Woodburner improvements

[reddan]

Hi,

 

I have a woodburner fitting in my front room and want to improve the way the heat comes into the room. I have a register plate which seals around the fluepipe to stop the heat going up the chimney. Now the heat rises up and sits above the woodburner below the register plate inside the fireplace. I know you can buy extreemly expensive fans to move this hot airout into the room but was thinking today that it may be possibleto guide the rising air out into the room with a flexed metal plate,smoothing the angle out into the room. I was also thinking about using stainless to try and reflect the heat as well.

 

Does this seem to make sense and would it work?

 

 

Bad photo, this was when it wasn't 100% finished but might help to show what I mean.

 

Dan

Edited September 29, 2010 by reddan

[FalconFN]

Nice stove, we have an old Yeoman Devon and it looks very similar.

 

I don't think there is much you can do as the warm air will circulate naturally (by convection) and as you have a register plate already it wouldn't make too much difference. As air is heated by the stove it rises and draws colder air in from below so to get the maximum volume of air moving you need to keep the gap underneath the stove empty (don't store logs there) and make sure there is a bit of a gap between the back of the stove and the wall. I know it's a bit obvious but as hot air rises it sits on the celing and if there is a door open it will escape before it reaches you and will draw in colder air from other rooms.

 

We find that if you have the stove going for a while the heat soaks into the chimney breast's stonework and it acts like a storage heater for when the fire isn't going, it usually takes a couple of days burning to really feel the effects.

[reddan]

Cheers its a Villager Flatmate.

 

We find that if you have the stove going for a while the heat soaks into the chimney breast's stonework and it acts like a storage heater for when the fire isn't going, it usually takes a couple of days burning to really feel the effects.

 

 

We don't get the heat in the brickwork as the liner seems to keep it in, I was hoping the chimney in our bedroom above would heat up but we don't even get that.

 

I think because there is a lip before the register plate the hot air gets traped because it is rising, I was planning on smoothing that out so the hot air can rise up the plate and into the room.

 

Dan

[FalconFN]

We also have a liner but the fire is a 9kw stove and it really throws heat out and the rooms above don't have, or need, any other heat source. A good way to see if you are getting a good amount of heat rising is to hang a sheet of newspaper on the celing above the fire place. If the paper moves around alot when the stove is going you know air is moving. the problem could be poor insulation or simply the stove might not be burning hot enough? If you get soot building up on the glass it could be a sign that you need to burn it hotter? A hot stove, even with a large lip in front of the register plate, should be moving large volumes of air around a room.

 

We heat most of our 3 bed house with 2 stoves - one small one that I made and the Yeoman, and we only have one elecric storage heater in the hall and a small one in an upstairs bathroom. Our house is nearly always too warm - but we do go through loads of wood (that I can collect for free, thankfully).

 

Anyway it could be worth playing around with heat deflectors to see if it makes any difference.

 

Good luck, hope you find a solution as there's nothing better than the warmth of a good wood stove.

[snozzer]

you want an EcoFan

Edited September 30, 2010 by snozzer

[Mungler]

The last time I saw walls in that delicate shade of red was in "98 when I was in Amsterdam

Edited September 30, 2010 by Mungler

[soontjen]

hello m8 i fitted one and put the plate level with the blocking the chimney off completely apert from the pipe going through .. the plate come's onto the front wall fixed up into the lintel .. the flue pipe is only visable for 6 inch then directly into the plate . all the heat is forced out into the room no voids for it to hang in ..to be honest the heat at the moment is so intense we open all the living door and let the heat go up the stair's ..the wall in the bedroom still get very warm . i'd just lower the plate level the the front wall lintel .. a.t.b

Edited September 30, 2010 by soontjen

[al4x]

simple answer is don't bother, as long as the chimney is sealed with a register plate the hot air will be moving out as you cannot trap the amount of heat produced. However the walls will absorb a fair bit, The best suggestion for improving things would be to bring the fire forward, if the fire has a rear entry as well as top all you do is get a T piece of pipe and soot box and it will bring it forward 12 inches or so which you will find makes a big difference

[reddan]

The last time I saw walls in that delicate shade of red was in "98 when I was in Amsterdam

 

Think the flash on the camera has made it look very sickly its a dark red in normal light.

 

simple answer is don't bother, as long as the chimney is sealed with a register plate the hot air will be moving out as you cannot trap the amount of heat produced. However the walls will absorb a fair bit, The best suggestion for improving things would be to bring the fire forward, if the fire has a rear entry as well as top all you do is get a T piece of pipe and soot box and it will bring it forward 12 inches or so which you will find makes a big difference

 

I was thinking about bringing it further forward, there is room to do it and still be in regs, its a lot of effort though.

 

Dan

[al4x]

its the only real effective way to improve heat output and you'd be surprised how much difference it makes. Its really not that difficult you need a T piece with soot box and that is about it.

[over the hedge]

its the only real effective way to improve heat output and you'd be surprised how much difference it makes. Its really not that difficult you need a T piece with soot box and that is about it.

 

 

If its the single outlet, ie only a hole in the top rather than a hole with a blanking plate at the back you will need an S type flue , very easy to fit and like al4x has said its the only reel way to improve its output. Mine was the same till i pulled it forward. You will be surprised what a difference it makes

[reddan]

it has back and top entry points. Will stick it on the to do list.

 

Dan

[Essex Keeper]

i moved mine forward and it made it a lot better only about 9in

[soontjen]

hello m8 ,,might sound silly but just wondered ,,,,, do you keep the door open when the fire is burning

[sapper063]

buy an eco fan mate you wont be dissapointed and i have a kettle on mine all the time saves on electric

Edited October 4, 2010 by sapper063

[Essex Keeper]

hello m8 ,,might sound silly but just wondered ,,,,, do you keep the door open when the fire is burning

no mate it shut 88% time

[soontjen]

mine is open all the time until i leave the room or go to bed . i honestly think this is your problem m8 try keeping it open for a few hour's while it's burning you'll see a big differance .

if the door is shut the heat will never come out into the room it will be wasted

it's like your oven 100 degrees inside but its not untill you open it you feel the heat same thing

try it you'll be shocked how much heat youv'e been loosing

a.t.b

[Marcus]

I thought the burners were meant to run with the door closed?

 

Most of the heat goes up the chimney, in order to limit that effect you reduce the 'draw rate' once you have a good burn going, this helps to stop the heat going up the chimney keeping more heat in the burner and thus more effective in heating the room via radiation of that heat. With the door open you will have massive heat loss up the stack and get through loads of wood.

 

Door closed, limit the draw rate, and bobs your aunty you will see an improvement.

 

Im sure ovens would be insulated, otherwise the kitchen would go up in smoke

[soontjen]

mine isn't locked only when i leave the room or go to bed . with the door open 90% of the heat come's into the room . the room is 18 f x 10 f . we have all the down stair's door's in the house open and it heat's all the down stair's no problem with the door open . when closed it hold's the heat in and proberbly the fuel would last a bit longer with it shut but it's heat your after our fire run's on a basket of log's a night all free log's / block's . so why worry about a few more log's . try it yourself and i know you will find it warmer with it open

[al4x]

soontjen its why log burners are made of metal so they effectively act as a very hot radiator, the whole point is so they don't draw huge volumes of air out of the house. I can run mine open as its designed to be but rarely do so from both a safety aspect and with a 16kw log burner I need to open a windo to give it enough air to draw properly even with an air brick in place. As said they also use far less wood if you use them as they're designed to be used. You've actually wasted money putting yours in as you could have done the same with an open fire

[Marcus]

You can use them with the doors open and get 'direct heat' into the room, and I dont doubt, if you keep putting enough wood on it it will give off good heat (though you could argue its the lazy mans way of using a burner, inefficient use of fuel, with loads of heat going up the stack)

 

You will get the same affect using the burner (with door closed) by reducing the draw rate once you have a good burn going. Close down the damper if you have one to say 25% and regulate the draw via the front vents. Slower burn, less fuel, good heat output.

 

Air heats up very quickly, and cools very quickly, its the heat in the cast metal thats the secret to radiating heat over a longer period. Once the unit is very hot you can keep it that way with a slow burn. This will also allow you to dampen the fire at bed time, keep it burning very slowly, then when you get up its all ready to go again, open vents, whack some logs on and away you go.

 

However you choose to use it, all that matters is that you get enjoyment from it (and heat of course) :blink:

[soontjen]

soontjen its why log burners are made of metal so they effectively act as a very hot radiator, the whole point is so they don't draw huge volumes of air out of the house. I can run mine open as its designed to be but rarely do so from both a safety aspect and with a 16kw log burner I need to open a windo to give it enough air to draw properly even with an air brick in place. As said they also use far less wood if you use them as they're designed to be used. You've actually wasted money putting yours in as you could have done the same with an open fire

as you say it's designed to be

[soontjen]

it's a personal choice as for wasted money that's silly statemaent . i know they are metal and the way they designed ?? i've run the fire all year and used no other form of heating at all and it's cost me nothing so it's a big saving as far as i'm concerned . also it's more relaxing to hear the crackling of the wood and see the flame's ..as for a lazy way to use it ? i still have to cut and collect the log's and get up and down to put them on ... i find i get my house heated better with the door open and find it more relaxing and doesn't take load's of log's . and all for free .what's any better

[gixer1]

could you knock through if there is a room behind? it's not as much work as you think and when i did it to the old back boiler fire that was in my house i was surprised by how easy it was - knock through, install lintalls (spelling?) and bob's your uncle....major amount of heat through the house!

[al4x]

my dad did that and got a 2 sided stove so you can load logs from both sides pretty smart