.

As pp said you don’t need extra ventilation if your stove is 5kw or under which most household ones are.

We filled the hole up with expanding foam. Then if we ever come to sell and a survey picks it up, it's easy enough to drill the foam out again. We left the grill on the wall so it's not obvious that the hole isn't there. And yes we do have a carbon monoxide alarm.
We had an open fire before we got the log burner installed. There was no ventilation hole as it presumably wasn't required when the house was built in the early 1990's. It was only when we had cavity wall insulation injected into the walls that the firm doing the work insisted on the extra ventilation. I managed to stop them drilling it into the north facing front wall where the wind whips up the street straight at that wall of the house and persuaded them to put it on a side wall instead, which was marginally better. But I couldn't get over the irony of insulating my house and then drilling a bloody great big draughty hole in the wall at the same time.

I have a bloody great hole in the wall and the cold wind whistles in. I think the stove is 8kw and the installer insisted on it. I have a chair in front of it. I did block it up by 50% but when the chimney sweep saw it he told me off.
Carbon monoxide monitor in room.

The way tonnot have a draught but have a good air supply for combustion is to supply the air straight intonthe stove doana duct. That way it does not whistle past your ankles on the way through.

We.did this (before we disabled the woodburner for other reasons). The stove has to be the sort with an optional opening beneath or at the back for a steel duct (many if not most stoves will have this option however), and the inlet is drilled though the wall behind the stove, and the duct leads straight from outside into the firebox.. Problem solved!.