Have just bought a house that was built around 1880 and it has a gas back boiler with pig ugly gas fire fitted to the front. Have thought about having a new combi boiler fitted in the kitchen and opening up the fireplace but I’m now interested in a multifuel back boiler stove to heat the water and radiators. Does anyone have any experience of them or general advice? Thanks

Yes.

1. You need a lot of fuel which = storage
2. Is your layout suitable – gravity circulation to the cylinder and a leak rad. Dowwnload some instructions to see the layout they need.
3. Not cheap to buy/install.
4. Extra work.
5. House is cold when you come in from work and will take an hour at least to start putting decent heat into the rads.
6. Look into a Laddomat also.
7. If I started again from scratch, we have no mains gas and oil is bonkers money, I’d probably stick an air source heat pump on and size the system to use this and a multifuel fire into the system also via a buffer vessel. Air source for being lazy, multifuel when in. As you have mains gas I’d at least allow the easy installation of a boiler later.
8. A dunsley neutralizer is one way to do this.

I run a stovax 8hb, it’s ace! Its a 12kw fire with 8 to the boiler and 4ish to the room. We have 9 radiators in the house and the hot water running through it. Stovesonline have a specific web Page for back boiler stoves well worth a look. Cost use £300 to run it over this winter

Having seen the post above me, if I were starting from scratch I,d have air source heating with underfloor heating and the backboiler, with a hot water storage system.

I’ve only got a 3 bed semi with plenty of insulation in a village with no mains gas.

as a registered installer of both i’d class the multi fuel option as a lifestyle choice.
setting aside the practicalties and costs of installation, i’d do some serious research on how you actually live with both systems.
fit and forget .. gas.. on trend something to discuss on forums multifuel ( not forgetting the issues listed in the post above)

air source its the future, i think there are grants available for it too.

I put a system in in October. Aarow multifuel boiler (20kw, 14 to boiler) plumbed into a dinky 300l thermal store which also has feeds from the oil boiler and solar thermal panels.
The TS is on open circuit with the rads (15). Mains pressure HW is provided through a heat exchanger off the TS.
When I’m away on business, the whole system runs on oil. When I’m there I do the donkey work with the logs. I like the independence of not relying on the oil man.
Laddomat here too.

Only go ASHP or GSHP if you can install underfloor heating and you don’t like proper hot, proper powerful showers.

Not at all useful, but…
Just had a bunch of air source pumps installed at work – think carefully about installation locations.
One makes the workshop even colder, especially your knuckles when using one of the machines.
Another has turned the outside loo baltic.
The last troublesome ones are outside a fire exit, as you step aside to avoid hitting your head on one, you trip over another.

With the rant out the way, more usefully, my parents always had a solid fuel cooker that was linked to the boiler, with an immersion heater back up and for the summer.
The stove could tick over all day if loaded up.
If they were to install it again I think they’d just add hot water solar to cover them over the summer.

ONLY use a heat pump IF your building is insulated to a MINIMUM Part L standard and you are running underfloor heating.

Cost maybe more but you can have fully automated wood pellet systems, although as above says if you are on mains gas then use it.

Thanks for all the valuable info. I really think i need to go and do some further research before I jump into anything. Cheers!

With just a back-boiler, look forward to getting up to a cold house on a winter’s morning…

Oh yes Air Source isn’t the answer but I’d be happy running the rads at a lower temp and underheating the house with the fire to be lit if you want it hot.

Depending on your house a room heater only stove might be more suitable and effectively heat the house (depending on your use) and get a modern gas boiler (combi or otherwise) to heat when you can’t be arsed or it;s getting too cold for just the stove.

Only go ASHP or GSHP if you can install underfloor heating and you don’t like proper hot, proper powerful showers.

Power is down to your mains water pressure if using an unvented water heater and temperature is down to how much elec you want to use to heat your cylinder up. They are both capable of providing this but not at an economic rate. Most people won’t shower above 40degC anyway and if your storing at that your into Legionella temps.

With just a back-boiler, look forward to getting up to a cold house on a winter’s morning…

Yup and if nobody at home routine is get in from work, leave coat on, light fire, wait for an hour before rads start to get warm, go to bed as the house starts to overheat. Did that for 4 years and the advent of children and wife at home means the house has never been so warm as the fire was/is on from relatively early in the morning.