We have collected answers to questions many people wonder when they plan to install a new fireplace or wood-burning stove. If you have more detailed questions or you cannot find the answer on our website, we recommend that you contact one of our skilled dealers who will be happy to help you with ideas, planning, sketches and installation for your home.
In order to get a positive experience from your fireplace, it’s very important that its size is suited to your living space and heating needs.
If a wood stove or fireplace is too big, you’ll constantly burn it at too lower power and end up with soot on the glass and in the chimney. A stove that is too small will be overloaded and have a reduced life span.
In order to give good advice, your dealer therefore needs information about your living space and the type of insulation in your home.
Normally, heating demand in Norwegian homes is around 60-70 watts per square meter, but this can change depending on the kind of insulation, the number of windows, ceiling height, etc. Old, drafty houses with poor insulation need significantly more heating than homes with good insulation and triple glazing. Normally, heating demand in Norwegian homes is around 60-70 watts per square meter, but this can change depending on the kind of insulation, the number of windows, ceiling height, etc.
You can calculate what heat output is most optimal for your home. Here, the nominal heat output of the fireplace (kW) is an important point to get right. You can find this in the technical specifications under each individual product on the website, or in the user manual.
As a general rule, 1 kW can heat around 20 square meters in a normally insulated house.
Example:
If you have a 90 m2 area you want to heat in a well-insulated detached house, we have calculated this here:
Scan stoves manufactures wood stoves, fireplace inserts and fireplaces, but all sales of both fireplaces and spare parts are done through our skilled dealers from their own showrooms.
The term nominal output is used for heat calculation. Nominal output is the power the stove performs best at, in terms of the release of particles, carbon monoxide and efficiency. Nominal output means that you have to burn the right amount of wood in relation to the size of the stove (this is determined by the volume of the combustion chamber according to Norwegian standards). You can find this in the technical details for each product and in the user manual for the product.
Ecodesign and the Ecolabel Directive are two instruments introduced by the EU. They aim to reduce the environmental impact of energy related products throughout their entire lifecycle. This makes it possible to choose the most energy efficient wood stove on the market.
Labelling our products with an energy efficiency category helps you choose the most energy efficient stove, with the lowest operating costs and impact on the environment. This is so you can make the best choice for today, tomorrow, and the environment. You can find the energy label of your product either in the product overview or in the instruction manual.
The chimney is the engine of the wood stove and crucial for is functioning. If you already have a chimney in your house, it is important to find out whether it is in a usable state. This can be done either by the fire service in your region, or you can contact a dealer who can do a home visit.
In order for a fireplace to function optimally, it should be connected to a chimney with an internal diameter greater than the flue outlet on the fireplace. In the installation and instruction manuals you can find information about the necessary draft the different products need in order to function optimally. The rule of thumb is that one meter of chimney creates 4 Pascal of draft. Few fireplaces can function on less than 12 Pascal.
Sharp elbows on the flue pipe reduce draft.
If you are tearing down an older fireplace, it is important to check the chimney for damage before fitting a new one. If the chimney is damaged, you can get help to rehabilitate your old chimney or to install a steel chimney.
If you want to place a fireplace somewhere other than where your current chimney is, or your home does not have a chimney at all, a steel chimney is a great choice. Steel chimneys are reasonably priced and a good alternative to traditional brick chimneys.
All fireplaces require two main elements. The first is fresh air to burn well, and the second is for the smoke to escape through the chimney, generally with as many burnt gases as possible that give off minimal particle emissions.
Chimney drafts create negative pressure in wood stoves. This negative pressure removes the smoke from the stove and sucks air through the combustion air vent for the burning process. The combustion air is also used for glass cleaning, which keeps the glass clean of soot.
The air creates a draft, “feeds” the fire and lets it burn bright and warm with beautiful flames. The fire is controlled by opening or closing the air valves to reduce or increase the flames.
If you live in a low-energy or a newer home, it’s important to choose a fireplace that works well on low power. If you live in a very well insulated home or have mechanical ventilation, it’s important to take this into account when planning the installation.
Chimneys in older houses operate where air is drawn through the fireplace, but if you live in a well-insulated home, or if mechanical ventilation is fighting against the natural draft in the chimney, you may have problems with the fireplace's function. The recommended solution is therefore to connect an ‘outside air kit’ to the fireplace. You can read more here:
Yes, you can install two or more stoves in the same chimney if there is sufficient distance between the flue pipe entry for the two stoves. One stove on the first floor and one on the second floor should not be a problem, especially if they belong to the same housing unit.
No, you cannot insert a fireplace insert directly into the chimney. However, you can build a fireplace insert in front or on the sides of the chimney, as an additional construction that looks like part of the chimney. Your dealer can help you design a secure and fire safe installation that perfectly suits your home.
There are regulations for distances from flammable objects and materials, and for the correct foundation on the floor (e.g., steel or glass floor plates). You can find this information in the product manual. Your Scan dealer can also help you with this before installation.
It is most common in Norwegian homes to have a fireproof wall made from LECA or brick installed or built in behind the fireplace. (Note! Drywall is not approved as a fireproof wall). Over the years we have had many opportunities to build or retrofit fireproof walls, with simple fireproof wall panels that can be directly attached to flammable walls. The fireproof panels must be approved by Sintef and installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The panels can also be used to build entire fireplace surrounds for fireplace inserts.
Each individual fireplace has its own requirements for distances from firewalls; you can find these in the instruction manual specific to your new stove.
The distance from furniture to a wood stove or fireplace should generally be around 1m from the fireplace glass to flammable materials. This distance differs from product to product - and you can find specific measurements in the product manual. You should also be aware that furniture and other items can dry out if they are placed near a stove.
The space where the fireplace is located should have good ventilation and not too much furniture – a fireplace needs space to breathe. Your local dealer can recommend the ideal fireplace as well as what kind of ventilation is needed for it.
Many homes have an existing fireplace or wood stove. This makes installing a new fireplace much simpler, but there are a couple of things to consider before connecting a new stove.
If you are replacing an old wood stove with a new wood stove, it's a good idea to check whether it has an outlet on the top or the back – i.e. whether the pipe between the chimney and the wood stove is connected to the top or the back of the stove. If it is installed on the top and goes right up to the roof, the job is simple. If the wood stove is fitted with a rear outlet or an elbow pipe, its important to find out how far it is to the center of the flue outlet. You should consider whether you want to keep it as it is, as this can limit the range that fits your installation. If you don’t mind creating a new flue pipe entry in the fireproof wall, the choice is yours.
If you have an open fireplace or hearth, you can quite easily install a clean burning fireplace insert or a cassette directly into it, thereby getting up to 80% more thermal efficiency from the wood while saving the environment from unnecessary particle emissions from an old wood stove. In order to do this, we recommend using certified installers or a Scan dealer, as it requires special adaptation and good air and ventilation.
Your local dealer is an expert in this and will be happy to help you.
All our products are considered light fireplaces and normally require no reinforcement of supporting beams so can be placed on normal joists/floors. You should of course make sure that the ground can bear the weight of the stove and the steel chimney.
If in doubt, you can make a calculation.
The weight of a fireplace should be divided by the base area of the fireplace, plus 0.6 meters in each direction.
You can find the size of your fireplace under each individual product on our website, or in the instruction manual.
Example:
If the base of the fireplace is 0.49 m x 0.38 m the weight must be distributed over a surface of:
According to Standards Norway each square meter can bear 150 kg.
A fireplace with a base of 0.49 m x 0.38 m can therefore weigh up to 400 kg without the floor needing to be reinforced.
Fireplaces are often set into a wall and the weight calculation area can be reduced slightly.
Seek help from your dealer if you are unsure.
The simple answer is no, of course with some exceptions. If the floor/foundation is made of flammable materials, you must have a floor plate to protect the floor surrounding the stove from embers. However, if it is placed on non-flammable materials such as a concrete floor or tiles, a floor plate is not necessary.
A wood stove mounted on a flammable floor must always have a floor plate or protective foundation to protect from embers. This can be made of glass, steel, slate, tile, etc. It is important for the foundation or floor plate to be able to withstand heat and embers, and for it to meet the requirements with regards to insulation and the size of the product. You can find recommended sizes or suggestions for specially adapted floor plates for each product in the installation and instruction manuals for each individual product.
You can get advice and guidance on finding the right floor plate for your wood stove or fireplace.
Over the years, Scan wood burning stoves have come in a variety of colors, and from time to time, we receive inquiries about the RAL code or other color codes for our stoves. Please note that the color codes for our wood stoves are not standardized, as they are used internally during production. If you're looking to discover the exact color code and the right type of paint and finish for your product, we recommend taking a sample or part of your stove to a paint store that can scan the color for you. This will provide you with the best assistance in finding the correct color match.
We cannot guarantee that the color code in our documents will be 100% accurate compared to the actual color of the product. Different manufacturers and color blends can yield different results. It's also essential to recognize that all colors, especially whites, may change over time. As a result, the provided color codes may differ from the actual color of the product after a period of use.
Please be aware that Scan A/S cannot be held responsible for any color discrepancies that may arise as a result of these factors.
Before you start dismantling your old fireplace, it’s a good idea to contact a professional who can investigate whether the chimney is damaged or defective. Most problems with fireplaces stem from a poorly functioning or wrongly dimensioned chimney. If the chimney in your home is more than 30 years old, this is even more important. Should serious flaws be discovered, it is easy for a professional to repair without tearing down the entire chimney – a new chimney can simply be installed in the existing brick chimney.
It's a good idea to bring a picture of your old stove or fireplace with you when you visit our store, so you can quickly get an estimate of how much it will cost to remove the old one and install a new one.
When you install a fireplace it’s important to do it right. Fireplaces are particularly important as incorrect installation can not only cause worse heat release, but can also potentially be a fire hazard. Follow the local standards in your country.
You can also choose to outsource the entire installation to a professional and let one of our dealers take care of the whole job for you. The installation itself can take anywhere from a couple of hours to several phases to complete in case of a larger fireplace installation. This depends on how large the project is and what kind of fireplace or wood stove is to be installed.
Before a new fireplace can be used, the installation must be approved. Scan stoves dealers can help with approving installations carried out by our dealers, and submit a report to the fire service in your municipality.
All fireplaces from Scan stoves comply with some of the world’s strongest testing requirements, and all products that leave our factory are quality assured with regard to both safety and functionality. That’s why we are happy to offer a five-year guarantee.
