Having your own wood-burning stove at your house can be a real benefit financially, convenience, and above all, from an enjoyment point of view. It’s possible to heat your entire home with a stove, and when you burn for heat rather than for cooking, then the wood fuel can be bought in a more economical way and will make a lot more sense financially. However, before you can enjoy all that, there’s the matter of installing the stove itself. Here are some of the things you need to consider before installing a wood stove in your home.
Choosing the Right Location
The location is an extremely important factor in installing a wood-burning stove. You need to analyse how you will use it and how long you will be using it for. The location of your stove needs to be safe and the only place you can install it. If the spot you are placing the stove is too close to the wall, then the heat may damage the wallpaper.
Placing the stove away from a wall will be better, but also consider the heat output. A lot of heat is released from the back of the stove, and if you’re placing it close to the wall, then you will be heating the wall rather than the room.
The location has to be right to make sure that the stove will work as it’s meant to, and the area surrounding it needs to be taken into account. It may be better to place it higher up due to the fact that heat rises, and it will rise away from the floor rather than hovering over it. You can place it under the stairs or in a cupboard, and the warmth will rise from there. You can even convert a room that is not being used as a bedroom into a box room with a wood stove in it.
Plan for Firewood
If you do not live in a town that sells firewood, then you will need to plan for the kind of fuel you will use. What is available in your area will dictate the kind of stove you install. A good idea is to figure out how much firewood you will need for the winter and buy it in advance. This way, you will know that you have the required amount of firewood for the winter and will be able to get a bargain on it.
If you buy it in small amounts when you need it the most, then you will end up paying more for it, and the price may even go up during winter.
Insulation
The choice of materials and type of construction used to build your house will be a crucial factor in determining whether you can use a wood-burning stove or not. You will need to insulate your home, and if you’re using a wood fire, then you will need a lot of insulation to protect it from the heat.
The kind of insulation you will use will depend on the type of house you have, but most homes that are insulated enough to withstand the heat from a wood stove should be okay. However, if you’re buying a house and you intend to use a wood stove, then it may be worth checking the insulation first to make sure.
Can You Do the Installation Yourself?
It’s perfectly possible to install a wood stove on your own, but it can be quite challenging. There are a lot of parts and pieces that go into the installation of a stove, and unless you know what you’re doing, you will make a terrible mess of it. So yes, you can do it yourself, but it won’t save you money, and you can also be wasting your time.
Conclusion
The advantages of having your own wood-burning stove are numerous, and they can be of real benefit to you. The only drawback is the installation of the stove, and as you can see, it requires a lot of planning to make sure that you have the right materials and are installing the stove in the right way. It’s best to call in a professional to do the installation for you instead of going through all the hassle of trying to do it yourself.
Stove Scotland is a family run business focusing on wood-burning stove installations. We make it our priority to provide honest and reliable services every time you come to us. Trust us to supply and install the perfect wood stove for your home. When looking for stove fitters in Scotland, feel free to reach out to us.