Stoves in conservatories

Conservatories or sun rooms make wonderful additions to our homes. They offer extra space for entertaining and relaxation, brilliant light, a place to bring the beauty of your garden indoors so that you can nurture and grow delicate plants, even a quiet space for Yoga practice or Pilates. But heating is required to make all year round use of any home extension. This can be a problem as extending the main central heating system can be costly and fitting a radiator against walls that are mainly glass can look unsightly.

An independent wood burning stove for a conservatory can be the perfect solution. Not only does a conservatory stove quickly and efficiently warm the space but in winter, when the wind and rain is lashing the glass all around you, it makes it feel cosy and inviting. There is a very wide choice of conservatory woodburning stove, which can at first seem a bit daunting, but once one has taken into account a few basic points it is very straightforward.

Size

The size of the room and the type of materials used in the construction, i.e. double or triple glazing, will determine the kilowatt output and size of conservatory stove required. For instance an average size conservatory with double glazed windows on three sides and a polycarbonate roof will need a stove of around 5 or 6 kW. Give the conservatory dimensions to one of our staff and they'll work out the most suitable stove for your situation.

Style

A stove forms a central feature so you need to choose the correct style of conservatory stove. Conservatories often have a more contemporary look to them as there is lots of glass and a Scandinavian upright stove has that modern look that fits in with that. The other advantage is that it takes up less space than a conventional box stove (and you don't have to bend down so far to fill it!). Have a look at the Opus cylindrical models or the Westfires.

Fuel

Woodburners or multifuel stoves are often the popular choice; however there are now small pellet stoves available that offer heat at the press of a button. The Klover Dea is a perfect conservatory stove as the pellet hopper can be loaded and the controller set so that the stove will turn on and off automatically, providing heating just when you want it.

Considerations

If you live in a smoke controlled area you will need to make sure that you choose a Defra exempt conservatory stove. This means that the stove has been approved for burning wood or smokeless fuel in your area. Glass is thermally sensitive which means larger distances between the stove and the windows are required than with standard masonry. Stoves suitable for conservatories which have lower distances to combustible material (of which glass could be classed) would be Opus Cyclindric stoves, Westfire stoves, the Klover wood pellet range, and some other convector stoves. Some conservatory constructional materials such as wood and glass can be heat shielded which will reduce the distances required. The area around the stove would need to be made suitably heat resistant up to 200C. We can advise on heat shielding and what products are suitable.

Hearth

Depending on what the floor of your sun room or conservatory is made of you may need to choose a wood burning stove that is designed to sit on a 12mm thick hearth. Floor plates are a neat and stylish way to provide a 12mm hearth. One can use a glass floor plate which looks great in a conservatory as you can see the floor covering beneath.

Flue/chimney

Once you have chosen the wood or pellet stove for your conservatory there is the chimney to be considered. Insulated flues for conservatories can easily and safely be put through a polycarbonate or glass roof and we have special flashings that keep it all watertight. We will design the correct system that will suit your sunroom, conform to building regulations and ensure that your conservatory stove will work well. If the flue runs close to your main house then it is likely that we will need to design the system so that it runs up the side of your house and then up and beyond your roofline. Our twin wall insulated chimney looks good and is reasonably priced.

Speak with our team at 0800 246 1250 and they will assist you in determining the precise flue components you require. They will then provide you with a list of the necessary parts along with their respective costs. You can provide your measurements here.