HOW TO CHOOSE A STOVE OR BOILER?

Factors that affect your decision:

1. What you want to heat? If you wish to heat a room then you are looking for a stove, if you wish to heat a room and also water or radiators, then a boiler stove, could be your solution. If you wish to heat all of your home and domestic hot water, then a boiler is the choice for you.
2. What fuels you may wish to use? If you have access to chopped wood, then a wood burning stove may be an option for you. You may wish to use renewable fuels such as wood pellet, in which case either a pellet stove or a pellet boiler may be an option for you. 
3. Where do you intend to put it? If you wish to put it in a room such as the kitchen or living room then a stove or boiler stove is your solution. If this is the case then you also have to consider the following:
   • Location in the room - is it on an outside wall for a flue or is there a chimney in the room?
   • Base for under the stove - this must meet certain requirements set down in the building regulations. (See copy of building regulations Technical Guidance Document J here.)
   • If it is a boiler, then pipes will have to be plumbed to the location of the stove/boiler.
   • As pellet stoves and boilers are electrical, a power source will be required near the appliance.

Please see our frequently asked questions and flues sections for more details. If you have a question, or would like to see an appliance working, please feel free to ask us.

How to work out what size stove you need:

Why is this important?

It is very important that the output of the stove matches the area that you are trying to heat. There is no point having a stove with a very large output in small room, as the stove will not run efficiently and be too warm. Equally there is no point in having a stove with a small output sitting in a large room, which would not heat the room sufficiently. It is essential that you know the size of the room you are trying to heat at least. Other factors come into play as well, but a general estimate of the output needed to heat the room can be made using the measurements from the size of the room.

There are two ways of doing the calculation,

• one is in feet, which calculates the minimum amount of British Thermal Units (BTU's) needed to heat the room (this can be converted into kilowatts)
• the other is in meters, which calculates the minimum amount of kilowatts (kW) needed to heat the room.

Remember, that these calculations are a guideline. We recommend that you always take independent professional advice prior to making the final decision.

Calculation in feet:

Step 1: You need to take three measurements - the length and the width of the room, and the height of the ceiling. (L, W, H)

Step 2: Multiply each of these measurements - the length by the width and then by the height, and now you have the volume (cubic capacity) of the room). (L x W x H)

Step 3: You multiply the volume by a factor of either 5 , 6 or 7 based on the following:

•      If your room has an average amount of windows and doors and has an average amount of insulation, then multiply the volume by a factor of 5. (L x W x H) x 5
  
•     If your room has a higher than average amount of windows and doors and has a lower than average amount of insulation, then multiply the volume by a factor of 6. (L x W x H) x 6
  
•     If you room is north facing, or has little or no insulation, or has a very high number of windows and doors, then multiply the volume by a factor of 7. (L x W x H) x 7
  

You now have the number of BTU's (British Thermal Unit's) required to heat your room.

Step 4: You can convert this total to kW's by dividing it by 3411.80.

  Example:

• Room dimensions - Length 17 feet, width 15 feet and ceiling height 8 feet
• 17 x 15 x 8 = 2,040 cubic feet
• for average insulation and number of windows, 2,040 x 5 = 10,200 BTU's
• to convert to kW, 10,200 / 3411.80 =  2.99 or 3 kW stove

Calculation in metres:

• If your room has an average amount of windows and doors and has an average amount of insulation, then divide the volume by a factor of 14. (L x W x H) / 14
  
• If your room has a higher than average amount of windows and doors and has a lower than average amount of insulation, then divide the volume by a factor of 10. (L x W x H) / 10
  
• If you room is north facing, or has little or no insulation, or has a very high number of windows and doors, then divide the volume by a factor of 25. (L x W x H) / 25
  

You now have the minimum amount of kW's required to heat your room.

 Example:

• Room dimensions - Length 5 metres, width 4 metres and ceiling height 2.3 metres
• 5 x 4 x 2.3 = 46 cubic metres
• for average insulation and number of windows, 46 / 14 = 3.28 kW stove

APPLIANCES

Whether you a looking to buy a stove to heat just one room, or an appliance to heat all of your home, we would like to think that we can help. Please choose below to view our range of stoves and boilers.

Solid Fuel Stoves

Wood Burning Stoves

Wood Pellet Stoves

Boiler Stoves

Wood Pellet and Biomass Boilers

Wood Gasification Boilers

Buffer Tanks

A variety of stoves and boilers to choose from:

As regards the appliances themselves, our aim is to source good quality appliances, for our customers. You have a wide range of stoves to choose from depending on which fuel you would like to use - solid fuel stoves, wood pellet stoves or wood burning stoves. We also stock biomass boilers if you wish to use grain, wood pellet or other biomass fuels, as well as wood-gasification boilers.

Trained installers:

Most importantly we are trained to install all of the appliances that we sell. In addition to fulfilling the training requirements to be approved installers for the former Greener Homes Scheme, we have also received training from the manufacturers of the products we supply.

We are exclusive agents for Lincar and Twin Heat and Calimax products in Ireland and we also stock products from Ború Stoves.

All the accessories you may need:

In addition we can supply any flues or buffer tanks that may be required for these appliances. And remember, we can supply the fuels that can be used in any of our appliances. We are like a one-stop shop really, we can help you decide which appliance you need, install it and get it up and running for you, and supply the fuel to run it.