Do you need permission?

This will depend on the nature and extent of your installation, if you are installing a stove and need to build a new chimney then you will need to go through the planning and building regulations. The UK Planning Portal gives excellent and clear advice. http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/

However if you are just installing a stove in an existing fireplace or it is a relatively simple installation the process is simpler.

If your building work consists only of the installation of certain types of services or fittings (e.g. some types of drain, fuel burning appliances, replacement windows, WCs, and showers) and you employ an installer registered with a relevant scheme designated in the Building Regulations (a competent person ), that installer may be able to "self-certify"; you will not need to involve a Building Control Service. However, this concession is strictly limited to the specific type of installation described and does not cover any other type of building work. http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/1115313929049.html

We are HETAS registered and our work is cerified as competant and good workmanship.
It will therefore not need certification by Building Control. You can trust us to make sure the work is safely installed and fit for your purpose.

The Equipment Testing and Approval Scheme (HETAS) is the independent UK body recognised by government to approve official testing and approval of domestic solid fuels, solid fuel burning appliances and associated equipment and services. A person registered under the HETAS scheme is allowed to self-certify that installation of solid fuel burning combustion appliances meets the requirements of the Building Regulations. For more information on HETAS, please see: www.hetas.co.uk

Multifuel Stoves: Most Wood Stoves are multifuel Stoves, so you have the added assurance that you can take advantage of your available fuels. We feel that wood is best as it is carbon neutral, and modern stoves burn incredibly efficiently with a very small amount of smoke. Even on a multifuel stove please don't burn plastics as the fumes could possible contain toxic compounds.

Wood Heat: Sound Stove Strategies

• Always locate the stove in the space you want to keep the warmest.
• Install a new chimney straight up through the warm space of the house, not out a wall and up the outside.

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When you go shopping for a woodstove you will have two main sources of information to help with your decision. First is the manufacturer's literature that gives performance specifications. Second is the advice you receive from the various stove dealers you visit. A good dealer can be your most valuable resource, but beware of dealers who don't heat their own houses with wood.

Types of Wood Heating Units

• Woodstoves are by far the most popular wood-heating option, with the lowest cost and most flexible clean burning and high efficiency.
• Fireplace inserts or hearth mount stoves are woodstoves modified (by the manufacturer) to fit into, or in front of, an existing fireplace; clean burning and high efficiency; converts a smoky, inefficient fireplace into an efficient heater
• Pellet stoves automatically burn compressed wood pellets; some models burn corn; more convenient, with unattended operation for up to 24 hours; more costly to operate than woodstoves due to purchase price, fuel cost and maintenance; most need electricity to operate, so they are not an emergency heat source
• A high-efficiency factory-built fireplace looks like a fireplace but performs like a woodstove; clean burning and high efficiency; heat can be ducted to other rooms; good heating option in larger homes
• Masonry heaters burn fast and store heat for later use; clean burning and reasonably high efficiency; specialized operation: a new fire must be built for each heating cycle; high initial cost
• Cookstoves efficiency tends to be low; not good for serious space heating; great for cooking.
• Wood furnaces and boilers mostly have low efficiency; suitable for large, older houses with many small rooms , nevertheles there are new experimental designs that use wood or chips for large scale space heating.
• Outdoor boilers include a large firebox surrounded by a water jacket; located in a shed outside; heated water is pumped underground to house; the combustion system is usually simple or nonexistent; controversial because of high smoke emissions; suitable for remote areas, particularly when heating more than one building
• Conventional fireplaces are made with masonry or factory-built metal; so efficiency is low; open fireplaces without doors tend to smoke into the room; may be suitable for casual heating in warm climate zones. You know you've been there and smelt it!