fitting a wood burning stove / clearances

[citoyen]

We're looking at getting a wood burning stove. The one we like is 522mm wide and the instructions "recommend" a minimum clearance of 80mm all round. The recess we want to put it in is 530mm wide. There would be plenty of clearance above and behind.

What are the implications of not meeting the recommended clearances?

d.

[RW]

What are the implications of not meeting the recommended clearances?

The house burns down.  Wood burners get very hot.  We store wood by the side of ours, and even leaving 12" clearence the wood gets very warm.  If it's to go in an existing fireplace have you considered an insert?

[rafletcher]

Roberts response is maybe a bit extreme, but the adjacent surface will get VERY hot, and it's possible the stove itself will get hotter than it's design temps by severely restricting the ventilation. Had you saidyou could leave 2" a side fair enough, but 4mm!

If its a brick/block opening, maybe you'd be best chopping it out to give adequate clearance and air circulation area.

[Woofage]

Note that woodburning stove installations are covered by Building Regulations. Download Approved Document J and read it. Everything you need to know will be contained within. Therefore, one of the implications for not doing it correctly is that your house becomes unsaleable.

[Chris S]

Well, yes - a woodburner does get very hot. The casing of ours easily gets to a couple of hundred Celsius. Is this enough to ignite nearby combustibles? I don't know - but there's no way I'd bet my family on it.

I sometimes dry wood (it can be a bit damp straight off the woodpile) around the woodburner, but generally like to keep anything combustible well away.

Clearances quoted are usually not overstated, and are set for reasons other than safety too. Much of the heat produced by a woodburner is convective - it's a bloody great lump of really hot iron in your living room. For that heat to be useful, you need good airflow around the thing - and the clearances achieve that.

Edit: Also - radiant heat into a large brick stack acts as a really good thermal store - our chimney stack stays noticeably warm for a couple of days after running the fire for a period of at least a few days.

[citoyen]

The house burns down.

Damn, that would be a bummer.

Tbh, I didn't think it would be a good idea and was only really asking to confirm my suspicions.

An insert or knocking out a wider fireplace opening are options we are considering. Another possibility is to have it sitting in front of the fireplace, but then we'd have to fit a new hearth. I'm not even sure the fireplace is adequately lined for a stove anyway - I think it was designed purely to take the flue from the 1970s gas heater that was there when we moved in.

d.

[citoyen]

Note that woodburning stove installations are covered by Building Regulations... one of the implications for not doing it correctly is that your house becomes unsaleable.

Didn't think of that! Thanks.

d.

[rae]

Some thoughts:

1) The freer standing the stove is, the more heat will get out into the room.   Pushing a stove into a recess will heat the recess, not the room.  

2) What are the walls of the recess made of?  If an old chimney breast, you don't really need to worry about fire - because the original fire was probably a lot hotter.   If wood or similar combustibles - then yes, a stove will char them at the very least.  

3) Your clearances are VERY small.  I wouldn't get overly exercised about 70mm or 80 mm but 10mm is extreme.  

4) These are very good indeed - and will fit:

Clearview Pioneer 400 Woodburning Stove

I have two of them....

Therefore, one of the implications for not doing it correctly is that your house becomes unsaleable.  

Or you take the stove with you when you sell it.

[rae]

An insert or knocking out a wider fireplace opening are options we are considering. Another possibility is to have it sitting in front of the fireplace, but then we'd have to fit a new hearth. I'm not even sure the fireplace is adequately lined for a stove anyway - I think it was designed purely to take the flue from the 1970s gas heater that was there when we moved in. 

- Small stove
- Stick a 6" liner up the chimney
- Big lump of stone in front = hearth

[LEL]

Who is fitting the stove?

If they are properly qualified, if the stove clearances are insufficient, they won't fit it anyway.

We had three quotes for fitting our stove and all three quoters were very helpful with information  and advice - all of which tallied - we did'nt get told one thing by one and something different by someone else.

Also, the manufacturers usually give information on necessary clearances.

[Woofage]

If they are properly qualified, if the stove clearances are insufficient, they won't fit it anyway.

The installer will have a HETAS certificate. This means they can self-certify thus Building Regs won't be required (like CORGI is for gas). I bought my flue pipes etc from a HETAS installer, but fitted it myself as we were having loads of other work to be signed off by Building Control.

[innesh]

Even the smallest of stoves pump out a huge amount of heat - greater, it seems to me, than their stated kw output.  You might not need a big stove, unless it's for a huge room or has a back boiler.

[RW]

Roberts response is maybe a bit extreme,

Agreed.  That's obviously on the way towards the worst case scenario.  Our house in France where we have the wood burner, and a big open fire is in a remote village.  I was ticked off by a neighbour about the nearness of my stored wood.  Fair enough, we're surrounded by houses - and the pompiers are about an hour away. 

[inc]

I'm not even sure the fireplace is adequately lined for a stove anyway - I think it was designed purely to take the flue from the 1970s gas heater that was there when we moved in.

d.

I would check this first as just lining it is not safe or allowable if it is just a gas fire flue vent. You will also need to have the right size for the heat output of the fire. Even if the flue is constructed correctly it may be too small a diameter. Everything you need to know is in the regs
 Planning Portal - Approved Document J