Some stills:

@stoner – did you buy or make the fan?

Wouldn’t mind one myself 😀

A question for all too …..

Do you need “special” stove kettles or will any metal kettle be okay? Also do they sit directly on the stove top or do you add in a metal spacer?

Need to use ours better!

Taken just for this thread – just lit:

And dogs enjoying the warmth 8)

made the fan myself using a 1.5v DC motor, some model blades, 2x CPU heatsinks, some arctic paste and a peltier device from ebay.

Was fun, and it still works, just not very well. Next time Im bored I will buy a build at home stirling engine instead.

Ground bottom kettle – like one for an aga or rayburn. When not on the boiler it sits on a metal rack on the top of the stove that keeps it 10mm clear.

I also use a stove top aluminium coffe pot as well if Ive lit the fire in the morning.

Mastiles – I like yours, but still too traditional for something that will be so prominent in the living room.

I think the clearview stoves look good, i have a pioneer 400, something like this would look OK in a newer house i should think:

http://www.clearviewstoves.com/solution500.htm

Go on then:

Bunnyhop’s boiler (so to speak)

Hee hee. Thanks for putting the picture up Tom.

If you visit some show rooms, they usually have at least one modern type on view. Ours was from ‘The George Street Loft in Glossop’.
They haven’t just jumped on the bandwagon, but have been fitting/installing stoves from many years.

69er – I like your mantlepiece – I want something like that over our fire but Mrs Mastiles isn’t so keen.

Where did you get it from?

Modern fire in an 80s house…

Stove is a Firebelly – we got a bit carried away and ordered the 6Kw version, which on reflection is a bit big for our lounge/dining area. I’ve partially solved the problem by opening up the door to the hallway, so that the heat dissipates through the house. I noticed the other week that Firebelly stoves have become eye-wateringly expensive since we bought ours – looks like they’ve nearly tripled in price!

The fitting was a bit disappointing – had to get them back the first time as the flue was considerably off plumb. Still not totally satisfied, but I think the only way it’s going to get done properly is if I take it to bits and do it myself! Guess you can’t expect a heating engineer to be familiar with a spirit level.

Found my image a bit blurred though

ditch_jockey – that’s rather more like it..!

What’s it standing on? Like you, we have no fireplace, so will need a hearth to go in.

Is there any disadvantage to fitting into the corner of a room?

Aha Drac – same stove as ours 🙂

My new one, a Fireline FX5 5kw, fitted last week!

Still got to sort out a floating mantlepiece and wall colour but all the dusty work has been done.

Now looking at making a diy fan 😉

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaPPkJMS9D0&list=UUFkxTihn5uQP4RkULwHNggA&index=1&feature=plcp[/video]

What’s it standing on?

A slate plinth which is resting on the chipboard floor. One of the showrooms we looked in did black glass, which was rather nice, and you could also get clear glass, which might look good if you had a tiled or wooden floor.

Ours is a fairly regular 3 bed house in terms of the lounge size, and you could definitely get away with the smaller Firebelly stove to heat our living area if you wanted something fairly unobtrusive. In terms of fitting it to a corner, it’s not a problem as such – the installers would need to leave the appropriate gaps between the sides/back of the stove and the walls.

If you don’t have a fireplace, the plasterboard at the back of the fire needs to come out and be replaced with ‘fireboard’ covered with a cement screed. somewhere I have the picture of ours when the work was done, but I hadn’t redecorated, and the rebuilt area is quite impressive. We got some good advice about how to prepare the new screed from the plasterer who did the work, and the end result is that the new section of wall really isn’t distinguishable, even close up.

Stovax (Huntington, I think)

I have a Nestor Martin Stanford 13 which I can’t recommend highly enough. Very efficient, extremely well build, no issues since fitting a two or three years ago (it’s like new) and you can even fit a remote control if you must.

It’s set in a fireplace with oak beam and slate hearth with a fair bit of space to either side which helps for stacking and giving the logs a final dry before burning.

My advice is don’t go too big. It’s better to have a smaller stove burning properly than a bigger one on low as far as I can tell plus the big ones don’t half go through some wood.

Some nice setups here.

Simwit, ygm!

Ours is a Fireline FX5 too. All in inc. stove cost me £675 max…£525 of that was stove and stovepipe. Fitted all myself-stripping wall back, digging old bricks out, cleaning fire place and re-pointing. Old bricks and cement for hearth covered in B&Q floor tiles. Will get round to getting it HETAS certified after Xmas. Did make sure chimney was swept and inspected before use though.

Dining room, just installed (late ’09):

First lighting 😀 :

Molly’s favourite place (RIP Molly 😥 ):

Living room (installed early ’11):

Oscar’s favourite spot (RIP Oscar 😥 that’s both my dogs this year!! 😥 😥 😥 ):

Now Mabel’s favourite place 😀 :

Lardy, as a springer lover who’s lost springers I feel it, but Mabel looks a sweetie.

and the fires have gone in well too.

@ditch_jockey – cheers. Really useful.

The wall(s) it’ll go against are regular plaster and block (outside walls). It’s part of a wider piece of work we’re doing, so any additional requirements can be factored in.

This was just after it was put in last year. Those are two of my kids hogging the heat.

just got one of these for the kitchen/diner. Had hoped to have it runnung for crimbo but it’s looking doubtful… Should be rather nice though. Very clean and modern looking.

Getting it lit pronto this morning. I’m sure I see ice on my walls.

Bedmaker – that’s a really nice looking fire. Does it vent straight back out through the wall?

Loving the hearth, WEJ. Personally would’ve been inclined to hide that massive pile of bongo, though…

My wee Stovax Stockton 5
Before / half way through knocking crap out of the bricked up opening for the gas fire to make way for the wood burner

Jobs a good’un

Old photos but shows our very efficient central stove with central chimmney going up through the mezzanine. The stove is not the prettiest thing, 3 sides are glass and the boxed in chimney immediately above the stove have vents to set up some really efficient convection currents.

Warms the house up a treat, esp upstairs which becomes sauna like.

That’s a neat setup Tomaso

Noticed a few here are storing wood near or on their burner, is that safe to do?

Not a good idea to stack your logs on or around the burner as they can
reach temperatures up to 600f. This could easly start a fire.

Apologies for the crappy phone picture

IMAG0169 by ~) Jen (~, on Flickr

Took out the old back boiler & hacked fireplace back to brick myself. Got someone in to line it with fireboard & skim it and put in a new cement hearth. A friend supplied & installed the slate hearth, then a chap from the stove place supplied & installed the flue, liner, plate & chimney cowl. All that was £1100 & then £700 for the stove. And it’s the best £1800 we’ve spent on the house.

ski – Member
That’s a neat setup Tomaso

Noticed a few here are storing wood near or on their burner, is that safe to do?

kmax – Member
Not a good idea to stack your logs on or around the burner as they can
reach temperatures up to 600f. This could easly start a fire.

Yep, if you do that be very careful. I do stack wood next to the stove, but I’m very careful to leave a gap. In the ealry days of uso having the fire I put a piece on top, like tomaso, and it took us some time to realise that the smell of woodsmoke wasn’t the fire itself, it was the piece of wood on top that was on the verge of flaming.

D-j yes it vents out the back. I’ll put a hole in the wall and I’ve got one of those grill thingys from an oil boiler to let the smoke out.

Storing wood on top of the stove is fine but don’t go to bed or out of the house with it there.

ski – Member
That’s a neat setup Tomaso
Noticed a few here are storing wood near or on their burner, is that safe to do?

kmax – Member
Not a good idea to stack your logs on or around the burner as they can
reach temperatures up to 600f. This could easly start a fire.
Yep, if you do that be very careful. I do stack wood next to the stove, but I’m very careful to leave a gap. In the ealry days of uso having the fire I put a piece on top, like tomaso, and it took us some time to realise that the smell of woodsmoke wasn’t the fire itself, it was the piece of wood on top that was on the verge of flaming.

It was early days and the wood was not well seasoned. And yes it does start to smell of woodsmoke. And yes it is a fire hazard.

The skinny slates in my fire are off cuts trimmed down to a standard size and are quite cheap

May I just update this

with this, just fitted today