Wood burning stove installations are on the up. Some 180,000 were installed in UK homes last year – a fivefold increase on 2007.
Most people like to install a stove to heat a particular room, although some people opt for wood as a fuel to heat their entire house and provide hot water.
If you’re thinking of giving your living room (or any other room) some warmth and character with a stove you probably have a few questions that you’d like answering.
Will it save money? How much?
Both wood burning stove and stoves installation London are quite an outlay, but with the cost of the fuel cheaper at about 4p per kWh (£50 – £150 of wood yearly) they can start to pay for themselves after about two or three years’ use. Building regulations mean that stoves have to be efficient (65% at the minimum).
The Stove Industry Alliance say that a wood burning stove is 77% cheaper per kilowatt hour to run than an electric stove. They are also 29% cheaper than gas and about 43% cheaper than oil.
Wood burning stoves are carbon neutral, too. So you’re doing your bit for the environment.
What size do I need?
Too small a stove and you’re cold; too big and you underuse the appliance, which can blacken the glass and coat the flue in tar.
If you’re wondering about sizing, generally a 3.5m x 3.5m room needs a 5kW stove. But don’t worry – we have a tried and tested system for calculating the best size for any room.
After wood stoves installation
Maintenance – is it hard work?
You’ll need to leave some time to light the fire and clean out the ash, though ash shouldn’t need cleaning out more than once a week.
As for chimney maintenance you will need an efficient channel for flue gases to be taken up properly. We will take a look to see if your chimney lining is sufficient or if your property will require flue re-lining.
Chimneys should be swept at the start of the heating season at least. The Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps recommends sweeping quarterly over the period the stove is being lit.