Replacing woodburner in sitting room. Doable?

[flanajb]

It seems pretty common sense to be able to replace a wood burner yourself, but according to local regs I need to employ the services of an uber qualified and HETAS certified heating engineer?

Seems a load of bollocks if you ask me, but just wondered whether anyone else has just got on and done this themselves. Plan is to use fire cement on the flue connection and we already have a CO detector in the room anyway.

Will I go to prison if caught?

 

[RogerS]

Who's to know?

 

[Hivenhoe]

You must comply with several Building Regulations before a compliance certificate can be issued for the work.
Either employ an HETAS installer to do the work for you, then issue a compliance certificate or DIY submit a Building Notice to your LA who will inspect the work, witness smoke & spillage tests, then hopefully issue a compliance certificate. You will need the compliance certificate when you come to sell & iirc need to inform your insurance company

 

[flanajb]

Who's to know?

You must comply with several Building Regulations before a compliance certificate can be issued for the work.
Either employ an HETAS installer to do the work for you, then issue a compliance certificate or DIY submit a Building Notice to your LA who will inspect the work, witness smoke & spillage tests, then hopefully issue a compliance certificate. You will need the compliance certificate when you come to sell & iirc need to inform your insurance company

Now let me think about that one. It's not as if I am replacing my gas boiler.

Do I have to employ a HLOS (heavy lifting operations specialist) to put the burner into the correct place, or can I do that on the same building notice?

 

[Cottonwood]

If you want a woodburning stove that is safe, fuel-efficient and worry free, it is best to get a qualified installer who has to take responsibility for their work. I have seen only too graphically the results of a diy installation gone wrong. The entire house burned down because the tight wad owner basically didnt know what they were doing :roll: , the flue was leaking, the pointing in the old inglenook was leaking, (they didnt know any better) The thatch caught fire and that was that. Next morning, a 200 yyear old cottage reduced to a black smouldering shell. It was a year before the insurance finally agreed to pay (after a LOT of hassle), another 2 years or so before the property was repaired. Just for the sake of saving a few hundred quid, the whole scenario could have easily been avoided...

 

[Mike.C]

If you want a woodburning stove that is safe, fuel-efficient and worry free, it is best to get a qualified installer who has to take responsibility for their work. I have seen only too graphically the results of a diy installation gone wrong. The entire house burned down because the tight wad owner basically didnt know what they were doing :roll: , the flue was leaking, the pointing in the old inglenook was leaking, (they didnt know any better) The thatch caught fire and that was that. Next morning, a 200 yyear old cottage reduced to a black smouldering shell. It was a year before the insurance finally agreed to pay (after a LOT of hassle), another 2 years or so before the property was repaired. Just for the sake of saving a few hundred quid, the whole scenario could have easily been avoided...

If what has been said (re the rules and regs above are correct), which I have no doubt that they are, then they were very lucky that the insurance company paid them out. You know what insurers are like they use every trick in the book to get out of settling a claim.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My thoughts as well, because the regs are correct.

 

[flanajb]

We don't have a thatch, but maybe I will get it replaced as part of the chimney sweep I will be having done shortly.

 

[kostello]

Maybe you could do it and take it out if you ever sell?????...........

 

[Baldhead]

I know of a chap who has watched a gas safe installer service the gas boilers at a few properties he and his friends rent out! He wants to do the servicing himself to save a few quid, "all they do is clean the boiler out", his words not mine. He is a 'clever type' he works like a bull in a china shop, he also installed electric underfloor heating in his new conservatory, he tiled over before having the circuit connected to the consumer unit, when a qualified electrician connected the circuit up it kept tripping out, he had made a big cock up, he now has no heating in his conservatory, I only hope his property business partners stopped him 'servicing the gas installations'

Sometimes saving a few quid now can lead to expensive mistakes in the future, thats one of the reasons why when there's regs are in place it's best to use someone who knows what they are doing.

Just because you have a CO detector in the room doesn't mean it's acceptable to try to work outside of the regs.

BH

 

[Sheffield Tony]

You will need the compliance certificate when you come to sell & iirc need to inform your insurance company

I had my stove installed by a HETAS accredited installer. I got no data plate, no certificate, just an invoice. My home insurers were completely uninterested,

Now let me think about that one. It's not as if I am replacing my gas boiler.

Woodburners produce a great deal more carbon monoxide than a gas boiler (you control them by restricting the air supply !), and offer a greater fire hazard.

Sometimes saving a few quid now can lead to expensive mistakes in the future, thats one of the reasons why when there's regs are in place it's best to use someone who knows what they are doing.

If only you could assume that professional / registered implies "nows what they are doing". I can think of 3 professionally installed stoves, one my own, none of which comply with building regs. Mine - no flue data plate, no certificate. Another - stove connected to vitreous flue by shoving a short length of stove pipe up inside it; no sealing to prevent leakage of fumes, condensate, and impossible to sweep correctly. Another - wooden mantle piece within 3" of the top of the stove :shock:

 

[Hivenhoe]

Sometimes saving a few quid now can lead to expensive mistakes in the future, thats one of the reasons why when there's regs are in place it's best to use someone who knows what they are doing.

If only you could assume that professional / registered implies "nows what they are doing". I can think of 3 professionally installed stoves, one my own, none of which comply with building regs. Mine - no flue data plate, no certificate. Another - stove connected to vitreous flue by shoving a short length of stove pipe up inside it; no sealing to prevent leakage of fumes, condensate, and impossible to sweep correctly. Another - wooden mantle piece within 3" of the top of the stove :shock:[/quote]

Ref.this thread about says it ll about some reg co's https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/cowboy-tradesmen-horror-pics-t67154.html

 

[mind_the_goat]

This is a replacment rather than a new install so you'd be reliant on the way the original was installed. Does that have a certificate? If you have a lined flue, have it swept annually and have never had an issue with fumes then replacing the existing unit should be straightforward. Don't forget to check airflow into the room the new unit over 4KW (I think), they do use a lot of oxygen so you need airflow into the room. The size of the unit in the hole you have and size of hearth is also important. Do make sure you read and follow the regs though before purchasing.
Your Chimney sweep may also have some advice.

 

[Lons]

I know little about woodburners except that installation is definately subject to building regs approval. However......

Some close friends had one installed a couple of years ago by a reputable company who it turns out didn't fit the flue correctly and the result was a fairly major chimney fire which resulted in a fire engine attendance and resulting water damage.
They were lucky to be at home at the time and it wasn't overnight or much serious consequences were very likely.

Bob

 

[Baldhead]

I have been told by a Firefighter that the chap I mentioned earlier not only made a pigs ear of his underfloor heating, he also installed a log burner and didnt fit a double flue (or whatever it is your supposed to fit) and guess what.........that's right he needed the assistance of the Fire Service. Apparently he and his wife and child were out and on their return the house was full of smoke, turns out the flue was touching some timber and it was all charred, the fire service had to cut away a portion of the ceiling causing more damage.

To be honest this gent is going to seriously hurt or kill someone with his approach to DIY!

Wonder what his insurance company said?

BH

 

[Hivenhoe]

I have been told by a Firefighter that the chap I mentioned earlier not only made a pigs ear of his underfloor heating, he also installed a log burner and didnt fit a double flue (or whatever it is your supposed to fit) and guess what.........that's right he needed the assistance of the Fire Service. Apparently he and his wife and child were out and on their return the house was full of smoke, turns out the flue was touching some timber and it was all charred, the fire service had to cut away a portion of the ceiling causing more damage.

To be honest this gent is going to seriously hurt or kill someone with his approach to DIY!

Wonder what his insurance company said?

BH

Twin wall

 

[Graham Orm]

It seems pretty common sense to be able to replace a wood burner yourself, but according to local regs I need to employ the services of an uber qualified and HETAS certified heating engineer?

Seems a load of pineapples if you ask me, but just wondered whether anyone else has just got on and done this themselves. Plan is to use fire cement on the flue connection and we already have a CO detector in the room anyway.

Will I go to prison if caught?

You will be made to sharpen in a manner not of your choosing.

 

[flanajb]

It seems pretty common sense to be able to replace a wood burner yourself, but according to local regs I need to employ the services of an uber qualified and HETAS certified heating engineer?

Seems a load of pineapples if you ask me, but just wondered whether anyone else has just got on and done this themselves. Plan is to use fire cement on the flue connection and we already have a CO detector in the room anyway.

Will I go to prison if caught?

You will be made to sharpen in a manner not of your choosing.

:shock: There are many ways to read into that comment, but I think I get what you mean!