Can I Install a Small Wood Burning Stove in my Shed?
As the weather warms up and the daylight hours draw out, you’re probably thinking about giving your stove a much-needed spring clean and bedding it down for the summer. If so, and you’re looking for tips on how to maintain your multi-fuel or wood burning stove, read our blog post on the subject here: Nine Top Tips for Maintaining your stove.
However, a stove doesn’t just have to be a winter luxury. Al fresco living spaces are growing in popularity, giving homeowners the opportunity to extend their interiors in to the great outdoors. Given our somewhat unpredictable summer weather, opting for an outbuilding such as a garden room, cabin or yurt might be a more usable option for those seasonal, open-air festivities. Now, even on those balmy days, it’s commonplace that the evenings often bring with them a slight chill to the air, which means you may be considering a heating source in your outbuilding.
At Arada, we often get asked the question, “can I install a wood burning stove in my shed?” and the answer, quite simply, is YES! There are, of course, a few practicalities that need to be considered, as with the installation of any stove before you proceed, so here’s what you need to know:
Size:
It’s likely that your outbuilding will present more modest proportions than any room in your home, therefore the size of the stove needs to be a defining factor in your purchase. It’s best to go for a petite stove, such as our Hardy or Puffin designs. These compact options will introduce the visual appeal of a traditional log-burner to your outbuilding without taking up precious floor space. Styles with integrated wood-store stands are also a great option for maximising on visual impact whilst combining the practicality of integrated storage.
Heat Output:
The last thing you want, whether the stove is installed in a small garden shed or grand outdoor cabin, is for the space to be excessively hot, or not quite hot enough. That’s why ensuring your stove has the right heat output for the given space is key. We use this handy formula when calculating stove size to room ratio:
Room Length x Width x Height m / 14 = Output required in kW
Ensure that you also account for any opportunities for heat loss in the structure, such as windows, doors and un-insulated walls, as these will affect the performance of your chosen heat output and will need to be taken into account.
Small wood burners for shed, studio, workshop
To get an idea of the stoves that we produce that would be ideal for smaller installation sites, have a look at our 4 to 5 kW stoves which are smaller and at the lower end of the heat output range.
Flue:
Depending on the structure of your outbuilding, you will need to check that its roof material is suitable for the flue and flashing kit to be fitted: wood and metal would be ideal, but for obvious reasons, glass and plastic would not. With the actual flue itself, a twin-wall insulated system is a must for your outbuilding, rather than a single, skinned flue pipe. This dual-pipe construction is separated by a layer of high-grade insulation, which ensures that the exterior wall does not get hot enough to cause damage to the surrounding structure. This type of flue is used when a stove is fitted into a structure that has no masonry chimney, and as a result can run internally or externally as an exposed flue, depending on preference.
Hearth / heat protection:
Safety should be a primary consideration with regards to shielding the stove’s heat from the structure, particularly if flammable i.e. wood and fabric. You will need to place the stove on a non-combustible surface, if the stove is suitable for non-constructional hearths, this can be made of stone or toughened glass, with a minimum thickness of 12mm and ideally extending father than the open swing of the door. Alongside a hearth, the vertical surfaces surrounding the stove will need to be protected from the heat, with similarly non-combustible shields to the back and sides.
Ideal stoves for small spaces
Final note:
It is important to note that whilst wood burning and multi-fuel stove installations are NOT covered by building regulations on structures that are not considered “habitable”, safety is still an important consideration.
You can get great advice from any of our local retailers about which of or stove models are best suited to these sort of home projects and the installation requirements needed when choosing an Arada stove.
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Stove installation
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Where to buy an Arada Stove
You can locate your closest Arada retailer here
Can I get a brochure?
You can download brochures for our stoves here
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Posted by Rebecca Daniels
5th March, 2019.
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