Dave Liquorice
wibbled on Sunday 13 December 2009 15:50

On Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:52:31 +0000, Tim W wrote:

Doesn't look like enough clearance around the stove to pass
Building
Regs... Has the BCO seen and approved it? Solid fuel heating is
notifiable...

Not my work - that was done by a Hetas bloke and I have the cert to
prove it , a copy of which will go to the BCO. Hetas chap approved
the choice of stove for that location and that was backed by the
fireplace shop who came and had a look before suggesting that model.

Fairy Nuff. Just doesn't "look right". B-)

OK "looking right" might not mean compliance but if something does
then quite often you are.


Totally appreciate your thoughts Dave.

I'm not sure at all that the chimney is internally in good enough condition
to support a return to an open fire (maybe, maybe not - but I'd want a an
internal survey - it's been shedding render). Stove + liner bypassed that
problem.

It was also a stipulation of mine that I have one source of heat that wasn't
dependant on the utilities (we do get power cuts round here).

OK - a gas fire was also an option...

But all in, it works for us. The dining area will be in front of that fire
eventually, so it will be a nice centre piece, and it seems to be operating
adequately into the functional zone rather than just the decorative zone.

I dare say, when the CH is running next winter, we will probably only use it
for weekends and special occasions like so many people, in which case, being
recessed it won't be wasting valuable floor space. But it's nice to
excercise it this winter and know that we have some backup when the leccy
goes out.

The aesthetics will get addressed when we decide how to present the
fireplace - it is just an untidy hole in the wall at the moment which
doesn't really help the impression.

My assessment, based on designing the room from scratch, vs working with
what's there is that it is clearly perfectly safe, but it is sub optimal
compared to what you could do with a clean slate.

One could take out the lower part of the stack and have a stove feeding up
into the remaining stack above. That would look good IMO, but it would
require expense and structural work I'm not prepared to get involved with.

We made use of the shielding effect of the stack but shoving a fridge to the
right and a sink to the left.



--
Tim Watts

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