Help with inset woodburner

The_Abyss

The_Abyss

The_Abyss

Soldato
Joined
15 May 2007
Posts
12,804
Location
Ipswich / Bodham
We've considered a wood burner in the past for our lounge, but have been put off as it is a relatively modest space and we don't want something that intrudes far into the room. At the moment we have an electric heater with a noisy fan, so we never use it.

This is an exterior wall but there's no chimney behind it so we'd need a separate flue. But I don't know how thick the wall is. The house is relatively modern - 23 years old. Short of drilling, is there another way to find if I've enough depth to fit something like this? https://envirostoves.co.uk/s/heta_inspire40_insert - 35 cm depth.

Could anyone help with ideas on what my options might be?

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With you being in England am I right in saying you need a proper installer to sign off on the install? (HETAS registered?)
I'd hazard a guess that the flue would go straight out the external wall horizontal then up several meters clear of house.
Like this in fact :
https://www.stovesonline.co.uk/external-insulated-flue-system.html

At a guess you might need to put a metal lining in first before fitting the inset stove so the stove isn't in direct contact with plasterboard etc
 
Yep, I'd definitely get this fitted rather than attempt myself. I'm just trying to understand the different options available.
 
Get it fitted. Plus the quote I had for mine said I had to extend the hearth out to 30cm past the door of the woodburner with stone to meet building regs, but you might already have that depending on the space behind the current setup.
 
The_Abyss said:
is there another way to find if I've enough depth to fit something like this?
Click to expand...

Honestly the easiest way is probably to get a professional out to give you a quote. We recently had a free standing burner fitted to replace the gas fire that was there before. Not really the same situation as we already had an external chimney for the gas fire but what getting the professionals out did give us was an idea of the options. I thought we would probably have to go for an inset burner due to the available space but the installer told us within a few minutes of looking at it that the opening could probably be enlarged fairly easily by removing a few breeze blocks around the edges of the existing opening. This is what we did in the end and we are very pleased with the result. Its easily one of the best things I've bought. Having said that its not particularly cheap. Ours was just over £3k including the stove which coincidentally was also a Heta model.
 
EH75 said:
Honestly the easiest way is probably to get a professional out to give you a quote. We recently had a free standing burner fitted to replace the gas fire that was there before. Not really the same situation as we already had an external chimney for the gas fire but what getting the professionals out did give us was an idea of the options. I thought we would probably have to go for an inset burner due to the available space but the installer told us within a few minutes of looking at it that the opening could probably be enlarged fairly easily by removing a few breeze blocks around the edges of the existing opening. This is what we did in the end and we are very pleased with the result. Its easily one of the best things I've bought. Having said that its not particularly cheap. Ours was just over £3k including the stove which coincidentally was also a Heta model.
Click to expand...

Thanks - who did you use?
 
If there isn't any structure on the exterior, then the inset currently won't fit, you will only have a cavity wall construction, approx 300mm and most woodburners are typically 350mm.

If you are set on the inset type woodburners, you would have to construct, out of suitable material a false chimney breast, or external lean-to. Then run the flue system. Alternatively you can remove the current setup and have a freestanding stove and flue system.
 
To install that inset, I imagine the simplest way will be to build a hearth out of blockwork. This would then eat up floor space in that room, probably more than a freestanding stove would.
 
We looked at similar a couple of years ago (roughly). The gas fire will go back into the block, but will only be that deep. When we looked at inserts you have to have a pretty wide area of fireproof materials, which means a big hole. (Its why old fireplaces are opened up for burners), or you come out. We found it was just too far out for where we wanted it, similar to you by the looks of things, it the middle of a wall.

In the end we did the opposite. I filled in and boarded the hole. We created a new rustic look hearth (wooden boards) and bought one of them bio ethanol fireplaces (modern look) for the effect. In the mean time I updated the heating controls and we now move the stat into the lounge when we want it warmer.

The only minor issue with the bio ethanol is it slightly smells, but we just add a little oil burner at the same time and you cant smell it. We wanted it for the effect, but it does throw out about 2Kwh (they claim 3, but I think thats slightly exagerated, although its a balance of burn time to output). A full bottle lasts about 3-4 hours, and when you buy bulk they work out about £1.50 or so. So wouldn't want to use them constantly as a main source of heating, but over the winter at the weekend etc, not really worth worrying about.

This is the one we have https://www.imaginfires.co.uk/stow-white-bioethanol-fireplace
 
Thanks for your help all. It feels like we’ll still save space having in inset as opposed to free-standing or wall-mounted, but that’s given me some good ideas.
 
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