The Dangers in Buying a Second Hand Stove

Just one of the dangers when buying a second hand stove

There’s no denying that a multi-fuel or wood burning stove makes a great focal point in any home, but at prices often reaching £1,000 they are not always the budget option. At first glance it may seem far more economical and sensible to try to pick one up second hand, but there are many drawbacks to this and just as many good reasons why buying new is the best policy.

Guarantee and Warranty

When you buy a shiny new stove from a retailer, either in person or online, it generally comes with a warranty against things going wrong for a set period of time. Often second hand items do not come with any guarantees, and although wood burning stoves are generally reliable and there are no moving parts to break down, many homeowners prefer to have the peace of mind in knowing that their wood burner is covered against failing.

Efficiency Improvements

Wood burning stoves have become increasingly popular over recent years and manufacturers have been investing more in research and development to produce stoves which are ever more efficient. Older stoves may work perfectly, but in the long run may use more fuel and not produce as much heat as a more efficient, modern model. It can be false economy to pay a couple of hundred pounds less for a second hand stove, then end up paying out far more over its lifetime for fuel. With modern stoves being as much as 33% more efficient than older ones, buying second hand could increase the amount of fuel you are using by a third.

Demand

There is massive demand for wood burning stoves at present and this has driven up prices in the second hand market. Gone are the days when you could pick up a second hand stove for £50, and at present many second hand wood burning stoves are changing hands for not much less than new. With prices so high, is it not better to pay an extra £100 or so and get the advantages of a brand new one?

Leakage and Damage

Although some second hand stoves are in perfectly good working condition, it pays to ask about why the stove has been thrown away in the first place. Stoves which are damaged are often not worth repairing, and in some cases can be downright dangerous. Wood burning stoves are designed to be fitted with flues which draw all of the smoke and carbon monoxide away from your room, and if the seals have deteriorated, or if the stove itself has become cracked or damaged it will not work as efficiently, and could potentially leach high levels of invisible yet deadly carbon monoxide into your room. Without thorough testing, it can be hard to know whether a second hand stove is up to scratch, and the costs of testing could put the price up to equal with a brand new model.

Building Regulations

Rules and regulations about the installation of solid fuel or wood burning stoves are changing all of the time, 

and many of the older stoves which people are throwing out just do not come up to modern standards. Engineers who are on the HETAS register and approved to fit modern wood burners will not touch non-compliant wood burners with a barge pole, so there is every possibility that you will be left with a bargain stove that nobody will fit and which you are not legally allowed to have in the house anyway. Unless you are an expert in this area it can be very difficult to tell if a stove comes up to current standards just by looking at it, whereas you can be sure that every new stove on sale in a store is safe and legal to use at home.

Fire

Wood burning stoves are very safe when used properly and undamaged, but older models which have begun to crack or split can be extremely dangerous and a fire risk. Many of us go to bed at night and leave the wood burning stove smouldering away, and with a new, professionally installed unit this is generally fine. The same cannot be said with older, second hand stoves and is it really worth the risk just to save some cash in the short run?