Understanding Distances to combustibles

[@JohnB-b6m]

Useful video. In response to the frequent use of the word 'trust' in the video, getting more than one fitter quote is always wise as this helps customers discover registered fitters who are more expensive for identical installation approaches using the same materials than others. Rates can vary significantly. Thanks.

[@Jamesarcherstoves]

My favourite vid so far

[@TheTortoise]

Thanks a lot. I took a lot of time trying to do it some justice!

[@martinebradley6891]

Great video very informative. Totally unrelated but could you tell me the colour on your stove wall. Thanks

[@TheTortoise]

😬 pink ??? I’m really bad at that, my wife chooses colours and then being a cheapskate, I then try and get it mixed in Dulux. 😅

[@martinebradley6891]

@ haha you sound like my husband! It’s such a warm pink

[@TheTortoise]

😂

[@JohnB-b6m]

Just for clarity, especially for international viewers, the regulations referred to apply to England and Wales. They are however a good guide everywhere. It is important to follow local building regulations, which themselves are periodically updated. Hence identifying fitters used by people you know can be important, instead of picking someone based on unverified claims. Someone local with a proven track record and current knowledge will keep you safe. This stuff is complex so it pays to do your homework, for example via a local council Trusted Trader scheme where available.

[@EddRandomCrap]

Realised 5mins in that it’s a piece of paper on top of the stove. Brilliant! 😂

[@craftingcurious4045]

I needed this video, both informative and funny. Had to laugh at the possibility of the paper setting alight ‘in the thirst for evidence of the combustibles! fantastic. !! I have a couple of questions. I’ve bought a house, hope to complete November. It’s a timber framed house but the stove looks odd. I’m happy to send pictures. It has a very weird little surround and seems too large for the insert. I want to replace the stove with a modern looking one. There is also ‘bubbling’ on the paint around the insert, Why has that happened? I don’t have measurements yet but I also want the tv mounted above an oak beam. From a layperson I’m a bit worried, about the timber frame of the house, I don’t have any info yet about the original fitting and secondly the size of the insert, it’s very small compared to most. Can this be widened ? Many thanks for taking the time to educate us all. Much appreciated 👍🏻

[@TheTortoise]

This will take an installer to visit in order to get answers, but sometimes stoves have been installed either without compliance or before compliance (regs were only written in 2002 and enforced in 2005, so it’s still a fairly new thing). If what is there pre-dates regs then it’s still governed by the rules of its day, so it may have very few restrictions at all.

[@jackcaldwell6580]

Brilliant video, what are the ‘guidelines/ regs’ on having a carpeted floor with a wood burner? Certain distance high? Deep? Many thanks

[@TheTortoise]

This video may be helpful, but generally carpets are irrelevant as long as you’ve got the hearth right: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGKlk6tqd52kabssi=T7YLOQshzDV1APaW

[@judym7237]

I wish I had found your videos months ago! I've been so frustrated by different installers giving different information that I paused my woodburner purchase because it felt too complicated:). There were two areas of particular perplexity 1) Ventilation and whether my pre 2008 home should be treated as a new build because I had modernised internally, and whether it made any difference if I went for a 5KW rated stove and 2) Skirting board distance from the appliance. Mine come round the hearth to the edge of the fireplace opening like yours in the video, one installer insisted I would have to cut them back to the outer edge of the hearth to achieve distances from side of stove, the other said there was no issue. Are skirting boards a general exception? PS what is your stove? it's very nice looking

[@TheTortoise]

Thanks for the message. In this video we were using the Stovax Huntingdon. With regard to skirting, the way things work is that generally it all hinges on what the fitter says, so given that 1 was happy, I’d be going in that direction.

[@biggeordie245]

Do you have a sheet of paper on the stove top?

[@codamh4862]

Yes he does. It’s explained in the video if you watch it all.

[@biggeordie245]

@@codamh4862 I did, eventually! I rarely have an hour to spare at one sitting.

[@craftingcurious4045]

Watch the video to part 3, this was an experiment of sorts’ very informative

[@CalumKemptonMusic]

How would that boil down ehen it comes to house insurance

[@TheTortoise]

Not sure what you mean? House insurance will get involved if a problem has arisen, which will have (in the vast majority of cases) been caused by a mistake by the user. If it was caused by negligence by the installer, then their insurance would be liable, but that is an incredibly rare occurrence (certainly I have never encountered this, in 10’s of thousands of installations my family has been involved in). Interestingly many thousands that we have done, were done before regs were introduced.

[@sidperry7748]

Hi Gabriel , could tell me what the maximum size (square hole in weld mesh ) is for a guard that is used around a twin wall flue in a loft and the minimum distance from the flue it has to be . I am doing a self install and I can't find a reg covering this , I have notified BC and they will be coming round to sign it off . Thanks

[@TheTortoise]

There’s no regs on this that I know of. As the video says, “work in the spirit of the regs”. The flue maker will prescribe distances, and what have you got in your loft? The whole point is keep that away from the flue. If what you have is the size of marbles then the mesh needs to be very small. If things are larger, then reflect that. I have seen products that were an inch square, which certainly seemed sensible in many situations.

[@sidperry7748]

@@TheTortoise Thanks Gabriel, great channel 👍

[@ianscottuk]

Is it not pyrolysis over time that they are looking at rather than immediate combustion?

[@TheTortoise]

This is perhaps more relevant with a structural oak beam, as strength can slowly be removed by time, but sped up by heat. This does tend to become quite visible though. I’ve encountered dozens of very old (and completely charred) beams holding fireplaces up. Generally the charring has been caused by open fires, and always seems a bit funny the lengths I’ve gone to, to get stuff properly protected from a stove, despite the fact that naked flames had been burning that beam for roughly 160 years.

[@codamh4862]

I don’t doubt fitters’ knowledge, but the fees they charge are absolutely scandalous.

[@TheTortoise]

I think every tradesman suffers this reputation, and yet other than Charlie Mullins, I’ve never met a rich one. It’s easy to say it’s expensive, until you’ve: Bought a van The tools Paid your work mate every day even when a job goes wrong and you don’t get paid. Training Insurance Accountant Ongoing subscriptions for compliance. If the money was that good, you and I would be doing it too.

[@julia061174]

I think you have to look at it from a fitters perspective.

[@codamh4862]

@@TheTortoise I disagree, I can see where the costs lie and appreciate the value in what every other tradesmen do or have done for me at least. Not for these though. Rich is a relative term I suppose, but the ones around my way absolutely do very well for themselves. Thousands of pounds for a day's work? I would certainly be doing it if they didn't already have a stranglehold on the market. I know you have allegiances having worked in the industry for so long and saying you've been a fitter yourself, but tell me, what do you think I should be paying just to have a wood burner connected where nothing is required other than installing and connecting a flue? I have an existing inglenook fireplace where everything is in order i.e. the hearth, fireplace, chimney, no issues re combustibles, etc. I have the (new) fire in situ too, it just needs a flue and a register plate. The fireplace is on the ground floor of a regular two storey semi-detached house. What would you say would be reasonable for that?

[@TheTortoise]

There are so many factors when installing so I cannot know a price. Everyone I’ve ever spoken to will say their chimney & fireplace is perfect and there are no issues, but experience shows this cannot always be the case. I would also add that it’s nearly impossible to have a “strangle hold” on a market if you’re ripping people off. It is very easy in that situation for others to start up and undercut you. Having said this I definitely understand that costs are high. The flip side is that our own legal systems have forced this. Historically (pre2002) there were no regs on stove installations. They were cheap and you could do what you like. Now (just like for you) the costs come from every angle: New regs Equipment Safety Employment rules causing tons more costs for fitters with a work mate Certification, training and subscriptions Even simple accountancy costs Everything is going up everywhere, and bear in mind I have worked with and helped dozens of fitters start, get work, get trained. They all start by thinking “there’s plenty of money in this”, and no exaggeration that typically lasts 1 month before a couple jobs have gone wrong, a mistakes been made, your van gets raided and all your tools are gone (my brother fits stoves and has had this 3 times). Or nothing goes wrong, but you’ve worked like crazy and after all your costs you’ve earned less than a manager at Tesco. The job you’ve described could cost £700 in some cases, and literally £4000 in others, where for example you have a thatch roof and several far more complicated and costly processes must take place. I get this reply is mostly annoying, and I don’t mean it to be. But these things are never just as simple as “they’re ripping you off”.