What Parts and Accessories Do I Need to Fit a Stove?

Are you thinking about buying a stove? Great! But you need to buy more than the stove itself if you want to ensure it’s installed in your home safely. Keep reading to find out what parts and accessories you need to fit a stove in your home.

Use a qualified installer

Before we delve into the details of stove parts and accessories, we want to begin with a cautionary note.

If you are buying a solid fuel stove (i.e. one that burns wood or other solid fuels), then it’s technically not illegal to fit it yourself. However, in our experience we would strongly recommend using a HETAS qualified installer. Because of things like carbon monoxide, the consequences of incorrectly fitting a stove can be catastrophic.

Should you be fitting an oil-fired stove, then you’ll want to use an OFTEC qualified installer. And, if you’re fitting a gas stove, you have a legal responsibility to use a Gas Safe Register qualified installer.

Guide - to find out everything you need to know about qualified stove and fireplace installers, please read this guide produced by our sister company Direct Fireplaces.

With that note of caution out of the way, let’s take a look at all of the parts and accessories you’ll need to install a stove in your home…

Stove pipe

The first part you’ll need is a stove pipe. A stove pipe is the means by which you’ll connect your stove with your chimney flue.

Good quality stove pipes are normally made from stainless steel and are coated in vitreous enamel. This coating provides excellent heat resistance and will help the stove pipe maintain its colour and integrity.

1 Metre Black Vitreous Enamel Stove Pipe

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Stove pipes are available in a wide range of sizes. When selecting a stove pipe for your stove, there are two things that you need to take into consideration:

Length.
Diameter.

Stove pipe length

The length of your stove pipe will depend on how much of it you want visible before it enters your chimney cavity. If you’ll be sitting your stove in a large, tall fireplace, then you’ll probably want a long stove pipe, as most people won’t want to see the chimney liner that the stove pipe connects to.

Stove pipe diameter

The diameter of your stove pipe will be determined by your stove. The stove pipe has to connect to the stove collar - which is the cast iron or steel ring that bolts to an outlet on the top or back of the stove.

If you’re unsure what diameter stove pipe you require, refer to the specification sheet of your stove. Stove manufacturers typically list what size stove pipe you require on this sheet.

Note - some stoves are available with outlets on the top and rear. These can give you more flexibility if you are sitting your stove in a tight, awkward location. You can also buy stove pipe bends and T-pieces, which will help if you’re not putting your stove directly under your chimney.

Explore our complete range of stove pipes here.

Chimney flue liner

Once you’ve purchased your stove pipe, the next thing on your list should be a chimney flue liner.

Yes, you can let your stove expel it’s smoke and combustibles directly into your chimney, but we would strongly recommend using a chimney flue liner. A flue liner helps get rid of smoke more efficiently, will help your stove burn more efficiently, and most importantly is safer.

Dura Flue 6 Inch (150mm) 904 Grade Flexible Flue Liner

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Guide - to find out more about why you should use a chimney flue liner, read our guide here.

When buying a chimney flue liner for your stove, there are three main factors you need to take into consideration:

Length.
Diameter.
Grade.

Chimney flue liner length

Firstly, you need to buy a chimney flue liner that’s the correct length for your chimney. Your flue liner will need to span the distance between your stove and the top of your chimney. Ideally, you should buy a flue liner that’s slightly longer than you need. You can cut it to fit, whereas you cannot join two chimney flue liners together.

Chimney flue liner diameter

Secondly, you’ll need to buy a flue liner that is the correct diameter. The liner connects to the top of the stove pipe, so you need to make sure that the liner is of the same diameter and can connect without leaving any gaps. For example, if your stove pipe has a diameter of 6 inches, then you should buy a flue liner that has a diameter of 6 inches.

Remember, if the liner does not connect to the stove pipe properly, you’ll end up with smoke and soot filling your living room!

Chimney flue liner grade

Lastly, you need to make sure that you buy the correct grade of flue liner. What grade you require is determined by what fuel(s) your stove will be burning.

If you are installing a solid-fuel/wood burning stove you will need to buy a 904 grade chimney flue liner. This grade of liner is sometimes referred to as a ‘twin skin’ flue liner.

Should you be installing a gas stove, you will need to buy a 316 grade chimney flue liner. This grade of liner is often referred to as a ‘single skin’ liner.

Explore our complete range of chimney flue liners here.

Rigid to flexible flue liner adaptor

Dura Flue Rigid to Flexible Flue Adaptor for Flexible Liner

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Okay, so with your stove pipe and flue liner selected, you need something that will join them together. That something is a rigid to flexible flue liner adaptor. As the name suggests, this adaptor simply sits between the stove pipe and the chimney flue liner and holds them together.

These adaptors typically have grub or butterfly screws, which you tighten to fix the stove pipe and flue liner together.

Heat cement

This isn’t a part, but certainly something worth keeping on hand once you’ve installed your stove.

Heat cement is used for sealing any joints around your stove, and also for jobs such as sealing the connection between your stove pipe and chimney flue liner. It’s also typically used for connecting the stove pipe to your stove collar.

Tip - if you’re going to buy fire cement for your stove installation, make sure you buy the right colour! Fire cement is available in black to complement most types of stove.

Closure plate

A closure plate is a metal sheet that’s installed at the bottom of a chimney, above the stove, ‘sealing’ the chimney flue. Think of it as a mini ceiling for your fireplace, closing up the chimney flue cavity, except for a small circular hole to allow the stove pipe to pass through and connect with the chimney flue liner.

1250mm x 600mm Register Plate with Cut-Out and Access

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If you are fitting your stove and not using a chimney flue (allowing the stove’s smoke to be expelled directly up the chimney cavity), then you’ll need a register plate instead. Register plates essentially do the same thing as closure plates, sealing up the base of the chimney flue cavity. Register plates often feature a small door so that you can access the chimney flue cavity for cleaning and inspection purposes.

Chimney cowl

Next we’re going back to the top of the chimney - more specifically, the chimney cowl.

Anti-Downdraught Cowl

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Chimney cowls are hood shaped coverings that sit right at the top of the chimney. They serve a number of purposes such as increasing updraught, preventing wind from blowing smoke back into your home and stopping birds, squirrels and bits of detritus from getting into your chimney cavity.

Whilst a chimney cowl isn’t essential, we’d highly recommend using one.

It’s possible to buy static or revolving chimney cowls, however they both offer similar functionality.

Explore our complete range of chimney cowls here.

Chimney insulation

If you have a chimney that is built out from an external wall, or is very large or tall, then you may benefit from insulating your chimney. This is because these types of chimneys can often be very cold, causing draw problems for your stove.

Should you be in this position, we recommend using both a chimney flue liner as well as insulating your chimney.

There are several different ways of insulating your chimney:

You can wrap the chimney flue liner with a non-flammable, glass-fibre blanket.
Pouring vermiculite, perlite or leca granules into the air gap between the liner and the chimney cavity during installation of the chimney flue liner.

Whichever method of insulation you choose, you’ll find that your stove operates better, is more efficient and is easier to get started.

Air vents

Depending on the age and structure of your house, you may need to buy and install air vents.

If you live in a house built after 2008 then you will almost certainly need additional air vents. This is because houses constructed after this date must have lower air permeability (building regulations stipulate that new houses must have air leakage of no more than 5m³/hm²).

In other words, new houses do not allow enough air in to keep a stove lit and burning.

So, if you’re installing a stove in a newer property, then buy a series of air vents. These are generally around 5 inches in diameter and provide sufficient air flow to supply a stove. If you’re worried about air vents creating draughts, it’s possible to buy anti-draught air vents.

A range of appropriate air vents for stoves are available from our partners Trade Price Flues here.

No chimney? Then buy a twin wall flue system

If you don’t have a traditional chimney in your home, then you can still install a stove, but you’ll need to buy a twin wall flue system.

A twin wall flue system is another way of getting rid of the exhaust gases from your stove. It’s essentially a flue pipe, within a flue pipe with a layer of insulation between the two pipes. This means that the exterior of the flue pipe doesn’t get hot enough to damage nearby surfaces (but it does still get warm to touch).

Single Storey Garden/Shed/Outhouse Flue Kit

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Twin wall systems are generally available with a wide array of different fixtures and fittings. These include elbows, straight lengths, chimney cowls, flashings and more. In other words, all the parts you need to build a complete chimney from scratch.

Some twin wall systems allow you to create a chimney that rises straight up out of your roof (just like a traditional chimney). However, if you’re going to install your stove next to an exterior wall you can run the twin wall flue out of the wall and up against the side of your house.

You can view a range of different twin wall flue systems here.

Insulation boards

If you’re not installing your stove in a traditional fireplace, or if you’re worried that the walls surrounding your stove may get too hot (e.g. if you have wooden walls), then you may want to fit insulation boards around your stove.

When it comes to buying heat insulation boards, we generally recommend that you buy 25mm thick calcium silicate board. This will provide sufficient insulation to protect any flammable/combustible materials nearby.

When fitting your heat insulation boards you should ensure there is a 10mm air gap between the boards and the walls they’re being fitted to (most people create this gap by supporting the boards with off cuts). You want to make sure that the stove itself is at least 45mm away from the heat insulation boards.

In addition, you should make sure that the heat insulation boards extend at least 200mm above the body of the stove.

Heat resistant board adhesive

When you’re fixing your heat insulation boards in place, you’ll want to use heat resistant adhesive. It’s best to buy ready mixed adhesive which is ideal for use on the joints between boards.

It’s important to note that you can buy heat resistant adhesive which is suitable for use in different temperatures.

The heat resistant adhesive that our partners at Trade Price Flues sell is suitable for temperatures up to 1300ºC.

Stove fan

If you’re going to be using your stove as the main source of heat for your room (i.e. you don’t also have central heating), then you may want to invest in a stove fan.

A stove fan is designed to circulate the warm air generated by your stove, around your room. It’ll direct air that is rising upward from your stove outward into the room, dramatically increasing how warm you feel.

Because a stove fan will make your room feel much warmer, you’ll also save money on fuel as you’ll have less need to feed and stoke your fire.

When it comes to selecting a stove fan, you have an enormous amount of choice. However, as they all function in a similar way, which one you choose will most likely be dictated by aesthetics.

Tip - if you want to buy a stove fan, we’ve teamed up with Trade Price Flues to offer a series of great value, quality stove fans. You can view the range here.

Thermometer

In addition to a stove fan, it can pay (literally) to invest in a stove thermometer.

Unlike other forms of heating, a stove doesn’t automatically come with a way of telling you what temperature it’s at. As such, it can be difficult to tell if you’re achieving the specified heat output of the stove. Because of this, many people end up either under or over-fuelling their stoves, with the consequence that they end up being too cold, or they waste fuel on a stove which is already at maximum heat output.

Well, you can avoid these headaches by purchasing a stove thermometer. It simply attaches to the stove pipe (a minimum of 300mm above the stove) and once fitted, will tell you at a glance how your stove is performing.

You can buy a quality stove thermometer from our partners at Trade Price Flues here.

Carbon monoxide alarm

An absolute stove essential is a carbon monoxide alarm. And, when we say essential, we mean essential. It’s a legal requirement for all stoves installed after October 2010 to include a carbon monoxide detector.

Carbon Monoxide Detector

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The alarm must be located in the same room as your stove and should be placed either on the ceiling and at least 300mm away from any wall. If you’re going to install the alarm on a wall, then you should put it as high as possible, but not within 150mm of the ceiling.

Whether you install it on the wall or the ceiling, you should ensure that the horizontal distance between the alarm and your stove is between 1m and 3m.

Here at Direct Stoves we stock the FireAngel CO-9X carbon monoxide detector which is fitted with a 7-year sealed battery and clear LED detectors.

Wood moisture meter

If you’re buying a wood burning stove, then you’ll not just need plenty of wood to fuel it with, but a wood moisture meter too.

A wood moisture meter is perhaps the most important stove tool you’ll need. A good quality wood moisture meter will help you get the most out of your stove by ensuring you only use appropriately seasoned wood.

If you fail to use properly seasoned wood, then your stove won’t perform at its best, you’ll be inundated with smoke and you’ll potentially damage your health too (improperly seasoned wood gives off high levels of particulate matter).

You can buy a good wood moisture meter from our partners at Trade Price Flues here.

Heat paint

Heat paint is very much a ‘nice to have’ rather than an essential bit of kit, but we wanted to include it on this list, as we know that some people like to touch up their stoves from time to time to give them a new lease of life.

Brands such as Victas offer heat paint that can withstand temperatures of up to 800ºC, in colours such as black, white, silver, red and cream.

So, whether you want to cover up any marks on your stove, or paint it a completely different colour, heat paint will do the job!

Stove fitting kit

If you don’t want to go to the hassle of hunting down multiple different parts, you can buy a stove fitting kit that includes the main parts you need to install your stove (there will still be some other parts that you require, but a fitting kit will contain the fundamentals).

Dura Flue 6 Inch (150mm) 904 Grade Flexible Flue Liner Kit

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Here at Direct Stoves we offer a range of fitting kits for all sizes and types of stove. You can explore them here.

Get everything you need to fit your stove at Direct Stoves

We hope you’ve enjoyed our guide to the parts and accessories you need to fit a stove in your home. Explore our website now and find everything that you need. If you’re not sure what you require, or need some assistance, then please contact us.