Installing a woodstove in Scotland?

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fenix

Forager
Jul 8, 2008
136
102
Kent
Interesting read. My parents have stuck with an old Parkray they picked up 2nd hand in the early 80s, they were being stripped out of council houses at the time. Its got a large back boiler and will happily run 8+ radiators, along with providing hot water. Its a multifuel stove and they get some coal in, but mainly run on logs which they get for free from a tree surgeon friend. I bough Dad a hydraulic log splitter a few years back, have to say its one of the most useful things I have ever got him.
 
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Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
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Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Yes, 44 C water can scold if you have a separate hot and cold water taps.
A mixed tap of proper construction has a valve that prevents hot water to come out, unless you manually override it. Kind of an area with increased pressure.
Common in UK on mixer showers.

I like German and Swedish taps. Quality.
Grohe is a German brand widely available in UK.
Hansgrohe is very similar, but US owned these days.

Remember I lived in UK, so know about the Birtish weather, specially SE. Very similar to Scania in Sweden. Humid.

It is not impossible you are getting 'growth' in the taps because your cold water tank makes the inhibiting agent to evaporate. Chlorine and such.
Just a thought.

Humidity in bathrooms? Get an outside venting fan with a humidity control. Automatic.
Here the environment is humid AND warm = perfect for mold and everything else.
We keep our indoor air at 47% humidity. Mold needs above 55% humidity about.

I have asthma. Mold makes me reach for my inhaler. Takes about 4 minutes and I can tell if there is any mold in a house.
 

Everything Mac

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 30, 2009
3,112
83
36
Scotland
Don't buy cast iron until I've seen you ? I have a set of pots that could happily go to a new home. I used to use them camping but I don't now. I'll keep the hanging frying pan (though if Russ doesn't want it you can have the bigger one that I kept for the meat eaters) and the girdle, but the rest are in need of tIc I suspect, they were put away clean and sound and they all have their lids too.

That's very kind of you, we can sort something out down the line a bit. :) I'd be well chuffed with that.

Thanks Dogoak. - We've got the chimney sweep coming in regardless. I'll be having a jolly good chat with him as he used to fit stoves but doesn't anymore apparently. I've also got someone coming to give me a quote for doing it, though I suspect I'll be doing it myself. If not I'll be watching them like a hawk.



Robson - thankfully I'm not that OCD and have a remarkably higher tolerance for mess and dirt than the wife. But I'll clean it from time to time I'm sure.



All the best
Andy
 
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Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
We've got a paste like goop, like thin gravy, for the tar deposits on the glass.
Wipe on, wipe off. I've got nobody to tell me to clean the door.
Quite a shock when I do get around to it during a clean out (every 500 lbs.)
The cat only cares that it's lit and running.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
A good addition we discovered her, where electricity is very expensive, is to install a Direct Heating system for the hot water, instead of the hot water tank.
Our builder told us about that system when our hot water tank needed replacing.
Our energy bill has gone down almost 5 % since the installation.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Yes, 44 C water can scold if you have a separate hot and cold water taps.
A mixed tap of proper construction has a valve that prevents hot water to come out, unless you manually override it. Kind of an area with increased pressure.
Common in UK on mixer showers.

I like German and Swedish taps. Quality.
Grohe is a German brand widely available in UK.
Hansgrohe is very similar, but US owned these days.

Remember I lived in UK, so know about the Birtish weather, specially SE. Very similar to Scania in Sweden. Humid.

It is not impossible you are getting 'growth' in the taps because your cold water tank makes the inhibiting agent to evaporate. Chlorine and such.
Just a thought.

Humidity in bathrooms? Get an outside venting fan with a humidity control. Automatic.
Here the environment is humid AND warm = perfect for mold and everything else.
We keep our indoor air at 47% humidity. Mold needs above 55% humidity about.

I have asthma. Mold makes me reach for my inhaler. Takes about 4 minutes and I can tell if there is any mold in a house.


Janne, it's so common that every water board in the country advises folks how to deal with it.
https://www.yorkshirewater.com/discolouredwater/mould-and-slime/

If my humidity is 47% then I've had the dehumidifier running for hours. Right now we have 57%. If it gets up to 67% that's when mould growth starts.

A venting fan in the bathroom would cost a fortune, especially in Winter. We just wipe down the shower walls and open the window for a while.

British taps and fittings are excellent. We don't need to import them. From Curzon's to Barwil, there's no shortage.

M
 
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Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
That's been one thing with wood heat in the winters = the lack of humidity here.
I probably evaporate 4-6 liters of water per day into the house air.

I have a stand-alone humidifier in the dining room.
I have a indoor lint trap humidifier on the laundry clothes dryer.
Dishpan of water on the wood stove. Not pretty but it helps.
Floor fan to dry the bathroom after a shower (could vent outside but don't.)
Houseplants the size of small trees.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
We keep longing for dry cold winters like that. It's so rare it's like hen's teeth.
Even in Winter I open the kitchen windows when I boil anything, and I still run the dehumidifier. We open the loft hatch as little as possible because the warm moist air goes up and chills out on the underside of the roof, and then drips down as condensation on everything stored up there. Polybags and sealed barrels are very good things indeed. The new roof is vented though, so hopefully that will help.

Two of my neighbours have Axia ventairs fitted through their kitchen walls. Neither claim they work very well, especially when cooking. They help, but don't do enough.

My older brother moved to Australia nearly forty years ago. He says the dry heat was utterly miserable. Now he lives at the coast :)
My younger brother says that the Maker said, "Scot, must be rained on at least twice a day"....my Dad on a troopship coming back from Egypt at the end of WW2 said that the boat came around to the Channel and there was such a feeling of home spread throughout the ship. That moist, green lush cool land on the horizon was Home. He said they could smell that green from miles out at sea, after all the dry and dust and heat that was the Med and North Africa, our islands were heaven on earth.

Houseplants grow like triffids though :D everything from orchids to aloes. I can't even get the christmas ones to die off :rolleyes: Anything that'll manage low light levels thrives.

Sorry Andy, total thread derail :oops:
I admit I'm tempted by a woodburner, but we'd need a chimney fitted up the gable wall.

M
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Pellet stoves can be vented straight through the nearest wall to the outside. Not an advantage that I could use.
But, I did get a chimney which was designed for use with a wood cook stove. So that was OK.

Natural gas central heating is so efficient that the "chimney" is a 4" plastic pipe going out the wall!
 

Monikieman

Full Member
Jun 17, 2013
915
11
Monikie, Angus
I haven't managed to read through the entire post but I struggling to think of someone/anyone taken to task for fitting their own woodburner. Thousands must have done it. not to say it's above board but I wouldn't think illegal and all the stove installers would certainly be telling you.

have a good look at the Regs for hearth/distance from combustable materials etc. think about joists, dwangs etc. hope this helps. Oh, get the log shed built:)
 

Everything Mac

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 30, 2009
3,112
83
36
Scotland
We keep longing for dry cold winters like that. It's so rare it's like hen's teeth.
Even in Winter I open the kitchen windows when I boil anything, and I still run the dehumidifier. We open the loft hatch as little as possible because the warm moist air goes up and chills out on the underside of the roof, and then drips down as condensation on everything stored up there. Polybags and sealed barrels are very good things indeed. The new roof is vented though, so hopefully that will help.
Sorry Andy, total thread derail :oops:
I admit I'm tempted by a woodburner, but we'd need a chimney fitted up the gable wall.

M

No worries. It's nice hearing about other peoples issues. This is my first house and has been a bit daunting a lot of the time.

I'm fitting a vent in the bathroom - got to drill through the wall then get it all wired up etc. Bit of a faff. I'm not convinced it's worth the effort personally but SWMBO has decided it needs to be done.

You can vent a stove horizontally out through a wall then fit an external pipe chimney. Easily doable. Doesn't even really need a particularly big hole I believe.

I must admit I long for drier winters as well, growing up in Dorset spoiled me a bit on that front. I like Scotland but the rain really gets to me after a while.



Robson, sounds good I'll have to investigate that. I'm sure there will be an equivalent of some sort here.


Janne - we went for a combi boiler partly for that reason. Better to heat the water as needed than have a big tank warm all the time I thought. Toddy's earlier comment about having water no matter what was one consideration as well but we decided to opt for the combi boiler anyway. It's a neat little unit and sits under the stairs quite happily. A bit of a bugger as it does take some storage space which is limited but we have extra space in the kitchen now which is enough for a little dishwasher. Something we've lived without for YEARS!. Bliss.

Andy
 

Everything Mac

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 30, 2009
3,112
83
36
Scotland
The house isn't huge so the odd bit off extra cupboard space is definitely nice to get.

Fenix - I bet that splitter is handy. I quite enjoy splitting logs though. I have no idea why.
 

mousey

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jun 15, 2010
2,210
254
42
NE Scotland
Some one I knew placed a wood burner in their open fire put a register plate in the chimney and just fed a short bit of flue pipe up into the existing open stone chimney and left it at that. Not sure if that's acceptable or not. They did seem to get a good draw on the stove though.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
We used to holiday in a house up the NE that had a woodstove fitted like that. The only problem was that the draw was so hot that it burnt out the stove pipe bit that went up the chimney.
Right enough it was literally on the coast (Crovie) and the granny on the lum whirled round pretty much constantly.

M
 

mousey

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jun 15, 2010
2,210
254
42
NE Scotland
I lived in the village just next door for a while - landslides there now so it's difficult to get down to the bottom in a car. We go holiday in Pennan [another steep sided road down, fun to meet oncoming traffic on!] as its close enough for one of us to come back to look after the many pets we have overnight.
 
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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
I saw that in the news, and thought it a shame. When the town was full of folks living and working there I think they spotted issues like that and dealt with them before it got catastrophic. I mind walking up from the shore line up through folks gardens on a path maybe a foot wide, and everybody said hello, and kept us right. The town was polished and as neat as a new pin. Typical fishertown really.
Doesn't matter how much holiday home owners care, they're not there day after day after day, and things slide.

M
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
[QUOTE="Everything Mac, post: 1859504, member: 17584"
Janne - we went for a combi boiler partly for that reason. Better to heat the water as needed than have a big tank warm all the time I thought. Toddy's earlier comment about having water no matter what was one consideration as well but we decided to opt for the combi boiler anyway. It's a neat little unit and sits under the stairs quite happily. A bit of a bugger as it does take some storage space which is limited but we have extra space in the kitchen now which is enough for a little dishwasher. Something we've lived without for YEARS!. Bliss.

Andy[/QUOTE]

Andy we have a storage combi boiler....I wanted to be able to run a deep hot bath without it taking an hour to get enough water to do so. So, we do still have a tank even though we have a 'combi' boiler.

M
 
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