Hey all, I seem to remember reading several posts about wood burning stoves on here, but unfortunately they didn’t cover the info I’m after.

A chimney and open fire place was added as an extension to my house many years ago, and was subsequently boarded over by subsequent owners. I’d like to start using it again and so I’m looking for a small wood burning stove (rather than an open fire) that will fit in the area of the old open fire place.

It has dimensions of about
Height 25” or 63.5cm
Width 22” or 55.88cm
Depth 13” or 33.02cm
it’s the depth that appears to be the biggest hurdle…

any help, recommendations or advice would be gratefully received

cheers

I am looking at some small ones myself, and seems that 10 cm clearance around it is recommended.
If you can find anything wide enough you just move the burner forward till it fit.
Its not like it have to all the way inside the fireplace.

I don’t really know anything about them, but I don’t think the 13″ depth should worry you (if you’re thinking it won’t be deep enough) as my mum has one in a fireplace of similar dimensions. It pokes out the front but doesn’t look out of place in the slightest, and I would imagine is better as there’s more surface area exposed to the room (rather than brick) so you should get more heat transferring into the room.

So long as you have a decent hearth you should be fine.

Edit to add: You might need to get a lining/flue of some kind in the chimney though, or have it sealed. I’m sure they have something like that.

When we chose ours we looked at manufacturer websites – I think the stoves have data sheets which show you minimum dimensions required to accommodate them.

We ended up with a Stovax 5 (or something).

The key is ensuring you have the right hearth construction for your chosen stove IIRC. They have to be certain depths and thicknesses, depending on the temperature your stove reaches.

What Wallop said. The hearth need to come out beyond the front of the stove a certain amount. We’ve got a Stovax Stockton 5 IIRC with about 40cm of hearth beyond the front of the stove door. The stove sits insde the fire place but it could stick out if you want it to.

I was thinking along the same lines a few months ago, before getting outvoted and going for gas, but when looking, discovered you can now get good woodburning stoves which sit into the place of a normal open fire, rather than sitting out on a hearth. If you’re googling, inset is the key term, and if you’re in a smokeless zone, add Defra to the search and it will get you the approved ones which are allowed. Here’s one.

Esse inset multifuel stove, Defra approved.

yeah the hearth is probably more important than chimney space. 225mm in front of stove & 150mm to each side. It needs to be at least 250mm thick unless your stove is guaranteed not to exceed 100 degrees at it’s base, where it only needs to be 12mm thick.

And if you’re in a smokeless area check http://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/appliances.php?country=e to see if your appliance is exempt. “Cleanburn” doesn’t necessarily mean it is exempt; often a kit needs to be added to it to stop the airflow being closed fully.

Speak to your local HETAS registered installer and see what they say.

Wow that was quick! Cheers all.

Thanks for the term “inset” couldn’t think of the correct term and depth wasn’t cutting it in google…

I realise that the fire can ‘stick-out’ in to the room, but I’m trying to minimise it as much as possible, but I think if I’m to maintain breathing room around the stove and the fireplace it’s going to have to stick out… that and I want a usable firebox.

It’s just that my living room is the wrong way around, for use with the fire place, with the TV on the opposite wall and the sofa up against the wall of the covered up fireplace, but this is the better configuration otherwise, by far!
I was trying to be ‘clever’ and have the fire area and hearth to not come into the room very far, so I can still push the sofa against it when not in use, at least until I can get around to re-configuring the living room layout and cabling…

Maybe I need to have a re-think and just cut out the plasterboard covering the fire place and see what I’m dealing with…

Yeah but along with the hearth worries it may well be a lot more important to check the construction of the flue!

first thing to do is get a good sweep or HETAS guy out to have a look. He’ll tell you if the chimney is suitable, although the HETAS guy will undoubtedly tell you that you need a twin wall stainless liner costing about £900.

Had mine on the last few evenings, sat here in my underpants as I type 😀

I’m looking for a small wood burning stove (rather than an open fire) that will fit in the area of the old open fire place.

It has dimensions of about
Height 25” or 63.5cm
Width 22” or 55.88cm
Depth 15” or 33.02cm

We’ve got a fireplace about 30″H x 24″W x 15″D into which we fitted our Franco Belge Belfort so it all fits within the fireplace with a few inches to spare all around.

The hearth sticks out another 14″ but we fitted the wood burner recessed in the fireplace as our children were much younger at the time and it seemed less of a hazard tucked away a bit.

However, a wood burner hidden away in a smallish fireplace dosen’t heat up the room/house nearly as much as one sticking out a bit into the room. The bricks around the fireplace get hot but it dosen’t have the same effect of warming the room up quickly when lit as it did when it was more exposed. Therefore, we’re going to move it out a bit onto the hearth, now the kids are older and stuff.

Maybe consider extending the hearth area with a slab of slate or something to get the air circulating around the burner and, therefore, getting the most from it?

Not sure of the set up, but don’t forget you could use glass as a suitable hearth material. The sofa would roll over that part when not in use. My folks have a morso in a room with no chimney breast or conventional hearth. Stove sits on the glass and works well.

We got a Charnwood, still the best thing we have ever done to the house, been squirrelling away wood during the summer in anticipation 😀 I think the Cove is their smallest but give Ced a shout, top bloke.

210920091305 by Sush Kelly, on Flickr

Fitting the stove into the fireplace shouldn’t be a problem. I fitted a Stovax Stockton 5 into a similar sized hole in the chimney.

You need to read the relevant building regs and do some measuring. The hearth size extending out into the room from the fire is critical, as is the construction of the hearth in terms of being non-combustable and able to take the weight.

You need to stay under 5kw or you have to factor in an additional source of fresh air ventilation to stop the room occupants from being asphixiated!

I love mine, the heat is so much more enjoyable than a gas fire. Its like the difference between instant and fresh coffee.

So is there an easy place to see the building reg’s?

If it helps, it’s built with concrete block with what appears to be little tubes, of porcelain/ terracotta I assume, stuck on top of one another. There’s no way I can afford to get someone in, so want to make sure I do it right/legal…

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/stove_building_regulations.html

If there is an existing fireplace, there will be a constructional hearth. You need to get the stove at least part recessed into it – it doesn’t have to be all the way in.

If the constructional hearth doesn’t protrude the fireplace far enough (and it should, if the fireplace was ever used), then you can get stoves which can sit on a 12mm hearth – I think the Morso ones are OK for this.

You then need to sort the chimney. Ideally it should be lined and a register plate fitted. Lining can be done using a flexible liner and the voids filled with vermiculite. This insulates the flu which reduces tar build up through condensation.

Oh and with the 5kw + thing, look to see if you have existing air bricks. Our place has them, and I didn’t need to add anything for an 8kw stove.

Edit: Don’t be tempted to assume that you don’t need the to be chimney lined – you do.

Brilliant, Cheers for that!