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Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6540
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 20 10:12 am Post subject:
It can be nice to have a hot room that keeps the other rooms from being too cold

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45479
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 20 10:19 am Post subject:

flat top is ace, warm a crumpet then toast it with the door open

other foods are available

as to room /house heat the little heat driven fans seem good

tiny is a pita, a bigger un does not need to be full if it is a good un and it gives scope for a range of wood sizes/types and burn styles

from what we see so far that opening is bigger than the fireplace you removed
when the plaster is off the front face we should have enough data to give decent advice

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 20 3:26 pm Post subject:
OKay, I've found the original fireplace opening.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45479
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 20 5:56 pm Post subject:
up to the brick arch and the 1 1/2 brick sides that have been added as infill to hold the fireplace can go by the look of it looks like it was build for a smallish coal range or similar cut the bricks that have been keyed in to the sides or if they fall out replace them with halves

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 20 6:01 pm Post subject:
Thanks for all you help on this DPack and Ty et al. I'll get them removed this weekend. We wondered why the chimney breast was so big for such a small fire.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9717
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 20 12:42 pm Post subject:

Mistress Rose wrote:

Sorry Nicky, but I have to disagree with you unless you always want to keep the door shut. We have a larger one, and with the door open, it provides some extra heat to the rest of the house. Keeps the central heating off a bit more in winter. As I also said in that post, having a flat top and room to put pans on means you can cook on it too.

Woodburners are designed to be used with the doors shut, are far more efficient and have a cleaner burn used that way. IDK how the rules have changed but when we were putting one in, if we went for a larger model we would have been obliged to put an air vent in too - something else to consider.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9717
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 20 12:43 pm Post subject:

sgt.colon wrote:

OKay, I've found the original fireplace opening.

yay, nice looking arch - exciting

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45479
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 20 1:54 pm Post subject:

i was a bit surprised iirc the house must have been built at the coal to leccy/gas heating etc

a decent size hole is useful

if you are going for a burner it will require a proper flue, not just for safety but to make sure it actually works

in an existing chimney a(straight as poss/strong as poss) double skin pipe and vermiculite to back fill the space between that and the brickwork is a minimum spec

i have one of ours ready for that stage

the back of the hole has 100mm of rockwool under a thick fire proof board(cement,sand and rockwool iirc) the sides and front are done in 1 lime/1 portland/4.5 fine sharp sand

i had a bit of shedding with the limewash and tings over that as it dried but the solid stuff is well sound and works well for such things

a reflector at the back with insulation behind it is very nice

adding lime to the renders makes them more stable to thermal expansion things

it is a decent size hole losing 100mm with board and rockwool and bolts and spacers might be a good idea

if you have it rendered straight onto the brickwork, which will be full of all many of interesting chemicals, it does need specialist plastering and protocols to end with a clean surface

Ty Gwyn

Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4563
Location: Lampeter

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 20 6:35 pm Post subject:
By Double Skin Pipe,do you mean the better grade flexible chimney liner?

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45479
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 20 8:10 am Post subject:

double skin yep and insulating vermiculite, it gives a hot inner tube that assists the draw.
a chilly flue is barely a flue

flexible or ridged depends on the shape of the chimney

use a good grade and only do it once and safely
you do need to clean it regularly so using decent kit with access etc is sensible

a reputable installer should give you a good spec for this part of things
expect to spend as much on flue as on the burner(unless you want a very fancy burner)

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 20 8:35 am Post subject:
II think we are thinking of of just leaving it all brick, even inside the chimney breast. I'm getting the additional bricks out today and removing some more plaster. When I've done I'll post some more shots for your enjoyment. Thanks again everyone for all your advice. Invaluable as always.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15589

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 20 8:37 am Post subject:

Proper installation is very important. As Nicky says, for safety you must have sufficient air, be that from a vent or other means. As we always have the door to the room open, we get plenty of air movement although the room is probably large enough to take the fire. It is also worth getting the installer to check that the chimney is high enough as too low a chimney can result in a poor draw, particularly with the wind in certain directions.

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 20 8:41 am Post subject:
Thanks MR. We are going to check out a few local installers to see what their advice is. Suffice to say, we won't be doing the installing of the burns. I'm just here to do the monkey work.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15589

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 20 8:47 am Post subject:
We did install our own, but many years ago. I think these days you are supposed to have it installed by someone with the right bits of paper, but make sure they really know what they are doing too as paper is easy to get buy real knowledge isn't.

Ty Gwyn

Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4563
Location: Lampeter

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 20 8:55 am Post subject:

Reason I asked was a non trade person may mistake Double Skin for Twin Wall,which are used externally or internally but not inside a flue.

904 grade is the better of the 2 grades available.

Regarding the insulating of the flue,having installed many types of fireplace over the years,especially when doing my apprenticeship with a local builder,from open fires to ones with back boilers to rayburns and to the latter period mainly rayburn and parkray central heating fires,with the rayburns and parkrays the cast flue pipes we used then were only sealed a short distance up the flue by parging/shamfering up the sides of the existing flue,and the systems worked perfectly well,the liners have only really come into use since carbon monoxide poisioning due to old damaged flue`s or poorly fitted appliances,unless one has a fairly modern house with earthenware built in liners,its a no brainer not to install a stainless steel liner,personally I`d go 6in flexible.

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