Hello all,

I've been doing a little research on this recently with a view to
installing such a system in a stone barn conversion in my back garden.
I'm wondering if some of you could confirm if I'm heading in the right
direction.

First I live in a forest where my next door neighbour Chansaw Chris is
a big fan. He buys and stores unseasoned logs at £30/ton from a guy
who clears railway enbankments. A 2 ton load will see him through a
year, he says.

OK. Now the barn is quite small but tall enough for 2 small bedrooms
and a shower room upstaris. I'd planned to install an electric shower
for safety and convenience. In all with a new build lean-to kitchen I
calculate a volume of around 150 cu metres, which I understand could be
serviced by a burner of 10-12kw capacity. The new floor is built on
insulation board and the walls will be battened and lined with similar
insulation.

I suspect the original chimney which appears to merge with that of an
adjoining barn won't be adequate and I'm leaning toward installing a
new one, built from Anki pumice components. The overall floor to
chimney pot height is around 5m and as I read it, the larger the better
for updraught in a short chimney, so I have the 200mm size in mind

The big question for me right now is this. Given that the bedrooms and
shower room will be directly above the room heated by the woodburner,
the stairs will be open and the kitchen addition will open directly
onto it. Do I actually need radiators?

Jeff

If you do not heat these rooms upstairs, you will cause large draughts to
occur from the cold air dropping down the stairs and hot air rising, having
heat upstairs should dramatically reduce this affect.

The big question for me right now is this. Given that the
bedrooms and shower room will be directly above the room
heated by the woodburner, the stairs will be open and the
kitchen addition will open directly onto it. Do I actually
need radiators?

I'd go with radiators. I would also abandon the electric shower idea and go
with a heatbank. Mains hot water fed from the solid fuel boiler. As well as
an electric immersion, you can add an oil/gas boiler as well (even solar
panels) and just run the cheapest fuel.

Check your proposed layout for fire safety regulations. Having a kitchen
positioned on the main exit route from upstairs may be frowned upon, as a
fire in the most likely location may result in tenant toast.

Christian.

Thanks all,

Christian, Yes I'm now contemplating an exit door straight out from the
bottom of the staircase.

What's a heatbank?

Jeff