Is it 'green' to want to buy a stove? We don't want to be blue with the cold
Nest? Flue The One Owner's Over Home
A. Hi Frances and Joe. Huge congratulations on buying your first home. There’s nothing like the feeling of having your own property and there is no sweeter high than securing your own nest. But you guys know this already. Enjoy it.
Yes, heat pumps and solar PV are very much seen as the way to go at present with most house owners and designers moving away from open fires. But it’s important to note that open fires and stoves are not banned. It is more that there are heavy restrictions on what you can burn in them. Since 2022, stoves have to conform to eco-design requirements or they simply cannot be put on the market, with some caveats of course.
We are all waiting for more efficient fuels that give us heat and do not impact air quality. While we might not be there yet, products and systems are constantly evolving, so we’ll hopefully get there soon. But let’s start with things in your control right now and when you have some money to spend in the future, you can look at what steps are most efficient in real time.
A lot of my clients refer to their old buildings as cold. When I drill into this the information that comes through loud and clear is that temperatures fluctuate. What I mean is this: often old houses, commonly stone, have a consistent temperature throughout the seasons. They are gloriously cool in the summer months (when the sun actually shines, that is) and they hold a similar temperature in the winter months.
Now, cold caused by fluctuating temperatures is much more noticeable and we often hear the words ‘comfort level’ used. We can be very susceptible to subtle changes, and it can lead to varying levels of dissatisfaction. This is completely understandable because fluctuation can shock the body. Mild shock but shock, nevertheless. So, the low hanging fruit in terms of making a few upgrades would be, I suggest, tracking undesigned air movement and reducing or stopping it.
Have you ever pulled your feet up onto the sofa because they felt like ice blocks, while at the same time your face was roasting from the heat of the open fire? That is more often than not air sucked under the door, through the parting rails at the sash windows or under the window boards where insulation didn’t meet the underside of the boards (where insulation exists) or basically, any opening in the fabric. If you find yourself constantly getting up to feed your fire, then the chimney is drawing air very well indeed.
This air movement can exist even when there is no fire crackling away in the grate. When conditions are right the external atmosphere will cause a draw in your chimney and air flow will continue to occur.
Back in the day of stone house construction builders spotted this issue with air movement, so they very cleverly ran a clay pipe in the floor connecting the hearth to the outside. This fed the fire the air it needed, so the air wasn’t pulled in from the room itself. This technology has been incorporated into efficient stove design today, as well as other clever variations.
Where is all this going? Well, if you are not using the fireplace insert a flue balloon or a proprietary solution with eg a door to close down the flue to prevent the draw. This will stop the suction of air through rooms. Don’t forget to open the door or remove the balloon when you light a fire. Next, check your windows and external doors for draught proofing. Where there is none, go to your local hardware store and pick up a couple of roles of proprietary draught strip and YouTube will assist in your application.
If you have old timber windows, please do not throw them out because they are a little rattly. Think about sustainability and finite resources and how well timber responds to repairs. If in doubt or you have queries about building fabric, get a chartered building surveyor to make an assessment.
When you relight your fire, you will now have a draught stripped house, so what is the chimney supposed to draw on? Unlike stoves, regulating air flow for an open fire is tricky. There are proprietary cowls placed at high level that will disrupt the atmospheric pull (vacuum effect from differential pressures) and again, the burn rate will be reduced. If the fire is struggling you may have to crack a window open slightly or retrofit a separate feed, like an air pipe. A slightly open window is far better than several sources of uncontrolled air entry.
Where is all this going? Well, if you are not using the fireplace insert a damper to close down the flue to prevent the draw. This will stop the suction of air through rooms. Don’t forget to open the damper when you light a fire. Next, check your windows and external doors for draught proofing. Where there is none, go to your local hardware store and pick up a couple of roles of proprietary draught strip and YouTube will assist in your application.
If you have old timber windows, please do not throw them out because they are a little rattly. Think about sustainability and finite resources and how well timber responds to repairs. If in doubt or you have queries about the fabric of the building, get a chartered building surveyor to make an assessment.
When you relight your fire, you will now have a draught stripped house, so what is the chimney supposed to draw on? Unlike stoves, regulating air flow for an open fire is tricky. The damper will help to a degree because it lessens the flue aperture and will slow down the burning process somewhat. A cowl or damper at high level will disrupt the atmospheric pull (vacuum effect from differential pressures) and again, the burn rate will be reduced. If the fire is struggling you may have to crack a window open slightly or retrofit a separate feed, like an air pipe. A slightly open window is far better than several sources of uncontrolled air entry.
Now… this may appear contradictory but where you burn solid fuel you must have a vent in the room to prevent carbon dioxide and monoxide build up. Do not block existing vents. I mentioned undesigned air flow earlier. A vent is designed air flow.
On the question of linking a stove to a back boiler, taking it from the realm of room heater where it heats just the room it sits in, to contributing to the overall heating system, this is a much larger question. There is so much to consider here, like sealed versus unsealed systems (you may have a sealed system and need a vented one or a combination), room size, radiator size, what output is left after heating the water. To be honest this is a bigger study and so much more information is needed.
I’d suggest you talk to a chartered mechanical and electrical engineer to bottom this out and look at your specific requirements. I think it would be better to plan ahead and to look at a holistic solution rather than spending money on putting in a back boiler right now.
I hope these tips help you make your home more comfortable.
Brigid Browne is a chartered building surveyor and Chair of the Southern Region of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland. She is the owner/ managing director of Cashel-based Fortress Planning which offers a range of services including assigned certifier, design certifier, building surveyor and conservation consultancy to clients all over the country. www.fortressplanning.ie
If you have a property related query or issue you would like to raise with Brigid, please email irishexaminerpropertyqueries@scsi.ie