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Boiler stove installation

Updated: 22 October 2026

The stove is on order, and the box is not an installation. A boiler stove installation in England and Wales is notifiable building work unless a competent person does it and notifies it. The water circuit has to match the manual, a carbon monoxide alarm has to be in the room, and you must not light the stove until water can circulate. Radiator sums stay on [boiler stove radiators](/hub/fireplaces-and-stoves/boiler-stove/sub/boiler-stove-radiators). The six amazon.co.uk listings, captured on 19 October 2026, stay on the [boiler stove comparison](/hub/fireplaces-and-stoves/boiler-stove). A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

The stove is on order, and the box is not an installation. A boiler stove installation in England and Wales is notifiable building work unless a competent person does it and notifies it.

Our top picks

Prity Prity K1 CP W8 water-jacket stove

Best overall

Prity Prity K1 CP W8 water-jacket stove
4.5/10about £560
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Prity Prity FGW15 cooker, 5 kW and 15 kW

Rank 2

Prity Prity FGW15 cooker, 5 kW and 15 kW
7.4/10about £888.02
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Prity Prity S3 W17 back-boiler stove

Best value

Prity Prity S3 W17 back-boiler stove
5.2/10about £801.53
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On this page
  1. 1.The installation has to be notified
  2. 2.Water has to be able to move if the pump stops
  3. 3.Alarm and air
  4. 4.The 130 mm outlet

The installation has to be notified

GOV.UK lists solid-fuel appliance work among the jobs that are notifiable. You either use a competent-person scheme, or you apply to the council's building control before you start. HETAS is the scheme most stove manuals name. A HETAS-registered installer can notify work they carried out. They cannot sign off a stove you have already fitted and then call them for a certificate. If you do the work, HETAS says you apply to building control first. The Prity FGW15 listing states the installation type as professional installation. That line is not a certificate. The certificate is what you will want when you insure the house or sell it. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own building rules, so an England description is not automatically the process in every nation.

Water has to be able to move if the pump stops

Wet-stove manuals from Arada, on the BK555, and Stovax, on the Stockton, specify an open vent. The cold feed is not fitted with a valve you can shut. A heat-leak radiator, or an equivalent load that cannot be turned off, gives the stove somewhere to send heat if the pump stops or the other radiators are closed. Those manuals often describe that leak at about 10% of rated output. The Solid Fuel Association notes that turndown is often about 25% of maximum, which is a different figure and a different job. The Health and Safety Executive is plainer about the failure. Do not fire a solid-fuel back boiler or a wet stove without circulating water. An Italian reviewer of the Prity W12 PM returned the cooker because the house had no system to connect. If your only boiler is a combi and nobody has drawn the link, you do not have an installation. You have a stove in a box.
Prity Prity K1 CP W8 water-jacket stove

Testsieger

Prity Prity K1 CP W8 water-jacket stove
4.5/10about £560
View offer

Alarm and air

In England, Approved Document J from 1 October 2022 expects a carbon monoxide alarm when a fixed solid-fuel appliance is installed. The alarm is to BS EN 50291, in the same room. On the ceiling it sits at least 300 mm from any wall. On a wall it sits as high as possible but not within 150 mm of the ceiling, and between 1 m and 3 m horizontally from the appliance. The hub guide to carbon monoxide alarms for a stove covers the alarm itself. This page only fixes where it sits. Air for combustion is calculated on the survey. HETAS says the installer does that calculation. A tight kitchen with a strong extractor can spill fumes, so the room feels big enough is not a measurement.

The 130 mm outlet

Several listings state a 130 mm flue, including the FGW15, the S3 W17, the W15 and the W12 PM, and none includes the pipe. The W15 heat field says 20 kW beside an unlabelled 15+5 kW title. The S3 W17 bullet says 22 kW maximum beside a 5 kW field. The installer matches the plate, the liner and the chimney.

Common questions

Can I fit a boiler stove and get it signed off afterwards?
Not as a way around notification. HETAS says a registered installer notifies work they did. If you install the stove yourself, you apply to building control before you start. A certificate requested after the fire is lit is the wrong order. The Prity FGW15 page names professional installation as the installation type, which is a prompt, not a sign-off you can collect later.
Where does the carbon monoxide alarm go?
In England, from 1 October 2022, Approved Document J places a BS EN 50291 alarm in the same room as the fixed solid-fuel appliance. On the ceiling, keep it at least 300 mm from walls. On a wall, put it as high as you can but not within 150 mm of the ceiling, and between 1 m and 3 m horizontally from the appliance. If the house is not in England, check the local building rules before you copy that placement.
What is a heat-leak radiator?
It is a radiator, or an equivalent load, that cannot be turned off, so the stove still has somewhere to send heat if the pump stops. Arada and Stovax wet-stove manuals describe one at about 10% of rated output, on an open vent with no valve on the cold feed. The Solid Fuel Association talks about turndown nearer 25% of maximum. Those are guides, not one statute.
Can I light the stove before the water is connected?
No. The Health and Safety Executive says not to fire a solid-fuel back boiler or wet stove without circulating water. The jacket heats as soon as the fire does. An Italian reviewer returned a Prity W12 PM because there was no circuit, which is the correct decision. A trial lighting before the plumbing is the hazard, not a test of the flue.
Does the certificate matter when I sell the house?
Yes. A notified installation, with the notice plate and the alarm, is what a buyer, a surveyor or an insurer can ask to see. HETAS describes that record as part of using the installation. Work that was never notified is harder to explain at a sale than work that went through a competent person or building control at the time.

Related pages

Boiler stove buying guide

Boiler stove or wood burner

Boiler stove

Best boiler stove: a labelled room and water split

Boiler stove radiators: size from the water output

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts were taken from the listings on 19 October 2026.

  1. GOV.UK, Smoke control areas: the rules (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. Approved Document J (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. HETAS consumer FAQs (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. HSE, solid fuel back boiler alert (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. Regulation (EU) 2015/1185 Annex II (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. Defra Burn Better (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. Arada, choosing a boiler stove (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Defra, cooker with boiler exempt list (retrieved 19 October 2026)