Log burner install. Update if anyone is interested

[Cabinetman]

Another stove man visited today. They seem to be a bit of a breed.

Recommended Dik Guerts.

The flue is in all cases so far the most costly part. Lots of pros and cons. I am learning a lot and also getting sick of it.

Yes, but persevere it all becomes obvious after a short while, and when you’ve done it you’ll wonder what you were worried about.

 

[AJB Temple]

After further research, decided against a Burley log burner. Reason is the catalysts and mesh deflector both burn out in under a year and users all complain of glass etching within two years. It’s a shame as the efficiency levels are industry leading.

We came across an unused ex display Charlton & Jenrik wide screen 8kW burner (range 4.9-10)on a stand, locally, which is almost as efficient and looks more modern and also happens to have a multi fuel grate. The saving from anything I could get on line was nearly £1000 so we went for that. This has been delivered and is built like a tank. They also quoted me for a new black flue which comes to £1800 including all installation, testing, direct air feed, DEFRA sign off an building regs notification. This compared to more than double from another local supplier. Oddly enough, the supplier we went with was recommended by Burley, but the guy who owns the place was pretty frank about the pros and cons of different units. We very nearly went with a Dik Guerts model, but felt it would look a bit lost in our room.

The installation component, including sign offs, was £500 which made it pointless for me to do it myself and pay for Building Control inspections.

You really need to research these things before buying, as manufacturer specs must be complied with to meet BC and DEFRA regs, and things like distance from combustibles, especially at the back vary hugely. Of the stoves we looked at the back clearance varied from 50mm to 440mm. 440mm is a long way for a stove to poke out into a room and it materially affects the flue penetrations.

Install is 14 August so I will update the refurb thread then.

 

[Cabinetman]

Sounds like you found the right guy, somebody who wants the work. Multifuel, quite likely wants to sell it off as coal will become ever more difficult to find, it’s not a problem, I bought one last year that was cheaper, it doesn’t affect the burning of wood at all.
440mm gap at the back is ridiculous as you point out, are you sure it wasn’t the distance from combustible materials Adrian? Anyway it’s irrelevant as your beast is on its way.
That’s a large stove, are you having an air vent at the rear of the stove? They are good as it stops a draft across the room to supply the stove with air otherwise. Ian

 

[AJB Temple]

Yes Ian. It's a large stove but the space is large (with 4 rooms off it if the doors are open) and there will be a fan to waft the heat about. It can be run at circa 5kW. If it is too much it will be moved to our kitchen next year, which is a large room with a very high ceiling.

The 440mm spec was for a highly recommended high quality Dutch made stove and is correct. I suspect the design may have been aimed at a central room placement (which would work in our kitchen).

Yes re air supply. Required a 100mm insulated hole to outside to feed the stove with cold air. To me this makes a massive amount of sense as otherwise the stove is drawing combustion air from the room that we are trying to heat. So if the stove is 83% efficient it is taking warm air from the room and chucking 17% up the flue continually. I prefer not to heat the outdoors in winter.

Bizarrely, NOT having a direct air feed is a selling point for many people apparently. For stoves over 4.9kW you must have direct air feed or a permanently open air brick (daft), otherwise it does not meet building regs. The vast majority of stoves sold in the UK are sold as 4.9kW nominal.

We don't care about multifuel. It just happened to have that capability. We only use logs and easily have at least two years supply in stock, which will be three years by the time winter arrives and I've chopped and stacked some more wood to season off.