reddan Posted December 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 (edited) have to say syborg I think it looks awsome too, and considering it never cost you anything to build hats off to you even more, the whole point of installing a woodburner is to save money and be self sufficient, and you've certainly achieved that on all counts, and as for being a fire risk as you said it's a dam sight safer than an open fire!!! as for "al4x" comment about "I wouldnt have it in my house" it's a wonder you could see the photo properly, it must be a long way to see looking down your nose that far at the computer screen, let me guess another townie/londoner playing at liveing the good life out in the country, weve got a few like you in my village... i hate to **** on your parade but carbon monoxide is a real thing to consider. Bar the normal goverment wanting to control everything there is a reason that it is part of building regs etc. I am not saying if you don't report you have done it the whole world will cave in but it is worth following the guidance if nothing else. It does look bloody brill though. There is no reason that the burner itself isn't up to the job but the install needs to right. Syborg cut yourself a register plate they are worth it asit stops the heat escaping up the chimney void. Mine is plate steel mounted on angle ron brackets. Dan Edited December 7, 2010 by reddan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syborg Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 well webfottedfenman...also i dont think alot of folks saw that the actual hearth comes out about 1.5ft infront of the burner and its also enclosed on 3 sides by the original builders opening, a builder ok,d the openingf for an open fire so even if the burner melted into a pool of molten steel the chances of anything leaving the actual fireplace are as slim as if the dog grate collapsed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syborg Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 reddan...the gap between the flue and lined chimney pipe is sealed using firerope so it acts similar to a register plate except theres a funnel shaped void behind the breast...thats why i occasionaly use a small fan to help circulate the heat.. as for CO i will be getting a detector soon as it is gettin used more now the cold weather is here.. i dont burn coal in this as it has no grate.. syborg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddan Posted December 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 reddan...the gap between the flue and lined chimney pipe is sealed using firerope so it acts similar to a register plate except theres a funnel shaped void behind the breast...thats why i occasionaly use a small fan to help circulate the heat.. as for CO i will be getting a detector soon as it is gettin used more now the cold weather is here.. i dont burn coal in this as it has no grate.. syborg Got my detector from B&Q was about £10 if I remember right. I think I must have misunderstood your liner, so you flue pipe runs up into clay liners does it so you don't get a draught? If so thats a bonus, mine was a pig to do. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddan Posted December 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 well webfottedfenman...also i dont think alot of folks saw that the actual hearth comes out about 1.5ft infront of the burner and its also enclosed on 3 sides by the original builders opening, a builder ok,d the openingf for an open fire so even if the burner melted into a pool of molten steel the chances of anything leaving the actual fireplace are as slim as if the dog grate collapsed... Sorry mate I wasn't actually suggesting you hadn't followed them but there are those that would read the posts and then just go and shove one in the hole as it were, without giving it a second thought. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syborg Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 no probs reddan. i had done tonnes of research before even contemplating the build.. as u seem to have an interest ive just roughly drawn a sketch of how its setup.. an old boy at work fitted his proper burner himself and doesnt have a register-plate at all, he laughed when i asked him, meaning he didnt even know what one was!! lol i had thought about fitting one but this isnt a permanent setup. just wanted a more efficient way of keep the living room warm without going through piles of wood just for the sake something that looks niace but loses 80% of the heat up the flue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syborg Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 Got my detector from B&Q was about £10 if I remember right. I think I must have misunderstood your liner, so you flue pipe runs up into clay liners does it so you don't get a draught? If so thats a bonus, mine was a pig to do. Dan indeed it does reddan. the chimney liners are 8 inch internal, my flue pipe is 6.5 inch external, thus an overal gap of 3/4 allround. so i packed the gap using 3/4 firerope coiled around the flue pipe then poked up layer by layer up about 5 inches up into the void..it was a hell of job as the pipe weighs a ton because its 5mm thick....i had to insert the pipe first, prop it up with a lenght of 2x3 the same height as the burner body, then offer the burner underneath, the joint between the flue flange and the body also has a firerope seal where it mates the body. it wasnt a half assed effort,lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alycidon Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 (edited) I am in the industry and sell stoves and Ecofans. Any heating device including a stove will heat a room from the ceiling downwards, the Ecofan creates an airflow in the room that circulates the air and brings the hot air down from the ceiling. Silent in use with no draft I have never has a dissatisfied customer. All your proposed deflectors will do is take heat out from immediately above the stove, this will then rise to the ceiling where it will sit, The deflectors will also not earn you house points with her in doors!!. Ecofan is the way, expensive yes but they do the job well, circulate your heat around your room and moves some heat into adjoining rooms. It is now a LEGAL requirement that audible carbon monoxide alarms with a minimum 6 year battery life are installed in the same room as a NEW stove or solid fuel boiler, there is no requirement to fit an alarm to an existing installation. At £25-£30 quid they are a sensible investment. A Edited December 7, 2010 by Alycidon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 as for "al4x" comment about "I wouldnt have it in my house" it's a wonder you could see the photo properly, it must be a long way to see looking down your nose that far at the computer screen, let me guess another townie/londoner playing at liveing the good life out in the country, weve got a few like you in my village... well **** you, lived in houses in the country mostly with log burners for all my life. My statement was purely to do with taking a bottle designed to hold gas and not be exposed to fire for continued periods, cutting it and putting it in your house. Having installed a few log burners now they are obviously specifically made for the job and over the years they go through a surprising amount of wear. The severe heating and cooling regularly is an issue, I've an airwash plate in my current one of quarter inch steel and I've bent that in a multifuel stove while only ever burning wood. The main point was ok you can have an open fire fine but building your own log burner does run the risk of invalidating your house insurance and that is quite a big deal. You also have the issue if its over 4kw it needs air bricks etc to meet building regs and who is to say if it is or isn't. Probably nothing will happen but the reference to not having it in my house is not looking down my nose but more from a safety and insurance point of view. CO should be a low risk burning wood but unless its well sealed you may have it smoke. Anyway good luck with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alycidon Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 well **** you, lived in houses in the country mostly with log burners for all my life. My statement was purely to do with taking a bottle designed to hold gas and not be exposed to fire for continued periods, cutting it and putting it in your house. Having installed a few log burners now they are obviously specifically made for the job and over the years they go through a surprising amount of wear. The severe heating and cooling regularly is an issue, I've an airwash plate in my current one of quarter inch steel and I've bent that in a multifuel stove while only ever burning wood. The main point was ok you can have an open fire fine but building your own log burner does run the risk of invalidating your house insurance and that is quite a big deal. You also have the issue if its over 4kw it needs air bricks etc to meet building regs and who is to say if it is or isn't. Probably nothing will happen but the reference to not having it in my house is not looking down my nose but more from a safety and insurance point of view. CO should be a low risk burning wood but unless its well sealed you may have it smoke. Anyway good luck with it Minor point but the Building Regs Approved Doc J states that its over 5.0kw not 4kw for an outside air vent requirement. Building your own stove?, pretty simple if you are an engineer, just make sure you tell your insurance company first, they pay guys a fortune to get them out of paying claims. NFU are always pretty good with things like that. A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alycidon Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 no probs reddan. i had done tonnes of research before even contemplating the build.. as u seem to have an interest ive just roughly drawn a sketch of how its setup.. an old boy at work fitted his proper burner himself and doesnt have a register-plate at all, he laughed when i asked him, meaning he didnt even know what one was!! lol i had thought about fitting one but this isnt a permanent setup. just wanted a more efficient way of keep the living room warm without going through piles of wood just for the sake something that looks niace but loses 80% of the heat up the flue. He will have issues with soot/tar building up outside his flue pipe above the rope. That pipe gets to over 250 deg C, hot enough to start a chimney fire. Industry best practice is to use a galvanised or stainless register plate, if an airtight seal cannot be made then you have to line the chimney, its the safest way. If a flat bottom could be made at the bottom of the clay liner then a clay liner adaptor and an adjustable length flue pipe could be used. A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddan Posted December 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 I am in the industry and sell stoves and Ecofans. Any heating device including a stove will heat a room from the ceiling downwards, the Ecofan creates an airflow in the room that circulates the air and brings the hot air down from the ceiling. Silent in use with no draft I have never has a dissatisfied customer. All your proposed deflectors will do is take heat out from immediately above the stove, this will then rise to the ceiling where it will sit, The deflectors will also not earn you house points with her in doors!!. Ecofan is the way, expensive yes but they do the job well, circulate your heat around your room and moves some heat into adjoining rooms. It is now a LEGAL requirement that audible carbon monoxide alarms with a minimum 6 year battery life are installed in the same room as a NEW stove or solid fuel boiler, there is no requirement to fit an alarm to an existing installation. At £25-£30 quid they are a sensible investment. A I am most of my way through making my own ecofan style fan, had to stick it on the back burner for a while (excuse the pun) but it works ok. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syborg Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 bloody hell!! didnt realise this would cause such contraversy lol anyway..heres a few pics if the site allows the size.. 1st pic is the door seal i built into the door using 3/4 firerope and ropeglue. 2nd pic is the flange arrangment 3rd pic is the nightmare 45. angle i had to weld into the pipe the bring the burner away from the brickwork by 100mm. 4th pick is a pic up the breast to show the seal i made using more firerope to stop the heat loss. to the chap who mentioned the deflectors...this was just the shape of the fireplace to begin with..all ive done is repoint the brickwork to tidy it up as it was originaly fitted with a coal burning back boiler..which was ripped out and converted into an open fire before i fitted this contraption.lol enjoy syborg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddan Posted December 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 to the chap who mentioned the deflectors...this was just the shape of the fireplace to begin with..all ive done is repoint the brickwork to tidy it up as it was originaly fitted with a coal burning back boiler..which was ripped out and converted into an open fire before i fitted this contraption.lol enjoy syborg Good job. I think the deflectors was aimed at me because that was the orginal point of the thread 6 pages ago, but the show and tell which we have going on here is much more interesting. I was probably drunk when I thought of the orginal deflectoer idea. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syborg Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 sorry dude, i seem to have kinda hijacked your thread...lol well..i will take all the comments onboard and will deffo be buying a CO detector. i think i have opened a fews eyes and raised a few eyebrows with this display of welding carnage.lol but lets face it..moneys tight, fuel is expensive, the will is there so why not.. i understand the insurance issues but i think ive done as much as i can and sought enough pro advice from people in the trade and regs to help me sleep at night without too much drama,lol this was more of a challange than anything else..to build a woodburner from scrap materials that works pretty well, is as safe at is could possibly be in the situation and can easily be removed without major surgery on the structure of the house.. syborg.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddan Posted December 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 you haven't hijacked it we have all been putting up pictures of each others woodburners for 5 pages now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSPUK Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 Reading about fitting a backboiler it's not an easy job especially when fitting to an existing system -- When I built the extension at last house I designed two heating systems for it - one from oil heating and one from woodburner - be warned having a backboiler knock's felt heat output down a lot - this stove I could get upto 750f in 30 min - with backboiler I could only get it up to 450 - by then you couldn't touch radiators - I had 5 off that and was an open system - being as I had rad's on ground floor I had to put a pipe stat under floor upstairs and a heat sink rad teed off before stat to get water rising - the pipe stat turned on a pump so in effect it was a stat controlled pumped system. - Hot water will not rise through a circulation pump - found out hard way. - Also with back boiler say goodby to clean glass and hello to a heavy log bill - it's not fire that's cockeyed it was me who had too much to drink -- the little pipe coming off on right was system drain - turn inline stop on and it was piped behind skirting to drain outside. The fire is a Clearview 750 in my opinion best woodburner maker out there. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddan Posted December 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 Nice fire. i have run out/given up on wood this year and am now using coal. About 50kg per week and i only let it go out once a week. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandspider Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Best get your tissues out woodburner lovers this is my one, currently roaring away a house just isn't the same without one and so much better than an open fire. Have to say no issues with getting mine in just with getting it to kick out enough heat and of course the amount of logs we go through Just thought I'd resurrect this thread to ask - Al4x, is the lass in your avatar jiggling about in front of your fireplace? (And that gives everyone an excuse to study the avatar closely! :o ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddan Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 (edited) Just thought I'd resurrect this thread to ask - Al4x, is the lass in your avatar jiggling about in front of your fireplace? (And that gives everyone an excuse to study the avatar closely! :o ) I also thought there were similarities but didn't ask. Glad it wasn't just me. Dan Edited January 25, 2011 by reddan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 Just thought I'd resurrect this thread to ask - Al4x, is the lass in your avatar jiggling about in front of your fireplace? (And that gives everyone an excuse to study the avatar closely! :o ) I also thought there were similarities but didn't ask. Glad it wasn't just me. Dan Strange that you bring that up, I was looking at al4x`s thread on his house renovation yesterday and the same thought cropped up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandspider Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 Ha! Glad it wasn't just me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 (edited) Old thread I know, but I cba to start a new one.. I've just had my open fire converted to a 5kw log burner, and I'm very pleased with the result and it's heating performance compared to the fire of old... Last night the room thermostat was pushing 24c No longer will I be a slave to the LPG / Propane Nazi's who seem to dream the price of gas up, depending on what phase the moon is in. Here's a pic.. I've just ordered one of these fancy "Ecofan's" to go on top, The verdict on whether it's a gimic is out for the minute, but then there is always ebay after all Edited December 6, 2011 by garyb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twitchynik Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 Just curious Gary, was that signed off by either building regs or HETAS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan-250 Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 Here mine I finished last week, it's like a furnace with both air vents open Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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