Many wood burning stoves can be foundinstalled inside existing open fireplaces.

Wood stoves are a great alternative to usinga traditional open fireplace in your home, as they are designed to burn woodmuch more efficiently and cleanly compared to open fireplaces.

The good news is that installing a wood burning stove into an existing fireplace is often a straightforward job. You just need to ensure you have the correct: Chimney type. Fireplace opening size. Stove heat output. Room ventilation. Hearth size and thickness. Read on to find out more about how to fit a wood burner in your fireplace! Stove pipe is in and the Vermont Bun Baker XL is finally ready to fire up!Check out the Wood Stove here - in your order (518-499-0. Inserts & Factory-Built Fireplaces. Do not install a wood stove – whether freestanding or insert type – into a factory-built fireplace and chimney system, unless the insert you are using has been tested and listed for that systemand in the installation of that particular stove is approved by the manufacturer of the chimney system (not just by the stove manufacturer).

I have two open fireplaces in my home, andI’ve been looking at whether a wood stove would be a suitable replacement tobetter heat my home, but can you install a wood burning stove in an existingfireplace?

Awood burning stove can be installed in an existing fireplace, subject to therebeing a sufficient amount of space available in the fireplace to hold a stove,and there being a proper chimney.

There are also other considerations that need to taken into account when looking to have a wood stove installed in a fireplace.

Both my parents had wood burning stovesinstalled in their existing living room fireplaces, and I’ve explained below whatthey had to consider, and what processes they had to go through.

Installing A WoodBurning Stove In An Existing Fireplace

My parents used to burn wood in traditional open fireplaces before deciding have wood burning stoves installed (you can read their entire list of reasons for buying a wood stove here).

Here are pictures of the now installed woodburning stoves:

There are a number of things we had toconsider before installing wood burning stoves in our existing fireplaces,which included:

The size of wood stove required to heat the room.
The size of the open fireplace and whether it would fit the required size of stove.
The offset distance of the wood stove to the fireplace surround.
Whether the existing hearth was suitable for the stove.
A chimney that could accommodate a flue liner.
How the stove would connect to the chimney.

Thankfully the existing fireplaces werealready sufficiently sized to accommodate wood burning stoves big enough to theheat the rooms. If an existing fireplace is too small to hold a wood stove thenthe fireplace may need to be recessed and increased in size.

For heat output and air supply reasons, the space available around the wood stoves when installed also had to be considered. As wood burning stoves radiate substantial heat for many hours, even after the fire has subsided, there needs to be a large enough gap between the stoves and the back, sides and top of the open fireplace.

Leaving enough space around the stove helpsto prevent the stove from overheating, and for the stove to warm the air up inthe room rather than just the walls of the existing fireplace.

There also needed to be sufficient space behind one of the wood stoves to accommodate an airflow for the tertiary air vents, which aids in secondary combustion of gases inside the stove to produce more heat.

The existing fireplace hearths were assessed and confirmed to be sufficiently sized to accommodate a wood burning stove installation. (Read more about fireplace hearths here).

For more information on requirements for the size of fireplace openings, space around wood stoves, and hearth sizes:
In the UK, installation of a wood burning stove needs to comply with Part J of the Building Regulations.
In the US, wood stoves are governed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Installing A WoodStove Pipe Into An Existing Chimney

Before installing wood burning stoves in ourexisting fireplaces, we had to consider how the chimney for the fireplace wouldbe utilized.

My parent’s chimneys needed to be linedwith stainless steel flue liners before the wood stoves could be installed. Thiswas to help with the draw on the stoves, and to ensure a sealed passageway forwaste smoke and gases from the fire to leave the houses.

The chimneys are made from conventionalbrick and the chimney liners were flexible so the process of getting the linersinstalled was reasonably straightforward. There would have been issues if therehad been any combustible materials used in the chimney construction.

Unlike my own chimney which serves two openfireplaces and has bends in it, my parent’s existing chimneys go straight upthrough the house, making it easy to install a chimney liner.

We had to purchase the right length and diameter of stainless steel flue liners before getting a professional to drop the liners down the chimneys. The liners were then connected to the new caps located at the top of the chimneys.

Once the wood stoves were placed inside theexisting fireplaces, the flue liners had to be connected the stoves. The chosenwood burning stoves could accommodate a stove pipe coming out of the top of thestove, and so it was a fairly simple connection to the chimney liner.

The throat of the chimneys also had to be capped with a sealing/register plate to ensure that there would be no other airflow through the chimneys apart from through the stoves (more information about register plates can be found here)

How To Install A Free Standing Wood Stove

The chimneys were swept prior to installation of the wood burning stoves to ensure that they were clean before being sealed.

Does A WoodBurning Stove Need A Chimney?

Awood burning stove doesn’t require a chimney to be installed or operated, butwill still need a way to exhaust the smoke and gases released by the fire inthe form of a flue.

How to install a free standing wood stove

It can be less hassle to install a woodstove in an existing fireplace because there’s already a passageway to ventwaste smoke and gases from your home.

Depending on the situation, a twin wall insulated flue can be installed internally within the house and up through the roof, or installed externally with the flue connected through the wall.

Can You Install AWood Burning Stove In An Existing Fireplace?

With the right size of fireplace opening andthe right chimney, wood burning stoves can be installed inside existingfireplaces.

The main considerations need to be in line with your local building regulations, but will typically include leaving enough space around the back, sides and top of a fireplace to accommodate for air flow and heat output, as well as having the right size hearth, and a chimney that allows for waste gases to be removed from your home safely.

What to Know Before Installing a Wood Burning Stove in an Existing Fireplace…

Whether you are opening a fireplace especially for a wood burner, or have an empty recess ready to go, consider these things when installing your stove…

Pictured: Firefox 5 Wood Burning / Multi Fuel Stove

Chimney and Flue Size

You can only fit a wood burner in your fireplace if it has a class 1 chimney. If you had an open solid fuel fire previously, this should be the case anyway! If you are replacing a gas fire, check to make sure it isn’t a class 2 or pre-cast flue, as these won’t be suitable for a stove.

Next, you want to check the diameter of your fireplace flue. It is very important that your wood burner is connected to the correct size flue or flue liner – if it isn’t, it will not only perform badly, but won’t be safe either.

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