Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 11:13pm

I've read the new guide to instaling a solid fuel stove in a boat. Do you know if these are just guides or will they form part of the bsc, in which case it will make alot or work for almost all boaters and what will i do with the stove in my engine room?

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:44am

Dear Casper. There is no guide to installing solid fuel stoves at this time. What there is is a consultation document that is now available so that you and anyone else that has problems with it can make comment. When the consultation period ends the draft should (but do not hold your breath)be reworked to take account of the representations received during consultation and then it will be published as an ISO or BS standard or a code of practise. At that point the BSS will have to decide how they will react and I am not going to try to second guess them. You could try emailing the BSS direct but I doubt they will answer your question at this time. It is also important that boaters take part in the consultation because from what I can see there has been no attempt to quantify the risk some of the measures seem to be trying to deal with and a lot can be seen as totally uneconomic with regard to the proven risk. There is also the question of chimney heights and bridge heights. Sorry not to be more help. Tony Brooks