If your firebox has been bricked up or boarded over, or you are removing a fireplace and don't know what's behind it, then it will need to be excavated as the first part of your wood burner installation. 

You will need a hearth which is the part of the fireplace underneath the stove and directly in front of it. It's purpose is to catch any hot debris that may fall out of the wood burner, thus protecting any flooring or carpet and potentially stop a house fire.

You need to think about how to finish off the firebox chamber. If the brick work looks good once uncovered then it can be left for a rustic look. It could also be rendered (ready for painting), heat-proof tiles fitted, boarded with fireproof board or a 'fake' brick or slate chamber or board could be fitted.

Next install the steel liner into the chimney from the roof It is held in place by a cowl. 316/316 liner is recommended for wood burners. 904/904 liner for stoves burning coal. 

You need a bespoke register plate to close off the bottom of your chimney (sometimes known as closure plate). Made out of UK galvanised steel and required by Building Regulations.

Next unpack and check over the wood burner Using vitreous pipe and bends if needed, install the stove and CO alarm. Fit the thermometer and test the installation Carbon monoxide alarm (legal requirement)

Don't choose a wood stove purely on looks or because it's super cheap or on special offer. If an incorrect appliance is purchased, it cannot be certified as safe to use. Don't panic and do take your time to make the correct choice.

Don't buy a stove that fills your opening. Buy one at least 10cm smaller than the opening on each side. Check the manual for the correct size needed.

Different methods of heating produce different environmental impact. Look for a high efficiency rating around 80% or better , Energy label A or better and / or a Clear Skies mark of 3 or above.

4 to 5kW is good enough for the average living room. Larger than this will mean fitting a permanently open air vent to an external wall, as required by building regulations. 

Use a Stove Output Calculator to work out the kilowattage (kW) that you need.

Freestanding logburners usually fit in your existing fireplace but can also be fitted with twin wall rigid pipe if you do not have a chimney.

Designed to fit directly into your fireplace opening, they are recessed into the chimney breast, level with the wall.

Warms two rooms with one appliance.

Multi-fuel stoves can burn both wood and coal and come all shapes and sizes. 

Burns wooden or bio-mass pellets fed into the stove via a hopper. Highly efficient and automated thermostatic controls. Easier to use but more functional than aesthetic.

Bio-ethanol fires do not need a flue fitting and are great for topping up the heat in a small room. They have a real flame and the liquid fuel is made from recycled products.

Woodburner style gas fires and electric fires are less messy than their real counterparts but the flame is not the same.

The HETAS Cleaner Choice symbol indicates a clean burning appliance for your wood stove or multifuel installation.  

The a log burner has met the 5 regulation requirements for emissions and efficiency.

You can also consider how far the stove has travelled or how large is its carbon footprint. There are no current bodies looking into this so we believe that the 'greenest' options here are stoves made in the UK.  100% steel stoves that are made in the UK have the lowest footprint but most are made of a mixture of steel and cast iron. Compare logburner manufacturers.

The Clean Air Strategy attempts to protect our health ; protect our environment and reduce emissions from transport, homes, farming and industry.