Install Stove

strewthelvis

Hi all, living in a mobile for past few weeks and its bloody freezing cold. its supposed to be gas heated but unless we run it 24 hrs a day its so damn cold in there, we have an electric heater but that only heats the room we are in and am sure in the long run we will have huge ESB bills.

Other half is on about installing a stove, which i am all for but i have read that its alot of work. Currently there is a gas heat in the fireplace (fake) and he is on about taking that out and sticking in a stove simple as.

I have read bits on boards and i know there is a heck of a lot more to it so currently we are heated by the blazing rows we have over this.

Has anyone taken out the gas heater thing and installed a stove in their mobile i know i read about a slab of concrete under stove and certain distances to leave around stove and all that, also my gas cooker is located on the back of the Fireplace wall and am just worried that he will just fire ahead with his bob the builder routine and either we go up in flames or he causes a gas explosion.

paddyp

strewthelvis wrote: »

Hi all, living in a mobile for past few weeks and its bloody freezing cold. its supposed to be gas heated but unless we run it 24 hrs a day its so damn cold in there, we have an electric heater but that only heats the room we are in and am sure in the long run we will have huge ESB bills.

Other half is on about installing a stove, which i am all for but i have read that its alot of work. Currently there is a gas heat in the fireplace (fake) and he is on about taking that out and sticking in a stove simple as.

I have read bits on boards and i know there is a heck of a lot more to it so currently we are heated by the blazing rows we have over this.

Has anyone taken out the gas heater thing and installed a stove in their mobile i know i read about a slab of concrete under stove and certain distances to leave around stove and all that, also my gas cooker is located on the back of the Fireplace wall and am just worried that he will just fire ahead with his bob the builder routine and either we go up in flames or he causes a gas explosion.

Your main problem isn't the source of heat its where its going. If you'll be staying in the mobile long term definitely look at insulating under the floor, skirting around to prevent the wind ripping around under you. Fencing at least on the prevailing wind side. Double glazing, secondary glazing or at least heavy thermal curtains for windows and doors. If its on not on a site and some sides are not visible you might be able to do a quick and dirty cowboy external insulation job by sticking kingspan sheets to the outside with expanding foam. I got kingspan seconds and stuck them to the inside of our van with expanding foam worked out very cheap.

Gas flue is totally unsuitable for a start, gas flue temperature is tiny often 120C max and there are no corrosive elements so gas flue is paper thin and made of low grade material.

Most stoves and building regs. will specify about 4m-4.5m minimum flue height to ensure sufficient draught. You should have twin wall insulated flue to maintain the flue temperature and draught. Without insulated flue you can get problems with draught and soot deposits, condensation and creosote depositing in the flue which can lead to fire in the flue, soot falls can block the flue etc.

Taking the building regs as a common sense starting point the minimum hearth size is 840mm with a minimum distance of 150mm to the back and size and 225mm-300mm to the front. You'll want at least 150mm between it and combustible materials. I'd recommend a fender to stop hot coals that fall out scattering accross the floor. Building regs specify minimum hearth thickness of 125mm with a minimum gap under that to combusible materials.

http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/BuildingStandards/FileDownLoad,1650,en.pdf

Now all that being said of course you see boats, campers, mobiles with very short flues and if burning sufficiently dry timber, or smokeless fuels you'll probably be fine once the flue has heated up.

It's actually pretty simple stuff but not suitable at all if you have children due to burn risk.

I recommend a pot bellied stove with a valve (temp. control and can be extinguished by suffocation).
Secure it by the feet, attach the flue and brace the flue every 1.5m
The flue is recommended to be 0.5m proud of the roof but I think that's elaborate; mine's 0.3m. Although I've seen much lower operated successfully. Also a cowl on top is advisable.
I use Evostick "Serious Stuff" to seal the roof, it's not rated for high temperature use but it works fine with everyday use and I just chip off the old stuff and reseal it every Summer or two.
Ensure all surfaces within 0.5m are flashed with a light (1.5mm - 5mm thick) metal surface to reflect heat from flammables.

As long as you don't have a gas leak it would be quite hard to create an explosion. In fact explosions are quite hard to achieve...uncontrolled flames are more realistic....(like how cars explode in movies but only ignite in real life if at all).

I use gas hobs and a stove at the same time most days.
The gas operating device should if working correctly burn the gas as it is expelled eliminating the possibility to linger in the atmosphere. Also the draw off the burner is up the chimney not into the living area so a burner does not create what I consider open flames.

Also I'd consider keeping the gas heater, install the stove in the opposite end of the space and only use one at a time rather than substituting one for the other. Circumstances may make one or both more favourable than the other in the future.

Also if the roof is made of a flammable material I'd advise cutting out a 0.75m diameter circle and plating it with a non corrosive metal (aluminium/galvanised) where the flue protrudes the roof.

www.windysmithy.co.uk/woodburners
http://canvasandcast.com/category_Cast_stoves_1.htm

My experience is with a 2.5 kw, for a small space however (20m cubed). If you are thinking of getting a much larger stove the temperature will be significantly higher in which case I'd err closer to Paddyp's building reg.'s

paddyp

Forgot to say you 100% have to have a quality carbon monoxide alarm and smoke alarms too.

I second what sir liamalot says about an extinguishable stove. I have a friend from Durham who was a bohemian dental technician living on a narrow boat for years as you do:p Lit the stove as he always did to cook the dinner went to the shop to get a tin of cider to put in a stew and when he came back the boat was vapourised

Theres load of info on the narrow boat forums about tar and condensates with the short flues.

Heres some good advice for s similar situation:
http://www.soliftec.com/Boat%20Stoves%201-page.pdf

strewthelvis

As long as you don't have a gas leak it would be quite hard to create an explosion. In fact explosions are quite hard to achieve...uncontrolled flames are more realistic....(like how cars explode in movies but only ignite in real life if at all).

^Thanks for your reply this is what i was most worried about

strewthelvis

strewthelvis wrote: »

^Thanks for your reply this is what i was most worried about

It isn't usually a problem provided you test the new system for leaks, and have a main gas valve a few meters from the regulator valve. This ensures that if worst case scenario an ignited leak develops you can shut one off a safe distance from the other.

RiderOnTheStorm

some time ago, I lived in a mobile home (for a couple of years) and I know what you are going thru (not least the close space that makes any disagreement seem huge!)

so a couple of tips:
Insulation is VERY inportant. There is very little in a mobile (just a couple of inches in the walls). Seal any draughts. Like prev poster said, try and do something outside, like build a fence or something to block the wind.

It is possible to replace your windows & doors with double glazed ones. We did this, and there was a def improvement in heat retention (and sound reduction!) Cost about €4k at the time (including door)

As prev poster said, I would not take out the gas heater. Leave it and add another source of heat. An easy option is a biofuel fireplace. We have one in our house and they are great. You dont need a flue, as they are smokeless, and you can hang it on a wall or put it on the floor. You prob need a very small amount of insulation if you put it on floor. We have ours hanging on a wall from a couple of hooks. There is an inch or so between the fire and the (brick) wall. It seems to be fine! They give out a bit of heat, but are not designed to heat the house. They are for effect only, but we have found that they are good in small spaces. The fuel costs about €3 per litre (which will burn for about an hour), so its not cheap.