Before starting
Installation of your HWAM wood-burning stove must always comply with building codes and other local regulations. It is always helpful to follow the advice of a chimney sweeper/installer before mounting the wood-burning stove.
Room requirements
It must always be possible to deliver fresh combustion air to the room in which the wood-burning stove is to be installed. A window or adjustable air valve is regarded as sufficient, but a HWAM fresh air system for the wood-burning stove can also be installed. The adjustable air valve/air grate must not be blocked.
Fresh air system
A fresh air system can be connected to most HWAM wood-burning stoves. A fresh air system allows the wood-burning stove to draw combustion air from outside via a piping system.
Load-bearing base
Before installing the wood-burning stove, ensure that the base can support the weight of both the stove and the chimney. The chimney’s weight must be calculated in relation to dimension and height. The wood-burning stove’s weight can be found in the product overview.
Distance from non-combustible material
There is no minimum required distance between your HWAM wood-burning stove and a brick wall or other non-combustible materials; however, we recommend that you maintain a space of at least 5-10 cm. from the wall for cleaning.
Distance from combustible material
If your wood-burning stove is installed near a wooden wall or other combustible materials, you must maintain the minimum distance stated in the sign on the back of the stove or in the instruction manual.
Your HWAM wood-burning stove must always be installed on a non-flammable base. If it is to be installed on a wooden floor surface or the like, the floor must be protected with a non-combustible material that covers the 30 cm in front of the stove and 15 cm to each side from the stove's opening used for stoking.
Requirements on the chimney and smoke pipe
The woodburning stove requires a minimum draught of 12 Pa (measured at EN 13240 measurement point). If measured just above the smoke flue socket, the chimney draught must be 18-20 Pa. For the models HWAM 3630, HWAM 3640, HWAM 3650 and HWAM 3660 with HWAM® Autopilot™ and 5530 with HWAM® Autopilot™ and I 40/55 with HWAM® Autopilot™ a minimum draught of 11 Pa and 17-19 Pa is required.
The chimney must have a minimum clearing of Ø 150 mm. The chimney must be provided with an easily accessible cleaning door. The chimney and flue duct must be of flue class T400 and be CE marked. Furthermore, it must have obtained the classification of G in soot fire testing. The required distance to combustible material must be complied with in accordance with the brand label. Ask your HWAM retailer for further information.
Regulating damper
We recommend equipping the chimney or smoke pipe with a regulating damper so that the chimney draft can be regulated on days with high winds. The regulating damper must not be able to completely close the smoke pipe. There must always be a clearance the size of at least 20% of the chimney or smoke pipe’s total internal diameter area. When installing a steel chimney on top of the wood-burning stove, it is illegal to install a regulating damper.
The chimney
The chimney serves as the wood-burning stove’s ‘motor’, and it is crucial to the stove’s proper functioning. The chimney draft creates a vacuum in the wood-burning stove. This vacuum removes the smoke from the stove and sucks air through the damper to the so-called ‘pane flush’, which keeps the pane free of soot and sucks air in through the primary and secondary damper for combustion.
The chimney draft is created by the difference in temperature between the inside and outside of the chimney. The higher the temperature inside the chimney, the better the chimney draft. It is therefore crucial that the chimney is well heated throughout before the dampers are closed and the combustion in the wood-burning stove is limited (it takes longer to completely heat a brick chimney than it does a steel chimney). On days when weather and wind conditions create a poor draft in the chimney, it is especially important to heat up the chimney as quickly as possible. This is done by quickly creating flames by splitting firewood into smaller pieces, using an extra firelighter, etc.
After a long period of disuse, it is important to inspect for possible blockages in the chimney stack.
It is possible to connect several devices to the same chimney. However, all applicable rules must first be checked up on. Ask your local chimney sweep about the possibilities for your chimney.
Even a quality chimney can function poorly if it used improperly. But a poor chimney can function well if it used correctly.