Installing a stove

[wrigglefingers]

Sorry to hi jack this a little.

 

Jill

 

Have you 'balanced' your radiators, if not you may be able to use all of them if you do.

 

Hello Keith,

 

Not sure what balanced means - I have bled them but just assumed as they're gert great double jobs they were simply over-specified for the back boiler, which is quite small. In addition to the ramblings above, I do have a pipe thermometer on the top pipe and stoke the fire so that it doesn't run the risk of boiling the back boiler, but perhaps I'm not being bold enough with the temperature to fully run the three. I've never fancied hot steam filling the cabin though ........

 

regards, Jill

Edited August 31, 2007 by wrigglefingers

[bottle]

Hi Jill

 

Without getting to technical, water takes the path of least resistance,

 

So if the first rad in the system had both controls fully open then the majority of the water would go through that one and not reach the furthest/last one.

 

A start point would be to open all valves on the rads fully, then on the first rad fully close the valve on the 'out', then open this valve one quarter turn.

 

Second rad on system do the same except open the 'out' valve one half turn.

 

Third one three-quarters

 

All of the above only works if your system has an out and back loop of pipe work and the rads are not part of the loop but connected across it.

[wrigglefingers]

Hi Jill

 

Without getting to technical, water takes the path of least resistance,

 

So if the first rad in the system had both controls fully open then the majority of the water would go through that one and not reach the furthest/last one.

 

A start point would be to open all valves on the rads fully, then on the first rad fully close the valve on the 'out', then open this valve one quarter turn.

 

Second rad on system do the same except open the 'out' valve one half turn.

 

Third one three-quarters

 

All of the above only works if your system has an out and back loop of pipe work and the rads are not part of the loop but connected across it.

 

Thanks, Keith, I do see now and that makes sense. The radiators are connected across the system so I'll try that when I fire up the system in the autumn.

 

Jill

[bottle]

IF you need help and there is no one nearby, PM me, I am only in Gloucester

[BlueStringPudding]

Got all the parts delivered last week. Eddie from Northern Fab sorted me out (as it were) with everything I need and there'll be the chap coming to install it all tomorrow or Thursday. Jolly excited. Especially as I woke up this morning and could see my breath in the air... bloomin' chilly it was!

 

Oh - and he liked my homemade fire-surround. Yay!

 

 

Here it is before the stove gets puts in. (As you can see I brought nothing but the bare essentials with me for life aboard (music... mirrorball... complete works of the Mister Men...)

[StoneHenge]

Sure it will look fab. Are you going to relocate the glitter ball? Somewhere near your fairy lights!

[ChrisPy]

Mr Men are at risk of getting burnt. please ensure their safety is subject to an adequate assessment.

[BlueStringPudding]

Mr Men are at risk of getting burnt. please ensure their safety is subject to an adequate assessment.

 

 

Fear not, their home is destined to be in the study with Dickens... and the Moomins... and Stephen Hawkins...

[BlueStringPudding]

Tadaaaaaaaar! Stove was installed yesterday - and we're really pleased with it. The chap who installed it reduced his quote by £100 because it all went very quickly and smoothly, and we spent last night roasty toasty (and the coals were still glowing this morning!)

 

Here's some piccies from my gallery pages to show in sequence the building of the stove surround, up until it was put in. There's a couple of tiny cosmetic things still to do (nice edging tiles rpund the base etc) but other than that it's all done and functioning well. Thanks everyone again for your advice in getting the right materials and putting it all together.

 

 

1. The back cabin at Ground Zero! The corner housing the pile of white storage boxes (we's just moved aboard at this stage) would be destined to be home to our Boatman stove:

 

 

 

 

2. Masterboard and sealant (and rockwool in the void under the gunwhale to protect the electric cabling) lining the corner:

 

 

 

 

3. The base has been built and the tiles put on (apart from the tricky shaped ones in the corners!):

 

 

 

 

4. Here once again is the photo of it all grouted and housing a few items before the stove gets delivered:

 

 

 

 

5. And lastly here's the completed suround with stove installed:

 

 

 

 

Edited to say:

By the way, a question that I've seen crop up on the forum is how much does it cost to get a stove installed on a tight budget? Well, we've done it on the lowest budget ever (being skint) and here's a breakdown of the cost (hope it's useful to someone!):

 

Stove surround materials (masterboard, rockwool, sealant, (all from Travis Perkins) cheapo tiles, grouting, tile cutters, spacers, flexible adhesive, timber, screws, mdf (all from Homebase) but built the thing myself)

£75 (would have been £20 cheaper if I didn't have to buy the rockwool in a big multipack!)

 

Boatman stove (from Eddie at Northern Fabrications)

£225

 

Stove "Package" (Flue pipe, collar, single skin chimney, coach bolts - all from Eddie at Northern Fabrications)

£100

 

Other stove accessories plus delivery of all hardware (brass trim, chimney cooli hat, chimney inner skin, delivery direct to our boat on the canal - also all from Eddie)

£61

 

Stove Installation (by a chap who came recommended and worked from a generator from the back of his van parked near us on the canal - very convenient for us)

£200

 

 

So the whole project cost £661 - bargain!!!! And Eddie also threw in some Plumbflue, sealing rope and cement for free.

Edited September 21, 2007 by BlueStringPudding

[Scotty]

Looks great Lisa, well done for building the surround yourself

 

Thanks for showing your costs, some of the boats i'm looking at haven't got a stove

so it will help when comparing prices

[Ernie]

Stove surround materials (masterboard, rockwool, sealant, (all from Travis Perkins) cheapo tiles, grouting, tile cutters, spacers, flexible adhesive,

£225

Hi BSP,

 

Can you tell me what flexible glue you used to stick the tiles on with please?

 

I used ordinary tile cement to stick my tiles on to cement board (asbestolux). I had been advised to use asbestolux as a backing by a boat builder. I think the tiles and cement board have two different coefficients of expansion because bit by bit all of my tiles are beginning to come away from the cement board!!!

Edited January 23, 2008 by Ernie

[blackrose]

Hi BSP,

 

Can you tell me what flexible glue you used to stick the tiles on with please?

 

I used ordinary tile cement to stick my tiles on to cement board (asbestolux). I had been advised to use asbestolux as a backing by a boat builder. I think the tiles and cement board have two different coefficients of expansion because bit by bit all of my tiles are beginning to come away from the cement board!!!

 

There are quite few PU sealant/adhesives about which will stick just about anything to anything. They range in price up to about £12/tube but the cheapest I've found is called Marineflex http://www.marinemastics.com/marineflex.htm

 

Once it goes off it stays flexible and is much stronger and tougher than silicone.

 

You should only need a diagonal line in each direction across each tile, from corner to corner. Let the marineflex on each row go off before starting the next row (about an hour). Take excess marineflex off with white spirit before it goes off.

 

If it's for a fire surround (not a shower) I reckon you could get away with a flexible wall tile grout, with more flexible additive.

Edited January 24, 2008 by blackrose

[Ernie]

There are quite few PU sealant/adhesives about which will stick just about anything to anything. They range in price up to about £12/tube but the cheapest I've found is called Marineflex http://www.marinemastics.com/marineflex.htm

 

Once it goes off it stays flexible and is much stronger and tougher than silicone.

 

You should only need a diagonal line in each direction across each tile, from corner to corner. Let the marineflex on each row go off before starting the next row (about an hour). Take excess marineflex off with white spirit before it goes off.

 

If it's for a fire surround (not a shower) I reckon you could get away with a flexible wall tile grout, with more flexible additive.

Thanks for the info - looks like I have another job to add to the list for the spring - re-tile the fire surround.......

[BlueStringPudding]

Same as wot he says! I can't remember the name of the sealant/adhesive I used, but it just came from Homebase, I think (and it had pictures on the front showing it being used both as a sealant and as a tile adhesive). A large glob near each corner of the tile was plenty.