The 5 Most Important Checks Before You Install A Wood Burner
Wood burning stoves (also often called simply woodburners) are very much in demand these days for two of the most compelling reasons known to society: money and good looks.
To begin with, sizeable savings can be achieved compared to using conventional fuel sources, and furthermore nothing still come close to the cosy warmth of a real fire. And regardless of whether you want your cost savings kitted out in stylish, modern garb or dressed up as a traditional kitchen range there’s almost certain to be a woodburning stove that’s just perfect for you.
But wood burners are not for everyone. The cost savings can indeed be very significant, but only if your personal circumstances are suitable. Here then is a guide through the key points you need to check if you are contemplating installing a wood burner.
Fuel Supply
Do you have local access to a reliable, cost effective supply of solid fuel? What sort of fuel is it actually? Woodburners can be fuelled with well-seasoned logs, other types of solid wood, wood chips, and/or wood pellets. But some burners are optimized for (or in some cases restricted to) only specific sorts of fuel.
Well-seasoned wood means that it has been stored and naturally dried for no less than a year. Wood chips look no different to the small pieces of wood produced by the wood chippers used by tree surgeons. Wood pellets have been manufactured from compressed sawdust into small, uniformly sized blocks.
It is obviously crucial that you are sure you know how to actually fuel your wood burner before you proceed any further or get into details such as make and type. Wood fuel weighs a lot and takes up a lot of space, so if you find you need to transport it non-locally you could quickly see your projected cost savings disappear and might even find it costs rather more than using a standard gas boiler.
Fuel Storage
You will require a dry space that is both easy to access and large enough to store your wood fuel. If possible, the best location is somewhere near to the burner itself – manually carting logs about tends to lose its appeal quite quickly. If you are contemplating having a fuel hopper that automatically loads wood pellets (or wood chips) into the burner then close proximity is even more vital.
Ability To Produce And Store Heat
Clearly it is vital that you select a wood burning stove that can output the necessary amount of heat, whether you only want radiant heat for one room or plan on running an entire household central heating and hot water system. Many newcomers to woodburners quite reasonably assume that the obvious solution would be a burner that is over-powerful but then run it “turned down”.
Woodburners operate most efficiently when run at full capacity rather than at a reduced rate, which both wastes fuel (and hence also money) and can cause a build up of soot and other deposits. Yet operating at a fast burn rate means the choice becomes either delivering maximum heat output (which is frequently going to be way too much) or zero output.
One solution that is frequently adopted is installing an “accumulator” tank (basically a hot water cylinder with ultra-effective insulation). This stores the excess heat produced by running the burner flat out in the form of very hot water that can then be used over a number of days to heat radiators and provide domestic hot water – a sort of “heat battery” if you like.
The Flue
A wood burning stove requires a flue lined with a vent material suitable for burning wood. If you already have a chimney then it is possible to have this fitted with a lined flue suitable for a wood burner, but factor in this extra cost. If you don’t have a suitable chimney then you will need to consider where you might be able to have a flue installed, bearing in mind that you might also need to also comply with planning and building regulations.
Incentives And Regulations
There are more regulations and pieces of legislation covering the issue of domestic heating than most people would believe, not to mention all the grants and assorted incentive schemes that could significantly reduce your installation costs if you know what’s available and how to apply.
The best advice is to contact your various local authorities and ask what incentives and/or restrictions might apply to your specific circumstances. Better yet, contact a reputable local woodburner installer since they will have experience of working in your area and at the end of the day you are likely to have to use the services of a professional at some point anyway.
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