# Forum Home Renovation Heating & Cooling  Wood heater removal

## jmn

Hi 
We are moving into our new house on Friday. It has got wood heater which we want to remove. Is this an easy job to do or should I pay a local guy $200 to remove it and also cover the top of the chimney (he is doing this next Monday). The heater is also hooked up to a ducted system. I have limited time to do this as we are getting a heat pump installed next Wednesday.    
Josh

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## Spelunx

> Hi 
> We are moving into our new house on Friday. It has got wood heater which we want to remove. Is this an easy job to do or should I pay a local guy $200 to remove it and also cover the top of the chimney (he is doing this next Monday). The heater is also hooked up to a ducted system. I have limited time to do this as we are getting a heat pump installed next Wednesday.    
> Josh

  Been there, done that.  It is a pretty simple job, but a painful one.  It is very messy, with black soot going everywhere.  Can you do it yourself? Sure! 
Does the $200 include parts and labor? Because if you include the $50 for a spare bit of colourbond, silicon and some rivets, it sounds like a bargain to me. 
If you can't afford the $200, you could probably pick up some roofing from a salvage yard or tip for very little, and then all it will cost you is time.....

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## johnc

To cap the chimney you may need nothing more than a scrap of cement sheet over the hole and sand and cement to cap over the top of that. For the fire box, lift up the flue and slide out the heater. Clean it out first, remove what you can and slide it out and remove. It is a bit dusty but shouldn't be to messy if you are patient.

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## Moondog55

As a bloke who simply loves wood fires and finds wood heat the cheapest I am asking why the removal in the coldest city in OZ???
 If you really need to do so it is simple ( but messy )  and probably worth a few bob on Evil-Bate

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## Smurf

> As a bloke who simply loves wood fires and finds wood heat the cheapest I am asking why the removal in the coldest city in OZ???

   Most easily explained by this. 
Finish work at 5pm. It is already well after sunset in mid-winter at this time. 
Get home at 5:30pm. House is 8 - 10 degrees inside. 
Stumble around in the backyard getting wood and bringing it inside. 
Load up the firebox, chuck in a few firelighters, set all the air vents fully open and light the fire.  
Now it's 6pm and you can think about getting dinner ready. Or feeding the dog or whatever else you have to do. 
8pm - now it's warm inside and the fire, presently roaring away full blast, can be turned down. 
Repeat the above literally every day from April to October each year, plus a few others in between.  
Personally, I like the heat that these heaters give out but I only use mine on the weekend due to the above. But the whole get home, load the fire, light the fire etc routine every night Monday to Friday wears off pretty quickly even if it is cheaper than the alternative (electric heat). 
On the positive side, manually carrying 6 tonnes of wood up the stairs and into the house each year probably will keep you reasonably fit. But strangely enough, I haven't had a sore back ever since I went electric Mon - Fri and left the woodheater for the weekends.

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## Moondog55

OK Those are indeed valid points, but why not leave enough kindling inside to start the fire? I get around the whole wood humping business by filling multiple crates and placing them by the closest door about once a week.
On our coldest days we would use 4 cubic feet of wood ( 4 old milk crates ) and  lighting our old Coonara takes about 4 minutes on a bad day, also I find that if the firebox is still  warm the whole process is much shorter.
I wonder why the OP hasn't come back??

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## Uncle Bob

> I am asking why the removal in the coldest city in OZ???

  I thought that honour went to Canberra  :Cry:

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## shauck

Just spent 800 bucks to get the fireplace remodelled so it works properly without filling the room with smoke. Haven't used it yet but will occasionally. Primarily use the rinnai gas heater. I wonder if bringing wood close to the house is a good idea. Can termites become an issue?

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## Moondog55

Never think of termites, because we are luckily in an area where they are not a problem. but I imagine that any brought that close to the house would also not be there ( incinerated ) in a week

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## goldie1

> Just spent 800 bucks to get the fireplace remodelled so it works properly without filling the room with smoke. Haven't used it yet but will occasionally. Primarily use the rinnai gas heater. I wonder if bringing wood close to the house is a good idea. Can termites become an issue?

   If you are stackng wood near the house just put it on a frame up off the ground. Plenty of termites around where I live and havn't had a problem with the wood pile

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## Moondog55

I have been using a double stacked plastic pallet for almost for-ever, they throw them away at Bunnies all the time

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## shauck

Anyway, it messes with my tidy gene.  :Biggrin:

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