Change oil burner for wood burner, query over flue pipe. Help and information on all topics relating to your central heating, air conditioning and ventilation issues.

[TC01]

I have purchased a wood burner to replace my oil fuelled stove but I dont know if the flue that is in place is suitable. The house had the stove and flue fitted by previous owners. The flue is in the corner of the sitting room and goes straight up through the ceiling , straight through the bedroom and up through the roof. The oil burner when lit used to heat this bedroom but with my installing a woodburner I dont know if I'm going to need to replace the flue with one that goes straight out the wall. If I dont, how do i find out if the flue is lined ready for a wood burner? If I do have to replace the flue, will I need planning permission?
Any advice will be gratefully received.

[Perry525]

These days only qualified people are allowed to change chimneys, you must speak to your council.
Fitting a chimney, even an insulated chimney outside the warm zone of a house, is not a good idea.
To work properly a chimney needs to be warm, keeping as much as possible inside the house helps.

[flues1]

Hi im pretty new to flue systems myself so im trying to read around, see if i can learn and help people, From what i have read a wood burner will give off alot of steam in its smoke, which means unless the whole flue is kept running warm you will get condensation build up. this can cause sulphur to build up and eat thru your flue system so ensure you have decent insulation and try and minimise condensation build up (maybe put in a condensation trap). someone please correct me if im wrong.

You should be able to replace a flexible liner with no more than a brave friend who isn't afraid of heights to help out from the top, assuming you can fit a flexible liner down there with some lining or fill out the stack with vermiculite or some other insulation. The most important things are going to be to keep the flue as straight as possible, line it suitably, and once the work is done get it inspected by your local building authority, prices for the inspection seem to be around the £150's mark

Remember tho if you do go down the road of replacing the flue think long term, don't go cheap.. the cheap low grade flues will last maybe 5 years, with a wood burner not running efficiently (ie poor lined and/or running on tick over alot) you will get even less life. a good twin lined system should last a good 20+ years. the price might be higher but there are definite benefits to it.

Like i say tho im still learning, i may be wrong so don't take my word for it just yet, im sure others will have something to say, especially if im wrong :P