richo106 Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 Hi all We are planning for our renovation that is starting in the next couple of months. We are not going for an eco house but we are focussing a lot on air tightness (aiming for 3) Our kitchen/diner (around 60m2 floor area) and we are planning to have an inset log burner with external air kit to maintain air tightness Is there a max size of fire we can have? I am sure I have read 5kW somewhere but I don’t know if I have just made that up. does the external air have to come from directly behind the fire through a duct/vent? does the inset log burner need to have a hearth? The chimney will be completely new so we can build/design whatever suits Any information or advice will be greatly appreciated Many Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 A hearth is there to prevent anything falling out of the fire damaging or igniting the floor etc. If you had say polished concrete floor and brick, block or concrete wall without skirtings etc then you have no potential fire risk. vinyl, carpets or wood floors, skirtings etc all need protection from hot embers and other flaming projectiles that come from log burners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richo106 Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 Thank you the reply, very helpful. We are definitely having tiled floor, still undecided whether to have brick chimney breast or plasterboard/plaster. Many Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simplysimon Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 less than 5kw means you don't need to have supplementary air into the room. as you have external air being fitted this won't apply. the only consideration is to not oversze the fire for the room as you want it burning hot to keep flue clean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richo106 Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 2 minutes ago, Simplysimon said: less than 5kw means you don't need to have supplementary air into the room. as you have external air being fitted this won't apply. the only consideration is to not oversze the fire for the room as you want it burning hot to keep flue clean Oh right, so I wouldn’t need an external air kit with a fire 5kw or below. But if I went bigger I would just get an external air kit and none of these options would compromise on air tightness etc Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simplysimon Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 with an external air kit the fire pulls in what it needs from outside, without it air will be pulled in from outside through all the leaks and draughts due to house not being airtight thereby potentially cooling other areas of the house. buy the kit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richo106 Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 Just now, Simplysimon said: with an external air kit the fire pulls in what it needs from outside, without it air will be pulled in from outside through all the leaks and draughts due to house not being airtight thereby potentially cooling other areas of the house. buy the kit! Will do. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonner Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 In an air tight house, I think you need an air supply whatever the size of stove (either direct or indirect) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 If you are aiming for air tight, get the ducted air kit, and make sure your chosen stove supports both primaryand secondary from the duct. The stove manufacturer will specify if it needs a full constructional hearth or just a 12mm stone of glass hearth. My best advice is position the stove where it can heat the whole house, e.g in a room that opens to a central hall / stairwell so you can open the door and let the heat to other parts of the house. In a well insulated house, if it's not possible to distribute the heat to other rooms it might well overheat a single room very quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 I had no intention of a direct connection until last week, and the discussion here convinced me otherwise. I was going to duct in air to the floor or wall adjacent to the fire so that it could get air without causing a draught. This would also allow use of a £600 stove instead of a £1,200 one with a duct in the back. After consideration and reading the rules, for now we have chosen to provide a connected supply, because there won't be uncontrolled draughts in the room ( all the time, as it can't be closed) , and the fire will take what it needs without trying to take it from the room. The spiral ducting is not pretty so will be buried in the floor. Behind the stove I had expected to use a sturdy pipe supplied with the stove, but they don't seem to exist. 6 months to find a 60mm internal diameter tube with bends. Re hearths. There is another advantage, in catching burning bits that fall out, before they bounce onto your knees, or onwards to the Persian carpet. You could have an occasional hearth , making a U shape in angle iron, so that it could be lifted away out of season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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