Want to modify chimney breast for stove?

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raglan

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Hi,

We currently have an open fire with a back boiler. We are finding it very bad at throwing heat into the room. Is this always the way with fires with back boilers?Only heard of this recently. Also, chimney does be very noisy with wind howling.

We were thinking of putting in a wood burning stove as obviously better heat from them. But I would like to remove the firplace and have some of the central bit of the chimney breast "dug out" so that the stove sits into the breast with a bit of spce either side for putting basket of logs etc. I'd prefer this option to just simply keeping fireplace and connecting stove to chimney and having it sitting outside on the granite of the fireplace.

Is it possible to remove the part I want of the chimney breast like this to fit the stove into, is it safe to do so ? Also, has anyone ever had it done and roughly how much was the labour costs? Also, are stoves with back boilers any good. I know people who have Stanley Oisin stove and the heat from it unreal.

Thanks for your help.
 
oh boy where do I start!!! we have just finished this job and the results are terrific.

We had a big old stone clad fireplace. Mr June hacked off enough stone and block behind it to make the opening wider and deeper. I wanted it recessed well back so the kids would keep away from it. Very hot obviously.
He then sheeted off the remainder of the fireplace top and sides with plasterboard and repainted the new chimney breast. I did not want the mantle replaced as the stove is a feature in itself. He just tiled the hearth.

He bought a Broseley hercules 30B multifuelstove ( boiler model). check it out on ebay. Plumber took over then . There was a lot of piping involved but you already have a back boiler so it should not be so bad. Electrician did some wiring.

The heat is terrific. you can leave it heat up the rads and they are at an ambient heat for the night. You can open the doors and throw the heat back into your sitting room. We use coal and blocks. I only turn on the oil now for an hour in the morning.

I'd be happy to email you the pictures if you wish. well worth it I'd say. Best of luck
 
raglan said:
Hi,

We currently have an open fire with a back boiler. We are finding it very bad at throwing heat into the room. Is this always the way with fires with back boilers?Only heard of this recently. Also, chimney does be very noisy with wind howling.

We were thinking of putting in a wood burning stove as obviously better heat from them. But I would like to remove the firplace and have some of the central bit of the chimney breast "dug out" so that the stove sits into the breast with a bit of spce either side for putting basket of logs etc. I'd prefer this option to just simply keeping fireplace and connecting stove to chimney and having it sitting outside on the granite of the fireplace.

Is it possible to remove the part I want of the chimney breast like this to fit the stove into, is it safe to do so ? Also, has anyone ever had it done and roughly how much was the labour costs? Also, are stoves with back boilers any good. I know people who have Stanley Oisin stove and the heat from it unreal.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

If you recess the stove you'll be losing an awful lot of heat. It will still be good as a back boiler. You can get a large covered guard if you've got young children.

cess
 
I'm not so sure that is the case. When we want to let extra heat into the sitting room we can open the stove doors but I think the room is warm enough usually. We burn coal and blocks. We have the large fireguard as well. I suppose it depends on the strength of the stove.
 
Was in three houses before Christmas ........ all had the same type of stove but one family had it fitted into the old fireplace, so that the face of the stove was in line with the front of the mantlepiece. The room, although the smallest of the three, was the coldest. They had all concluded that it was the siting of the stove that was at fault. The spaces at the side were about 6". It may have someting to do with the thermals. Was in a log cabin in USA over Christmas. The stove was sited about 18" out from the wall (fire regs over there). So the flue (although triple lined) was also throwing out a load of heat. It was the most efficient that I'd seen.
 
Hi June,

That would be great if you could email me a picture of your recessed stove. Did have to do anything to structurally secure the chimney breast? I know that not much will really have to be took out but I'd be worried about this aspect. You can post picture here or send it to private message. Thanks.
 
Having had 2 bad experiences with back boilers(with open fire) I never want to hear the words again. Boiler burst, made a huge mess, good riddance! Replaced it with Stanley Oisin stove just partly set in to fireplace. The room is 24 ft. long and the heat is unreal.

My idea is don't try to do 2 jobs with 1 item. More effective to 1 job with 1 item but then again I have no experience of stoves with back boilers.
 
PAYEPLEB said:
Oh June your post has answered my prayers!

I am thinking of putting in the hercules stove in as well and hooking it into the rads and your endorsement of it has allayed any fears I had. I have a couple of questions for you if you don't mind!

How much was the stove and also the installation?

How many rads are you running off the stove?

Is there any thermostatic check in place on the system that'll stop the oil boiler coming on if the stove already has the rads heated, or do you just operate the 2 heat sources independently yourself (ie. turn the oil boiler on if you haven't lit the stove)?
Click to expand...

The stove was bought on ebay and delivered promptly. You'll have to give some thought to how you will actually lift it into the house:D
Installation costs were ok due to husband doing a lot of the work. However we did have to replace the hot tank and buy a lot of extra piping which meant extra labour costs.

We are running 12 rads of various sizes off the stove. The stove keeps the sitting room warm which is about 24 feet long.

At the moment we are running the 2 systems independently. I only use the oil for an hour in the morning and maybe the afternoon now. Though it has been mild lately. We would always have lit a fire in the evening anyway. The rads in the rooms are at an ambient heat . It's very good all round.
 
hi june just bought a hercules stov b 20 would be grateful if you would send me pictures of yours
 
New stove

Hi just bought a stove and i have taken out old fire place if anyone has pictures that would help me in installing the stove
 
If a solid fuel stove is being fitted inside a typical fireplace opening, it is of the utmost importance that adequate air circulation is allowed around the stove. If this is not done, it will almost certainly result in structural cracking of the adjacent fire brest due to the heat given out by the stove.
Check with the stove manufacture for minimum distance required between the stove and fireplace before installation.
 
Got a Stanley Erin recessed into the fireplace last year and love it. It heatens up the downstairs rads and works great. Having said that, my sister got the exact same stove installed, but NOT recessed and it definitely throws out a LOT more heat than ours does. But mine went into the sitting room and hers is in a live in kitchen so they suit their surroundings.
I got an authorised Stanley fella up from Donegal to do the installation for me and it cost less than we were quoted from local tradesmen. (We didnt know the guy other than he had done a service on my Mums oil fired oven and I liked the work he did. He stayed with us which kept the cost down).
 
put in non-back boiler stove year ago, replacing open fire, mulberry yeats, sits on original hearth and mantlepiece as was. room does get too hot with turf so we just burn the small bits of spruss one sweeps up from the bottom of the trailer/shed floor. Saves burning turf that now goes into the range and also room and hall hotter and also no cold draught/noise when no fire on.
 
Hi peter my stove is 700mm height 750mm width 450mm depth i have taken old fire and opening is 1180mm wide and is 1145mm in height so have 8inch on two sides and 19inchs from top of stove to opening on top do you think i will have the circulation
 
The manufacturer of the stove should be able to give you exact specifications required for the air circulation required (for a particular model of stove) when fitted inside a fireplace opening.
 
Hi June
My first time on this site.. so.. good to meet you!
I'm planning on fitting a woodburner stove into a new room but need to 'dig out' the chimney breast. The room isn't too big so I want to fit the stove into a recess in the breast. I'm afraid the chimney will fall down if men start opening up already existing space for standard fireplace!! I want to create the rustic look with stove sitting on stone slab in the recess and mantle above.
I wonder if you could post on some pictures of yours..I like the sound of the work you did. would really appreciate some help and advice!..
Thanks a mil
Noreen
 
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