Installing A Wood Burning Stove
It is well known these days that wood burning stoves are a great deal cheaper to run than regular oil and gas boilers and are also better for the environment. Whereas conventional fossil fuels cannot be renewed, wood comes from trees which can be grown and replaced more or less forever. So what’s involved in installing one?
First understand that installing a wood burner is akin to putting in an above ground furnace, so always check with your insurance company before you commence anything. Most of insurers will require the burner to be professionally installed since there is a certain amount of precision required and a single mistake can easily cause a fire to break out in your house or apartment.
Next you should work out exactly what size of wood burning stove you will need. The best approach is to consult someone who works in a hearth shop. Have this person visit your property and he or she will help you decide on the best wood burner for the size and space you have laid out.
While it is natural to focus on the wood stove it is in fact equally important to consider the flue, since flues fitted to wood stoves must be lined with material suitable for wood burning. If you are fortunate enough to have a conveniently located chimney you might be able to simply line this with the right sort of material, otherwise you will be looking at additionally installing a new flue.
Once you have had the wood stove installed you need to ensure that there a no flammable objects or materials anywhere within a safe distance. What precisely constitutes a safe distance should be documented in the manual for the stove. Also make sure that any children are also instructed to keep to a safe distance – in fact if you small children or pets you may want to fit a fireguard as a precaution.
Once in use, proper maintenance and regular cleaning will be required for your new wood burner. This is carried out in a similar way to cleaning a chimney. You need to clean out creosote deposits from your wood burning stove for two main reasons. Firstly, allowing creosote to accumulate will corrode the flue pipe. Secondly, it will smell during the summer months, which is hardly pleasant.
An annual major clean carried out by a chimney sweep should alleviate the need to repair your stove. Some products such as the well known Creosote Sweeping Log can help the cause but are ultimately no substitute for having your wood burning stove properly cleaned annually.
In conclusion then, when it comes to wood burning stove installation the best advice is to get professionals involved from the start. A good wood burning stove will pay for itself in the long run by saving you big bucks in heating costs and may end up helping the planet in the process.
Check out these additional articles to find out much more about installing a log burner and how much it costs to install a wood burning stove.
