What ventilation do I need in the room?

A stove needs to breathe just like we do. The combustion process requires oxygen to flow in to the stove at a certain rate. This may be difficult on more modern airtight houses or larger stoves. It is a common misconception that a stove in a large room does not require ventilation, however the airflow needed is affected by air pressures and this will only be governed by ‘airtightness’ rather than room size.
Generally stoves with a 5kw output or less, in houses built before 2008, should gain their air through doorways, window gaps, floorboards etc, so an air vent is not usually required.
You will need an air vent for stoves with an output over 5kw or if the house was built after 2008. It doesn’t matter if it is a large or small room or whether the room has gaps around, doors, windows or trickle vents. We must fit a dedicated, permanent air vent for stoves over 5kw.

Many stoves have the option of a direct air supply (external/outside air kit) – this can be used instead of an open air vent and eliminates the draught that people associate with an air vent.

Open plan rooms
We fit many stoves into open plan rooms where there is an extractor above the cooker hob. If the air is extracted to outside the removal of air can have a detrimental affect on the air flow to the stove and ventilation is then required. This is needed for any size of stove, any age of house and as mentioned above the size of the room does not alter the need for the vent.

With any installation a HETAS engineer will assess the air flow to the room and then perform a pressure test to assess that the correct flue draught has been achieved to meet the stove manufacturer’s installation instructions.