You’ve just reminded me, a couple of years ago, I stacked logs in my fire place alongside my wood burning stove about the same distance as your fireplace side walls are from your stove. I figured this would dry the logs out but it did more than that, the logs actually started to ignite and it was only due to the low evening light in the room that I noticed glowing red embers in amongst the wood piles. Panic stations. Dowsed the logs down with a bucket of water and quickly took each log outside. I think the walls along side your burner are going to receive quite a lot of heat. The back wall of my fireplace is protected by one of those old decorative cast iron plates that leans against the wall but the side walls minus the logs are a good 1 ½ -2 ft away from the stove.What are your fireplace walls constructed from/coated with and will they be able to withstand such intense heat at close range?
- Thread starter john.s
- Start date
My fireplace walls are brick with cement render, I had used a fire grate previously (although of course all the heat went straight up the chimney!). I was thinking to tile all round with the same tiles that are on the hearth ie quarry tiles - they seem extremely resilient.
john.s
john.s
Might be a good idea, but the tiles and adhesive will bring the walls even closer to the stove. Whatever you do, I think with the walls being so close, you are effectively creating an oven and the internal surfaces (tiled or otherwise) will become fiercely hot. This might all be perfectly ok (I’m no expert on this) but I can definitely see a few pizza’s being cooked here on a winters evening
As far as I can see from the regs, everything is in order. After all, I did just have a roaring open fire in a basket before, at least this is contained, and has the walls of the stove with firebricks to half way up inside, to keep the walls protected. I want to give it a small firing soon to cure the paint, but for the life of me still cannot figure out how the baffle plate goes! I remember when bringing the stove home, the plate did not fall out or come loose or even clatter about (and I put the stove on its side) so it must be fairly well fixed when it is in correctly. There is a ledge running around the sides and front, approximately at the height where the canopy starts, and there are two longish bits sticking out from each of the sides. The baffle is not quite big enough to sit well on the ledges at the edges, here's a picture if anyone can give me more advice...
I am unclear if there is supposed to be a gap for the smoke to go up through at the front or back of the stove.
Thanks
john.s
I am unclear if there is supposed to be a gap for the smoke to go up through at the front or back of the stove.
Thanks
john.s
Not serving suggestions then?Cloudscape said:
Just because what was there before wasn't up to current standards doesn't mean you're allowed to improve on it without actually meeting the current regulations. A HETAS qualified installer could give it the OK (assuming it is OK) and at the same time sweep the chimney. Of course it's your home and your risk but your insurance company may refuse to pay out if you start a house fire either through lack of maintenance (sweeping) or fitting an incompatible stove.john.s said:
IIRC our new stove had to be fitted at least 6" from any non combustable wall and the hearth had to extend 9" beyond the front so it looks close or near to me but I'm not a HETAS expert
FWIW our old stove (not installed by a professional and probably not compliant) is fitted in an chimney breast with a similar gap on the left but a much larger one on the right, maybe a foot or so. We stack logs between the wall and the stove and only once when I had the stove REALLY fired up for several hours, top baffle wide open and front vents too did we get any charring on the logs. I guess it depends how dry your wood is and hot your stove gets. It also has a crack in it so I have a carbon monoxide alarm & smoke alarm in the room - I would definitely recommend you do this with your new installation as CO poisoning sends you to sleep as do nice warm fires so it's good to know the difference!
Well, finally I found a great document on this stove http:/www.villager.co.uk/pdf/owners_wood.pdf everything you could want to know about installing using and maintaining the complete range of villager stoves - and yes detailed instructions on how to fit the baffle! (I've been on the villager site many times but never noticed this before).
Also, it stipulates a minimum of 75mm between stove walls and fire recess, which providing I dont tile I do just have (a pity, I bought the tiles today and feel they would be a good safety/decorative feature). Although one side is a bit wonky and if I remove the render all round, chip off the excess brick where it is uneven, I could then tile, we'll see!
john.s
Also, it stipulates a minimum of 75mm between stove walls and fire recess, which providing I dont tile I do just have (a pity, I bought the tiles today and feel they would be a good safety/decorative feature). Although one side is a bit wonky and if I remove the render all round, chip off the excess brick where it is uneven, I could then tile, we'll see!
john.s