Buy British: Fires & Stoves

These are troubling times for Britain's manufacturing sector, once a relative bright spot in the country's lacklustre recovery, which contracted at its fastest pace in more than two years in October, as new orders plummeted.

But at a time when the weather is closing in and people are looking to replace their fire or stove, many will simply head down to their local DIY or home-improvement store and buy an off-the-shelf stove or fire. However there is quite a high likelihood that these stoves and fires were built overseas, while there may be nothing wrong with stoves and fires, they may serve and satisfy all your heating needs. 

However it is always nice to know exactly where your stove or fire has been built. In this article we have a look at some of the most popular British products on the market and have a look into where they are created.

The Portway 2 Multi fuel stove is a contemporary steel stove which features a large viewing window and is exceptionally easy to operate.

With a choice of 2 stove colours; charcoal or black, and 3 leg heights this is a highly versatile stove.

Features: 

• Exemption from the Clean Air Act 1993 and suitable for smokeless zones as recommended by DEFRA
• Top or rear 125mm (5”) flue connection
• Simple operating controls
• Airwash to keep the glass window clean and clear
• Easy access, easy carry ashpan
• Tough, 5mm thick steel stove body
• Cast iron door and grates 

You can also choose to customise your stove with our range of decorative window inserts or vitreous enamel doors in Ruby Red or Arctic Grey.

The Portway Range of stoves are built by BFM Europe, the company is based in Stoke-on-Trent with a 51,000 sq ft purpose built plant, housing the most up-to-date manufacturing, sales and training facilities in the industry, including the latest sheet metal technology, R&D department and purpose built laboratories.
The Portway range are showroom exclusive, meaning you CANNOT purchase them online, however you can view and purchase the stove from Fireplace Megastore

Paragon & Matchless are both part of Charlton & Jenrick, startedby two friends in 1986 and based in Telford they produce a wide range of gas and electric fires, ranging from the stunning Chorus hole in the wall gas fire to the Quartet balanced flue fire and a stunning range of electric fires. Twenty four years later the Charlton & Jenrick Group moved into new premises, although just a stones throw from the original premises, are very substantially larger at 42,000sqft. It will be home to the group's gas fire manufacturing and product development operations, which employs 43 people.
The group is now a major player in the fireplace market employing over 120 staff across 3 sites in the UK and sales in excess of £12m. With it's 4 main brands, Katell, Paragon, Fireline & Matchless they are involved in almost all product groups including gas and electric fires, timber, marble & stone fireplaces and suites plus wood burning stoves.  

This high efficiency balanced flue fire is the Verine Marcello balanced flue gas fire, perfect for modern homes without a chimney or flue and features a natural stone fuel bed. The Marcello can be wall hung or inset into most external walls with stainless steel trim.

This stunning gas fire is almost unique in that it can be hung on the wall or inset so not to protrude into the room. While boasting a massive 87% efficiency meaning you wont be wasting energy while heating your living room, boasting 4.2kW of heat output, enough for even some of the larger living spaces

Much like The Portway Range of stoves, The Verine Marcello is built by BFM Europe, the company is based in Stoke-on-Trent with a 51,000 sq ft purpose built plant, housing the most up-to-date manufacturing, sales and training facilities in the industry, including the latest sheet metal technology, R&D department and purpose built laboratories.

The cheapest we found it was at Fireworld HERE

Verine Orbis Plus - High Efficiency Full Depth Gas Fire

The Verine Orbis Plus full depth open-fronted high efficiency gas fire provides an incredible 74% net efficiency and the appearance of a real coal fire.

The Verine Orbis Plus is our first full depth open-fronted high efficiency gas fire. You can now achieve the look of a real open coal fire at an incredible 73% net efficiency. It features a mesmerizing and highly realistic coal fuel bed making this product one of the closest things you can get to a real coal fire and comes with the almost standard Flame Supervision Device (FSD) and Oxygen Depletion Sensor (ODS) for safety.
Suitable for installation into standard brick chimneys the Orbis Plus comes in a choice of manual, slide, easy flame or remote control and can be styled to suit your home with our wide range of trims and frets ensuring you'll get the product that is just right for you.

Keep your eyes peeled, this Higher Efficiency gas fire wil soon be available from retailers such as Fireworld, Fireplace Supermarket and Fireplace Megastore

Designing A Contemporary Living Room

We all want a stunning living room, it's one of the rooms you spend the most time in and, if you're something of a social person ( I know I am ) you host many a friend or guest in the living room for social events.
With this in mind and news from some of my friends in the industry that the newly launched House2Home Megastore has just launched some more furniture in conjunction with BM Furniture we thought we'd plan our ideal living room! We have based it around the typical new-build semi-detached property. On average measuring 16feet by 16 feet, including a staircase to the first floor on the connecting wall and the front door. As with most new build properties our "dream home" doesn't feature a chimney or a chimney breast. But we've got some ideas of what to put inside our living room.

Below you'll see the plan of the room complete with staircase with the wall at the bottom of the image and left hand side external walls.First things first, lets start with the fire! We wanted to create a contemporary look and feel and nothing shouts contemporary like a Hole-In-The-Wall fire! Without a chimney breast thou we're limited to balanced flue fires. Due to the size of the room we didnt want anything in a massive false chimney breast that would dominate the room. So we decided on the Kinder Limours (shown right). With it's contemporary graphite fascia and contrasting steel trim surrounding the aggregate stone effect and flames in the centre, combined with the wall-mounting plate meant that we recess the fire into a slimline chimney breast, further emphasising the fire as a focal point in the room, rather than risk the possibility of losing it in the large wall.
On the left you can see a mock up we did of the Limours on our living room wall, as I think you'll agree we think it would look fab! (Looks a bit lonely but we're on our way to furnishing a lovely living room)
Offering a whopping 4.2kW heat output and efficiency rating of 87% the Limours would allow us to turn the heating down for the rest of the house and just enjoy the warmth from the fire in a cold winter's evening.
Now for the sofa... One that caught our eye was the Dante from BM furniture and House2Home Megastore, this stunning leather corner group would be perfect to create that enclosed seating area feel while not dominating the room itself. Made of high grade category 10-35 or category 55 leather, the Dante is both a stylish and contemporary corner group, can either be used in the corner of a room or as we will be using it below to create an almost enclosed seating area around the fire. We also think it would create a nice social area, especially gathered around the fire, enjoying the warmth on a cold winters evening.

But obviously the room is far from complete with just a sofa and a fireplace, (as nice as they are!) We finished the room off with an Optia Black Wool Rug in front of the sofa to contrast the white leather and to offer something warm and fuzzy under-foot contrasting the cool feel of the wood laminate flooring.
The room is finished off with the Ponderosa style coffee table, CD/DVD unit and television stand in waxed pine, offering a completementary wood finish to that of the laminate floor.

Overall we think we've created a stunning contemporary living space that still offers that warmth you'd look for in your living room. We hope you agree and would like to thank FireplaceMegastore and House2Home Megastore for offering their help with our little project!

Kinder Fires Limours

The Limours is the first dedicated wall mounted balanced flue gas fire from Kinder Fires. Ideal for homes without a chimney, No chimney is required as this fire is flued directly though an outside wall. It can be simply hung on the wall with no need for any major or extensive building work or can be recessed when fitted with an additional wall plate for a more sleek finish, with only the trim standing pround of the wall.

The balanced flue system in this fire means it can achieve very high net efficiency ratings of up to 87% and heat output of 4.2kW.The Limours is remote controlled, allowing full control from the comfort of your armchair and features a contemporary graphite fascia with stainless steel detail that highlights the aggregate rock fuel bed and living gas flame. The contemporary graphite fascia features detailing that adds to the contemporary finish and further drawing attention to the flame picture in the centre.

This stunningly modern gas fire is perfect to create that focal point in a modern living space and unlike other hole or hang on the wall gas fires this fire does not just look like a gaping hole in the wall when not on, the graphite fascia and the stainless steel inlay trim combine to make this fire a work of art as well as a source of heat.