hi I have just brought my first home and it has an open fire. I would like to put a wood burner in. Does anyone know the process to do this please. How do I know what fire place to buy and what will fit. The open fire area is quite small with an arch type of front, pretty old school looking
skin1235,
Apr 14, 9:18am
can you post a couple of pics of the fireplace, perhaps put a kitchen chair beside it so we can see some ides of scale
tiny15,
Apr 14, 9:48am
all the wood burners I have ever seen installed into an existing fire place were pretty useless. no airflow around them pretty much rendered them useless at heating the room
cagivachick1,
Apr 14, 9:50am
yep freestanding the only way to go
nzmax,
Apr 14, 9:55am
I agree with both above posters re installing a freestanding fire. I have owned houses with both and freestanding is the way to go. If the open fire is an original feature, no reason why you can leave it as a feature and block up the chimney.
..james..,
Apr 14, 9:57am
Hi, Im far from an expert, but learnt a lot from this forum in doing the same as what you are about to do. I decided to install a freestanding wood burner as it was going to be much better in my situation, have you considered that? It was also cheaper than putting it in the existing chimney. See if you can find an on to it plumber (i never associated plumbers with fire places ) for some advice. The council are part of the process so talk to them and look up their requirements. And don't be scared off by all the jargon. its actually simple. best of luck.
mm12345,
Apr 14, 8:24pm
We had an inbuilt log-burner, which I replaced prior to the Chch quakes - which destroyed the chimney - so we only used it for one winter. The new burner was very much more efficient than the one it replaced (an old Kent), so don't compare an old inbuilt with a new freestanding fire - there's more to it than that, but free-standing fires are still better.
Also, if I had a house with an existing chimney, I'd be looking at it very carefully before deciding whether to use it for an inbuilt log-burner install. It could be an opportunity to make some sensible changes, as EQ the size of the Chch quakes can happen anywhere in NZ. When our chimney collapsed, it caused at least $75,000 worth of damage, and left us with gaping holes in walls - which were roughly boarded up with plywood and stayed that way for 4 years while we tried to sort out the EQC/insurance mess. Very lucky really - if it had fallen the other way it would have probably killed me, and the house would have probably been a total loss.
cantabman1,
Apr 14, 9:23pm
best if you put in a free standing fire box.Puts out much more heat you are getting radiated heat from the flue and top of the box. If it is a large room, go for the Tarras Woodsman. It has a much bigger box to fit larger logs and gives out heaps of heat 23,000 BTU.[british thermal units of heat]
annies3,
Apr 14, 9:43pm
When we started our renovations the first thing we did was install a Wagener freestanding cooker in the kitchen part of our open plan, this was the best decision ever, heats the house (great today in this storm) cooks all the meals, the water is always hot regardless, so there are more expensive cookers which you can choose from, but you can't beat a good wood burner.
tintop,
Apr 14, 9:54pm
23,000btu/hour = 6.739 kW, so about the same amount of heat as 3 and a half electric heaters. :)
macman26,
Apr 14, 11:06pm
If you do get a built in one make sure it has a fan to blow the hot air out.
helsbelsnz,
Apr 15, 8:57pm
We replaced the old insert wood burner in our last house with another insert, and regretted it. As people have posted above, it would be worthwhile investigating the possibility of a freestanding burner - much more heat and a cook top.
dibble35,
Apr 16, 6:04am
You cant do it your self obviously (illegal), if you have a local fireplace guy get him/her to come and give you a quote. They do everything for you including getting the permit from the council, I got 2 quotes, ended up buying my own insert fireplace from mitre10 recently when they had their free flue offer on, saved myself around $400. I opted for an insert fireplace as I have very limited room and quite a small house.
landylass,
Apr 18, 12:04pm
Not sure how its done but a rellie had a open fireplace on an outside wall. Somehow took the front of the fireplace down, took our firebricks and made good the rest. On the outside it just looked like the chimney always had up to roof level, and on the inside had a lovely alcove with tiled floor with a freestanding burner.
hazelnut2,
Apr 18, 10:08pm
Great idea!
acemow1,
Apr 18, 10:15pm
Why not consider a heat pump as these can be used year round, not just in winter
hazelnut2,
Apr 18, 10:17pm
A picnic on the floor in front of the heat pump just isn't as romantic!
golfaholic2,
Apr 19, 12:52am
under some local bi-law?
bluemoonlily,
Jan 31, 7:43am
you can do it yourself in christchurch
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