FAQs
You'll find everything you need to know and more about wood heating here. If you have a question that isn’t covered then please drop us a line and we'll do our best to answer your query as quickly as we can.
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General FAQs
Question:
How long will my stove take to install?
Answer:
To install a register plate, liner and stove into a prepared opening usually takes 1 day.
To knock out and prepare a recess, lay a hearth and do the above will take 2 - 21/2 days, although we usually leave the final fitting and commissioning for a few days to allow any rendering and brickwork to dry naturally. Then we can commission the stove and properly show you how to operate it.
Question:
What are your opening hours?
Answer:
Opening hours:
Mon - Fri By appointment only
Saturdays 10.00am - 4.00pm
If you can't make a Saturday, we'd be more than happy to see you on a weekday or an evening or even a Sunday but strictly by appointment only please.
Question:
What services do you offer?
Answer:
We offer a wide range of solid fuel heating solutions and work closely with the our clients to achieve the best outcome. From small room heater for a small cottage or flat, to a large country house, we can provide a heating solution for you.
We are also happy to provide advice and guidance on design and styling as well as the more obvious functional issues.
For our existing customers we like to keep an ongoing relationship, providing support, advice, fuel and servicing.
Without saying, we are always helpful and friendly.
Question:
Cast or steel?
Answer:
Either, in short. A cast stove will take a little longer to heat up than a steel stove but will retain its heat longer, therefore you need to take into account what is important in your lifestyle. If you require immediate heat then perhaps a steel stove should be given more consideration. Either way, if misused both materials can be damaged - in the case of cast the castings will crack and with steel you have potential for warping. It is essential that the stove is lit and used according to manufacturer's recommendations.
Question:
Why choose a woodburner and not a multifuel stove?
Answer:
A woodburner is fine if that's all you are ever likely to burn. Size for size, a woodburner model will have a larger firebox as it will generally not have a grate or ashpan, allowing you to load a greater quantity of fuel.
Question:
What is the difference between a multifuel stove and woodburner?
Answer:
A multifuel stove, which will burn either seasoned wood or smokeless fuel, will have a riddling grate and an ashpan.
There may also be different air controls as wood and solid fuel burn in completely different ways, wood requiring mainly top air (usually provided in the form of an air wash to keep the glass nice and clean and on some stoves, tertiary or additional secondary air to burn off the volatiles and smoke particulates) and solid fuel requiring mainly bottom (primary) air as it tends to burn from its heart.
Most stoves nowadays are designed primarily as wood burners and have been further developed to incorporate the additional features required for burning solid fuel as well.
Question:
Can I install a woodburning stove myself?
Answer:
The best advice is to leave it to the experts - a HETAS registered installer is familiar with your particular appliance and who can self-certify the installation and complete the notification and paperwork that is required.
Having said that, if you are a proficient DIYer, then it shouldn't be beypond your capabilities. Remember though, you must comply with the stove manufacturers installation instructions and current Building Regulations (a new edition will be published in October 2010) and the installation MUST be signed off by your Local Authority Building Inspector and the appropriate fee paid.
Question:
Is planning permission required?
Answer:
Planning permission is not required to install a woodburner or multifuel stove, however this may be required in respect of the flue/chimney.
Generally, a flue or chimney is classed as a permitted development and would not require Planning Permission, however, if you live in a conservation area or own a listed building, then you may very well require permission.
It is the responsibility of the client to contact their Local Authority Planning officer or Listed Buildings Officer to establish if planning permission is required.
Question:
What is a HETAS certificate and why do I need one?
Answer:
A HETAS certificate is important as it is evidence that the stove has been installed in accordance with current Building Regulations. It can only be issued by a HETAS registered installer or 'competent preson'.
The certificate should be stored in a safe place and will be required if you come to sell your property.
Question:
Can I use my stove with the door open?
Answer:
Most stoves are designed to be used with the door closed as this ensures optimum efficiency by controlling the air supply to the fuel and eliminating excess air being sucked up the chimney.
That said however, you may be able to open the doors when there are just embers remaining.
There are certain stoves on the market that have been designed to burn with doors open and closed, called fireplace stoves, such as the Dovre 2300, 2400 & 2700. see our webpages for more information.
Question:
Are stoves easy to use?
Answer:
By comparison to an open fire, stoves are a delight to use. They are clean, controllable and safe.
Question:
How often will I need to empty the ash pan?
Answer:
As a rule of thumb, if burning wood then generally no more than once a week at most. In a good quality stove with a lined chimney, wood produces a very fine powdery ash of about 0.5%.
If you are burning solid fuel (coal or smokless fuel), then every day is the norm.
Please note that we sell ash caddy's and ash vacs that make the clean up process a doddle.
Question:
Why does the glass go black when burning wood?
Answer:
To keep the glass clean with a stove that has an air wash system, there are two important rules that should be followed. One, make sure the wood you are burning is below the critical 25% moisture content, the only way of checking this is with a moisture meter which we sell, and make sure that when burning wood you only burn wood with top or secondary air, and that the bottom air supply is completely closed!
If you follow the above advice and you still have blackened glass, then either your wood is not a dry as you think it is or, miore likely, your chimney is unlined or is not generating sufficient draught for one reason or another.
Question:
What material should my hearth be contructed of?
Answer:
The hearth should be constructed of a non combustible material such a granite, sandstone, glass, slate, tiles or bricks, the thickness of which should be stated by the stove manufacturer.
The general requirement is for a 125mm thick non combustible hearth in accordance with Approved Document J of the Building Regulations (see our links page), unless the appliance has been independently tested to ensure that the hearth temperature does not exceed 100 degrees centigrade, in which case only a 12mm non combustible hearth is required. This may be laid directly over a combustible floor such as timber etc.
Question:
Are there minimum distances that the stoves should be from wood and non combustible materials?
Answer:
Yes, the distances that the stove should be from combustible and non combustible materials will be stated in the manufacturers installation instuctions. These distances must be adhered to and if no distances are given then a call to the manufacturer to confirm distances should be made.
Question:
Do I need a DEFRA approved smoke control stove?
Answer:
If you live in a smoke control zone and you want to burn wood, which the vast majority of us do, then the answer is yes. Have a look on our site for DEFRA approved appliances.
Question:
How do stoves give out their heat?
Answer:
he heat produced by a stoves is either by convection - air being heated when in contact with the surface of the stove, which then circulates around the room and also radiant heat which is direct, infra red heat through the glass, and is the heat felt when stood in front of the appliance.
As a general rule 50% of the heat is from convection and the other 50% from radiant heat.
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