Woodburning stove:freestanding versus inset

[Yorky1]

I want to replace two open fires with woodburning stoves. It will cost between €800 and €2000 to get the fireplaces adapted ( enlarge the recesses) to accomodate the stoves.

I also want to line the recesses with skamolex fireboard and will have to get some infill hearth pieces which would cost another €500 approx. on top of this.

The other option is to fit inset (or insert / cassette) stoves which would not require increasing the opening sizes.

Does anyone know if an inset is as effective as a freestanding stove and are they more expensive?

The house is difficult to heat and I want to use them to heat the entire ground floor by leaving the room doors open.

One concern with an inset is heatloss through the sides and back as both fireplaces are on external walls.

Any other comments would be appreciated.

 

[mrgas]

I am not an expert on woodburners but my quess would have to be;

Most the heat from an inset goes up the chimney and can only radiate heat from the exposed front.
A free standing one can get hot and radiate and convect heat into the room from all its surfaces.

 

[Richard C]

It’s also about what look you want; I have a multi-fuel Riva cassette (very modern) & whilst I agree they probably won’t radiate as much heat as a free standing, they are still very efficient when compared to an open fire & older stoves. Our stove also utilises heat convection & is streets ahead of our previous open fire, both in terms of rated output (8kw) & fuel efficiency (this year I’ve so far used only around 35% of the fuel I used last year). It also has an optional fan kit which will utilise convected heat even further to increase efficiency.

The “leaving all the doors open” trick works to an extent but don’t expect too much from it if your want to be able to sit in the same room as the fire! If you have a centrally located flue, it’s worth considering a double sided stove but you could run into problems with fire regs. as I did; it proved to be too much hassle & expense so I abandoned the idea.

 

[mointainwalker]

Insert stoves - or at least the ones I see - are cheaper, but not by much.

It makes sense because they don't have to produce a visually acceptable finished surface on the sides so these are usually just cast-fins for heat dissipation.

Efficiency is usually fairly similar

If , however, as I understand, you are contemplating putting the freestanding stoves in the same position, you are going to be worse off IMHO.


1) You are going to pay lots of cash to enlarge space
2) You buy more expensive f/s stove, pretty all-round
3) You hide the prettiness inside the new expensive "hole"
4) You radiate just as much heat through the walls as you do with the insert.

 

[Yorky1]

Thanks for those points. I had intended lining the recess with Skamolex or Super-Isol so heatloss would be minimised. Should the same be done with an inset.

 

[mointainwalker]

I don't know how much space you have, but it's very unlikely you are going to minimise heat-loss: you are going to moderate it a bit.

You certainly won't optimise your insulation by using the materials you quote. In spite of the usual blurb about " excellent insulation properties" the insulation characteristics are poor, only 50% of glass-fibre.

I would suggest using the thinnest possible sheet of this and then fill the gap with RockWool ( fireproof up to 1500 C +/- )

Same procedure for either type of fire.

 

[Richard C]

Insert stoves - or at least the ones I see - are cheaper, but not by much. It makes sense because they don't have to produce a visually acceptable finished surface on the sides so these are usually just cast-fins for heat dissipation.

Not sure which stoves you’re comparing but that’s certainly not the case with our Stovax & several comparable stoves I was considering. The list price of ours was a shade short of £1500 & that's just the stove; hardly cheaper . I didn’t pay that as I bought on-line & negotiated but there are some very nice Scandinavian free-standers available & they are dearer at around £2k+.

 

[Yorky1]

Richard C, thanks for your comments. Could you tell me where you bought your stove and chimney lining materials from? If you don't want to post then please send me a PM.

 

[Richard C]

Richard C, thanks for your comments. Could you tell me where you bought your stove and chimney lining materials from? If you don't want to post then please send me a PM.

Don;t mind at all; will post back later as me dinner is ready

 

[Richard C]

I contacted several on-line suppliers but the majority will ask you to either E mail or ring for best price on certain stoves. Mine came from “All Time Grates” in Portsmouth; no problems with them at all & good service replacing what was effectively a factory damaged surround. I used an independent HETAS installer selected from a list downloaded from the HETAS web site. He surveyed, ordered & supplied the liner, Vermiculite & all the necessary fittings from Templeton Tools & Machinery in Scotland, I had to pay for the materials direct though. Total cost for flue liner, liner/stove installation & certification was just under £900.