The 5 Most Important Checks Before You Install A Wood Burner

Wood burning stoves (or more simply, wood burners) are very much in vogue at the moment and for two very good reasons that usually command attention – money and looks.

First, compared to using conventional fuel sources there are significant savings to be made;  second, nothing ever quite compares to a real fire for that warm, cozy allure. And no matter if you prefer to see cost savings in the guise of an old-fashioned kitchen range or presented as sleek and uber-contemporary, there’s sure to be a woodburner made just for you.

But understand that woodburners aren’t necessarily for everyone. The potential cost savings are real enough, but very dependent upon how suited your personal circumstances are. What follows is a checklist for the most important considerations before installing a wood burning stove.

Fuel Supply

Can you rely on a local supply of solid fuel that is also cost effective? Exactly what sort of fuel is it? Wood burning stoves can take well-seasoned logs, some other kinds of solid wood, wood pellets and/or wood chips, but some are more tailored, or even restricted, to certain kinds of fuel.

Well-seasoned wood means that it has been stored and naturally dried for no less than about half 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.

You must understand how you plan to fuel your burner before considering any particular make or even going ahead with the project at all. Solid fuel is heavy and bulky and the costs to transport it any distance can rapidly mount up to the point where any potential cost savings simply vanish, or worse it starts to cost more than a conventional gas boiler or other sources of heating.

Fuel Storage

You will require a dry space that is both easy to access and large enough to store your wood fuel that will be used in the near future. 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.

Heat Output And Heat Storage

Regardless of whether you simply want space heating for a single room or to run a complete household central heating and hot water system, you need to be sure that the woodburner you install is able to produce sufficient heat. It’s natural to think that simply installing a woodburner that is well beyond your requirements and just “turning it down” would be the solution.

Wood burning stoves are most efficient when working at full capacity rather than gently smouldering, which wastes fuel (and thus money) and clogs things up with soot and other deposits. Operating at full rate means you face a choice between producing more heat than you really need or desire, or shutting the fire down with no heat at all being generated.

An answer to this dilemma is to have an “accumulator tank” which is essentially a highly insulated hot water cylinder. This tank acts as a heat battery, soaking up the excess heat from running at full capacity and allowing it to be released back as required over the following days as hot water for bathing and heating radiators.

Chimneys And/Or Flues

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.

Regulations And Incentives

There are many regulations and assorted legislation that blanket and obscure the general topic of household heating; there are also numerous little-known grants and other incentives that you might be eligible for and which could reduce your installation expenses, but you have to hunt around for availability and application procedures.

The best advice is to contact your various 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.

Filed under: Wood Burning Stoves

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