Wood burning stoves offer several benefits to homes, making them a popular choice for many homeowners. Lets take a look at some of the key advantages and disadvantages:
Cost-effective heating:
Wood is a renewable resource and can be significantly cheaper than traditional heating methods like gas or oil, especially if you have access to a local source of firewood. While the initial cost of the stove itself can be high, the long-term savings on fuel bills can be substantial. Fuel is paid for upfront, no surprise price hikes.
Environmentally friendly:
When sourced sustainably, wood is a carbon-neutral fuel source. While burning wood does release some emissions, these are generally offset by the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the tree as it grows. Additionally, wood burning stoves are much more efficient than open fireplaces, further reducing their environmental impact.
Are wood burners better than open fires:
A wood burning stove will offer better fuel efficiency and a longer burn time given the same amount of fuel, compared to an open fire, this is due to the controls a stove has to regulate the rate of burning.
Energy independence:
Unlike heating systems that rely on gas or electricity, wood burning stoves provide a reliable source of heat even during power outages. This can be a major advantage in areas prone to blackouts or for those who want more control over their heating source.
Improved ambience:
There’s something undeniably comforting and relaxing about the dancing flames and warm glow of a wood burning stove. It can create a cozy and inviting atmosphere in your home, adding to its overall enjoyment.
However, it’s important to consider some potential drawbacks before deciding if a wood burning stove is right for you:
A wood burning stove requires regular cleaning and maintenance, including:
Storing and moving logs, preparing kindling
Chimney sweeping will be required once or twice a year, depending on usage. Your sweep will advise on frequency.
Ash removal will be a weekly or daily task during the heating season depending upon usage, this can be messy.
Longer term costs:
These will include replacement bricks and door seals, and for those less careful users replacement door glass.
Air pollution:
While generally considered more environmentally friendly than other options, wood burning stoves can still contribute to air pollution, especially in urban areas. It’s important to choose an Ecodesign stove and burn only well-seasoned wood with a moisture content lower than 20% to minimise emissions.
Installation costs:
In addition to the cost of the stove itself, there are also higher installation costs compared to a Gas stove equivalent to consider.
Overall, wood burning stoves offer several benifits and can be a great way to heat your home. Offering cost savings, environmental benefits, and a touch of cosy charm to a home. However, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons carefully and ensure you meet all the necessary regulations before making a decision.
Chimney sweeping is an essential part of owning and using a real fire or stove. A good chimney sweep is vital to keep your chimney and appliance clean and safe.
If you live locally to the shop, give us a call on 0208 663 3223 and we can arrange for a sweep to visit.
However, in times of cost cutting, the chimney sweep is often cut back on or forgotten about altogether. For years our houses were built without chimneys and the need for Chimney sweeping. However with more and more new properties being constructed with a class 1 chimney and more existing housing stock chimneys being brought back to use, the chimney sweep is once again in demand.
They are also now part of a very professionally regulated industry, so ensure yours has the necessary qualifications to carry out the work legally. If you are amongst the growing numbers who have a coal fire or wood burning stove in your home, it is in your interests to find yourself a local chimney sweep.
Fireplaces, openfires and stoves are becoming increasingly popular, and for good reason: a fireplace will add character and a focal point to a room, and, if it is well-maintained, will be an excellent source of heat during the winter period. The benefits of having a real coal or wood fire in your house must be balanced by ensuring that your chimney functions both safely and efficiently.
Details of your local chimney sweep can be obtained from a number of different organisations;
These websites list details of competent sweeps in your area., along with advice on chimneys and fires.
How does a chimney work ?
As a fire burns in a fireplace, the air from the room is drawn through and across the fuel enabling combustion. As the fire burns, it releases numerous gases which being lighter than the surrounding air rise. These gases then evacuate to atmosphere via the chimney. As these gasses pass through your chimney they cool, a substance commonly referred to as soot then begins to accumulate on the walls. This includes a flammable substance called creosote. Over time, these deposits can begin to obstruct – and eventually completely block – the chimney.
Such obstructions will lead to an unsafe, chimney, and potential chimney fire or carbon monoxide poisoning. Ensure you have a working carbon monoxide detector in the same room as your fire. A well-functioning chimney is necessary not only to allow potentially harmful gases to escape from the room, but also to ensure that a fire burns efficiently.
As hot air ascends in the chimney, the fire sucks in more air from the room through the grate, an open fire can change the air in a room as much as 12 times an hour. Without this continuous supply of air, the fire would either burn itself out, or draw its combustion air from the chimney, sucking in air via the chimney, instead of the room, this is known as down draught.
Can I clean my chimney myself?
It is possible to clean your chimney yourself, but we would not recommend it. Bear in mind, however, that this may well invalidate your house insurance in the event of a chimney fire.
How often should my chimney be cleaned?
At least once a year, depending upon the type fo fuel being burnt. Chimney sweeps will advise the frequency of cleaning required for your use, based on how much soot and deposits need removing. We would recommend having your chimney swept at the end of the heating season. This will enable to sweep to clean the despots before they have the down time of the summer months to harden.
If a chimney is used very often, it might be necessary to sweep it more often. A registered chimney sweep will be able to advise the optimum cleaning schedule for your chimney.
I have a gas fire do I need to have my chimney swept?
Yes, although less frequently. Blockages in chimneys connected to gas fires can lead to a build-up of carbon monoxide and other harmful gases. A chimney sweep or your gas service engineer can advise how often your chimney ought to be swept.
Where to find a chimney sweep?
Word of mouth is how most people secure a tradesman, however with requirements for this type of work to be carried out by a registered competent person, the best means is to check with the registering bodies websites. Check that the sweep is registered to carry out the work, and will be able to provide you with the correct certificate after a Chimney sweeping has been done. Chimney sweeps can be found via HETAS, National Association of Chimney Sweeps, or Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps websites. All members of the registered bodies are fully qualified to carry out a sweep, have full public liability insurance and issue certificates on completion of their work. All of these professional bodies have trained, assessed members to ensure that you as a customer receive the best service available.
Is it Expensive to have a chimney swept ?
The cost of Chimney sweeping depends upon where you live and how much work there is to do. Prices will be based on each chimney requiring a sweep, difficult to access chimneys may incur additional costs. Your sweep will do a survey before providing an estimate/quote for the work. As a rough guide, you should expect to pay something in the region of £50 – £70 per chimney. If you live locally to the shop, give us a call on 0208 663 3223 and we can arrange for a sweep to visit.
Chimney Tips
Only burn hard woods DO NOT burn soft woods. Hard woods do not contain as much moisture so burn slower, they also make the fire burn hotter. Provided the wood is seasoned this reduces the amount of creosote deposited inside the chimney, helping to keep your chimney cleaner for longer. Reducing the amount of this flammable substance inside your chimney also has considerable safety benefits.
Do not use artificial logs containing paraffin or petroleum additives.
Ensure you stove is burning at maximum output for about 60% of the time in use.
Open all the stoves air controls before refuelling.
During lighting of a stove a small amount of condensation builds up on the inside surface of the glass, this is quite normal. The sulphur in the fuel will mix with the water and sulphuric acid will form. Sulphuric acid is corrosive. As the stove heats up the moisture boils away leaving a mixture of sulphur dioxide and sulphur trioxide as a white powder. If left for any length of time it will start to etch into the surface of the ceramic glass, causing the opaque look. Wiping the glass with a wet cloth, it will first look as though the opaqueness has disappeared, but, as soon as the glass has dried, opaqueness appears again. If this is the case with your stove, we would recommend replacement of the glass panel and it’s seals so you can enjoy an uninterrupted view of the dancing flames.
This cloudiness is caused by the presence of sulphur in the fuel. Your stove manufacturer will have given a list of suitable fuels in the instruction booklet that came with your stove. It is important that ONLY these fuels are burnt in the appliance. Incorrect fuels will damage the stove and glass.
Correct Lighting:
Here are our tips for using your stove correctly and avoiding discolouration of your glass:
Leave the door slightly ajar for the first 10 – 15 minutes when first lighting the stove and have the air controls fully open. This helps get the stove going and allows more air across the glass helping to keep it clean.
When you first light the stove let it come up to temperature and burn hot for at least 45 minutes before you start to close the fire down using the air controls.
Most stoves are fitted with an air-wash system, make sure that your stove is set correctly for the air wash to operate as designed.
DO NOT let your stove ‘slumber’, avoid letting your stove tick over gently for overly long periods.
Clean the glass after every use.
When the fire is dying down at the end of the night make sure, that you open the vents and get the fire blazing again so the fuel burns out. Rather than closing the vents and letting the stove run slowly towards the end of the night, as this will increase the risk of the condensation.
Use only the CORRECT FUEL stated in the user instructions.
Replacement panels of glass for your stove are available from us, call 0208 663 3223 with your appliance make / model & serial number.
Staff from one of our stove suppliers ESSE haver just completed a cycle ride in aid of The Sanitation First charity.
Esse staff completed the charity KBB cycle from London to Paris. Riding onto the Champs-Elysees in a group of cyclists all in the same kit was the highlight.
The cycling was the fun bit but it is good when we can make a difference and raise some funds for a good cause. If you would like to donate please help ESSE sales director Mark reach his personal fundraising target of £500. A link to his total giving page is at the bottom of this post.
Sanitation First is a small but really good charity and through their efforts and the funds our cycle raises a small village of 493 people in a third world country will have sanitation facilities which we take for granted. The toilet block that will be built as a result of the charity effort will allow girls to go to school and receive an education.
Around 260 families live in surrounding areas of this school, and the majority of the livelihoods of these families come from the agricultural industry. Due to an increase in the mechanisation of agriculture, many people cannot get work throughout the year.
The vast majority of the children who attend this school belong to the lowest castes in Indian society, which means that they are in a particularly poor economic position.
Current Sanitation Facilities
The school’s current sanitation facilities are in an unusable condition. There is also no private washroom or incinerator for the girls, which means that the female students aren’t able to privately manage their menstruation. The headmaster has told us that girls do not attend school when they are menstruating, because of a lack in facilities.
What will Sanitation First do?
Firstly, Sanitation First will be constructing two separate sanitary blocks, one for boys and one for girls. In the girls’ facility, there will be a private washroom and incinerator.
The toilets that we build in schools are always cheerful and colourful, with painted murals on the walls that tell children all about the benefits of hand-washing and clean sanitation.
We have today been informed a Hunter Stoves price increase will come into force on the 26th March 2018.
The increase will not however affect all the Hunter Stoves brands. If you have been considering the purchase of one of the following Hunter Stove brand appliances from The Gas Fireplace. We would advise to get your order in soon. Please be aware that orders placed after the 26th March will attract the price increase.
The Hunter stoves price increase will impact these brands Avalon, Eco, Cleanburn and HS Gas. Parkray and DiLusso stoves will not be increased in price at this time.
The Gas Fireplace has been supplying and installing fireplaces and fires locally for over 35 years. Visit our shop on the High Street in Beckenham to discuss your requirements. These are of some of the supply areas our fireplace installers cover. So if you want a fireplace in Eltham or a gas fire in Orpington we are the place to visit.
In addition to being able to supply or supply and install our period and contemporary fireplaces and fires within these areas we can install you a new gas fire, wood stove, gas stove or electric fire. We can also instal media walls, to create the perfect focal point in your room. Below are a few of the makes we supply to choose from:
Planning to visit us we have parking at the rear of the shop or the 54, 227, 352 and 354 bus services stop (war memorial) directly outside of the shop.
Call Nigel or Carol for more information on 0208 663 3223 we provide a quality service at a price that won’t be beaten.
The new Energy Labelling Regulations for fires and stoves will come into force on the 1st January 2018.
In the UK and across Europe, The Energy Labelling directive has been introduced to help consumers make more of an informed choice about gas, electric and solid fuel appliance efficiency.
Energy labels can already be found on domestic appliances, such as refrigerators and washing machines. Such energy labels have been in use for a number of years, and are designed to help reduce the carbon footprint of a household, and to save money. More efficient appliances use less energy, which is great for the environment, and also for household finances.
In April 2017 the Energy Labelling directive was implemented on independent boiler appliances, and in January 2018, room heater stove appliances will be required to comply with the new legislation.
All wood burning stoves will likely be categorised as an “A rating” due to the renewable and zero carbon features.
Our website will soon show these labels against each appliance, this will enable you to see at a glance which fire or stove might be the best for your home.
We are pleased to announce the latest addition to the Faber range of gas fires. The new Blokhus freestanding gas fire combines a stylish finish and impressive flame picture with unique design flexibility.
This unique, modular balanced flue gas fire offers a statement design object for any living space and is available with optional extra blocks to add height and create different looks.
Choose from single (200mm) or double (400mm) blocks to fit on top of the standard design, which offers a three-sided panoramic view of the flame picture. For Design flexibility with new Faber Blokhus.
The Blokhus model features an output of 4.6kW, or 5.2kW with the optional high efficiency kit and includes Faber’s Log Burner® combined with a superb glowing embers effect using LED Symbio® technology.
The modular block design of the new Blokhus offers the ability to build up extra modules to completely change the look of the product and needs a minimum clearance distance of just 20mm to a wall behind.
All this, of course, with the stylish design and excellent flame picture that dealers and consumers have come to expect from Faber.
For further information on the Blokhus, please visit our website Faber Blokhus or email email us.
Introducing a new model – The Hunter Avalon Slimline 8
Hunter have just introduced into it’s already extensive stove lineup the Hunter Avalon Slimline 8 wood and multifuel 5kW output stove. With its slimline design, not only do you have outstanding characteristics, this high-powered model now comes with only a 5” flue for easy installation and delivers outstanding performance. Available with either a single or double door, and top or back flue outlet.
The Avalon Slimline 8 has been designed with less depth, for shallower chimney breasts the stove can still accommodate logs of up to 19.75” long. The Cleanburn system ensures that the fuel gives its utmost, driving heat directly into the room.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
